Cardinals Fall To Cincinnati In C-USA Volleyball Finals
July 25, 2000 | Women's Volleyball
November 21, 1999
TAMPA, Fla. - Bonita Wise had 18 kills and six blocks to lead Cincinnati to a 3-1 win over Louisville in the championship game of the Conference USA Volleyball Tournament.
Louisville fell 12-15, 15-13, 5-15, 11-15 and dropped its record to 18-11. Cincinnati jumps to 27-5 and receives the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals have another shot boosting their chances as an at-large team when they play the MCC Conference Winner on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
"We did not play defensively and that is what kept us rolling when we were rolling through the end of our season," said Leonid Yelin, Louisville head coach.
Momentum was fickle in game one when Louisville had it early, going up 12-6 before the Bearcats ran off eight points for the win. UC was successful in shutting down Louisville's leading hitter Kelly McClain, holding her to negative hitting.
"We could not get into our flow," said Lesley Drury, who had 14 kills. "There was no one thing we weren't doing, but rather struggling everywhere."
The Cardinals stayed close to the Bearcats in the second game, tying at three, five and nine. Louisville reached game point, using a five point run and withstood a brief two point rally by Cincinnati to win 15-11.
"Even when we won the second game, we didn't play all that well, we just hung in there and survived," said Emily Roberson, who had eight kills and 14 digs.
Louisville fell behind early in the third set when the top-seeded Bearcats powered out to a 12-2 lead. The Cards seemed to regroup when they had a three-point run but did not score again.
Cincinnati outhit the Cardinals .326 to .149 in that game. Despite not hitting on all cylinders, the Cardinals hung gamely with the Bearcats in the final set. After letting UC pop out to a 10-3 lead. Lesley Drury and Stacey Mercer kept the Cards in the match, scoring four points to bring the score to 10-7. Cincinnati coach Laura Alford called time out and the Bearcats responded with four straight points to take it to match point. Louisville did not fold scoring four points with the match on the line to take it to 14-11, but could not upend the Bearcats.
"Cincinnati is a good fundamental team and they deserve a lot of credit," said Roberson.
Louisville was led by Sonja Percan's 15 kills, which earned her All-Tournament team honors.
After the match Saturday, Louisville will have to wait until 10 p.m. Saturday night when the pairings are announced by the NCAA.
All-Tournament Team
- Sonja Percan, Louisville
- Stephanie Bishop, DePaul
- Bonita Wise, Cincinnati
- Bobbi Stewart, Houston
- Shante Haymore, Cincinnati
Tournament MVP
- Stephanie Meinig, Cincinnati
