University of Louisville
vs. South Florida <BR>(Conference USA Tourn.)
Volleyball Falls to South Florida in C-USA Final
November 25, 2002 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 25, 2002
CHICAGO -- Michele Collier had 24 kills,two aces and five blocks to lead South Florida to a three-game sweep of the University of Louisville in the championship match of the Healthy Choice Conference USA Volleyball Championship.
USF improves to 29-6 in their third tournament win. U of L posts a 25-5 record in its sixth conference championship match.
"Before the match, we wanted to shut everyone else down and try to contain Collier," said Louisville head coach Leonid Yelin. "When Shameka Mitchell got hot it made it difficult." In the first game, after scoring the first two points, U of L let South Florida run off five straight and then had to play catch-up. The Cardinals did not regain the lead until 23-22 on a kill by Anastasia Zaitseva. The two teams tied at 27 but a pair of kills by Michele Collier and a tip by Shameka Mitchell tipped the game to the Bulls. U of L hit .237 to South Florida's .308. Collier had nine kills and two aces. Ustymenko had four kills and two aces for the Cardinals.
"We got blocked and let them go on some runs and couldn't fight back," said Yelin.
In the second game neither tean ket the other build a lead in the early going. South Florida used two mini-spurts to pull ahead 25-21 and force a Cardinal timeout. It wasn't enough of a distraction as the Bulls outscored the Cardinaols 4-1 to win 30-24. U of L was outblocked 3-1 and out hit .375 to .227. Benny Flynn and Zaitseva each had four kills for U of L.
In the third game, U of L stayed close but with the score tied at 10, the Bulls had a 7-1 run to pull ahead to 17-11. The Cardinals could not contain the Bulls offensive firepower of Mitchell and Collier and scored only three points after that to fall 30-20.
"Just a phenomenal match. Our goal was to outblock and outdig them and that is what we did well," said Nancy Mueller, USF head coach. "Ale (Domingos) set a outstanding tournament and Michele stepped up when we needed her. This was a team victory, every player contributed."
Collier, Mitchell, Sun and Mercer joined Cincinnati's Bonita Wise on the All-Tournament Team with USF setter Alessandra Domingos earning Tournament MVP honors.
Louisville heads to Dayton on Friday after Thanksgiving to play Xavier and Dayton.
