Volleyball Set to Host Wake Forest and Duke

The No. 25 University of Louisville volleyball team kicks off a three-game home stand with ESPN3 televised matchups against Wake Forest and Duke this weekend at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cardinals, who moved into the AVCA Coaches Poll for the first time since the beginning of last season, will put their perfect 6-0 conference record on the line as the welcome the Demon Deacons on Friday night at 7 p.m. The Cards will then face the Blue Devils on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. for the annual Dig Pink match to support Breast Cancer Awareness
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Louisville enters the week with a 12-4 overall record and remain undefeated in ACC play after sweeping both Georgia Tech and Clemson on the road last weekend. Against Georgia Tech, junior outside hitter Janelle Jenkins had 12 kills, two blocks, and an ace to lead Louisville to a 25-18, 25-17, 25-13 victory over the Yellow Jackets. Louisville hit .327 for the match with four aces, 54 digs and 5.5 blocks. The Cardinals held the Georgia Tech attack to a .161 hitting percentage and forced seven service errors. Senior outside hitter Erin Fairs and sophomore middle blocker Tess Clark each had nine kills. Senior setter Katie George had four kills, 13 digs and a match-high 31 assists. Against Clemson, Fairs had a match high 15 kills to lead the Cardinals to a 25-14, 25-15, 25-19 sweep over the Tigers. The Cards hit .400 for the match with five aces and nine blocks and out-dug the Tigers 62-36. Katie George had a match-high 43 assists while sophomore middle blockers Tess Clark and Maggie DeJong each added four blocks.

On the season, senior outside hitter Erin Fairs leads the Cardinal attack with 240 kills averaging 4.00 kills per set, which is third best in the conference. Junior outside hitter Janelle Jenkins adds 189 kills while sophomore middle blocker Tess Clark adds 129 kills and boasts a team-high 61 blocks. Senior setter Katie George has dished out 701 assists on the season and is ranked fifth in the nation while leading the ACC with an average of 11.68 assists per set. Freshman libero Molly Sauer has 271 digs (4.52 digs per set) and leads the team with 19 aces. As a team, Louisville holds opponents to a .155 hitting percentage, which is best in the conference.

First up for the Cardinals this weekend is Wake Forest as they battle in an ESPN3 matchup on Friday night. Wake Forest enters the match on a four-game losing streak and has a 9-9 overall record and is 1-5 in conference play after falling to Miami and Florida State last weekend. The Demon Deacons are led by sophomore outside hitter Kylie Long who has a team-best 243 kills (3.63 kills per set) and is second on the team in digs with 142. Senior middle blocker Matalee Reed adds 185 kills while outside hitters Brianna Lynch and Sam Boesch add 121 and 113 kills, respectively. Freshman setter Rachel Burau (366 assists) and senior setter Sophia Dodd (341 assists) split time in setting up the offense. Sophomore libero Caroline Wolf boasts a team-best 303 digs and averages 4.46 digs per set. The Cardinals lead the series with the Demon Deacons 4-1, with Wake taking the last matchup 3-0 last season.

The Cardinals wrap up the weekend with a Sunday afternoon matchup against Duke. The Blue Devils enter the weekend having dropped four of their last five games and stand 7-9 on the season. The Blue Devils stand at 2-4 in conference play after falling to Florida State and Miami last weekend. Senior outside hitter Emily Sklar leads the Blue Devils offense with 174 kills and averages 4.14 kills per set, which is second in the conference. Junior middle blocker Jordan Tucker has 156 kills and had a career-high 24 kills against Florida State this past weekend. Freshman middle blocker Leah Meyer contributes 149 kills and boasts a team-best 58 blocks. Redshirt senior setter Maggie Deichmeister sets up the offense and has compiled 567 assists while junior libero Sasha Karelov has 286 digs and averages 4.85 digs per set, which is second in the conference. Duke leads the series 4-2, including last year's 3-0 victory.

Louisville concludes their three-game home stand with a mid-week matchup against Notre Dame at the KFC Yum! Center on Wednesday night.

Promotions Highlights/Ticket Information
UofL vs Wake Forest 7PM

$2 Beers
$3 ticket promotion discount code: VBCAMP using this link https://oss.ticketmaster.com/aps/uofl/EN/link/promotion/home/fe20e4aa4c516857cd5d26c8279e927d8b62a780
Post-Match Autographs

UofL vs Duke 1PM (Breast Cancer Awareness Match)
- Wear Pink!!
- Free 1000 BCA shirts
- Free Pink Ribbons will be given out by Zeta Tau Alpha
- Breast Cancer Ribbon Face Tattoos for kids
- Special Set Break Breast Cancer Recognition
- Performance by the Lady Birds
- $3 ticket promotion discount code: PINK using this link https://oss.ticketmaster.com/aps/uofl/EN/link/promotion/home/1454811e57de63b3afbeea9c55a919573944e629
- Post-Match Autographs

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tess Clark

Erin Fairs

Katie George

Janelle Jenkins

Molly Sauer

University of Louisville Athletics