University of Louisville
Stephen F. Austin
Volleyball Sweeps Stephen F. Austin at Rice
September 19, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
U of L hit .306 with five blocks and four aces. Tess Clark hit .571 with nine kills on 17 swings and added two blocks. SFA was led by Justice Walker's 10 kills and a block.
"Overall our ability to hit .306 and side out 66 percent of the time was the reason we won," said UofL head coach Anne Kordes. "SFA is a good, scrappy team and I am sure they will do well in their conference. We were powered by our freshman middles Maggie DeJong and Tess Clark. We need to get them the ball more which if we work on our passing that will be possible."
UofL jumped out to a 5-0 lead early in the set and used .343 to keep the Ladyjacks at arm's length. SFA did make a run late to come within four at 19-15. The Cards called a timeout and then put together a 5-2 run down the stretch for the 25-17 win. Tess Clark and Maya McClendon each had four kills in that set.
The script was much the same for the second set, with the Cards zipping out to an 8-2 lead and then withstanding an SFA push late. The Ladyjacks had a 4-0 flurry to get to 21-16 but Maggie DeJong had two kills and Tess Clark ended the set with a kill from middle for the 25-19 win.
The Ladyjacks made a serious push in the third set which had nine ties and five lead changes. The Cards had already burned both timeouts tied at 22. Laura Blab connected on two straight and a Ladyjack miss gave the set and match to the Cardinals 25-22.
UofL plays Rice at 7 p.m. as the Rice Invitational picks up later this evening in Tudor Gym.
