University of Louisville
Tennessee (W)
Volleyball Falls to Tennessee
October 08, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 8, 2008
Justine Landi had 19 kills, an ace and 12 digs but it was not enough as the Cardinals fell 3-1 to Tennessee in collegiate volleyball action Wednesday night in Knoxville.
U of L dropped to 6-9 with the Volunteers improving to 10-6 with the 25-17, 25-18, 23-25, 25-23 win in the non-conference tilt. U of L hit .147 but outblocked the Vols 13-12. Senior Tatyana Kolesnikova joined Landi in double digit kills with 11. Rui Liu came off the bench to add six kills and two blocks. The Vols were led by Nikki Fowler's 21 kills and Milan Clarke's 12 kills and three blocks.
"It isn't about battling back, it is about adjusting quicker," said U of L coach Leonid Yelin. "We are taking too long to adjust and by the time we do, we have our backs against the wall. We did well adjusting in the third game and were almost home in the fourth after a miraculous comeback."
Tennessee built an early lead at 17-11 taking advantage of icy Cardinal .023 hitting. The Vols continued to pull away but U of L was out of timeouts. UT scored the last four points unanswered en route to the 25-17 win.
In the second set, UT went on a 6-0 run to go up 18-12 and the Cardinals had no answer for the Volunteer firepower. Tennessee built the lead to seven at 24-17 to reach set point on a Cardinal error. A kill by Jana Matiasovska staved off set point but a kill by Alyssa Hilby gave the Vols a two-set lead going into the break. Nikki Fowler led the Vols with five kills as Justine Landi continued to pace the Cards with seven kills in the second set. U of L hitting warmed up slightly to .222 in that set but Tennessee was connecting at a .314 clip.
With their backs against the wall, the Cardinals fought to a 9-4 lead early in the third set. But the Volunteers battled back to a tie at 16 and then took their first lead at 16-15 on an error by Justine Landi. The Cardinals regained the lead at 20-19 on a Justine Landi ace and traded points until U of L got to set point on a kill by Gosia Lech. UT scored two straight to pull within one at 24-23, but a Rui Liu kill gave the set to the Cardinals. Landi led the Cardinals with eight kills with Liu adding three.
The Cardinals were down 12-6 in the fourth set but slowly chipped away at the lead to come within one at 22-21 and then went on to stave off match point twice. A kill by Alyssa Hilby gave the set and match to the Volunteers.
