University of Louisville
NOTRE DAME<br> (Halloween Bash/Girls' Day Out)
Volleyball Sweeps Notre Dame
October 29, 2006 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 29, 2006
Tatyana Kolesnikova hit .692 with 19 kills on 26 swings and an ace to lead the University of Louisville to a 30-14, 30-22, 30-19 sweep of visiting Notre Dame in BIG EAST volleyball action Sunday afternoon in Cardinal Arena.
U of L boosted its record to 16-6 and 9-1 in the conference with the win which stretched the streak to eight straight. Notre Dame drops to 13-10 and 7-3 in the league. The Irish entered the match with a 14-3 series lead over U of L. The Cardinals last beat the Irish in the NCAA Tournament in 2003 in Champaign, Ill.
"Virtually every home match is important in this league," said U of L head coach Leonid Yelin. "It was a gratifying win because it helped us to gain momentum, self-confidence and look strong on national television."
The match, broadcast by nationally by ESPNU saw the CArdinals hit .476 for the match and outblcok the Irish 13-3. The Cardinals notched six aces, led by Samantha Dabbs three. Stephanie Marsh, Rui Liu and Lecia Brown each had five blocks.
U of L flew out to an 11-3 lead early in the first game and Notre Dame used both timeouts to try to stop the momentum. U of L eas able to pull away by as many as 16 as they rolled to a 30-14 win. The Cardinals hit a torrid .556 to ND's .000 and outblocked the Irish 6-0. U of L was led by Kolesnikova's six kills and Marsh's four blocks.
U of L kept the hot hand in hitting, with a.419 percentage to ND's .273. After trailing by six at 18-12, the Irish were able to trim the lead to three at 21-18 and force Yelin to call timeout. The Cardinals steadied and scored five of the last six points for the 30-22 win.
The final set was much tighter with eight ties and five lead changes. Louisville built on a 12-11 lead and never looked back. The Cardinals had 13-5 run down the stretch to seal the match.
The Irish were without their leading hitter Adrianna Stasiuk who was injured a week ago, but Justine Stremick had 10 kills as did Mallorie Croal to pick up the slack.
U of L's Stephanie Marsh had 10 kills, hitting .421 with an ace, nine digs and five blocks. Setter Samantha Dabbs had a match-high 41 assists and seven kills to add to her three aces.
U of L hits the road to face West Virginia next Saturday with Pittsburgh on Sunday.
