Volleyball Sweeps Kennesaw State

Sunday, September 17

LOUISVILLE, KY

3:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

6-4

KENNESAW STATE

6-3

KSU

Louisville

September 17, 2017 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery Louisville vs Kennesaw Box Score

Tess Clark leads with 12 kills

By: Nancy Worley

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With a season-high 10 service aces, the University of Louisville volleyball team closed non-conference play with a hard-fought 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-20) win over Kennesaw State University Sunday afternoon at Cardinal Arena. In their fourth sweep of the season, the Cardinals hit .330 for the match, while the Owls only mustered a .189 percentage.

"We came out and played well," said coach Dani Busboom Kelly. "We let Kennesaw State come out and hit .400. You never want to see any team do that in the opening set. But, we came back with our serve and that was a big improvement from Friday night."

Louisville was led by sophomore outside hitter Melanie McHenry, who racked up 11 kills and eight digs. Senior middle blocker Tess Clark also chipped in with 12 kills and junior middle blocker Jasmine Bennett hit .455 and totaled seven kills.

The first set was a back-and-forth affair, featuring 18 ties and nine lead changes. Following the constant trading of points, the Cardinals were finally able to wrestle control, clinching the set at 25-21 with a 4-0 closing run. Three Cardinals tallied four kills in the set, led by McHenry, who added three digs and a block. McHenry also posted three of Louisville's six service aces in the set.

Louisville carried the positive momentum into the second set, never trailing and using a .448 hitting percentage to take it, 25-14. McHenry continued her strong performance with another four kills and four digs. The Cardinals stifled the Owls, holding them to just a .057 hitting percentage for the set.

"We took them out of their game, purely on serve, and that was awesome to see," said Busboom Kelly.

The Owls took an early lead in the third set, but the Cardinals answered with an 8-2 run, capped off by consecutive service aces from junior setter Wilma Rivera. Both squads alternated short runs for much of the set, but Louisville sealed the win, 25-20, with a 5-1 rally.

The Cardinals open Atlantic Coast Conference play on Friday, Sept. 22 with a home match against Notre Dame at 7 p.m.

"We have Notre Dame on Friday and that will be our first ACC match," said Busboom Kelly. "We're looking forward to getting conference play going."