By Benjamin Lampkin
After coming within one point of losing their home opener toTennessee, the Cardinal Volleyball team dug deep to come away with the final twogames and take the match, 3-2. Tuesday night’s contest in Cardinal Arena foundthe Cardinals, while not at their technical best, showing their heart andcharacter in the comeback victory.
The Cardinals won the match 26-30, 30-27, 20-30, 33-31, 15-11, and now move to5-1 on the season.
The first game saw Tennessee capitalizing on 7 kills by Ariana Wilson andseveral Cards service errors to take the lead early. A furious rally brought theCards close, but Wilson’s kill gave Tennessee the first game.
With Jing Ding setting up Sonja Percan and Anastasia Zaitseva for 11 and 8kills, respectively, the Cards took the second game, 30-27. Although a netviolation negated a Percan kill to bring the Vols within four, the Cards quicklytook the game, ending with a block by Jing Ding.
Exchanging kills early in the third game, Tennessee utilized the serving ofKelli Scott, taking four straight points to overcome the Cards early lead. Afeverish rally by the Vols gave them the momentum, as they allowed onlyseven more Cardinal points the rest of the game, winning 30-20. The Volshit .467 with only two errors during the game, with seven kills by Wilson.
Back and forth the entire fourth game, the Cards found themselves within onepoint of losing the match at 28-29. But a ball error by Tennessee tied the scoreat 29, and kills by senior Lesley Drury and Percan gave the Cards the win 33-31.
“I did feel it [a momentum shift] but we never played well all match,” U of L headcoach Leonid Yelin said. “Tennessee played well, and we showed character and heart,and we didn’t quit.”
In the final game, the Cards jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back. Anearly ace by Sarah Drury set the tone, as the Vols never had an answer tokills by Benny Flynn, Lesley Drury, and two by Zaitseva. The raucous crowd inCardinal Arena stood to its feet as the final point fell in for the Cards.
“We were hoping to perform better for the fans,” an exhausted Sonja Percan said.”We played better against other teams (No. 5 Arizona, No. 19 Utah), and we’ve been morefocused. Hopefully we will build a team around a leader.”
The Cardinals travel to North Carolina this weekend to face Eastern Carolina andUNC Charlotte.
