Volleyball Faces Rival Cincinnati in BIG EAST Tilt
October 19, 2007 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 19, 2007
The University of Louisville volleyball team returned home after a two match road swing that saw the Cardinals beat Seton Hall and Villanova to stay unbeaten at 8-0 in the BIG EAST. The Cardinals left league play to face rival Tennessee on a rare Tuesday tilt and won 3-1 to move to 14-4 overall.
The Cardinals return to BIG EAST play with a televised match against rival Cincinnati on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Cardinal Arena. Despite a school record .376 hitting performance and a career-high 29 kills from freshman Stephanie Niemer, Cincinnati suffered its third straight loss, a five-game defeat to Seton Hall on Sunday afternoon at Walsh Gymnasium. UC couldn't overcome a two games to none deficit, despite setting a new school mark for hitting percentage in a five-game match. The Bearcats, now 14-7, 5-2 BIG EAST, fell by scores of 28-30, 28-30, 30-21, 30-16, 15-11.
Promotions At the Cincinnati match, stadium scarves will be distributed to the first 500 fans.
Series Record Against the Bearcats
U of L leads the series against Cincinnati 28-10. U of L beat the Bearcats in three last Oct. 14.
Lecia Brown Leads Nation in Blocking
Lecia Brown is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA with an average of 2.13 which is, of course, also top in the BIG EAST Conference. She tied a school record with 12 block assists against #11 Duke.
Blocking Continues to be Strength/Cards Ranked No. 1
Louisville spent much of 2006 ranked in the Top 20 in team blocking. Currently the Cardinals are No. 1 in the nation with a 4.17 block per game average. U of L outblocked No. 5 UCLA, No. 25 Kansas State and No. 16 Hawai'i at the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic. U of L outblocked UConn 20-2 for the biggest margin of the season. Sophomore Lecia Brown averages 2.17 blocks per game with Rui Liu, Svetlana Dukule and Justine Landi just behind her at (1.39, 1.08 and 1.00 respectively). U of L has a 4.17-1.76 blocking edge.
Mango Named BE Freshman of the Week
Libero Lindsey Mango of Naperville, Illinois, was named BIG EAST Volleyball Freshman of the Week for the week ending Oct. 7. Mango's 17 digs and two assists helped guide the Cardinals to an important 3-0 sweep of No. 18 St. John's on Oct. 6. The win, coupled with a 3-0 victory over Connecticut the following afternoon, enabled UofL to secure sole possession of first place in the BIG EAST Conference. The libero chipped in 15 digs against the Huskies to bring her weekend total to 32. Additionally, Mango added five assists and four service aces while helping the Cardinals to a .287 hitting percentage.
Cardinals Ranked No. 20
Molten/Volleyball Magazine's Media Poll ranks the University of Louisville Volleyball team No. 20 in the nation.
Duke and Dabbs are Dynamic Duo
Senior hitter Svetlana "Duke" Dukule and sophomore setter Samantha Dabbs are the top two leading hitters by percentage on the Cardinal squad. Duke is hitting .321 and had a season-high 17 kills and six blocks against No. 16 Hawai'i. Sam is hitting .284 and had a career-high 13 kills and five blocks against the Wahine. Sam had a career-high 66 assists in the five-game marathon with Duke.
Matiasovska, Dukule, Mango Named to All-Louisville Marriott East Invitational
Jana Matiasovska had 46 kills in three matches en route to MVP honors of the Louisville Marriott East Invitational Tournament. She had 46 kills, 9 aces, 19 digs and seven blocks after returning from last year's injuries and surgeries that forced her to miss the final 15 matches of 2006. She led her team in kills in all three matches with 21 against Tennessee Tech in the final match of the tournament. Playing in her first tournament with the Cardinals, Mango averaged four digs per game and contributed three aces to the team's cause. Mango's best effort came against Memphis on Aug. 24, when she scorched the Tigers for 20 digs. She is a two-time high school All-American. Svetlana Dukule had 33 kills, hit .452 with six blocks to earn her way on the all-tournament team.
Starting out the Season
With the 14-4 start, U of L is off to a similar start of 2003, when the Cardinals went 14-4 to begin the season. U of L had four straight losses this season which is the first time since 1999. U of L's best start is 2005 when the Cardinals strung together a school-record 20-0 stretch to start the season that ended at the 2005 Sweet Sixteen in Omaha. The current winning streak is 11 straight.
Home Sweet Home
U of L has won the last 21 straight matches in Cardinal Arena. The Cardinals are 8-0 this year and were 16-2 last year. Entering the 2006 season, U of L had won 27 straight matches making the three year total mark at 46-2. The Cardinals have been sold out for eight matches of the season.
NCAA's RPI Released
U of L volleyball Ratings Power Index (RPI) was released last week by the NCAA. The Cardinals rank No. 20 in the power rankings.
Cardinals on TV
U of L volleyball will be on WHAS-TV three times this season. U of L staffer Sean Moth will be calling the action and executive director of volleyball operations, Patty Dennison Norton, will provide color commentary. U of L will also be on ESPN at Notre Dame with Krista Blunk providing the play-by-play.
10/20 vs. Cincinnati @ 2pm11/2 vs. West Virginia @ 7pm11/4 vs. Pittsburgh @ 2 pm11/11 at Notre Dame @ 3 p.m. Central
Jana Matiasovska Named All-Nebraska Ameritas Players Challenge 9/9
Jana Matiasovska was named to the All-Nebraska Ameritas Players Challenge. She led the team in kills in both matches, including the upset of #11 Duke. She had 25 kills, 4 blocks and seven digs against the Blue Devils and 21 kills versus NMSU, adding two aces and three blocks.
Jana Matiasovska Named All-HAL Wahine Classic 9/2
Jana Matiasovska was named to the All-Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic. She led the Cardinals in kills with 15 versus No. 5 UCLA and 10 versus Kansas State. She was the third leading hitter with 11 versus host Hawai'i.
Lindsey Mango Named BIG EAST Rookie of the Week 8/26
Playing in her first tournament with the Cardinals, Mango averaged four digs per game and contributed three aces to the team's cause. Mango's best effort came against Memphis on Aug. 24, when she scorched the Tigers for 20 digs. As Louisville breezed past the competition to win the Marriott East Invitational, Mango earned All-Tournament Team honors. She is a two-time high school All-American.
Kolesnikova Picked as Co-Preseason Player of the Year/Cardinals Picked Second
Louisville received the other seven first-place votes and is picked to finish second in the BIG EAST. The Cardinals are coming off a tremendous 2006 season that saw them win their first BIG EAST Championship after only two years in the league. UofL returns four starters from the squad that went 25-7. Leading the way is Kolesnikova, the 2006 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year, who held the league's second-best kills average (.352) during her first year with the Cardinals. Joining Kolesnikova on the 2007 All-BIG EAST Preseason Team is sophomore setter Samantha Dabbs.
Landi and Dabbs Spend Summer on Junior National Team
Sophomore volleyball player Justine Landi and sophomore setter Samantha Dabbs earned honors last month as members of the USA A2 Junior National Team. Landi was named MVP and Dabbs was all-tournament for the Americans. The USA A2 Junior National Tea, coached by Lee Maes, defeated the Italians from Spes Volley Conegliano in straight sets (25-15, 28-26, 25-18). They become the first American team to win the Global Challenge in its three years of existence. The Russians won in 2005 in Salt Lake City, and the Croatian Junior National Team won in 2006 in Maribor.
