Volleyball Opens Home Slate with Cardinal Classic

The Cardinals open 2017 home season by hosting the Cardinal Classic, playing host to No. 24-ranked Western Kentucky, Illinois and Kent State. The Classic opens with Kent State taking on Illinois at 4, followed by UofL versus intrastate rival Western Kentucky at 6:30. On Saturday morning, Illinois takes on WKU at 10:30, followed by Louisville vs. Kent State at 12:30 p.m. Western Kentucky plays Kent State at 5:30 p.m. followed by the nightcap of Louisville vs. Illinois at 7:30 p.m.

A Peek at the Cards
The Cardinals had a steep challenge for their two opening matches of the season facing two top 10 opponents in No. 4 Minnesota and No. 7 Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Match
Transfer outside hitter Amanda Green had 10 kills and two blocks but the Cards fell short in a 25-18, 25-19, 26-24 win by No. 7-ranked Wisconsin in Dani Busboom Kelly's debut as UofL head coach. The Cardinals hit .171 as a team and had six blocks led by Maggie DeJong's three. Jasmine Bennett had seven kills, hit .583 with three blocks. Molly Sauer led with 16 digs. Wisconsin was paced by Dana Rettke's 15 kills and six blocks. The Badgers hit .320 and had 8 blocks. Both teams recorded nine service errors.

Minnesota Match
Outside hitter Tess Clark's 17 kills were not enough as the University of Louisville fell 25-20, 25-18, 25-18, 25-20 to the No. 4 Minnesota Gophers in the second match of the ACC/Big Ten Volleyball Challenge. The Cardinals did what their ACC counterparts No. 11-ranked UNC could not, which was take a set from the Gophers. In all, the Cardinals had more kills than UM with a 54-50 edge and more aces (5-2). But UM hit .261 as a team and had eight blocks. UofL's Melanie McHenry added 14 kills and three blocks. Gabbie Wiley had a pair of aces and nine digs. Minnesota was paced by Stephanie Samedy's 17 kills and 15 digs.

Western Kentucky
The Toppers have been busy, with four matches under their belt. Most recently, they were led by senior Alyssa Cavanaugh's school record .818 hitting percentage,as they Tennessee State in the Diddle Arena opener to improve to 4-0 on the young season. WKU has a .305 collective hitting percentage and five front-row attackers hitting .300 or better. The Lady Toppers are averaging 15.20 kills per set on the young season while allowing just 11.60. Defensively, six Lady Toppers have registered 13 or more digs already, led by Sydney Engle and Emma Kowalkowski who both sit at 33. Three WKU players were recognized for their weekend performances, earning All-Tournament Team honors from the Miami (OH) Best Western Sycamore Inn Invitational. Engle brought home the MVP accolade while Jessica Lucas and Rachel Anderson also earned spots on the team.

Additionally, WKU Volleyball rejoined the AVCA Top-25 ranks, jumping three spots into the No. 24 position in the Week 1 poll. Head coach Travis Hudson has now seen his past seven teams earn top 25 recognition from the AVCA. Last season, WKU peaked at No. 19 in the poll while the best ranking the program has ever earned came in 2013 when the squad was voted 16th in the Week 1 poll

Kent State
Kent State split a pair of matches Saturday at the Cyclone Invitational to finish opening weekend with a 1-2 record. The Golden Flashes lost their first match of the day to New Mexico, 3-0 (23-25, 18-25, 22-25), but bounced back to sweep Omaha, 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-21) in the finale. After struggling to get much going offensively on Friday, Kent State saw improvement in that area in each match on Saturday. The Flashes posted 83 kills (13.83/set) and a .200 hitting percentage compared to just 25 kills (8.33/set) and .080 against the host Cyclones.

Preseason All-MAC East Division selections Kelsey Bittinger and Challen Geraghty led the way for the Flashes. Bittinger posted 36 kills with a .392 hitting percentage to go with 14 digs, while Geraghty made defensive plays all over the court for 48 digs. Bittinger was named to the Cyclone Invitational All-Tournament Team with 46 kills (5.11/set) while hitting .349 and 22 digs (2.44/set) on the weekend.

