No. 18 Volleyball Knocks Off Belmont in NCAA First Round

Friday, December 4

LOUISVILLE, KY

7:00 PM

University of Louisville

25-6

Belmont University

17-15

BEL

Louisville

No. 18 Volleyball Knocks Off Belmont in NCAA First Round

December 04, 2015 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Cards to face Illini Saturday at 7 p.m.

By: Nancy Worley

Senior outside hitter Erin Fairs had 15 kills, hitting .312 for the match, to lead the University of Louisville volleyball team passed scrappy Belmont University 25-20, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21 in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Cardinal Arena on Friday Night.

The Cards finished with a .237 hitting percentage as Tess Clark led the way hitting .700 and finished with 14 kills. Janelle Jenkins added 10 kills, Katie George contributed 48 assists and Molly Sauer led the defense with 18 digs. Belmont hit .216 as a team led by 24 kills from Arianna Person with Brie Lewis and Jocelyn Youngdahl adding 14 and 11 kills, respectively. UofL moves to 25-6 overall and Belmont ends its run at 17-15.

"Obviously, we're extremely excited about our first round match and to get a win," said Louisville head coach Anne Kordes. "We knew that Belmont was going to give us all that we could handle and they proved that. What a team of fighters. It's a heck of a group and it's an honor to get the opportunity to play them. So, we are happy to be able to walk out of here with a win."

In the first set, Louisville used an early 6-0 run to build a 12-4 advantage on a kill by Erin Fairs. The Bruins responded with a 9-4 run to cut the Cardinals lead to 16-13 on an attack error. The set remained tight until Louisville earned set point 24-19 on another kill by Erin Fairs. A dump by Katie George surprised the Bruins to win the set 25-20 for the Cards.

Belmont responded in the second as they jumped out to an 8-4 lead. The Cards closed the gap within one but the Bruins would take a 15-12 advantage into the media timeout. Louisville hung tough and tied it 20-20 but the Bruins responded once again to force a UofL timeout with Belmont clinging to a 23-21 advantage. Belmont earned set point 24-21 and the Bruins would close out the set 25-22 on a kill from Brie Lewis.

"The thing with a team like Belmont is they make you really impatient," said UofL setter Katie George. "We are used to going up and getting kills by being really physical. Belmont is really scrappy and they were digging a lot of balls. Tess Clark got dug three times in one rally and then she was able to put it down on the fourth ball. Staying patient and not making errors and we were able to do that down the stretch and that is what gave us the three point leads. With any first round match, it doesn't matter if you are the first seed or the 64^th seed there are jitters. There are first round jitters and there are two freshman on the floor who haven't been to the NCAA."

The Cards used an early 5-1 run in the third to open a 13-9 advantage on an ace from Katie George, forcing a Belmont timeout. The Bruins battled back to tie it 17-17 before another Cards 4-0 run helped Louisville regain the lead 21-17 on a kill by Erin Fairs. The Bruins would not go away as they used a 6-2 run to knot the score at 23-23 before kills by Tess Clark and Maya McClendon earned the Cards a 25-23 victory in a tightly contested third set.

The fourth set was much of the same as Louisville took a 10-8 advantage until Belmont responded to take their first lead of the set at 11-10. The Bruins remained in front before a 5-2 Cards run earned UofL a 20-18 advantage on an ace by Maya McClendon. The Bruins regrouped to tie the set at 20-20 and again at 21-21. The Cards were too tough in the end as they ended the match on a 4-0 run behind a block from Tess Clark and Erin Fairs to earn match point 24-21 and close it out 25-21 on a kill from Tess Clark.

"I thought that we were able to maintain some consistency there at the end of the match," Kordes continued. "The fact that we have a deep bench - we have contributors at different parts of the match when we need them – is a reason that we can overcome situations that we found ourselves in tonight when we were either down or trading leads. Again, just hats off to Belmont and we're excited for the opportunity to play Illinois tomorrow."

The Cardinals return to action on Saturday night as they face the University of Illinois in the second round of the NCAA tournament at 7 p.m. in Cardinal Arena.

"I like to play in Cardinal Arena," said senior Erin Fairs. "It's great. It is very intimate. We can hear our team cheer, the fans cheer, I mean it is so loud and I just love playing in loud environments. This is just right where I want to play."