University of Louisville
MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE (NCAA First Round)
Volleyball Falls to Middle Tennessee in NCAA First Round
November 30, 2007 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 30, 2007
Svetlana Dukule's career-high 21 kills and seven blocks were not enough as the University of Louisville fell 3-2 to Middle Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Saturday night at the Kentucky International Convention Center.
The Cardinals ended their season at 22-8 with the 28-30, 30-18, 23-30, 30-27, 12-15 loss. Middle improves to 26-9 and advances to play Hawai'i in the second round Saturday, December 1 at 7 p.m. ET. Hawai'i beat Tennessee State 3-0 in the first match of the day.
"We played against a really good team. This was the second year in a row that we played against Middle Tennessee, and the second year in a row that they won, said U of L coach Leonid Yelin. From what I could tell about Middle Tennessee the style they play, is not the style that we'd like to play. I can't remember playing a team that plays this style during the regular season, maybe two matches. This is not an excuse, we tried but our defense was not as good as it should be against this kind of offense.
The Cardinals hit .343 to Middle's .281 and outblocked them 15-7. U of L was aced 11 times and committed 15 service errors which did little to help their cause. Justine Landi had 15k ills, three aces and 10 digs for the Cardinals with Lecia Brown adding a career high 17 kills, hitting .593 and recording five blocks. The Blue Raiders were led by Ashley Mead's 19 kills with Izabela Kozon notching 15 with 13 digs.
The first game stayed even with the game knotted ten times but with just two lead changes. After tying at 24, Louisville was outscored 6-4 down the stretch before falling 30-28. The Cardinals hit .364 to Middle's .364 but outblocked the Blue Raiders 4-0. The Cardinals recorded two aces but Middle had 23 kills to Louisville's 14. Lecia Brown led the Cards with four kills.
"Like coach said their offense is a lot faster, it's the kind of offense that you really don't want to go up against," said setter Samantha Dabbs. "We thought that with us being a top team in the nation in blocking that with their quick offense and our size that we would prepared for that quick offense. It showed tonight that at times we were and at times weren't. So that's the main thing their offense is quick and it's something that you don't want to go up against ever."
In the second game, after coming back to tie at six, U of L went on a 7-2 run and then extended the lead to 10 at 21-11. Middle Tennessee battled with a late run but it was too little, too late as the Blue Raiders fell 30-18. The Cardinals hit a torrid .515 to Middle's .118 and outblocked 4-0. Justine Landi and Lecia Brown both had five kills to pace the Cardinals. Middle's offense was led by Sascha McGlothin's four kills. U of L's Svetlana Dukule had two solo blocks and three kills.
In the third game, the two teams stayed tight until the late going when after being tied at 20, the Raiders went on a 7-2 run to go up 27-22 and force U of L to burn its last timeout. The move failed to chill the Middle attack as the Raiders scored three of the final four points for the 30-23 win.
Louisville overcame a 7-0 run early in the fourth game that saw Middle Tennessee come back to tie at ten. The Cardinals answered with a 9-3 run to go up 22-17 and force the Blue Raiders to use their last timeout. The Cardinals let the Raiders reel off five straight before answering with three unanswered of their own to go up 27-22. Middle countered with three straight to come within two at 27-25 but kills by Lecia Brown, Tatyana Kolesnikova and Svetlana Dukule tipped the game to a 30-27 win and force the fifth deciding game.
In the final deciding game, Middle Tennessee scooted out to a 8-4 lead. The Cardinals came back to within one at 11-10 but were then outscored 4-2 down the stretch to give the match to Middle for the second straight year 15-12.
