University of Louisville
Cincinnati
Volleyball Captures Third-Straight BIG EAST Championship
November 21, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 21, 2010
PITTSBURGH, Pa.- BIG EAST Tournament MVP Emily Juhl had 13 kills, hitting .565 and scorching home three aces to lead the University of Louisville to a 25-20, 25-20, 25-15 sweep of top-seeded Cincinnati and take the 2010 BIG EAST Tournament crown and the automatic NCAA bid.
"We stayed in our game plan almost perfectly, with no mental break," said Leonid Yelin. "I am very proud of this young team, I could not ask any more from them. It was just a great match."
U of L hit .393 with 43 kills and six kills and 11 blocks enroute to their fourth tournament crown. Gwen Rucker, Emily Juhl and Lola Arslanbekova were named All-Tournament. UC was led by Stephanie Niemer who had 14 kills and 8 digs.
In the first set, the Cards built a tentative lead early at 14-10 but had their hands full holding off the BIG EAST regular season champs. But while the Bearcats challenged, U of L never relinquished the lead and U of L scored three straight in the end for the 25-20 win. The Cardinals hit .400 and Emily Juhl and Lola Arslanbekova each had four kills.
In the second set, U of L fell behind early. Down three at 10-7, the Cardinals went on a 5-0 run to take the lead at 12-10. Emily Juhl had six straight kills and two consecutive aces to put the Cards up 20-14. With no time outs left, UC had to rely on BIG EAST Player of the Year Stephanie Niemer to spark the Bearcats and she responded with three kills in a 6-2 run. It was too little, too late, as the Cardinals capitalized on two UC miscues and a kill by Juhl for the 25-20 win. Juhl had seven kills and no errors on 10 swings. The Cards hit .314 as a team and had four blocks.
The Cards started the third set with strong serving, acing the Bearcats three times in the first eight points to take a 8-3 and force UC coach Reed Sunahara to call a timeout. U of L continued applying pressure and went on a 6-1 run and Sunahara had to use his last time out to regroup at 12-4. After U of L continued to roll to 22-10, UC dug its heels in and scored six of the next seven points. Yelin called time out and Arslanbekova cracked two straight to get to match point at 24-15. Gwen Rucker tipped the final point home.
