By Catherine Laroche

“Our team goal is always to be better than we have been in the past,” University of Louisville volleyball coach Leonid Yelin said.

Considering last season’s successful tournament run, this could be a tough goal to accomplish. Before exiting the first round of the NCAA tournament last season, the Cardinals were named the 2006 Big East Regular Season Runners-Up and the 2006 Big East Tournament Champions.

They also finished the season with an impressive 25-7 record. Defensively, the Cards were blocking machines as they were ranked No. 7 in the nation in blocking with 3.45 blocks per game.

Individually, former Cardinal Ana Yartseva Stewart and sophomore outside hitter Tatyana Kolesnikova enjoyed conference recognition as Stewart was named Big East Player of the Year, while Kolesnikova grabbed Big East Rookie of the Year honors.

“We didn’t finish as far as we wanted to,” sophomore setter Samantha Dabbs said. “So, I think this year we’re pushing through different obstacles to get over because we do want to do better than we did last year.”

Those obstacles include defeating top 25 teams such as the University of Hawaii, the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Nebraska on the road, during the preseason. At home, the Cardinals will host non-conference opponents Eastern Kentucky University and the University of Tennessee.

“The preseason schedule is another tough one,” Dabbs said. “It’s really good for us to have a tough preseason because that just sets us up where we need to work at and get better at for conference.”

Sept. 8 is marked on most of the Cardinals’ calendars as they will get the opportunity to take down No. 1 Nebraska. Last season, the Cards fell to the Huskers 13-30, 24-30 and 13-30.

“Just giving them a game or showing up against them and playing well, beating them or whatever we can do will just be amazing,” Dabbs said. “Last year, we didn’t know what to expect and they killed us. So, that’s what were looking forward to. At least just give them a game.”

The Cardinals believe that their strength on defense is going to win them many games. Defensively, they’ll be getting much help from freshman libero Lindsey Mango, who is a two-time All-American that assisted her club team and AAU team in winning national championships this summer.

Junior libero Kristie Wetterer is stepping up as the team’s defensive specialist.

“We’ve never had this amazing defense,” Dabbs said. “Everyone’s just learning how to play the defensive role that Coach [Yelin] wants us to play. I think defense is what’s going to help us win more games than last year.”

The Cards will also get help from senior middle blocker Svetlana Dukule and setter Elena Pilnikova.

“Our senior class has two Sweet Sixteens and three conference championships under their belts,” Yelin said. “Dukule is one of the better blockers to ever attend the University of Louisville. Pilnikova has an incredible work ethic and versatility.”

The Cardinals return four juniors in middle blocker Rui Liu, outside hitter/middle blocker Jana Matiasova, Kolesnikova and Wetterer.

Lui came to U of L as a blocking middle and has turned into an excellent all-around player. Matiasova continues to get healthy and bounce back from a foot injury that caused her to miss the Cards last 13 games last season.

The sophomore class earned the highest ranking ever for a Cardinal recruiting class, and made an immediate impact as freshmen.

Right side Justine Landi, middle blocker Lecia Brown and Dabbs are looking to put their experience from last year into good use. Dabbs took on the majority of the setting chores, while Brown became a blocking force at the net.

Landi, whose skill set includes a powerful serve and strong blocking, was named the MVP as a member of the USA A2 Junior National team in an international tournament.

Cardinal fans will get the opportunity to check out new faces in outside hitter Katharina Gaertner, Anastasia Artemeva and Mango. Gaertner is the tallest volleyball player to ever put on a Cardinal uniform at 6-foot-8.

“We have a wonderful team,” Yelin said. “[They’re] great kids, great students, great athletes. We would like people to come and we will prove that [the Cardinals] are even better than what I said.”

Kolesnikova and Dabbs received preseason honors from the Big East. Kolesnikova was named the 2007 preseason Player of the Year, while Dabbs was named to the All-Big East preseason team.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” Yelin said. “I hope they’re going to step up to the expectations people have from our conference.”