Volleyball Travels to Georgia Tech Courtyard Classic
August 25, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 25, 2011
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A new chapter in the storied history of the University of Louisville volleyball program officially opens up on Friday afternoon in Anne Korde's first game as head coach of the program. The Cardinals face off against Tennessee Tech at 4:30 p.m. in the Georgia Tech Courtyard Classic. Louisville plays Kansas State on Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. before taking on host Georgia Tech at 7 p.m.
Louisville was picked to capture the BIG EAST regular season title and has won the conference tournament in each of the last three seasons. Junior outside hitter Lola Arslanbekova was tabbed as the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year and was a unanimous selection to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Joining Arslanbekova on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team were sophomore outside hitter Emily Juhl, the 2010 BIG EAST Tournament MVP, and senior middle blocker Gwen Rucker. Rucker was also named to Cobra Magazine's All-Preseason National Second Team.
Korde's inherits a storied program which returns five starters and nine letter winners from last season. Rapidly closing in on 150 career wins, Kordes will continue to add wins to her excellent record and looks to lead her Cards to another BIG EAST Championship and their 22nd NCAA appearance. In seven seasons at Saint Louis, Kordes led the Billiken volleyball program to unparalleled success, including three NCAA Tournament appearances. Her squad was selected as the "All-Sports Trophy Champion" as the top I-AAA women's volleyball program in the country by the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association in 2008. Individually, she is a three-time Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year, and in 2008 she garnered CVU.com (Collegiate Volleyball Update) National and AVCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year plaudits.
Louisville enters action with a 6-0 mark against Tennessee Tech. The Cardinals and Golden Eagles last squared off in Cardinal Arena on Sept. 11, 2009 a 3-1 win by the Cardinals. Then-freshman Lola Arslanbekova posted a double-double with 17 kills and 11 digs. Justine Landi added a double-double with 21 assists and 11 digs. Then-sophomore Gwen Rucker added nine blocks. Leah Meffert paced the Golden Eagles with 18 kills.
The Cardinals will be looking for their first win in program history against Kansas State. Louisville has dropped all three prior matches. The Cardinals and Wildcats last squared off in 2007 at the Hawai'ian Airlines Wahine Classic on Sept. 1. Jana Matiasovska led the Cardinals' attack with 10 kills while Kansas State's Natalya Korobkova led all attackers with 16.
Louisville and Georgia Tech square off in a rubber-match with the series tied at one match each. Georgia Tech captured the last meeting in 2002. Current director of operations Sarah Drury-Petkovic led the Cardinals with 21 digs while Bing Sun packed the attack with 11 kills. Georgia Tech's Lynnette Moster led all attackers with 24 kills.
Fans can follow the action through GameTracker on UofLSports.com.
