By Catherine Laroche
If the College of Southern Idaho volleyball program has any regrets, it is probably not giving University of Louisville newcomer any playing time as a freshman.
Since the Cardinals have given her a chance on the court she has contributed greatly to the team’s success. Against West Virginia, she came off the bench to hit .455 and total 13 kills. When Louisville took on the Panthers of Pittsburgh, Tatyana Kolesnikova hit .286, notched 13 kills and posted five service aces. Against both teams, she hit .360 and collected a combined 26 kills; garnering a Rookie of the Week honor for the third time this year.
“It feels great,” Kolesnikova said. “It was the first honor I received since coming to the United States.”
If Kolesnikova didn’t take up volleyball when she was just six years old in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, there’s a possibility that she wouldn’t be enjoying these wonderful honors. Growing up, unlike most athletes who play numerous sports, she dedicated all of her time to one sport, volleyball.
Throughout her junior career of volleyball she was coached by her father, Mihail Kolesnikova. She earned the Most Valuable Player award at the 2001 Junior National Championship and was Uzbekistan’s National Player of the year in 2002. She was named best hitter in 2002 and 2003 at the women’s national championship.
With all of those accolades, it would be hard for Louisville volleyball coach Leonid Yelin to pass up Kolesnikova.
“I think as a freshman, she is doing a good job and making adjustments,” Yelin said. “She’s a very good athlete. She’s very well using her quickness and strength. She’s accomplished a lot in this short period of time, but I think as time goes on she will show she will be better.”
Kolesnikova has no regrets in her decision to attend the University of Louisville. If it wasn’t for her father and Yelin, she probably wouldn’t have taken the opportunity to play for the Cardinals. Her teammates have helped her transition to U of L go much smoother.
“In U of L, I play with my team side by side,” Kolesnikova said. “All the girls are great people. We get along well together, which makes things much easier and comfortable when I am on the court. Coach also helps me which makes things easier considering I am so far away from home and my family.”
In the short time that Kolesnikova has been a Cardinal, she has already learned plenty from her team and coach. She said that Yelin is very qualified as a coach and knows exactly what he wants. She also said that her teammates have taught her how to work better as a team and they help each other on the court and in real life.
Kolesnikova said that in her remaining years at U of L she hopes to continue doing her best as a student and as an athlete.
With the regular season steadily coming to an end and the post-season just around the corner, the Louisville Cardinals are hoping to finish off the regular season on a high note and carry that success into the post-season.
“Our expectations really didn’t change from pre-season,” Yelin said. “The goal we have every year is to get to the final four. We are working so hard. How far we go is going to be based on the performance of our players on the court. Our philosophy is we have everything in our hands, we give everything and that’s how far we will go.”
This year’s Cardinal team is much younger than past successful Louisville volleyball teams. With several new faces on the team, the Cards have had to switch the line-up several times. Yelin says that he has been trying to see which line-up works best for the team.
“Finally, we are starting to get it together as a team,” Yelin said. “It looks like now people make necessary adjustments and play better. Hopefully we can continue improving in the last two weeks.”
Yelin hopes that the Cards improve on their ball control in the final two weeks of the regular season. He said when the team uses good ball control then they can take advantage of their size and athletic ability.
Over the weekend Kolesnikova and company finished up the Big East regular season sweeping both South Florida and Georgetown. Kolesnikova paced the Cards on both days combining for 15 digs, 23 kills, six blocks and one ace.
The Cards finish out the season on a 12-game winning streak, with 11 of the 12 wins coming against Big East teams. With a 20-6 record (31-1) they will now prepare for the Big East tournament this weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio with the number two seed. After next weekend Yelin and company have two games for the Thanksgiving Classic at Cardinal arena and then look towards a possible berth in the NCAA tournament.
