University of Louisville
PENN STATE
Volleyball Falls to No. 3-ranked Penn State
August 25, 2012 | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 25, 2012
Lola Arslanbekova's 18 kills and eight digs were not enough firepower to turn away No. 3-ranked Penn State as the University of Louisville volleyball team fell 25-20, 25-17, 25-18 Saturday night at the KFC Yum! Center.
The Nittany Lions were led by Ariel Scott's 13 kills and four blocks to go along with Louisvillian Deja McClendon's 11 kills and 11 digs to put PSU's record at 3-0. U of L's Kaitlynn James had five kills and 3 digs. Caitlin Welch had a match-high 15 digs and played before a record crowd of 4,312 in the KFC UY
"Congratulations to Deja McClendon, it is great to see a hometown girl come home and do great," said Anne Kordes, U of L head coach. "I was pleased with our preparation and our fitness level and our level of training. Penn State just took us out of our game which is what good teams do. This will be good for us, this is the reason we play this kind of matchup and learn from it. "
The Cardinals were knocked back on their heels when they faced .467 hitting by the Nittany Lions. U of L stayed close, managing to come within two at 18-16, but PSU outscored the Cards 6-2 down the stretch for the 25-20 win. Kaitlynn James connected on three of her four swings to pace the Cards.
Penn State took advantage of .140 hitting by the Cardinals by putting together a few runs to roll to a 25-17 win in the second set. Lola Arslanbekova found her hitting groove, bouncing nine balls for kills but fellow senior Gwen Rucker was not connecting on her slide, which allowed PSU to key on Arslanbekova before she did more damage.
An 8-1 run in the third set put the Lions up 16-7 and forced Kordes to burn her last timeout. The Lions spread their lead to 21-10. The Cards switched setters with Katie George taking the reins and putting together a little four point run as the Cards staved off match point four times. but the damage was done as PSU closed out the set 25-18 for the win.
The All-Tournament Team was Ellie Roberson of Morehead State, Kaitlynn Welch and Lola Arslanbekova of Louisville. Penn State put Deja McClendon and Katie Slay on the All-tournament team with Ariel Scott being named Tournament MVP.
Next up for the Cards in in-state rival Kentucky on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the KFC Yum! Center.
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