Letcher Paces Blue Demons in 3-1 Loss at Louisville
10/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
LOUISVILLE -- The DePaul volleyball team pushed Louisville to four sets, but it was the Cardinals who flew away with a 3-1 (25-16, 16-25, 25-23, 25-15) BIG EAST Conference victory, Sunday at the Cardinal Arena. Louisville improves to 6-8 and 2-2 in league play, while the Blue Demons fall to 1-15, 0-4 in conference action.
Louisville’s defense at the net was the difference as the top-blocking team in the conference tallied 14 blocks in the victory. League-leader Lecia Brown tallied nine block assists to go with her eight kills for the Cardinals. For the match Louisville tallied 50 kills for a .242 attack percentage, while Justine Landi paced all players with 22 kills.
Both Sarah Cullen and Jacie Fiedler finished in double-digit kill totals for the Blue Demons. Cullen paced DePaul with 15 kills, while Fiedler collected 11. Kate Letcher led the team with .417 (7-2-12) clip, while the Blue Demons managed a .106 attack percentage for the match.
After DePaul jumped out to a 5-3 advantage in the first set; Louisville settled into it offense and tied the set three times before taking an 8-7 lead on a Blue Demon attack error. Louisville used 15 kills, including six by Landi, to take the set 25-16.
The Blue Demons were a different team in the second set as 3-3 tie turned into a 12-7 advantage. The 9-3 DePaul run was fueled by kills from Cullen, Letcher and Fiedler and was capped off with a service ace from Letcher. With a comfortable lead, DePaul terminated the ball well in the second frame as Fiedler accounted for four of the team’s 13 kills. The Blue Demons hit a match-high .333 in their 25-16 set two victory.
DePaul battled in the third stanza as the team was down by as many as six points before knotting the set at 23. Landi terminated the ball twice for the final points of the third set as Louisville won the third frame 25-23.
The Blue Demons were unable to find their offensive rhythm in final set as they hit a dismal -.103 and tallied just seven kills. Conversely, Louisville terminated 11 balls in its 25-15 set four win.
Fiedler paced the Blue Demons at the net with five block assists while Kyndell Highland tallied a team and season-high 12 digs.
The Blue Demons return to the court next weekend when they host Pittsburgh and West Virginia Oct. 11 and 12 in BIG EAST action at McGrath Arena. The Blue Demons and Panthers tangle on Saturday, while Mountaineers and DePaul square-off on Sunday. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. (CST).
Notes: Sophomore Jacie Fiedler has registered double-digit kill totals in 12 of the Blue Demons’ 16 matches... Fiedler has finished 27 career matches in double-digit kill totals... Sarah Cullen has 10 double-doubles (kills-digs) this season and 18 in her career...Cullen has finished the last 11 matches with double-digit kill totals... the Blue Demons have dropped their last 11 matches and last six (dating back to 2007) BIG EAST conference matches... although 1-15, the team has only lost four matches 3-0, while they have played nine, four set and three, five set matches... DePaul lone win is a 3-2 victory over James Madison on Sept. 6.