Cards Return Home to Host Virginia and No. 3 Pitt

The University of Louisville returns to L&N Federal Credit Union Arena to face a pair of ACC foes with Virginia on Friday at 7 p.m. and No. 3 Pitt on Sunday at 3 p.m.

Louisville
The then-ranked No. 23 Cardinals suffered their first ACC loss in a 3-1 upset at Virginia Tech last Sunday. Playing without leading hitter, Melanie McHenry, the Cardinals were unable to repel the Hokies, who regrouped after losing the first set to the Cards. Right side hitter Aiko Jones had 19 kills but it was not enough as UofL moved to 14-4 and 7-1.

The University of Louisville came back from a 2-0 set deficit to beat Notre Dame 3-2 Wednesday night in South Bend. The Cards lost Melanie McHenry to a knee-injury early in the second set. UofL hit .219 for the match with 14 blocks and four aces. Aiko Jones led the Cardinals with 16 kills, nine digs and an ace. Anna Stevenson had eight kills and nine blocks. The Irish drop to 13-4 and 6-1 in the league.

Virginia
The Cavaliers visit The Ville with a record of 9-13, 1-7 ACC. On Friday, Virginia fell to NC State 25-21, 25-21, 22-25, 25-18 at home. Sophomore middle blocker Milla Ciprian powered Virginia with a career-high 16 kills while hitting .481 in the match. Junior Sarah Billiard and senior Jelena Novakovic joined Ciprian in double figures with 13 and 10 kills, respectively. On Sunday, Virginia was unable to slow North Carolina as the Tar Heels hit .374 in attack to sweep the Cavaliers 26-24, 25-19, 25-22 Freshman Jayna Francis (Virginia Beach, Va.) led the Cavaliers with 10 kills on the day. She also hit .348, her best hitting percentage in an ACC match. Junior Sarah Billiard added nine kills while senior Jelena Novakovic added eight for Virginia.

Pittsburgh
The No. 3 Pitt volleyball team (19-1, 8-0) comes into L&N Federal Credit Union Arena on a historic high for the program. With the sweep of NC State, Pitt earned its 30th consecutive victory when playing at Fitzgerald Field HouseThe 30 wins in a row at the facility are a school record, with the Panthers' last loss coming nearly two years prior, on Oct. 22, 2017, to NC State.
The sweep (25-9, 25-16, 25-12) is Pitt's 14th of the year and seventh of ACC play. The Panthers have dropped just one set out of 25 against league opponents. Senior middle blocker Layne Van Buskirk crossed the 1,000-kill threshold for her career in a sweep for No. 3 Pitt volleyball (18-1, 7-0) over North Carolina last Friday. The 25-22, 25-25, 25-23 sweep was No. 13 of the season for the Panthers and No. 6 of ACC play. Pitt has dropped just one set out of 22 against 2019 ACC competition. Van Buskirk led Pitt with nine kills (.533) on the night, and now totals 1,006 over her four-year career. She is one of three active Panthers with 1,000 or more kills each, joining redshirt senior outside Stephanie Williams and senior right side Nika Markovic.

McHenry Sidelined for Remainder of 2019
University of Louisville outside hitter Melanie McHenry will be sidelined for the remainder of the season after suffering an injury to her left knee during the match at Notre Dame on Oct. 16, 2019.
McHenry, a four-year starter, is the leading scorer for the Cardinals with 204 kills, leads the team in aces and adds 31 blocks. She is second on the team in digs with 144. The lone senior on the 2019 roster, the Speedway, Ind. native ranks No. 9 in school history in kills with 1,345 and is 21st on the active career list in Division I players. This season, she was named ACC Player of the Week, the Fleur De Lis Tournament MVP, and was named to the All-ACC Preseason Squad.

Home Sweet Home
The Cards are 9-1 in in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena this year. They were 10-3 in 2018 overall and 7-2 in ACC play at home. (6-2 in Cardinal Arena and 1-0 at Sacred Heart Academy where the Notre Dame match was relocated after a power outage affected the Arena.)

RPI Run Down
The Cardinals' RPI is 18, the second best in the ACC behind Pitt (7). RPI stands for Ratings Percentage Index and the index comprises a team's winning percentage (25%), its opponents' winning percentage (50%), and the winning percentage of those opponents' opponents (25%). The opponents' winning percentage and the winning percentage of those opponents' opponents both comprise the strength of schedule (SOS). Thus, the SOS accounts for 75% of the RPI calculation and is 2/3 its opponents' winning percentage and 1/3 its opponents' opponents' winning percentages.

ACC Standings

School	ACC	Overall
Pitt	8-0	19-1
Louisville	7-1	14-4
Notre Dame	7-1	14-4
Boston College	6-2	15-6
Florida State	6-2	12-5
Georgia Tech	5-3	12-7
North Carolina	5-3	8-10
Miami	4-4	8-8
Clemson	3-5	9-10
NC State	3-5	8-12
Syracuse	2-6	5-10
Wake Forest	1-7	11-8
Virginia	1-7	9-12
Duke	1-7	8-13
Virginia Tech	1-7	8-13

Follow the Cards
The Friday match can be streamed here.
The Sunday match will be televised on the ACC Network with Sam Gore and Jennifer Hoffman on the call.

Promotions

Fri	Oct. 25	7:00 p.m.	Virginia	Homecoming Weekend / Alumni Celebration Live DJ: DJ KDogg Happy Hour 6-7pm - $2 Beers
Sun	Oct. 27	3:00 p.m.	Pittsburgh	Halloween Game: Costume Contest ^Kids 12 & under only Giveaway: Halloween Candy Carnival Games Live DJ: DJ Shaun Hike and Spike Match: Show your Virginia Football Ticket for a $4 Sideline or $6 Terrace Volleyball

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Players Mentioned

Aiko Jones

Melanie McHenry

Anna Stevenson

University of Louisville Athletics