By Matt Bradshaw–

After falling 3-0 to Illinois in the Cardinal Classic, volleyball (3-3) traveled to Las Vegas and bounced back to beat UC Irvine 3-0. The Cardinals had close competition with the previously undefeated Anteaters, but ended up winning three straight sets to take the match (25-20, 25-17, 25-20).

Louisville’s superior play at the net with both hitting and blocking carried them to the victory. The Cards had eight blocks to UC Irvine’s one and lead in hitting percentage. Louisville passed the ball around much better than UC Irvine as well, with there being seven Cardinal errors to 23 Anteater ones.

Melanie McHenry led the team with 10 kills and four blocks. Tess Clark added eight kills and two blocks. Both hitters are starting off the season strong with 60 kills for Clark and 52 for McHenry.

Molly Sauer led the Cards with 13 digs, upping her total to 68 on the season.

Volleyball now has two more matches left in Las Vegas in the UNLV challenge. They will take on Weber State tonight and finish out with the host team UNLV tomorrow. After the challenge in Las Vegas, the Cardinals have a six-day break before traveling to Lexington to face thirteenth-ranked Kentucky.

Louisville has already faced three ranked opponents on their schedule, but it will be tough going against Kentucky with their home court advantage. The Cardinals beat WKU at home, ranked no. 23, but lost to no. 1 Minnesota and no. 6 Wisconsin away at the beginning of the season.

“Our saying is ‘win or learn’ so if we don’t win we have to learn from it,” said coach Dani Kelly.

You can follow Matt Bradshaw on Twitter @bradmatt8