Illinois
With a 3-0 (25-10, 25-20, 25-25-14) sweep of Air Force on August 26 in Shroyer Gym, the Illinois volleyball team earned the 2017 Bobcat Classic Championship after going undefeated on the weekend.

Junior Ali Bastianelli was named the tournament MVP after totaling 27 kills on a .558 hitting percentage, 25 blocks and nine digs, while classmate Blayke Hranicka and sophomore Jacqueline Quade also garnered all-tournament honors for their efforts in the two-day event. Quade paced the Illini offense with 41kills on the weekend, to go along with 12 blocks and 11 digs, with Hranicka adding 20 kills and 13 blocks.

Following the departure of former head coach Kevin Hambly to Stanford in January, Director of Athletes Josh Whitman selected Chris Tamas as the new head coach of the Fighting Illini volleyball program on February 10, 2017. He is the eighth head coach in the history of the program. Tamas came to Illinois following many years learning from some of the game's great coaches, including John Cook at Nebraska and former U.S. National Team coaches Hugh McCutcheon and Ron Larsen. In all, Tamas is in his ninth year of collegiate coaching including two years at Nebraska, two years at Cal Poly, two years at Minnesota and two years at UC-Riverside.

Series Record Vs. The Field
Louisville trails Illinois 4-10
Louisville leads WKU 14-0
Louisville is tied with Kent State 2-2

Promotions
The Cardinals will be offering a Family Meal Deal in Cardinal Arena for the Cardinal Classic. Fans can get four hotdogs and four soft drinks for $20.

Cardinal Arena
Cardinal Arena is the ultimate home court advantage. The University of Louisville has the rare privilege of having a Volleyball-only facility in Cardinal Arena. The newly refurbished on-campus arena increased the seating, added end zone seating, installed a Teraflex floor, new lobby, refurbished lockerrooms, training room, players lounge and common areas. The Cardinals played their first match in Cardinal Arena in 1991. They played primarily in KFC Yum! Center from 2011-2016. The Cardinals are 196-31 all time in Cardinal Arena.

Clear Bag Policy
As Cardinal Volleyball fans get their first real glimpse of the newly refurbished Cardinal Arena, athletic officials want to remind them that the clear bag policy will be in effect for all venues for all University of Louisville sports venues.

In the interest of augmenting existing security measures at athletic events, University of Louisville Athletics is implementing new security measures at the entry gates and restricting the size and type of bag that may be carried into the arena for home volleyball matches.

Fans are encouraged not to bring any bags inside Cardinal Arena; however, each ticket holder is allowed one small clutch purse (no larger than 6.5 x 4.5 inches) and one large clear bag, either a one-gallon clear Ziploc-style storage bag or a 12 x 6 x 12 inches clear tote bag. The policy, which includes all UofL athletics venues on campus, is similar to one instituted at all NFL and many collegiate venues in recent years, enhancing security procedures to ensure a safe environment.

Diaper bags (with child) are permitted and subject to a thorough security inspection. A clear bag is strongly recommended for bringing diapers and non-medically necessary items for babies and young children. An exception will be made to allow medical items that cannot be transported in a clear bag into the venue. Medically necessary items or equipment may be brought to the match, but the bags or equipment must inspected and tagged by security supervisors at the entry gates.

Fans will be asked to return non-approved bags or other items to their vehicle prior to arena entry. There is no check-in location for prohibited bags at the arena.

Approved clear tote bags are available for purchase from Cardinal Authentic, the store located at Gate 2 of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium at 2800 South Floyd Street. For additional inquiries on purchasing bags from Cardinal Authentic, call 502-852-3002. Fans are reminded that a standard, one-gallon clear Ziploc-style storage bag is approved. Fans may also bring appropriately sized clear tote bags they have previously obtained at other venues.

Fans are also advised that the use of tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes and vaping, is strictly prohibited in all UofL facilities, as well as within 50 feet of an exterior gate or entrance. There are no designated smoking areas near Cardinal Arena and re-entry is prohibited. All UofL athletic facilities are part of the UofL tobacco-free campus.

University of Louisville Athletics

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