Volleyball Draws Middle Tennessee In NCAA First Round at Purdue
November 28, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 28, 2010
The University of Louisville volleyball team will make its 21st NCAA appearance in the 30th annual NCAA Volleyball Championship and 13th straight appearance on Friday, Dec. 3 the NCAA Selection Committee announced on Sunday. The Cardinals (22-7) will be traveling to Purdue and will face off against Sun Belt Champion Middle Tennessee State University (29-5) at 5 p.m.
Louisville will be looking for their first NCAA Tournament victory since 2005 when they made a run to the Sweet 16 defeating Western Kentucky and Maryland in the process. Should the Cardinals advance, they will meet the winner of Purdue/Kentucky, two teams they have faced already this season.
"Middle Tennessee plays a different style than we do, however, it is similar to the style that many BIG EAST opponents play," said U of L coach Leonid Yelin. "We are familiar with every team in our bracket, drawing MTSU in three of the lasts five NCAAs. We have already played Purdue and Kentucky early in the season which means our young team, which sometimes as three freshmen on the court at once, will not have to face the unknown."
The NCAA awarded 31 automatic qualifiers from conferences and filled the remaining 33 slots with at-large selections to complete the bracket. The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and placed within four regions. The teams tabbed as the top four seeds were No. 1 University of Florida; No. 2 University of Nebraska, Lincoln; No. 3 Stanford University; and No. 4 Pennsylvania State University. The established bracketing principles of non-conference first- and second-round matchups were followed and team pairings were determined by geographical proximity.
"I also like that our bracket has strong teams but does not necessarily have a prohibitive favorite," said Yelin. "It makes for wide open play when everyone feels that they have a chance."
Louisville is led by their blocking attack which ranks sixth nationally in matches through Nov. 27. Amanda Simmons ranks 16th nationally and first in the BIG EAST with 1.35 blocks per set. Teammate Gwen Rucker ranks right behind her with 1.22 blocks per set, good for second in the BIG EAST Conference. Offensively, Louisville is led by All-BIG EAST First Teamer Lola Arslanbekova who has recorded 421 kills on the season and has posted eight double-doubles. Freshman Emily Juhl also leads the Louisville attack with 290 kills and was named the MVP of the BIG EAST Tournament. Freshman Libero Caitlin Welch leads the Louisville defense with 3.85 digs per set. Middle Tennessee State University ranks 10th in the nation with a .290 hitting percentage overall. Lindsey Cheatham paces Middle Tennessee State University with a .390 hitting percentage while Izabela Kozon checks in with a .293 hitting percentage and 4.05 kills per set, good for 33rd nationally. Kozon also averages 4.49 points per set.
Louisville is even in the series with Middle Tennessee winning at 3-3. Louisville and Middle Tennessee State University last faced off in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament, hosted by the University of Louisville. Middle Tennessee took the five set decision 28-30, 30-18, 23-30, 30-27, 12-15. Svetlana Dukule recorded 21 kills in the last match while hitting .367. Lecia Brown added 17 kills for the Cardinals, while current Cardinal Lindsey Mango notched nine digs. Middle Tennessee also defeated Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Volleyball Championship. Mango is the only Cardinal to have face MTSU, as U of L's other senior, Amanda Simmons, transferred in from Hawai'i in 2009.
Purdue (21-10) and Kentucky (17-13) face off in the other first round match in West Lafayette. The winners of the first two rounds face off on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. with the winner advancing to regional competition in Austin, Texas on Dec. 10-11.
IF YOU GO:ALL SESSION ADULT (PRIME-Chair back seats) - $14.00ALL SESSION STUDENT (PRIME - Chair back seats)) - $10.00ALL SESSION ADULT (MAIN) - $12.00ALL SESSION STUDENT (MAIN) - $8.00SINGLE SESSION ADULT - $9.00SINGLE SESSION STUDENT - $6.00* Student - (ages 3 - college)** Single Session tickets will go on sale Friday, Dec. 3rd at 9am (Eastern time).
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