University of Louisville
MEMPHIS * (Wear Your Red Day)
Volleyball Sweeps Memphis, Stays Undefeated in C-USA
October 24, 2004 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 24, 2004
Lena Ustymenko had 9 kills, two blocks and two aces to lead the University of Louisville to a 30-19, 30-21, 30-16 win over Memphis to remain undefeated in Conference USA volleyball action in Cardinal Arena Sunday.
The Cardinals improve to 18-2 and 8-0 in the league. Memphis stands at 20-6 and 5-2, after entering the weekend as the only other undefeated team in the league. They fell to Cincinnati in five Saturday afternoon.
"We ended up overwhelming them with our height," said Leonid Yelin, U of L head coach. "We outblocked them 9-1 and it took a toll on them."
U of L hit a blistering .373 against the Tigers, who hit .052 as a team. The match marked the return of freshman Svetlana Dukule, who has missed matches with a broken thumb. She had five kills on 12 attacks and no errors. Jennifer Hoffman led all blockers with eight, and helped U of L to its 20-game streak of outblocking its opponents.
In the first game, U of L built a slight lead to go up 17-12 and Memphis head coach Carrie Yerty called a Memphis timeout. The Cardinals then went on a 6-2 run and forced her to use her final timeout at 23-14. The momentum didn't swing as she hoped and the Cardinals rolled to a 30-19 win.
"We just played really well today," said Yelin. "We have taken another step to reaching our goal of going undefeated in conference play. But, as a coach, I still see room for improvement. I guess every coach is like that."
Yelin had to like what he saw in game two, when the Tigers cut the U of L lead to two at 13-11, before the Cardinals went on a 10-5 run and precipitated another Tiger timeout at 23-16. The Tigers could not keep pace down the stretch and fell 30-21. U of L hit .389 in that set compared to the Tigers' .096.
In the final set, the Tigers, who may have been fatigued from their five game match with Cincinnati the day before, allowed the Cardinals out to a 10-3 lead early on. U of L was hitting a match-high .429 in that game. Despite a timeout at 27-16, Memphis did not score again.
The Tigers were led by Nancy Nellans' 15 kills. U of L's Stephanie Marsh had seven kills and four blocks, with Bing Sun adding eight kills.
The Cardinals are idle until this Friday when they travel to Tulane and Southern Miss.
