Volleyball Set to Host NC State and North Carolina

The University of Louisville volleyball team returns from the ACC trail to host NC State on Thursday at 7 p.m. and North Carolina on Sunday at 1 p.m. both in the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cardinals 6-10 overall and 1-5 in the ACC, picked up their first league win in a five-set nailbiter at Boston College. Tess Clark had 16 kills and five blocks to lead the University of Louisville to a 3-2 win over the Eagles in ACC volleyball action last Friday in Chestnut Hill.

The Cardinals hit .205 and had 9.5 blocks. Janelle Jenkins pitched in 18 kills and Jasmine Bennett had 14 kills and two blocks in the 23-25, 25-18, 14-25, 26-24, 15-12 win. Boston College was led by Sol Calvete's 17 kills and two blocks.

The Cardinals fell to Syracuse 3-2 on Sunday. There, Morgan Miller had a career-high 23 kills and 11 digs but it was not enough as UofL fell to Syracuse 3-2. UofL hit .152 and had three blocks and four aces. Jasmine Bennett added 14 kills with freshman. Melanie McHenry adding 13 along with two aces. Syracuse was led by Mackenzie Weaver's 18 kills. She was assisted by Leah Levert's 12 kills and six blocks. SU had 14 blocks and hit .226 with 4 aces.

Overall, the Cards are led by freshman Melanie McHenry's 191 kills and 20 aces. Junior Tess Clark has 149 kills, and 57 blocks. Jasmine Bennett is hitting .351 from the middle with 117 kills and 39 blocks. Libero Molly Sauer leads the team with 264 digs and adds 14 aces.

About the Wolfpack
The Cardinals will take on the Wolfpack first. NC State (10-8 overall and 3-3 in the ACC) split last weekend, The NC State volleyball team picked up its third Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) victory this season with a 25-22, 28-26, 13-25, 25-14 win against the Miami Hurricanes Friday night inside Reynolds Coliseum. Julia Brown headlined the Wolfpack offense with 18 kills, while Teni Sopitan put down 15 kills. Erin Chatman tallied 10 kills and Kaitlyn Kearney pitched in with seven. At the setter position, Maggie Speaks was unable to play in the contest due to an illness and Becky Porter made the start, handing out a match-high 49 assists. Defensively, Rachel Eppley led all players with 23 digs, while Brown pitched in with 13 digs to record her eighth double-double performance.

NC State dropped the second match of the weekend, although the Wolfpack put together a furious comeback late in the match, but was unable to complete it as the 16^th-ranked Florida State Seminoles held on for the 3-1 (25-22, 25-19, 23-25, 27-25) victory at Reynolds Coliseum. After dropping the first two sets, the Wolfpack rallied to win the third set and the Pack had two set-point attempts in the fourth set, but the Seminoles were able to fight them off to secure the win. Brown led the Wolfpack with 17 kills, while Sopitan also had a strong match posting 13 kills to go along with a .333 attacking percentage. Erin Chatman also notched double-digit kills with 10 and Perry Ramsey pitched in with nine, in addition to Kearney's seven. At setter, Porter handed out a match-high 57 assists and also tallied four blocks and two kills. Rachel Eppley headlined the defensive effort with 19 digs, while Ramsey contributed 17 digs.

About the Tar Heels
The Tar Heels are coming off two to sweeps last weekend of No. 16 Florida State and Miami. Carolina freshman Julia Scoles collected her second consecutive ACC Player of the Week honor and she is the first Tar Heel to win back-to-back ACC Player of the Week honors since 1989 and, along with a pair of Freshman of the Week awards, has garnered a total of four weekly honors over the first seven weeks of her career. The Tar Heels lead the series record, 6-3, over Louisville. Carolina is also undefeated against Louisville in ACC play, bringing a three-match winning streak over the Cardinals into this weekend. The Tar Heels have not lost to Louisville since 1992, while UNC is 2-1 all-time against the Cardinals in Louisville.

The Tarheels have a few marquis wins as they took down No. 9 Penn State in State College on Aug. 27. The win marked the first home nonconference loss for the seven-time national champion Nittany Lions in five years (Oregon, 8/26/11), and just its 15th nonconference defeat at home in the history of the program. Penn State entered the match 316-14 (.958) all time at home in nonconference play and 580-33 (.946) overall at home. Carolina made history once again on Sept. 9, knocking off No. 2 Wisconsin in five sets at Carmichael Arena. With the win, UNC captured its eighth victory over a top-10 team and fourth since 2014. The ACC/Big Ten Challenge victory was Carolina's first ever over a team ranked in the top two, after UNC defeated the third-ranked team in the nation in both 2014 and 2015.

Carolina opened the season ranked No. 19 in the AVCA Preseason Poll. It marked the third consecutive season that the Tar Heels began in the AVCA top-20 and the fourth time in program history. UNC used a strong opening weekend, including a defeat of No. 9 Penn State, to jump to No. 12 in the first regular season poll. Another top-10 victory later—defeating No. 2 Wisconsin—UNC moved into the top 10, jumping from No. 11 (Sept. 5) to No. 8 on Sept. 12. It marked the 11th time UNC had appeared in the AVCA Top 10. After a five-set loss at TCU on Sept. 17, Carolina dropped back down to No. 12 on Sept. 19, but a pair of wins at NC State and BC moved UNC back up to No. 10 on Sept. 26. A six-match winning streak helped the Heels continually rise, moving to No. 9 (Oct. 3) then back to No. 8 this week.

Promotions:
NC State | Oct. 13 | 7 p.m. | KFC Yum! Center
Promotion: Buy One Ticket Get One Free!
Get Tickets here http://www.ticketmaster.com/Louisville-Cardinals-Womens-Volleyball-tickets/artist/976226
Or Call 502-GOCARDS

North Carolina | Oct. 16 | 1 p.m. | KFC Yum! Center
Promotion: Dig Pink!
Details: First 500 fans will receive a FREE Breast Cancer Awareness T-shirt
Ways to get Tickets:

Bring your race bib from the Susan G Komen Walk for the Cure to the ticket office to receive a $3 ticket
Participate in the Louisville Family Fun Scavenger Hunt here for a chance at FREE tickets to the game Details here http://www.louisvillefamilyfun.net/2016/09/loveloufamfun-fall-photo-scavenget-hunt.html

Tickets are available here http://www.ticketmaster.com/Louisville-Cardinals-Womens-Volleyball-tickets/artist/976226
or Call 502-GOCARDS

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Players Mentioned

Jasmine Bennett

Tess Clark

Janelle Jenkins

Melanie McHenry

Morgan Miller

Molly Sauer

University of Louisville Athletics