By Matt Bradshaw–
Volleyball fell to rival Kentucky 25-20, 26-24, 25-11 last week in Lexington, KY. They were impeded by a .092 hitting percentage and 12 service errors. The Wildcats hit .258 with nine blocks and 46 digs.
Wilma Rivera led the team with a double-double of 18 assists and 11 digs. Tess Clark posted eight kills and two blocks. Melanie McHenry had seven kills with an ace.
“We have to have short memories and move on,” said coach Dani Busboom Kelly. “I thought our offense looked really good at times and that was really good to see and we’ll build on that.”
After Kentucky, the team swept Kennesaw State University 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-20) this past Sunday, Sept. 17, at Cardinal Arena. It was a close match throughout and Louisville’s fourth sweep of the season.
McHenry had a strong performance in each set, posting 11 kills and eight digs. Clark added 12 kills and junior middle blocker Jasmine Bennett hit .455 with seven kills.
Louisville’s 10 aces were a big contributor in keeping their momentum going throughout the game.
“We took them out of their game, purely on serve, and that was awesome to see,” said coach Kelly.
With the victory over Kennesaw State, the Cardinals ended non-conference play 6-4. In their first 10 games, Louisville outkilled opponents 425-381.
McHenry leads the team with 112 kills, libero Molly Sauer leads with 124 digs and Senior Maddie DeJong controls the net with 36 blocks.
The Cardinals will commence Atlantic Coast Conference play this weekend with a pair of matches. They face Notre Dame on Friday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. at Cardinal Arena, then travel to North Carolina on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 1 p.m.
“We have Notre Dame on Friday and that will be our first ACC match,” said coach Kelly. “We’re looking forward to getting conference play going.”
The first 500 fans at Cardinal Arena on Friday will receive free ice cream cones. The match will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra and ESPN3.com.
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File photo / The Louisville Cardinal
