By Matt Bradshaw —
In their first loss since Sept. 24, volleyball (13-6, 7-2) was downed by Miami 3-1 Oct. 20 (25-21, 21-25, 26-24, 25-14). Miami outside hitter Olga Strantzali had a school record 33 kills and the Canes aced nine times to contribute to the Cardinals’ defeat.
This win was a payback of sorts for Miami, after being swept by Louisville Oct. 1 at Cardinal Arena. Adding to the payback, this loss broke Louisville’s six game winning streak. The Cardinals have not had a longer run since 2015, when they won 10 in a row.
Melanie McHenry led the team in kills with 13. Amanda Green killed 12 with four blocks. Senior Tess Clark killed 11 and hit .360 for the game.
In the first set, Miami powered to a close win with a .452 hitting percentage. Louisville kept up with solid play at the net and smooth serving from Wilma Rivera, but less kills and more errors ended up costing them the game 25-21.
Louisville started out the second set looking like a new team, leading 9-3. The rest of the game was mostly the Cardinals attempting to hold back the Canes. Miami came within three at 22-19, and Louisville made things worse with two service errors. Somehow, the Cardinals held on and a McHenry kill won the set 25-21.
The third set was high in intensity as both teams struggled to go ahead 2-1. Louisville had the upper hand in kills and only one error to Miami’s seven. This did not matter in the end ,as Miami’s Strantzali took control of the game with 11 kills and an ace. The Cardinals were down 21-15 and managed an 8-4 run, but Miami took the set 26-24.
The Canes kept up their momentum from the previous set and took a 6-1 lead in the fourth, later blowing ahead with a 9-1 run. The Cardinals were unable to string together a comeback with a slew of errors and low hitting percentage. Miami took the set and match 25-14.
File photo / The Louisville Cardinal
