University of Louisville
Purdue
Volleyball falls 3-1 to Purdue in NCAA Second Round
December 03, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 3, 2011
Tanya Lukyanenko's ten kills and two blocks were not enough as the University of Louisville fell 3-1 to Purdue in the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Saturday evening in West Lafayette, Ind.
"I thought the momentum had changed after we won the second set," said U of L coach Anne Kordes. "We were up and in control that whole set but then came out after the break and got down early on our own mistakes. That is tough to come back from. But I give credit to Purdue for a feeding off their crowd's energy and putting together a great atmosphere and staying in their system."
U of L ends its season with a record of 24-9 with the 14-25, 26-28, 25-11, 25-16 win. Purdue improves to 29-4 and will meet Florida State next weekend in the Minneapolis Regional.
U of L hit just .083 for the match, with the Boilers holding BIG EAST Player of the Year, Lola Arslanbekova, to 10 kills and -.047 hitting. U of L's Kaitlynn James had 10 kills and eight digs and setter Taylor Brauneis had 36 assists and two blocks.
"I thought Kaitlynn James did a great job of attacking the block. She was just phenomenal," said Kordes.
Purdue was led by Tiffany Fisher's 14 kills.
"Tiffany was so consistent," said Kordes. "She was able to run the slide, bomb the line and tip over the block. She's not flashy and she does a great job on defense too as we had to swing around her all night."
The Cardinals let the Boilers out to a 5-0 lead to start the first set. Purdue used a 6-1 run to go up 14-6 and when the Boilers had four blocks by 17-9, Kordes called timeout to adjust. The Cards showed some grit with a 5-1 run to come to within six at 20-14 before the Boilers reeled off five straight points for the 25-14 win. The Cardinals hit -.037 and were blocked four times. Arslanbekova paced the Cards with three of U of L's seven kills. Purdue had 15 kills, led by Big Ten Player of the Year Ariel Turner's five and the Boilers outhit the Cards .440 to -.037.
In the second set, U of L managed to scoot out to a 12-8 lead and the teams started trading points before the Boilers put together a 4-0 run to tie at 12. The Cardinals got a boost from Brooke Mattingly's two kills as part of a 7-4 run to took them up 19-16. An ace by Lola Arslanbekova put the Cards up 21-18 and prompted a Purdue timeout. A Purdue lift and a Kaitlynn James kill gave U of L a 23-20 lead but PU scored twice to come within one at 23-22. A service error by Tiffany Fisher gave U of L set point, but the Boilers scored twice more to tie at 24. The teams tied at 25 but a missed tip by Taylor Brauneis gave PU set point at 26-25. Arslanbekova tied it at 26 and a kill by Tanya Lukyanenko gave Uof L set point and Arslanbekova buried one for the 28-26 win. The Cards hitting improved to .279 in the set and outblocked the Boilermakers 3-0.
Purdue came out focused after the break and powered to a 12-3 lead early. The Cards could not get on track offensively, hitting just -.086 and getting blocked five times. PU used a 10-3 run to close out the 25-11 win.
In the fourth set, Purdue overwhelmed the Cards, going up 12-4 and there was little U of L could do to stem the tide, falling 25-16.
