University of Louisville
at Memphis *
#22 Volleyball Beats Memphis
November 01, 2003 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 1, 2003
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- University of Memphis gave the No. 22-ranked University of Louisville a Halloween scare, taking the Cardinals to five games before losing in Conference USA volleyball action Friday night in Memphis.
The Cardinals had a 2-0 game lead when Memphis took the third and fourth game before the Cardinals put down the insurgent Tigers 30-23, 30-26, 30-27, 15-11. U of L improves to 14-4 and 7-1 in conference play. The Tigers, who entered the match tied for second with the Cardinals in conference play, drop to 25-3 and 6-2 in the league.
"When you are the favorite, every team brings their best game against you," said Leonid Yelin, of his team which was picked to win the league in the pre-season. "Memphis played with a lot of emotion and fire and we had to bear down in the late going to pull this win out on the road. Our serve receive was shaky and they were able to take advantage."
The Tigers had eight aces and the Cardinals committed 10 service errors.
Senior Sonja Percan and sophomore Lena Ustymenko each had 25 kills with the Cardinals setting a season high with 21.5 blocks. U of L outhit Memphis .287 to .191.
U of L used the block effectively in the first set in a game that neither team could establish a definitive lead. The Cardinals outblocked their opponents 4-1 and hit .271. U of L finally scraped together a five point lead on a kill by setter Jennifer Craven to take the lead 23-18. Memphis coach Carrie Yerty called timeout and the Tigers responded with two quick points. Ustymenko reeled off three straight kills and a service error by Memphis took U of L to game point. Percan's kill ended Memphis' comeback.
In the second game, Memphis took an early lead at 7-5 but the Cardinals scored four straight to pull ahead 9-7. Memphis retook the lead at 12-11 on a kill by Brittany Barnett but Louisville came back to lead 19-16 on a block by Percan. After a Memphis timeout, the Tigers went on a 6-2 run to go up 22-21 and force a Cardinal timeout. The Cardinals regrouped and scored five straight points inducing another Tiger timeout. UM recovered and scored four straight to tie at 26 and Yelin called time out. The Cardinals scored the final three points to win. Blocking continued to serve the Cardinals well, with U of L recording eight in the second game. Memphis' three aces in the second game could not overcome troublesome hitting that saw the Tigers have 13 kills with 14 errors on 39 attacks.
Memphis shot out to an early lead in the third game going up six at 13-7 on a kill by Barnett. The Tigers spread their lead to five at 20-14 on a Cardinal service error. U of L chipped away at the lead, coming within one at 26-25 on a Lena Ustymenko kill. The Cards could get no closer although they fought off game point twice, they fell 30-27. Louisville got a taste of its own medicine with Memphis getting five blocks. The Tiger hitting heated up to .326 to Louisville's .212.
After tying the game at 15, U of L allowed Memphis to go on a 7-3 run and fall behind 23-19. The Cardinals fought back to within two at 27-25 on a kill by Percan. Memphis got to game point at 29-25, and U of L was able to stave off the Tigers win for two points but fell 30-27 despite outhitting UM .333 to .261.
In the final set, U of L went up 6-2 before a four point Tiger untied the game at six. The Cardinals then outscored the Tigers 9-5 for the win.
