University of Louisville
Syracuse
Volleyball Advances in BIG EAST with Syracuse Sweep
November 21, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 21, 2008
Jana Matiasovska had 16 kills to lead the No. 3 seeded University of Louisville to a first round sweep of No. 6 Syracuse with a 29-27, 25-17, 26-24 win Friday evening at Fitzgerald Field House in Pittsburgh.
The Cardinals (16-10) advance to play the winner of the Cincinnati/Pitt match. Syracuse bows out with a final mark of 17-15. The Cardinals hit .217 for the match with Lecia Brown adding eight kills and Anastasia Artemeva coming off the bench to bounce seven and add three blocks. Louisville outblocked SU 8-6.
"It was a good first round match because we had to play hard and were challenged immediately," said U of L head coach Leonid Yelin. "Jana Matiasovska stepped up as we expected our seniors to do. We need that momentum to roll over to our next match."
The first set was a spirited tilt with neither team able to get any foothold on the other. It came down to the slightest of momentum as the Cardinals staved off game point three times to win 29-27. Noemie LeFebvre gave the Orange their final game point at 27-26 on a kill before Lecia Brown tied it back up on a kill from the middle, then LeFebvre had a miscue to give the Cards game point and Justine Landi's kill gave the game to the Cards. U of L hit a frosty .163, led by Lecia Brown's three kills and a block. Syracuse hit .214 and outblocked the Cards 3-2.
The Cardinals kept the momentum going in the second set by pulling out to a 13-7 lead early. A solo block by Lecia Brown sparked a 6-2 run that put SU down 18-9. After SU head coach Jing Pu called his final timeout, the Orange rallied a bit with three straight points, two coming from Sarah Morton to come within 18-12. However, the Orangewomen were not able to string together any more runs and the Cardinals posted a 25-17 win to take a 2-0 set lead into the lockerroom at the break. U of L hit .346 in that set led by Jana Matiasovska's five kills on nine attacks. U of L outblocked SU 4-2, led by Lecia Brown's two.
The Cardinals had the lead early in the deciding set but Syracuse tenaciously stayed within striking range and took its first lead at 16-15 on an error by Rui Liu. The Cardinals did not regain the lead until 24-23 on the first of three straight Jana Matiasovska's kills that gave the Cardinals first round win.
