By By Mitch Streufert

In front of a Cardinal Arena record crowd of 1,270 fans, the Louisville Cardinals upset the 16th ranked Kentucky Wildcats in a grueling five-set match Wednesday night. The contest was the first meeting between the rivals in more than three years, and arguably the best match of the year so far for both squads. The Cards took the match 25-19, 23-25, 25-16, 22-25, 16-14, moving the Cardinals record to 7-3 for the season.

Louisville handed the Wildcats their first loss of the season, dropping them to 10-1 for the season. The Cards hit .324, and out-blocked Kentucky 21-6 in match, while UK only hit .256. Freshman Lola Arslanbekova, who recorded her third straight match with 20 or more kills, led the attacking for the Cards. Senior Justine Landi led a balanced attack with 18 kills and seven blocks. Senior setter Kimi Hohl led the Cards in assists with a season high of 50 for the match. The head coach of the Cards, Leonid Yelin, was very happy with the way his team performed; he was especially pleased with freshman Lola Arslanbekova.

“I’ve never had a freshman like Lola come in and, right off the bat, carry a team offensively like she has done,” Coach Yelin said. “I couldn’t be more pleased with the way she has performed.”

Another huge factor in the game was the enthusiasm of the crowd, led by the Louisville men’s swim team. Throughout the entire contest, the swim team, in only their Speedos, led numerous Cards cheers. At several points in the match, the crowd was so enthusiastic that hearing the person next to you was a challenge. This factor gave the Cards a huge advantage against the Wildcats.

Coach Yelin was ecstatic with the turnout and the atmosphere of the arena.

“It’s unbelievable,” Yelin said. “This is what makes people who love volleyball happy. These girls deserve an atmosphere like this.”

Junior defensive specialist Lindsey Mango led the Cards, with 14 digs. Mango appreciated the atmosphere in Cardinal Arena Wednesday night.

“It was great having so many fans here,” Mango said. “It was so helpful for the team to look around and see all the fans cheering us on. We would have felt like we had let the crowd down if we hadn’t pulled it out, but luckily we made some big plays at the right moments.”

The Cards will celebrate this win, and rightfully so. But they will have to gear up for more challenges ahead. On Friday, Sept. 18 the Cards travel north to West Lafayette, Indiana to play in the Purdue Active Ankle Challenge. Louisville will face two tough Big 10 opponents in Illinois (6-1) and Purdue (6-3).

Coach Yelin is confident his team will be ready for the challenge.

“We took some big steps tonight,” said Yelin. “We started to believe in ourselves; and it showed on the court. Later in the season we will look back on this game and know we can claw out a victory if we want it bad enough.”