University of Louisville
Georgia Tech
Volleyball Falls 3-2 to Georgia Tech
August 27, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 27, 2011
Emily Juhl had a career-high 17 kills and 10 digs and earned All-Tournament honors but her efforts fell short as the University of Louisville volleyball team fell 3-2 to host Georgia Tech in the finals of the Courtyard by Marriott Classic Saturday night in Atlanta.
"Give all credit to Georgia Tech. They heated up and we cooled down and couldn't quite get the momentum back," said Anne Kordes, U of L head coach. "Monique Mead is one of the best players in the country and she was playing out of her mind which makes it a tough situation for us. That was one of the most outstanding performances that I have ever seen in Division I volleyball. But you know, we are going to see a lot of players like Monique and we have to learn to fight through it."
The Cards cruised to two easy wins in the first two sets but had no answer for GT's Monique Mead, who had 30 kills and two aces to spark a Yellow Jacket comeback. U of L posts a 2-1 record with the 25-12, 25-15, 19-25, 21-25, 11-15 loss. Gwen Rucker joined Juhl on the All-Tournament team. Georgia Tech improves to 3-0.
U of L outhit GT .286 to .201 and outblocked them 10.5-6 but had 14 service errors. Four Cardinals had double digit kills with Brooke Mattingly notching a career high 12, Rucker adding 10 with eight blocks and Lola Arslanbekova pitching in 12 with two blocks. Taylor Brauneis had a career high 54 assists.
Kaitlynn James served for seven straight points to push U of L to a 13-5 lead in the first set. Georgia Tech burned both its timeouts by 19-8 to try to turn the tide to little avail as U of L went on a 6-2 run to close out the set. The Cards hit .560 in the set with Emily Juhl leading with five kills on eight swings. U of L notched three blocks and outdug the Yellow Jackets 12-8. Gwen Rucker hit .800 with four kills on five attacks and no errors.
In the second set, U of L powered to a 10-4 lead early and although U of L hitting cooled to .241, GT was frigid, hitting -.031. Setter Taylor Brauneis spread the offense with Emily Juhl, Lola Arslanbekova, Kaitlynn James and Emily Juhl all giving Tech fits. GT called its second and last timeout down 22-11 only to see the Cards benefit from GT miscues and a block by Brooke Mattingly for the 25-15 win.
Georgia Tech's Monique Mead came alive in the third set, scoring 11 kills and an ace to stave off the sweep with the 25-20 GT win. U of L was behind 14-8 at its first timeout but came back to within three when Lola Arslanbekova missed a serve to put U of L down 23-19. Emily Juhl was blocked for set point and Mead scored the winner. U of L hit a respectable .303, but GT had a hot hand connecting on .556 of its swings. Brooke Mattingly paced the Cards in the third with five kills.
The fourth set was a see-saw battle with GT going up 7-2 early and then U of L countering to tie at eight. The teams traded points before Tech went on a 4-0 run to go up 15-10 and force Kordes to call timeout. U of L regrouped and got to within one at 21-20 but a Mead kill, a miss by Mattingly and a service error by Arslanbekova tipped the set to Tech and forced a fifth game. Emily Juhl led the Cardinals with four kills. U of L was hampered by four service errors and was outhit .379 to .303 in a shootout.
In the final set, U of L fell behind 6-2 but then tied at eight on three straight kills by Lola Arslanbekova. The two teams pounded the ball back and forth in a set marked by long rallies. Three U of L errors put GT up 12-10 and while Gwen Rucker had a kill to come within one at 12-11, U of L could not punch through and fell 15-11.
Next up is the Cards' home opener against Ole Miss on Friday, Sept. 2 at 7:30 in Cardinal Arena.
