Cardinals Head to Boston College and Syracuse for ACC Matches

The University of Louisville volleyball team hits the road for the first two matches of a four-match road stretch, facing Boston College on Friday, Nov. 1 at 7:30 and Syracuse on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 1 p.m.

Louisville
The post-Melanie McHenry Cardinals have had to regroup and repurpose to find a new lineup that replaced their lone senior and six-rotation player.

Claire Chaussee had 10 kills and Anna Stevenson added eight blocks and seven kills to lead the University of Louisville to a 25-18, 25-12, 25-13 sweep of Virginia Friday night in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.

UofL hit .250 with three aces and 12 blocks. The Cards got seven kills from Amber Stivrins, who also added three blocks. Shannon Shields had 28 assists and Alexa Hendricks had two aces. Virginia hit -.040 with one ace and four blocks.

But having to tweak a lineup right before playing the No. 3 team in the nation is not the easiest task. However, the Cards put together a spirited effort with the new roles. Amber Stivrins led the Cards with 10 kills, but her efforts were not enough as UofL fell to No. 3 Pittsburgh 25-21, 25-22, and 25-20.

The Cardinals hit .146 with 13 blocks. The Panthers remained undefeated in ACC action at 10-0, hit .255 with four aces with Kayla Lund leading the team with 11 kills.

Boston College
Under the tutelage of second year coach, Jason Kennedy, the Boston College volleyball team has revitalized and sports a 16-7, 7-3 ACC record. In his inaugural year, Kennedy led the team to a 15-15 overall record, headlined by a program-best 9-0 opening run. The Eagles fell to North Carolina in straight sets on Sunday afternoon in Carmichael Arena. Sophomore Jewel Strawberry tallied a team-best 10 kills on the day, followed closely behind by Clare Naughton's eight and Amaka Chukwujekwu's six. Mackenzie Fuhrmann led with an error-free .714, notching five kills off of seven attempts for the best hitting percentage of the match. On Friday, BC held off a late rally from the NC State Wolfpack to earn a five-set win on Friday night in Raleigh. The win gives BC 16 on the year, marking the most in a season since the Eagles totaled 16 wins in 2003.

Syracuse
The Cardinals then face their old mentor Leonid Yelin, who coached the Cards from 1996-2010 when they head to Syracuse for a Sunday matchup. The Orange are led by sophomore captain Polina Shemanova, who earned Atlantic Coast Conference volleyball Player of the Week honors after her performances against North Carolina and NC State on the road this past weekend. This marks the sophomore's first weekly honor of the season. She earned ACC Freshman of the Week honors three times in 2018.
Shemanova posted 23 kills, nine digs, and three service aces in a 3-1 loss at North Carolina Friday night. The St. Petersburg, Russia native followed that with her seventh double-double of the season (22 kills, 10 digs) along with three blocks in a 3-0 victory at NC State Sunday.

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.

Chaussee Stepping Up
Claire Chaussee stepped into Melanie McHenry's shoes after the knee injury. In the past four matches, she has averaged 10.25 kills per match. The prior four matches before that she averaged four kills per match.

RPI Run Down
The Cardinals' RPI is 16, the second best in the ACC behind Pitt (5). 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.

Two Cardinal Coaches
Syracuse's Leonid Yelin has the most wins in Cardinal coaching history with 366. Dani Busboom Kelly has the highest winning percentage in Cardinal coaching history (.786).

Cardinals Head to Boston College and Syracuse for ACC Matches

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Players Mentioned

Claire Chaussee

Alexa Hendricks

Melanie McHenry

Shannon Shields

Anna Stevenson

Amber Stivrins

University of Louisville Athletics