Cardinals Bow Out of NCAA Tournament with 3-1 Loss to No. 3 Illinois

Saturday, December 1

Urbana-Champaign, IL

8:00 p.m. ET

University of Louisville

22-9

University of Illinois

30-3

Louisville

Illinois

Photo by: Jeff Reinking | Louisville Athletics

Cardinals Bow Out of NCAA Tournament with 3-1 Loss to No. 3 Illinois

December 01, 2018 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Illinois vs. Louisville Quotes Louisville 120118

McHenry and Green lead with 17 kills apiece

By: Nancy Worley

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Outside hitters Melanie McHenry and Amanda Green each had 17 kills but it was not enough as the University of Louisville fell 25-22, 26-28, 25-17, 25-18 to Illinois in the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Championship Saturday night in Champaign, Ill.

UofL, making its 27^th NCAA tournament appearance, finishes their season at 22-9. The Cardinals hit .075 with five aces and five blocks. The Cardinals got nine kills from Jasmine Bennett, who also had three blocks. Wilma Rivera had 42 assists and 21 digs, adding an ace to her stat column. Illinois was led by Jacqueline Quade's 14 kills and 12 digs. The Illini hit .281 with three aces and 19 blocks. Ali Bastianelli led with 10 blocks.

In the first set, Illinois ran out to a 5-2 lead, before the Cards were able to tie at 12 after a 4-0 run. The Illini answered, going up 19-17 on a Cardinal service error. But a kill on the next play by Amanda Green sparked a 3-0 run that gave the Cardinals a 20-19 lead. UI had a 4-0 run of its own to go up 23-20. UofL scored twice, one point coming on a solo block by Marijke Van Dyke before Illinois scored again and then got set point when a tip fell just over the net for the 25-22 win.

The Cardinals took the lead early in the second half, going up 10-7 on a kill by Melanie McHenry. UofL kept the Illini at bay and led 15-12 at the media timeout on a kill by Amanda Green. The teams traded points but Louisville kept the lead, going up 17-14 on another kill by Green. Illinois answered with a 4-0 run and the Cards called timeout when the Illini took the lead at 18-17 on a ball handling error. Louisville retook the lead at 20-19 on an Illini hitting error and a kill by Melanie McHenry sparked a timeout by UI. The Illini got to set point at 24-22 on a Cardinal hitting error but Amanda Green went on a tear that saw her rip three straight kills to give UofL set point at 26-25. The Cards were blocked to allow Illinois to tie at 26. A critical service error by Illinois was followed up by a McHenry kill for set point and the 28-26 win which evened the set score at one apiece. Green had seven kills and Jasmine Bennett added two blocks to the winning effort.

The Illini used an 8-0 run early in the third set to take a 14-6 lead over the Cardinals. UofL managed a 5-1 run to get within four at 15-11 but the Illini countered immediately with a 5-1 run to go up 20-12. UofL scored on a block by Amanda Green to pull to 22-16 but would score just twice more as the Illini used .355 hitting to finish out the 25-17 win.

In the fourth set, UofL struggled with the Illinois block after falling behind 10-4 early. The Cards were trailing 15-9 and could not gain their footing against .350 hitting by the Illini. Down 20-11, UofL showed grit with a 6-2 run with Melanie McHenry with four kills during that stretch. Illinois called timeout and then cruised to the 25-18 win.