Louisville def. Notre Dame 3-2 (27-29, 20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 15-12)
- Louisville moves to 14-4, 7-0 ACC; Notre Dame falls to 10-7, 4-3 ACC
- Box Score
- Louisville Recap / Notre Dame Recap
After being relocated due to a campus power outage, the Louisville/Notre Dame ACC matchup went on as scheduled at Sacred Heart Academy Gymnasium on Wednesday night. After a slow start, the host Cardinals went on to take a five-set win to stay perfect in ACC play at 7-0.
Notre Dame won the first two sets and led the Cardinals in aces (5-3) and blocks (11-9) in the loss.
For its part, Louisville boasted a .247 to .203 hitting advantage and 19 more kills (76-57) in the victory.
The Cardinals were outhit in the first two sets, but bounced back after intermission with a .457 effort and carried that the rest of the way, following with .343 and .300 clips down the stretch.
Five Louisville players managed nine or more kills, led by Melanie McHenry. McHenry turned in a 19-kill, 19-dig double-double, while Megan Sloan (17), Emily Scott (15), Amanda Green (13) and Piper Roe (9) followed. Roe hit at a team-best .500 clip (9-0-18) and added five blocks, while Green rounded out a double-double with 13 digs. Wilma Rivera also managed a double-dip with 62 assists and 10 digs.
Charley Niego paced Notre Dame with 21 kills and seven digs, while Rebecca Nunge (14), Sydney Bent (12) and Jemma Yeadon (9) rounded out the Irish offense. Nunge hit at a .565 clip (14-1-23) and put up five blocks, while Meg Morningstar also notched five stuffs.
No power, no problem. The Cardinals still put on a lights-out performance to stay unbeaten in the ACC!
⏪ the match-winning volley … pic.twitter.com/70wa0vDYZ7
— Louisville Volleyball (@UofLVolleyball) October 11, 2018
After forcing the decisive fifth set, Louisville built an 8-5 lead at the changeover in the final stanza as four different players notched kills. Green added two more putaways to boost the Cardinal advantage to 12-8. Notre Dame cut the margin to one at 12-11 and 13-12 with a block and a kill by Nunge, but a service error and a McHenry putdown finished off the UofL comeback.
After 10 ties, Louisville grabbed a slight 15-11 edge on a block by Rivera and Roe. The Cardinals maintained the advantage, although Notre Dame was within one at 21-20. Down 23-21, the Irish scored four in a row, including a kill and a block by Bent to earn a set-point try at 24-23. Louisville thwarted that attempt and had two of its own, last at 26-25, but fell 29-27 as the Irish capped the set on a 4-1 run.
Down 6-2 in Set 2, Notre Dame turned things around with 7-1 run including three Niego putaways and three Louisville errors. After a tie at 13, the Irish poured it on to go up five at 21-16 on a Nunge ace. A service error put Notre Dame up 2-0 on the night.
After falling behind 2-0, Louisville wasted no time kicking off a comeback bid, racing ahead 6-1 in Set 3 behind two kills and a block by Scott. Three Notre Dame miscues pushed the Cardinal lead to 10 at 14-4. The Irish were back within five at 21-16, but fell 25-17 on a service error.
Notre Dame grabbed an early 5-1 lead in Set 4, but Louisville worked its way back to a tie at 12 and 13 before going up 15-13 on an Irish hitting error and a stuff by Roe and Rivera. The Cardinals finished off a 7-1 run at 20-14 as Notre Dame committed four more errors. The Irish narrowed the gap to three at 23-20, before Scott and Green ended the stanza.
We had it all along! Cards win fifth over Notre Dame! #GoCards pic.twitter.com/1MqmLA0Th6
— Louisville Volleyball (@UofLVolleyball) October 11, 2018
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