MATCH STATS
- Louisville (RV) def. Virginia Tech 3-0 (28-26, 25-18, 25-16)
- Louisville moves to 21-6, 14-2 ACC; Virginia Tech falls to 9-18, 3-13 ACC
- Louisville, Kentucky
- Attendance: 909
- Box Score
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville hit a .320 clip as a team in a sweep of Virginia Tech, earning its seventh-straight win and staying atop the ACC in a three-way tie with Pittsburgh and NC State.
The Cardinals bested the Hokies in kills (47-36), aces (3-1) and digs (44-32) to overcome an 8-6 deficit in blocks.
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Amanda Green was the top scorer for the Cards with 13 kills, a .345 hitting effort, two blocks and an ace. Senior middle blocker Maggie DeJong and junior middle Jasmine Bennett followed with eight kills apiece, each hitting over .400 for the match. DeJong also accounted for a team-best three blocks. Junior libero Molly Sauer held down the backcourt defense with 11 digs, while also serving up two of the team’s three aces.
Freshman outside hitter Kaity Smith downed a match-high 17 kills, and added a team-best nine digs and three blocks for Virginia Tech, but it was not enough. The next best offensive efforts came from junior right side Jaila Tolbert (6) and senior middle Cara Cunningham (5). Redshirt senior middle Stacey Christy put up four blocks, while Cunningham added three.
It took four set-point tries for Louisville to nail down a Set 1 victory at 28-26. The Cards had their first attempt at 24-23 after a solo stuff by Green. Kills by Bennett and Green and a VT service error set up the other three and the final putaway by Tess Clark. Neither team led by more than two in the set with the last occurance coming at 19-17 Louisville. The teams tied at 20, 21, 22 and 23, before the Cardinals earned their first set-point try.
The teams split the first 18 points of Set 2, before Louisville seized control with an 11-3 run. Three Tess Clark putaways, two by Melanie McHenry and an ace by Sauer bouyed the rally. Three other Cards had kills during the stretch, which put Louisville up 20-12. Virginia Tech chipped away, narrowing the gap to five at 23-18 with help from two Christy blocks. The Cardinals scored the final two points on Hokie miscues, first a service error, then a hitting miscue.
The Cards led Set 3 from early on after taking a 4-1 lead, including a kill and solo block by Bennett. UofL upped the advanatge to six at 13-7 with four VT miscues, two DeJong kills and an ace by Sauer. The Hokies were within four at 15-11, but Louisville scored five of the next eight, including kills by five different players. Two Cardinal errors and a Marisa Cerchio kill had Virginia Tech within five at 21-16, but Louisville closed out the day with four straight points. A kill and an ace by Green set up the final point, which came on a VT hitting error.
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