University of Louisville
Tulane
Volleyball Beats Tulane at C-USA Tourney
November 17, 2000 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 17, 2000
Charlotte, NC -- Sonja Percan had 14 kills and four blocks to lead the University of Louisville to a 3-1 win over Tulane to advance to the semi-finals of the Conference USA Tournament.
Louisville, 22-7, won 15-4, 15-3, 14-16, 15-8 and advances to play the winner of the Cincinnati/UNC Charlotte at 3 p.m. Tulane ends its season at 17-15. Despite not having played since last Sunday, the Cardinals didn't seem rusty as they used aggressive serving to power an 11-point run after trailing 3-0. Sophomore Sarah Drury had three aces in that run. The Green Wave scored its fourth point but could not stop the Cardinals who powered past them to win 15-4. The Green Wave was out-hit .270 to . 063.
"Sarah came in and served for 10 points, she had them off balance and that was obviously to our advantage,"said Yelin.
In the second game after tying at two, the Cardinals went on a 13-1 run, this time powered by blocking. The Cardinals had four blocks for points in the set. U of L's hitting heated up as they had 12 kills on 26 attacks and just one error for a .423.
"When you are hitting with that kind of accuracy, things usually go your way," said Yelin.
Tulane, which had beaten Memphis to advance to the second round, didn't allow the Cardinals to get on a run. They eked out a two point lead at 7-5 on an ace by Lauren Jones-McClain. The Cardinals fought back with a little three-point run which featured a kill and a block for a point by first team All-C-USA sophomore Stacey Mercer to take back the lead at 8-7. A Tulane timeout seemed to cool the Louisville momentum as the Green Wave went on a 6-1 run to go up 13-9. Louisville scored two points before Tulane got to game point on a solo block by Britney Hurst. Louisville not only staved off game point but scored three points including two consecutive kills by Lesley Drury to tie at 14. However, Tulane held off the Cards for two more points to win 16-14. Louisville hitting cooled considerably as they had 16 kills but 11 errors to hit .079.
"Tulane has a core of seniors who were playing to keep their college careers alive. Sentmore in particular called for the ball and was very effective," said Yelin.
Sentmore had a team-high,match-high 19 kills.
In the fourth game, the score stayed close in the first half as the cars were tied at six. Louisville then strung together an 8-1 run to seal the match.
The Cardinals outblocked the Wave 12-8 and had seven aces to TU's one.
