University of Louisville
VIRGINIA TECH
No. 22-Ranked Cardinals Set to Host Notre Dame and Virginia Tech
October 09, 2018 | Women's Volleyball
Cards play longtime rival Notre Dame on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Cardinal Arena
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The No. 22 ranked University of Louisville volleyball team continues its four-match home stand when it hosts longtime rival Notre Dame Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. before the Virginia Tech Hokies pop in on Friday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. for a matchup in Cardinal Arena.
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UofL stands at 13-4 overall and 6-0 in ACC play. The Cardinals are led by outside hitter Melanie McHenry, who leads the team in kills with 217, adding 11 aces, 126 digs and 25 blocks. Junior Megan Sloan has 164 kills, hits .325 and has added 39 blocks. Last year's ACC Setter of the Year, Wilma Rivera, has 650 assists, 20 aces, 112 digs and 28 blocks. Molly Sauer, UofL's two-time ACC Defensive Player of the Year, has recorded 268 digs, and a team-high 21 service aces. The Cards are on a 7-0 winning streak and did not lose in Cardinal Arena last year in conference matches.
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Notre Dame and Louisville will meet for the 36th time ever on Wednesday with the Irish holding a 21-14 advantage in the all-time series. The last Notre Dame victory over Louisville came in straight-set fashion on September 23, 2016. In 2017, UofL won both at home and on the road when the two rivals took the match to five sets both times.Â
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Notre Dame arrives in Louisville with a 10-6 overall record and a 4-2 mark in the ACC. The Irish are coming off a heart-breaking 3-2 loss to Duke. The Blue Devils took the first two sets by scores of 25-21 and 28-26 before the Irish rallied to 25-19 and 25-17 victories in the third and fourth. The Blue Devils prevailed 15-12 in the final set for the win. Freshman Charley Niego led the Irish attack with 15 kills while junior Jemma Yeadon added 14 and setter Zoe Nunez racked up 46 assists in the five sets of play.
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On Friday, ND won 3-1 over Wake Forest, winning the first and third sets by the identical scores of 25-17 and then took the fourth set 25-20. Yeadon led the Irish attack with 16 kills, while freshman Sydney Bent pitched in 15 and Niego added 14. Nunez dished out a team-high 44 assists. Senior Ryann DeJarld paced Notre Dame defensively with 25 digs.
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The Hokies enter the weekend with a 3-3 record and are 12-6 overall. They are coming off a loss to Clemson last Sunday when sophomore Kaity Smith's 13 kills and team-best eight digs were not enough as Tech fell 3-0 at Jervey Gym. Smith, a Florence, Kentucky native, is on a five-match string of double-digit kills for the dating back to Sept. 23.
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However, the Hokies got behind double-double performances by Smith and Ester Talamazzi to defeat Georgia Tech 3-0 on Friday night at O'Keefe Gym. Smith finished with 12 kills and 14 digs and Talamazzi collected 11 kills and digs for the Hokies.
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Saturday's matchup has been designated as Louisville's Pink Match to broaden awareness of Breast Cancer.
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