University of Louisville
Western Kentucky
Volleyball Tops Western Kentucky 3-1
October 10, 2000 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 10, 2000
Louisville, KY -- - - The Louisville connection was not quite enough for Western Kentucky to beat the University of Louisville volleyball team as the Cardinals prevailed 15-5, 15-8, 13-15, 15-6.
It was an all home girl show with 13 players on the combined roster from Louisville -- six from Assumption alone. A bi-partisan, sold-out crowd was on hand to watch the intrastate match that is the first meeting between the two schools in four years, dating back to 1996. The Cardinals have never lost to the Hilltoppers, now leading the series 13-0.
"We appreciate the opportunity for our kids to come up here and playin front of their hometwon crowd," said WKU Head Coach Travis Hudson. "I just wish we could have been relaxed from the very beginning instead of taking two games to overcome our nervousness. Once we calmed down, I thought we played pretty solid Volleyball.
Western spotted the Cardinals the first eight points of the match before scoring on a miss by Kelly McClain. In all, WKU would score four of their five points on Cardinals misses rather than its own offensive efforts. However, despite the misses the Cardinals out hit WKU 18 kills to 9, hitting .243.
Sluggish hitting plagued WKU in the scond game when the Hilltoppers were out-hit .067 to .302. U of L popped out to a 6-2 lead but WKU brought it back to two points on an ace by Sara Noe. The Caqrdinals made a 6-1 run to move to 12-5. A kill by Jessica Willard and an ace by Tracy May were part of a short-lived Hilltopper rally to push the score to 12-7. However, The Toppers would score just once more as the Cards won 15-8.
"There were many long rallies and WKU is a tenacious team that doesn't give up," said Leonid Yelin, U of L head coach. "I was pleased that our hitters did not get frustrated and try to move away from our game plan."
WKU seemingly had swung momentum its way in the third game when it powered to a 8-0 lead. However an ace by Sarah Drury sparked a 9-1 run by the Cardinals to move them to within one at 10-9. WKU zipped off four straight points to get within striking distance of game point. Once again, a Cardinal rally was set off by an ace, this time by McClain. The Cards tied it at 13 but the Toppers got to game point on a miss by Louisville's Anastasia Zaitseva. A service ace by Noe ended the Louisville comeback and force a fourth game.
The Cardinals bounced back to begin the fourth game on the strength of McClain's hot serving, gaining a 7-0 lead. Western answered the bell and pulled to 7-6. The Cardinals dashed Western's hopes with an eight-point run to end the match, recording three consecutive blocks to seal the win. The Cardinals are currently ranked No. 14 in the nation in team blocks.
"This was a great showcase for the talent here in the city. We have always known that Louisville is a volleyball city and now Kentucky is fast becoming a volleyball state."
The Cardinals, now 11-6, were led by Zaitseva's 13 kills, 12 digs and 4 block solos. McClain added 11 kills and two aces with Mercer recording 10 kills and six blocks. Western was led by two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week Tara Thomas' 17 kills. Willard had 12 with Melissa Starck adding 11.
Western is idle until Friday when it hosts New Mexico State in a conference match. Louisville also returns to league play with a matchup with Memphis on Friday in Cardinal Arena.
