Volleyball Hits the Road for Virginia Tech and Pitt

The University of Louisville volleyball team hits the road to face Virginia Tech on Friday, Oct. 21 and Pitt on Sunday, Oct. 23.

The Cards are coming off a pair of losses to NC State and UNC last weekend. The Cards (6-12, 1-7) fell to the No. 8-ranked Tar Heels in straight sets and hit .109 in the match. The Cards were led by Melanie McHenry's seven kills while Lyndsay Palmer aced three serves. The Cards are still without starting outside hitter Janelle Jenkins, who suffered a PCL strain and has not played in the team's last four matches.

Melanie McHenry's 12 kills and the Cardinals' 11.5 blocks weren't enough as UofL fell 3-0 to the NC State Wolfpack Thursday night at the KFC Yum! Center. The Cardinals fell 25-23, 25-20, 25-23 and hit .155, had 11.5 blocks, and five aces. Melanie McHenry led the Cardinals with 12 kills while Tess Clark added nine. Jasmine Bennett added six blocks.

About Virginia Tech
First up for the Cardinals are the Hokies of Virginia Tech, who are coming off a four-match road trip. The Hokies (8-11, 3-5 ACC) fell to Miami 25-20, 25-19, 25-19 last Sunday despite getting hit a team-best .455 with three digs, two blocks and a service ace from junior Cara Cunningham. Senior Lindsey Owens led Tech with eight kills and two service aces and freshman Carol Raffety chipped in with five kills and 12 digs. On Friday, Hokies came from two sets down to force a fifth set against No. 15 Florida State before the top offensive team in the conference, pulled out a 25-13, 25-21, 15-25, 24-26, 15-8 over the Hokies in the deciding frame on its home floor. Freshman Carol Raffety, who moved from libero to outside hitter after the second set, posted a .350 attack percentage and had 11 digs for the Hokies. Sophomore Jaila Tolbert hit a team-high .375 and senior Lindsey Owens and Amanda McKinzie posted double-digit kills.

About Pitt
The Cards then head to the University of Pittsburgh for a televised match with the Panthers. Pitt volleyball fell to No. 15 Florida State, 3-1, Sunday afternoon at Tully Gymnasium in Tallahassee. The Panthers (14-6, 5-3 ACC]) opened the match with a first set loss, 25-22, but bounced back to defeat FSU 26-24. Pitt dropped the final two sets to Florida State 25-20 and 25-23. Despite posting more kills (62/46), assists (58/41) and digs (71/53) than the Seminoles, the Panthers were unable to get around Florida State's defense at the net as the nationally ranked team put together 20 team blocks. The Panthers won the first set 26-24, but fell to the Hurricanes 25-22 in the second set. Pitt bounced back to win set three 25-22 and then solidified their victory with a 25-18 win in the fourth set. Junior Mariah Bell led with a career-high 21 kills and eight digs in the win. Redshirt freshman Stephanie Williams followed suit with 17 kills and 12 digs, marking her ninth double-double of the season. Along with Bell, freshman Layne Van Buskirk, junior Kelsey O'Neill and redshirt senior Jenna Potts all posted hitting percentages close to .300. Potts led all Panthers with a .462 average (7-1-13), in addition to being Pitt's top blocker with eight total. O'Neill finished the match with five blocks.

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Players Mentioned

Jasmine Bennett

Tess Clark

Janelle Jenkins

Melanie McHenry

Lyndsay Palmer

University of Louisville Athletics