University of Louisville
TENNESSEE
Volleyball Tipped by No. 16 Tennessee
November 02, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 2, 2011
Lola Arslanbekova had 14 kills and five blocks in a losing cause as the University of Louisville volleyball team fell 3-0 to No. 16-ranked Tennessee Wednesday night in the KFC Yum! Center.
UT improves to 21-3 with the 25-23, 25-21, 25-19 win. U of L drops to 17-7 and returns to conference play Saturday when Syracuse visits at 2 p.m. at the KFC Yum! Center.
"They had ten more digs than us and that was the difference in the match because we outblocked them," said U of L head coach Anne Kordes. "We need to be more consistent and aggressive on defense. UT is a heck of a team and by far the biggest team we have played so far. Lola had a great game with 14 kills and five blocks."
Emily Juhl joined Arslanbekova in double digit kills with 10, adding an ace and four digs. Caitlin Welch had 12 digs and setter Taylor Brauneis had 32 assists. UT was led by Kelsey Robinson's 17 kills and six digs.
There was a tug-of-war in the first set with 21 ties and ten lead changes and neither team able to lead by more than two points. When the Vols scored two straight on two Cardinal errors, Kordes called timeout at 17-15 and her Cards answered with two straight to tie at 17. The teams traded points tying at 22 on one of Emily Juhl's six kills in the set. UT scored on a kill by Tiffany Baker but U of L's Kaitlynn James answered with a kill to tie at 23. Shealyn Kolosky scored for the set point and the Cardinals were aced for set point, falling 25-23. Both teams had a hot hitting hands, with U of L posting a .400 percentage to UT's .455 with both teams notching a block apiece.
UT used two 5-1 runs in the second to keep a hard-charging Cardinal squad from taking advantage of a 13-10 lead. U of L hitting cooled to .135 and UT was able to take the set 25-21.
In the third set, UT slipped out to an 8-4 lead and forced an early U of L timeout. Although the Cards ran off three straight points to pull within three at 9-6, UT answered with two straight to go 11-6 and force Kordes to burn her final timeout. The Lady Vols continued to pull away and escaped the KFC Yum! Center with a 25-19 win.
The Cardinals also have a match on Sunday as Marquette, the only unbeaten team in the BIG EAST, visits at 2 p.m. at the KFC Yum! Center.
