University of Louisville
Kansas State
Volleyball Sweeps Kansas State
August 27, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 27, 2011
Gwen Rucker had 10 kills, a career-high four aces and five blocks to lead the University of Louisville to a three-set sweep of Kansas State in the first match of a doubleheader at the Georgia Tech Courtyard by Marriott Classic Saturday afternoon in Atlanta.
"Statistically it was a great game when your two middles are hitting .500 and .750," said Kordes. "But what I am really proud of is we had a game plan and we implemented it. We wanted to contain their Kaitlynn Pelger through our blocking and our serving to try and slow her down any way we could. We came away with 11 service aces and Gwen (Rucker) had a career high four."
U of L moves to 2-0 with the 25-12, 25-21, 25-20 win and will face host Georgia Tech at 7 p.m. tonight for the final match of the tournament. The Cardinals hit .301 for the match to KSU's .070 and survived 12 service errors with outstanding blocking. U of L outblocked the Wildcats 10-3 led by Taylor Brauneis' six. Caitlin Welch had a team-high 14 digs and two aces. Brooke Mattingly hit .750 with six kills on eight swings and no errors while adding four blocks.
U of L used a 12-2 run to jump on a sluggish Kansas State team in the first set, taking a 17-7 lead, and then used aggressive serving to keep KSU off keel. U of L's block was spot on with the Cardinals notching four in the first set alone led by setter Taylor Brauneis who had four. Caitlin Welch had two of U of L's six aces in the first set. Brook Mattingly led hitting with four kills on four swings .
In the second set, KSU came alive and took the lead at 7-6 when Lilla Porubek aced Caitlin Welch to spark a 4-0 run. But the Cardinals regained the lead at 10-9 on two kills and a block by Gwen Rucker. The Cards maintained a three-point cushion as the momentum swang back and forth. KSU got to within one at at 21-20 on a kill by Kathleen Ludwig, who followed that up with an ace to force a Cardinal timeout. U of L scored twice coming out of the break causing KSU to burn a timeout to regroup, but to no avail as two Wildcat misses and a kill by Rucker notched the 25-21 win for U of L. The Cardinals hit .343 to KSU's .100 and added four more blocks, led by Brooke Mattingly's two.
Kansas State was nipping at the Cardinal heels the entire third set. U of L finally got some breathing room with a 3-0 run fueled by kills by Emily Juhl, Kaitlynn James and Gwen Rucker to go up 18-15. The Wildcats tied the set at 18 but could not stop the Cardinals, who went on a 7-1 run for the 25-20 win and the sweep.
U of L's home opener will be Sept 2 at 7:30 against Ole Miss as part of the Crowne Plaza Classic.
