Volleyball Outlasts Irish 3-2 in ACC Opener

Friday, September 22

LOUISVILLE, KY

7:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

7-4

NOTRE DAME

10-2

Notre Dame

Louisville

September 22, 2017 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Lou vs ND box Season Stats Photo Gallery

Cards are now 20-3 in conference home openers since 1995.

By: Nancy Worley

Sophomore outside hitter Melanie McHenry had 21 kills and 11 digs to lead the University of Louisville to a 3-2 win over rival Notre Dame in the ACC volleyball opener Friday night at Cardinal Arena.

"I am very happy. You know there are always a few decisions that you look back at and there's some plays that we definitely would want to take back, but they fought hard and they really trusted themselves and each other and our training at the end of the match," said UofL head coach Dani Busboom Kelly.

The Cardinals (7-4, 1-0) won 25-23, 23-25, 25-27, 25-18, 15-11 while hitting .198 with five aces and nine blocks. UofL's Jasmine Bennett had 15 kills and five blocks. Tess Clark pitched in 15 kills and two blocks. UofL libero Molly Sauer had a season-high 36 digs. Notre Dame moves to 10-2 with a 0-1 mark in the ACC. The Irish were led by Sydney Kuhn's 12 kills, six blocks and an ace. The Cards' win pushed UofL to a 20-3 record in conference openers since 1995.

"It's pretty awesome the way that the five setter ended. I thought Molly Sauer pretty much took over in the back row," said Busboom Kelly. "We have been tinkering with our defense and finally got her in a position where she can dig more balls and she was awesome. I think our setter, Wilma (Rivera,) had a great match too. It was just a very good team effort, it was a great team effort. Jasmine Bennett? She came alive and she was unstoppable."

After tying at 14 on a kill by Melanie McHenry, the Cards lost momentum in the first set as the Irish took off on a 5-0 tear to go up 19-15. Amanda Green went on a tear of her own for the Cardinals with three straight kills to come within one at 20-19 and spark an ND timeout. Cards scored three straight to go up 23-20 to force the Irish to burn their final timeout. The Irish came back to tie at 23 on a kill by Caroline Holt, but could not score again. Tess Clark had a kill to make it 24-23 and then a hitting error by Jemma Yeadon gave the Cards the 25-23 win.

In the second set, Louisville took the lead early and held on until the Irish tied at 22. Melanie McHenry scored to to up 23-22 but then committed three straight unforced errors to fall 25-23 and even the set score at one apiece going into the break.

After the break, UofL skittered out to a 8-3 lead and ND had to use a timeout early to reorganize. Louisville kept the Irish at arm's length but ND used aggressive serving to get back into the fray, tying at 21 on a UofL miss. The Irish got to set point at 24-23 on a kill by Meg Morningstar but the Cards dug in to tie on a kill by Melanie McHenry and tooke the lead at 25-24 on another kill by McHenry. Morningstar answered with a kill to tie at 25 and then two straight kills by Sydney Kuhn gave ND the 27-25 win. In the set, Notre Dame had .227 hitting and Kuhn had six kills.

Down 2-1 in sets, the Cardinals popped out to an 11-6 lead early in the fourth and maintained that margin for much of the set. Notre Dame managed to get within three at 19-16 on a hitting error by Jasmine Bennett but Tess Clark answered with a kill and then Bennett recovered to score two straight to put the cards up 22-16. The teams traded points but a Kill by McHenry, an ace by Gabbie Wiley and another kill from Jasmine Bennett tipped the set to the Cards 25-18 to force the fifth set.

In the deciding set, UofL powered out to a 7-4 lead and forced an Irish timeout. The Irish fought to tie at 8 but were outscored 5-3 down the stretch. Melanie McHenry scored the final three points of the match for the Cards 15-11 win.

The Cardinals travel to Chapel Hill for a 1 p.m. Sunday match with ACC favorite North Carolina.

"I think it's just those unforced errors that will have to be cleaned up a little bit. North Carolina is pretty much a completely different team than Notre Dame. UNC is big and physical so it'll be another really tough task," said Busboom Kelly.