Volleyball Heads to Kentucky For Battle of the Bluegrass

The University of Louisville volleyball team heads to Lexington to face archrival Kentucky on Friday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum. The Cards return to Cardinal Arena to face Kennesaw State on Sunday, Sept. 17 at 3 p.m.

A Peek at the Cards
The Cardinals are 5-3, coming in hot after winning the UNLV Challenge with wins over UC Irvine (3-0), Weber State (3-1) and UNLV (3-0). For the weekend, the Cards hit a blistering .307 led by Jasmine Bennett's .462 hitting (22-4-39). Melanie McHenry led the offense with 50 points over the last three matches, including 42 kills, three aces and eight blocks. Tess Clark, Louisville's middle turned outside, had 27 kills, hit .295 and added seven blocks. The Cards out-aced their opponents 15-8 and out-dug them 134-118. Molly Sauer had 40 digs during the Challenge. Wilma Rivera was named the UNVL Challenge MVP, with Molly Sauer and Melanie McHenry being named All-Tournament.

Kentucky
The University of Kentucky Wildcats have started the 2017 season strong with an overall record of 7-2. They opened the season 5-2 going 3-0 over Arkansas State, No. 16 Utah, and Cincinnati to open the season at the Bluegrass Battle in Lexington, Ky. The Wildcats dropped their first game of the season to No. 8 Creighton 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-20) at the Bluejay Invitational in Omaha, Neb. They bounced back and took home wins over Northern Iowa 3-2 (20-25, 25-18, 25-20, 20-25, 15-9) and No. 18 Southern California 3-1 (25-16, 11-25, 25-19, 25-19) to wrap up their stay in Omaha. The ladies from Lexington dropped their second game of the season to No. 9 Kansas 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-20) in Lawrence, Kan. In their most recent action, the Wildcats took home wins over Loyola (Chicago) 3-0 (25-12, 25-11, 25-11) and Marquette 3-1 (25-23, 24-26, 25-23, 25-23) at the Marquette Invitational in Milwaukee.

Kentucky is led by sophomore outside hitter Leah Edmond with 154 kills on the season and a 4.67 kills per set average. She also leads the team with nine of the team's 37 aces. Freshman libero Gabby Curry leads the Wildcats on the defensive side with 126 digs averaging out to 3.82 digs per set. Senior middle blocker Kaz Brown leads the team with 36 blocks.

Kennesaw State
The Kennesaw State Owls have started the 2017 season strong with an overall record of 5-1. They opened the season with wins over Troy (3-1) and Clemson (3-0). The Owls dropped their only game of the season to UC Irvine 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-23) at the Marcia E. Hamilton Classic in St. Louis. They bounced back to take home wins over Illinois State 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 25-19) and host St. Louis 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-20) to push their record to 4-1. Kennesaw State kept their home record perfect with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-12) win over in-state rival Georgia State on September 4th. The Owls will have matchups with Georgia and Kentucky on Wednesday, September 13 and Saturday, September 16, respectively, before visiting Louisville.

The Owls are led offensively by junior Maddie Jones who sports 66 kills and a 3.30 kills per set average. Senior Katarina Morton leads Kennesaw State defensively with 95 digs averaging to 4.75 digs per set. As a team, the Owls have amassed 25 aces and 31.0 blocks on the season.

Series Record Vs. Kennesaw and Kentucky
This is the first meeting between UofL and Kennesaw State. Louisville trails the series with Kentucky 27-25. Coach Craig Skinner is 6-3 versus the Cards. This is the first time Coach Dani Busboom Kelly faces the Cards as a head coach.

Rivera, McHenry, Sauer are Named All UNLV Challenge
University of Louisville's setter Wilma Rivera was named the UNLV Challenge Most Valuable Player. She had 111 assists, four aces and four digs as well as four blocks, helping the Cards hit .307 as a team. Melanie McHenry led the offense with 50 points over the last three matches, including 42 kills, three aces and eight blocks. Molly Sauer registered 40 digs and four aces.

Promotions
The first 500 fans at Cardinal Arena will get pom pons for the Kennesaw State match. It is also a Hike and Spike match, where your UofL football ticket stub gets you into Cardinal Arena for $3. Student Tickets are free of charge.

Volleyball Heads to Kentucky For Battle of the Bluegrass

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Players Mentioned

Jasmine Bennett

Tess Clark

Melanie McHenry

Wilma Rivera

Molly Sauer

University of Louisville Athletics