University of Louisville
Notre Dame
Volleyball Edged by Irish
November 09, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
Maya McClendon's 14 kills, 10 digs and three blocks were not enough as the University of Louisville fell 3-2 to Notre Dame in ACC volleyball action Sunday afternoon in South Bend.
The Cards took a two set lead in the set but the Irish used aggressive serving to keep the Cards out of system, tallying eight aces and notched 63 kills despite hitting just .190. The Irish are now 6-18 and 3-10 in the ACC. The Cards fall to 6-7 in the league and are 14-11 overall. UofL got 13 kills and five blocks from Janelle Jenkins and 11 kills and five blocks from Tess Clark. The Irish were led by Nicole Smith's 18 kills. Natalie Johnson had three aces. UofL setter Katie George had 47 assists and six kills despite hurting her wrist early in the match.
The two teams stayed close early in the first set but after tying at 13, UofL outscored the Irish 12-3 using .500 hitting for the 25-16 win. UofL was led by Maya McClendon's five kills. UofL had three blocks and outdug the Irish 11-6.
"A consistent theme for us is not having strong serve receive," said UofL head coach Anne Kordes. "I credit Notre Dame for changing their lineup and going after us. Katie George went down with an injury in the second set and she powered through the rest of the match in one of the guttiest performances of the year, playing three sets hurt. I am disappointed that we couldn't close it out after being up two sets. There was a moment in the third set when we had back to back service errors and then Notre Dame went on a run and we couldn't get the momentum back. We can't breathe life into the other team with unforced errors."
In the second set, the Cards were down 5-2 early and then went on an 8-1 spree to go up 10-6 and spark an Irish timeout. The momentum did not swing back but Notre Dame was able to get within four at 16-12 when Louisville native Jeni Houser had two kills and an ace. The Cards answered with five straight and forced the Irish to used their last timeout. Down 22-14, Notre Dame did manage three straight before falling 25-17. UofL outhit the Irish .317 to .041 and were out-blocked 3-0.
In the third set, Notre Dame hitting heated up to .395 and the Irish got their first two blocks of the day in a set that had 15 ties and four lead changes. Tied at 15, the Irish cobbled together four straight points and sparked a Louisville time out up 19-15. The Cards tied at 19 powered by two Tess Clark kills and a Katie George ace. After Notre Dame called timeout, the Irish outscored the Cards 6-2 for the 25-23 win to force a fourth set.
In the fourth set, UofL used a 5-0 run to go up 16-14 and then traded points with the Irish. Tied at 21, the Irish outscored the Cards 4-1 down the homestretch for the 25-22 win. Both teams were not hitting well as ND posted a .136 percentage to UofL's .111 but four service aces by the Irish made the difference.
In the final set, the Cards were down 9-5 but tied at 10. The Irish answered with two straight to go up but committed a service error. After a disputed call to put the Irish up 13-11, a block by Tara Gowan and Tess Clark brought the Cards within one . The Irish scored again and Janelle Jenkins had a kill to make it 14-13 but a kill by Houser gave the Irish the match.
The Cards stay on the road with a matchup against Clemson on Friday and at Wake Forest on Saturday both at 7 p.m.
