Volleyball Falls to No. 2 Wisconsin

Saturday, September 10

Chapel Hill, N.C.

4:00 PM

University of Louisville

4-4

Wisconsin

6-1

Wisconsin

Louisville

September 10, 2016 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

Cards hang with Big Ten Powerhouse

By: Nancy Worley

Haileigh Nelson had eight kills and six blocks to lead the No. 2 ranked Wisconsin Badgers to a 25-19, 26-24, 25-20 win over the University of Louisville in the ACC/Big Ten Volleyball Challenge Saturday evening in Chapel Hill, N.C.

"We showed more compsure for sure tonight but we need to gr o out and execute no matter what the lineup," said Anne Kordes, UofL head coach. "We got better from the night before. I thought Gabbie Wiley and Molly Sauer did a phenomenal job of serve receive and Janelle Jenkins really went after it offensively giving our setters another option every single play. Our schedule doesn't get any easier so we will use this as a learning opportunity and go out and compete."

UofL senior Janelle Jenkins had 14 kills and four blocks and freshman Melanie McHenry had nine kills, 11 digs and five blocks in the hard-fought loss. Libero Molly Sauer had match-high 19 digs. The Cardinals even their record at 4-4 and Wisconsin moves to 6-1. The Badgers got another 10 kills from both Romana Kriskova and Kelli Bates.

UofL switched its offense in the first set, running a 6-2 to get more blocking, although it translated to just two for the Cards, it held Wisconsin to .235 hitting. Janelle Jenkins had a hot hand with 10 kills and hit .529 in a set that had seven ties and three lead changes. Cards trailed by just one at 14-13 but got outscored down the stretch to fall 25-19.

In the second set, UofL hit .089 and UW hit .071 in a defensive struggle that saw the Cardinals block the Badgers six times. The teams tied 12 times with four lead changes. The Cards scrambled back to tie at 24 on a Melanie McHenry kill, the Badgers responded with a kill by Kelli Bates and then benefitted from a Cardinal hitting error to fall 26-24 and go down 2-0 in sets at the break.

Down 2-0 in sets, the Cards stayed close for the duration of the third set and had the lead seven times but could not find any daylight from the No. 2 ranked Badgers.

The Cardinals host in-state rival Thursday at 7 p.m. in the KFC Yum! Center and then Lipscomb University on Friday at 7 p.m. in Cardinal Arena.