Volleyball Cards Beat Houston, On To C-USA Finals
July 25, 2000 | Women's Volleyball
November 20, 1999
TAMPA, Fla. - Sonja Percan had 25 kills to lead Louisville to a 3-1 win over Houston and into the championship match of the Conference USA tournament.
"We are so pleased about the way we played this match, because we were able to capture the intensity we had late in the season when we put together our big winning stretch," said head coach Leonid Yelin.
In the first game, Louisville took advantage of a sluggish Houston start by building a 12-5 lead. A brief Cougars spurt forced Yelin to burn a timeout at 14-10 to try to knock them off the trail. Houston scored two more points before a Kelly McClain kill ended the comeback. Senior Sherry Hurley had eight kills and two blocks to lead the Cards.
"Our senior and upperclassmen stepped up huge for us today, " said Yelin.
Houston rebounded with a 15-11 win in the second game utilizing the block to thwart the Cardinal hitters, who were held to .154 hitting percentage.
"We went into the lockerroom and said, we could be back here in a matter of minutes with our season over and no one wants to go home a loser," said McClain who had 18 kills and 11 digs.
Momentum shifted back to the Cardinals in the third game as the Cardinals broke through a 3-3 tie to reel off 12 points to Houston's one. The Cougars hit just .070 and registered just one block. Louisville hit .325 with Lesley Drury getting five kills in the third set.
"We are huge rivals with Houston and always have been. We just stepped up our play and took control of the match," said Hurley.
Louisville outhit Houston .300 to .193 and had five service aces.
"We are disappointed especially in the last two games when we fell apart, " said head coach Bill Walton. "They got big bunches of points in a row and that killed our momentum."
