By Noah Allison–
Louisville volleyball fell to the Duke Blue Devils in three sets Friday night, bringing U of L’s overall record to 15-13, 8-7 in the ACC.
Louisville lost 25-15 in the first set and 25-12 in the second. Coming out of the break Louisville took an early lead in the third set, it was a back and forth battle that ended 34-32 in Duke’s favor.
“Everything was about forcing them to make some errors, they were flawless in the first two sets so it was hard to defend against that. I’m really proud of their fight, trying really hard to extend the match, they showed some heart,” head coach Anne Kordes said. “Duke is a really good team and they beat us today but we are not satisfied with that at all.”
With the Louisville’s starting libero Roxanne McVey sitting out with injury, the team had to rally around freshman Gabbie Wiley while she made her first start of the season.
“Gabbie did a heck of a job, its not an easy position to step in and play last minute, she’s got a lot of heart and I think she was more worried about pleasing everybody else,” Kordes said. “It makes everybody happy the way she fights and the way she plays so she did a great job.”
Wiley had 14 digs throughout the match and two assists.
Junior setter Katie George led Louisville with 33 assists. Sophomore outside hitters Maya McClendon and Janelle Jenkins each had 11 kills to lead the Cards. Jenkins also had 14 digs while McClendon had 11.
“The position that we have placed ourselves in the season we just wanted to play hard,” Jenkins said. “We know that our time is limited together as our season is dwindling down but at the same time we have to fight hard for each other.”
U of L has two more matches this season. The next is Sunday at 12:00 pm against the University of North Carolina.
