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Nov. 6, 2009

Box Score

Lola Arslanbekova's 16 kills and .467 hitting was not enough to carry her team as the University of Louisville fell 25-14, 25-20, 25-21 at South Florida in BIG EAST volleyball action Friday night in Tampa.

U of L hit just .154 to USF's .320 and were outblocked for just the second time this season (9.5-5.0). The Cardinals fall to 14-10 and 7-4 in the BIG EAST. USF improves to 16-6 and 8-3 in the league. Gwen Rucker had four blocks for the Cards. The Bulls were paced by Marcela Gurgel, who had 18 kills and two blocks.

"They worked hard to make this a great home court advantage tonight," said U of L head coach Leonid Yelin. "This has always been a great rivalry going back as long as I can remember."

U of L fell behind early as the Bulls pulled out to a 5-0 lead and then added an 8-1 run later to put the set out of reach. The Bulls were hitting a torrid .355 led by Allie Boaz's five kills. U of L hit just .067 with Lola Arslanbekova putting together the only real offensive threat for the Cards with four kills on nine swings.

U of L came out stronger in the second set, with a 9-5 lead but struggled to keep the Bulls at bay. After coming back to tie at 17, USF outscored the Cardinals 8-3 down the stretch for the 25-20 win. Although the Cardinals' hitting percentage warmed to .280, USF was hitting .367 in front of a packed house for "Rowdy Crowd" night in the Corral. U of L was aced three times in that set.

In the final set, U of L was down 17-10 but scrambled back to tie at 21 on the strength of Arslanbekova's seven kills, however USF ran off four straight and took the set and match.

U of L travels to Georgetown to play on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Washington.