Cardinals Fall to No. 19 Purdue

Saturday, September 8

West Lafayette, IN

7:30 p.m.

University of Louisville

5-3

Purdue

8-0

Louisville

Purdue

Megan Sloan goes for a kill during the Cardinals game from the right side.

September 08, 2018 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Louisville vs Purdue Box Score Louisville VB Stats after Purdue

McHenry and Sloan named to All-Stacey Clark Classic

By: Nancy Worley

Melanie McHenry had 17 kills and 18 digs but it was not enough as the University of Louisville volleyball team fell 3-2 to No. 19-ranked Purdue Saturday night in West Lafayette.

The Cardinals fell 25-23, 17-25, 28-26, 13-25, 15-10. UofL hit .199 with eight blocks and eight aces. Purdue hit .152 with five aces and 15 blocks. UofL got 14 kills from Megan Sloan, who joined McHenry on the All-Stacey Clark Classic team. Molly Sauer had 30 digs and three aces.

In the first set, UofL led early, going up 7-4 on an ace by freshman Claire Chaussee. The Cards kept the lead until Purdue tied at 16 and then went up 20-16 when the Boiler block became a factor. Melanie McHenry had two kills and Megan Sloan added another to get the Cards back to within two at 21-19 and forced Purdue to call timeout. Louisville stayed close, closing the gap to one point on a kill by Megan Sloan at 23-22. A UofL service error and a kill by Blake Mohler tipped the set to Purdue 25-23.

In the second set, Purdue had to burn both its timeouts early as UofL popped out to a 14-8 lead powered by .364 hitting. The Boilers put together a 7-0 run to tie at 15 but then were outscored 10-2 down the stretch. Wilma Rivera aced Purdue for set point and then the Boilers hit into the net to give the Cards the 25-17 win.

In the third set, the Cards used a 5-0 run to go up 10-8 early. Purdue countered with a run of its own to go up 14-11 and spark a Louisville timeout. Cards pushed back and tied at 16 on kill by Melanie McHenry which forced a Purdue timeout. The Boilers got hot and took a 22-19 lead with four hitting errors on the Cardinals driving the run. Purdue had set point at 24-22 but the Cards got kills from Emily Scott and Amanda Green to tie at 24. The teams traded points but Purdue got a kill from Hayley Bush and then won 28-26 on a UofL hitting error.

The Cardinals used .375 hitting and four aces to hand Purdue a 25-13 win in the fourth set. The Boilers were unable to overcome a 10-2 start by the Cards and were out of timeouts at 18-9. Melanie McHenry had five kills and Jasmine Bennett chipped in four with two aces apiece for Molly Sauer and Mia Stander.

The Cards fell behind 4-1 in the fifth set and Purdue was able to get three blocks to stymy the Louisville hitters. A block by Megan Sloan and Emily Scott followed by a kill by Melanie McHenry brought the Cards within four at 12-8. The Boilers shut down the comeback when a kill by Grace Cleveland sealed the win.