By Mitch Streufert

Wednesday, Sept. 1 in Lexington’s Memorial Coliseum, the University of Louisville volleyball team dropped a five-set match to the 16th-ranked University of Kentucky. UK took the match 3-2, with senior Lauren Rapp leading the Wildcats with 15 kills.

The match marked the second straight year the two squads went to five sets, with U of L winning in 2009 and UK in 2010.

Although the Cardinals had more kills and outblocked the Cats 22-15, UK was able to pull through with excellent defense and by outdigging the Cards. U of L jumped out to a one to nil lead after a 25-14 victory led by freshman outside hitter Emily Juhl, who had 12 kills in the match. UK responded by winning the next two sets, 25-19 and 25-22. U of L rallied in the fourth set with a 27-25 victory, after trailing 24-22 and facing three match points. In the fifth and final set, U of L stormed out to a 6-1 lead, but then faltered, letting UK go on to a 15-10 win with a 14-4 run.

Although the Cards didn’t get the outcome they had hoped for, head coach Leonid Yelin was happy with the way his team competed.

“It’s always hard to lose a match like that, and especially to Kentucky,” said Yelin. “It’s just how these things go. We won last year at our place. And they won at home this year. I’m just happy with the way we competed. Coming back in the fourth set tells you a lot about the character of this team.”

Junior middle hitter Gwen Rucker, who grew up in Lexington, said the loss was especially hard to swallow.

“I’m just really disappointed we couldn’t pull it out,” said Rucker.  “I feel bad for letting the coaches and fans down.  Hopefully we can make up for it in the weeks to come.”

Coming into the match with archrival Kentucky, the Cards had taken two matches in the Cardinal Classic, over the reigning Summit League and Mid-American Conference champions, North Dakota State University and Ohio University.

The Cards took down the Bison of North Dakota State Aug. 27 in Cardinal Arena, 3-1. Juhl led the Cards with 13 kills as U of L outkilled the Bison, 46-39.

On Sunday, Aug. 29 the Cards played a five-set match against the Bobcats of Ohio University, winning the match 3-2. Junior outside hitter Anastasia Artemeva led the Cards with 12 kills and Juhl again ranked high in the team statistics, with 11 of her own.

The 2-1 start to the season wasn’t what the Cards had planned, but according Artemeva, the Cards are pleased with themselves.

“Losing to UK…was hard, because we put so much into it,” said Artemeva. “But we won two really tough matches this past weekend, so it isn’t all bad. We know we can play better. And once Lola [Arslanbekova] gets healthy we will be a dangerous team.”

Since the loss to UK, the Cards have increased their record to 4-2. They traveled to Arizona for the Arizona Wildcat Classic. Playing three matches in two days was a tough test for the Cards, but, as Rucker predicted, the Cards were up for the challenge. They defeated California State University, Bakersfield 3-1, but then lost 3-2 to No. 24 the University of Arizona. The team rounded out the weekend with a 3-1 win against Butler University.

The Cards’ next match will be Sept. 10 against Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Their next home match will be part of the Big East/Big Ten Challenge, hosted in Cardinal Arena. They will play Purdue University on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. and the University of Illinois on Sept. 18 at 7 p.m.