Volleyball Sweeps Notre Dame

Wednesday, October 21

KFC YUM! CENTER

7:00 PM

University of Louisville

15-4, 9-0

NOTRE DAME

6-15, 1-8

Notre Dame

Louisville

October 21, 2015 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Cards are 9-0 in the ACC

By: Nancy Worley

Senior Erin Fairs led four players in double figures with a match-high 16 kills to lead the No. 24 University of Louisville volleyball team to a 25-21, 25-19, 26-24 sweep over Notre Dame on Wednesday night at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cardinals remained unbeaten in the ACC with a 9-0 record and improved to 15-4 overall. Louisville hit .265 with 59 kills while holding Notre Dame to a .205 attack percentage and 32 kills. Louisville out-dug the Irish 69-48. Notre Dame fell to 6-15 and 1-8 in the ACC.

"We escaped that one because Notre Dame came in ready to fight," said UofL head coach Anne Kordes. "That was a great job by them."

Freshman Aniah Philo posted her fourth career double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs while junior Janelle Jenkins also posted a double-double with 10 kills and season-high 15 digs. Freshman Maggie DeJong tied her season-high with 10 kills for the Cardinals. Senior setter Katie George dished out a match-high 53 assists while freshman Molly Sauer had a match-high 20 digs.

"Aniah must like these ACC awards. She is a humble kid but since she has gotten both her Freshman of the Week awards, it is like she flipped the switch, "said Kordes.

The Irish were led by Rebecca Nunge's 10 kills and Ryann DeJarld's team-high 13 kills.

Both teams took a while to feel each other out in the first set as neither team was able to gain more than a two-point advantage until back-to-back kills from Jenkins and Philo gave the Cardinals the biggest lead of the set at 24-21. After an Irish timeout, DeJong put down a kill for the 25-21 set victory. In a set that featured 17 ties and eight lead changes, Louisville hit .333 to Notre Dame's .286 and had 20 kills in the set with Fairs knocking down six.

In the second set, Louisville put together a mini 3-0 run behind kills from DeJong and Fairs while a service ace by Lyndsay Palmer gave the Cards an 8-5 lead and force the Irish to burn a timeout. The Cards and Irish traded points until a pair of Philo kills sandwiched a George kill put the Cards up 15-13 and the Irish were forced to burn their final timeout of the set. The Cardinals continued to put pressure on the Irish and finished the set on a 13-6 run to give the Cardinals a 25-19 second set victory and a 2-0 lead into the break. The offense cooled off with Louisville hitting .250 to ND's .108 in the set. Louisville out-dug the Irish 22-15 in the set with Sauer getting eight in the set.

Coming out of the break, the Irish jumped out to a 15-10 lead at the media timeout by hitting .421 to Louisville's .150. Louisville pulled within four behind a couple of kills by DeJong and an error to force the Irish to burn their first timeout of the set. The Cardinals stayed strong using a pair of kills from Fairs and Jenkins to pull within four and force a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Cards kept chipping away with a pair of kills from Fairs sandwiching a kill by Jenkins to pull within two, 23-21. Louisville finished the set on a 5-1 run with two kills apiece from DeJong and Philo, the latter giving the Cards a 26-24 win.

The Cardinals kick off a three-game road trip with a matchup against Virginia on Saturday night at 7 p.m.