University of Louisville
PITTSBURGH
Volleyball Falls 3-1 to Pitt
October 23, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 23, 2011
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kiesha Leggs had 24 kills to lead the University of Pittsburgh to a 3-1 upset of the University of Louisville, snapping the Cardinals' eight match unbeaten streak in BIG EAST volleyball action Sunday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Arena.
"The team effort was not there today," said Anne Kordes, U of L head coach said. "There have been times this year where I have been as proud as I can be of these kids and today was a disappointment. However, I believe in my coaches and my girls and we will work hard to get out of this hole."
Trailing early in the first set, Pitt took its first lead at 14-13 after a 3-0 run. U of L did not regain it until Lola Arslanbekova had two straight kills to go up 19-17 and force a Pitt timeout. In all, U of L went 9-3 down the stretch for the 25-21 win. The Cards hit .263 to Pitt's .049 and edged the Panthers in blocking 3-1. Arslanbekova led with five kills.
Pitt used a 7-0 run in the second set to go up 10-4 forcing Kordes to burn both timeouts. The Cards chipped away at the Panther lead, coming within three at 19-16 and Pitt called its final timeout to try to quell momentum. The ploy worked as Pitt went 6-3 down the stretch for the win 25-19 win. Arslanbekova led with six kills but hit just an uncharacteristic .062 as Pitt keyed their block on her.
After trailing the entire third set, U of L came back to tie at 19 and then took its first lead at 21-20 on a block by Tanya Lukyanenko. Pitt scrambled back to tie at 23 but a service error by Kiesha Leggs gave U of L set point. The Cards were then called for illegal contact to tie the score at 24. Arslanbekova hit into the net to give Pitt set point with the Panthers winning when Kaitlynn James was blocked for set point. Pitt used .356 hitting and had three aces to help its cause.
After trailing by as many as six, Pitt put together a 5-0 run to tie at 13 but scored 10 of the next 13 points to take a 19-16 lead and run the Cards out of timeouts. Down 22-17, the Cardinals score three straight and Pitt called timeout at 22-20. Monica Wignot scored for the Panthers and then blocked Brooke Mattingly to reach match point. Wignot put down the winner for Pitt.
The Cards are idle until they travel to Tampa to play USF this Friday at 7 p.m.
