University of Louisville
Kentucky
Volleyball Sweeps Kentucky
November 21, 2001 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 21, 2001
Volleyball Sweeps Kentucky 30-18, 30-23, 30-21 LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Senior Lesley Drury had 11 kills, two aces and five blocks to lead the University of Louisville to a three-game sweep of Kentucky in a rescheduled volleyball match last night in Cardinal Arena.
The Cardinals improved to 23-6 with the 30-18, 30-23 and 30-21 win. Kentucky drops to 13-14 for the season.
"It seems as if we havent played at home in forever," said Leonid Yelin, U of L head coach. "It was great to be in front of this noisy, crazy crowd again. Our players definitely got a lift playing back at home."
Louisville used a big run to keep the Wildcats back on their heels in the first game. UK had built a 9-7 lead before the Cardinals tore off on a 12-3 run. UK coach Jona Braden called time out but was unable to transfer momentum as the Cards cruised to a 30-18 win. The Cardinals had fvie aces in that set, led by Jing Ding's three. The Cats had more errors than kills with seven kills on 32 attacks and eight errors. The teams stayed close in the first half of the second game. Tied at 17, U of L had a brief burst with five straight points, three of which came on UK errors. Braden called time out and the Cats responded with a four-point run to get within two at 24-22. Yelin called time out to regroup and chill UK's improved hitting. U of L came back out and outscored UK 6-1 for the 30-23 win. UK's hitting improved to .159 in that game.
"This was the most athletic Kentucky team I have coached against, " said Yelin. "They are very tall and their 6-1 setter makes them much more dangerous."
Kentucky fell behind early in the third game trailing 12-7. Braden used both her timeouts to try and quell U of L's roll that took them to 26-14. As in any rivalry, determination can't be discounted as the Cats scored seven unanswered points to get to 26-21 and force Yelin to call timeout. The Cats didn't score again and U of L senior setter Jing Ding got her only kill of the match on the last point of the game.
"This group of four seniors has only lost two total games to the Wildcats in four years. They are 5-1 and wanted to go out strong," said Yelin.
Louisville's Sonja Percan had 11 kills with Zaitseva adding nine and three aces. Ding pitched in a career high four aces.
Kentucky was led by Kristen Batt's eight kills and Anne Koester had two aces and four kills.
