University of Louisville
Connecticut <br>(BIG EAST - First Round)
Volleyball Advances to Semi-finals in the BIG EAST Championship
November 17, 2006 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 17, 2006
Junior outside hitter Svetlana Dukule had 21 kills and five blocks to lead the University of Louisville to a 30-27, 30-22, 27-30, 30-28 win over No. 7-seeded UConn in the first round of BIG EAST Volleyball Championship in Cincinnati.
U of L improves to 21-6 with the win and will play Marquette at 1 p.m. Saturday. UConn ends its season at 19-11.
"Players have to get all their nervousness out in the first match of any big tournament, especially a single elimination one," said Leonid Yelin. "I thought we did a good job of adjusting after we lost our senior ( Stephanie Marsh) with an ankle."
Dukule was joined by Tatyana Kolesnikova and Ana Yartseva Stewart in double digit kills with 12 and 10 respectively. Stewart also had five blocks. Setter Samantha Dabbs had a match-high 14 kills and libero Kristie Wetterer had a team-high 15 digs. UConn was led by Sade Chambers' 21 kills.
"It is always good to see someone step up and have a strong performance when the opponent is keying on someone else," said Yelin. "Svetlana Dukule had a good hitting day for us."
In the first game, neither team could get a foothold and .114 hitting by Louisville and .098 by UConn did not help the match get on track. Staying close, the Huskies took their first lead at 14-13 but had to use a timeout to try to turn back the Cardinal run at 25-20. The Huskies rallied to come to within one at 27-26 and forced Yelin to use a timeout. The Cardinals scored the next three points and a lift call on UConn gave the game to the Cardinals 30-27. U of L was led by Svetlana Dukule's six kills. The Huskies' Sade Chambers had four kills to lead her team.
UConn hung close in the second game, staying within four at 19-15. U of L hitting got on track and the Cardinals pulled away after a 6-1 run took them to 25-17. The Huskies' rally down the homestretch was too little, too late and the Cardinals took a 2-0 lead into the lockerroom with the 30-22 win. The Cardinals had six blocks in the set led by Dukule's three. U of L senior Stephanie Marsh had to be subbed out with an injury and she did not return to the lineup.
U of L let the Huskies pull out to a 19-10 lead and then had to utilize their second timeout when UConn scored four unanswered points to go up 24-19. UConn got to game point on an ace by Kate Seabaugh, but the Cardinals weren't through yet. U of L scored five straight before a kill by Meg Silver gave the Huskies the 30-27 win. UConn was outhit .231 to .143 but U of L's five service errors hindered the comeback.
U of L seemed to have things in hand in the fourth game when it ran to an 11-3 start. UConn tried to turn the momentum around by coming back to within two at 25-22. U of L got to game point on a Dukule kill. The Huskies staved off match point with three straight points but a service error by Megan Silver gave the game and match to U of L
U of L advances to play Marquette Saturday at 1 p.m. in Fifth/Third Arena on the campus of the University of Cincinnati.
