By Benjamin Lampkin & Pk Bartley
Cardinals share C-USA title with win over South Florida
By Benjamin Lampkin
& PK Bartley
Cardinal Staff
The University of Louisville volleyball team put an emphatic stamp on the final home contest of the season, defeating conference foe South Florida 3-1 Saturday night to claim a share of the Conference USA title for the 2002 season. They did so in front of a standing-room-only record crowd of 1,047 fans in Cardinal Arena, who witnessed the final home performances of seniors Sarah Drury and Stacey Mercer.
After an emotional ceremony honoring Drury and Mercer, the Cards jumped out to a 6-2 lead in game one at the hand of Bing Sun, who notched two kills. However, the Bulls proved their mettle early, coming back to take the lead at 7-8 and riding the strength of powerful hitter Michele Collier. The Bulls hit .208 in the opening game with 21 total kills, the highest one-game total on the night for either team. U of L was unable to match the hitting of South Florida, falling 26-30 in the opening game.
Not wanting to fall behind 0-2 before the intermission, the duo of Sun and Lena Ustymenko, in her second game since returning from a wrist injury, carried the bulk of the U of L offense. Though the two teams would stay tied or within mere points of each other throughout the early portions of the game, the Cards were able to pull ahead after a late timeout to clinch a 30-23 win.
The Cardinals came out of the break on a hot streak, leading 5-0. South Florida then called a timeout, which did the Bulls some good, as they reeled off three straight points to climb back into the game. Anastasia Zaitseva and Benny Flynn chipped in a few kills of their own, helping the Cards to a slight 11-7 lead. With the score notched at 15, the Cards went on a 6-2 run, capped by four straight points from Sun and Ustymenko.
“It was an awesome match,” said U of L head coach Leonid Yelin. “The crowd got to see the two players fighting for the Conference USA MVP. Michele Collier and Bing Sun were putting on a clinic. Neither would give an inch.”
A run by the Bulls forced U of L to use a timeout, and the Cards came back with three straight points to take a 29-26 lead. South Florida hung around longer than expected, getting three straight points of their own and forcing a few minutes of bonus action. The Cardinals were ultimately able to fight off the Bulls and get the 34-32 win.
Game four saw South Florida take an early 2-4 lead. Setter Alessandra Domingos was pinpoint with her passing, setting up Collier, Shameka Mitchell, and Jolene Patton with excellent scoring opportunities. However, U of L’s blocking more than held its own; they totaled 15 team blocks on the evening.
A great save from Candace Cogan triggered a score that put the Cards up 15-11 midway through the game. Another Bulls run tied the score at 18, and after falling behind, U of L called a timeout. Four straight Cardinal points, including a pair of kills from Mercer, gave U of L the lead for good, capped by a huge block at the end that gave the Cards a 30-26 win and a 3-1 match victory.
The win put the Cards’ single-season record at 23-4, with a 12-1 C-USA record that was matched by South Florida. The two teams will share the conference title, but Saturday’s head-to-head win gives the Cardinals the #1 seed for the conference tournament, which starts next Friday in Chicago.
The Cards may also see themselves passing South Florida for the #1 seed in the Midwest region, giving them a shot at hosting the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.
On Friday night, U of L hosted UAB. The Lady Cards got off to a great start, pulling out to a 10-5 lead in the first game. UAB went on a run to close the gap to 12-8. After that, Louisville kicked into high gear and won the game 30-14. Sophomore hitter Sun led the way with five kills.
“Now’s the time to step up,” said Flynn. “Now is when you put everything on the line. This is where we’re supposed to peak.”
In the second game, U of L came out and took command, leading 9-3 before UAB went on a run of their own to cut into that lead, making it 12-8.
However, UAB was simply overmatched. Louisville got to nearly every ball that was hit to their side of the net. The Blazers kept shooting themselves in the foot by getting service errors and net violation calls. U of L won the second game easily, 30-16.
Facing a sweep, UAB started out the third set playing very aggressively and kept the score close for much of the set. However, with the score 14-8, the Cards went on a 8-3 run to put the game, as well as the match, away, winning 30-15.
