No. 25 Cardinals Sweep Wake Forest To Stay Unbeaten in ACC Play

Sunday, October 7

LOUISVILLE, KY

1:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

13-4, 6-0

WAKE FOREST

6-12, 1-5

Wake Forest

Louisville

No. 25 Cardinals Sweep Wake Forest To Stay Unbeaten in ACC Play

October 07, 2018 | Women's Volleyball

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Melanie McHenry leads with 16 kills

By: Jake Stanley

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville volleyball team remains unbeaten in ACC play with a three-set (25-15, 25-17, 25-22) victory over Wake Forest Sunday afternoon at Cardinal Arena.

The Cardinals (13-4, 6-0 ACC) hit .419 for the match with six aces and three blocks. Junior outside hitter Melanie McHenry led all players with 16 kills, while senior outside hitter Amanda Green tallied 13 and junior outside hitter Megan Sloan pitched in with 10. Elsewhere on the stat sheet, senior setter Wilma Rivera had 42 assists and senior libero Molly Sauer powered the defense with 16 digs. For the match, the Cards amassed a .419 attack percentage, their first time over the .400 mark since the season opener against UT Martin on Aug. 24.

Demon Deacons (6-12, 1-5 ACC) and were led by Myca Mitchell's eight kills. Although the match was a three-set sweep, the two opponents exchanged the lead 10 times during the match and were tied with each other on 17 occasions.

"One of our goals at the beginning of the year was to sweep an ACC weekend, so we're pleased," said head coach Dani Busboom Kelly. "It's a great win when you can do that, so I thought our team played well, especially this weekend. We've really developed, especially with Jasmine (Bennett) out. Overall, it's a good win."

The Cards came out strong in the first set, using a pair of kills from Emily Scott to take an 8-5 lead and force an early Demon Deacons timeout. Following the break, Wake Forest came out rejuvenated and took a 13-12 advantage. The lead was short-lived, however, as McHenry finished off an incredible back-and-forth sequence to put the Card back ahead for the rest of the set. Powered by McHenry's five kills, Louisville closed out with a 13-2 run that gave them the opening set, 25-15. For the set, the Cards posted a .433 attack percentage, including a .800 mark for Sloan and .750 clip for Green.

Louisville carried the momentum into the second set, quickly building a 12-4 lead that made Wake use both of its timeouts. As in the first, the Demon Deacons rebounded to narrow the margin as a 4-0 run brought the score to 19-14. With just a five-point lead late in the set, the Cards took advantage of a service error to finish off the set, 25-17, with consecutive kills from Sloan and McHenry. In the game, Green led all players with five kills as the Cards tallied a .393 attack percentage.

In the third, the Demon Deacons wasted little time making it a competitive affair, taking an early lead with a 4-0 run. The Cards turned to their strong service game as three aces, including two straight from Wilma Rivera, helped them go ahead. Despite the adjustments, Wake continued to battle, eventually tying the set at 20 with a service ace, forcing a Louisville timeout. But, just as in the two prior sets, the Cards used a solid attack to seal the victory with a 5-2 run, taking the third with a 25-22 margin. In the final set, Louisville knotted 19 kills with a .412 attack percentage.

Louisville will remain at home Wednesday evening for a meeting with Notre Dame at 7 p.m. at Cardinal Arena. The match will be available online on ACC Network Extra.