MATCH STATS
- Louisville def. (RV) Notre Dame 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 25-27, 25-18, 15-11)
- Louisville improves to 7-4 (1-0 ACC); (RV) Notre Dame drops to 10-2 (0-1 ACC)
- Louisville, Kentucky (ACC Conference Match)
- Box Score
Louisville, Kentucky – Louisville overcame a 2-1 set deficit on their home floor to take down a team ‘on the cusp’ in the latest VolleyMob Top 25 as they defeated Notre Dame for a 1-0 ACC start.
Defense was the theme in a match where Louisville hit .198 and Notre Dame hit .129. No one stood out more on that defense than Molly Sauer, the Cardinals libero, as she posted 36 digs in the win.
Still, even though they hit slightly under .200, there was a solid discrepancy between the teams in hitting percentage along with kills (74-48 in favor of Louisville). Notre Dame stuck in the match with blocks (13-9 in their favor) and serving (7-5 in aces and seven less serve errors).
Those Louisville errors put them behind 2-1 in three straight two-point sets. They figured things out in set four though with the most lopsided of the five before taking a lead into the switch in set five and carrying that through.
Louisville continues their tough start to the ACC season as now they go to North Carolina before meeting Florida State. Notre Dame stays on the road with NC State and have to wait a week until their ACC home opener against Miami (FL).
PRESS RELEASES:
Sophomore outside hitter Melanie McHenry had 21 kills and 11 digs to lead the University of Louisville to a 3-2 win over rival Notre Dame in the ACC volleyball opener Friday night at Cardinal Arena.
“I am very happy. You know there are always a few decisions that you look back at and there’s some plays that we definitely would want to take back, but they fought hard and they really trusted themselves and each other and our training at the end of the match,” said UofL head coach Dani Busboom Kelly.
The Cardinals (7-4, 1-0) won 25-23, 23-25, 25-27, 25-18, 15-11 while hitting .198 with five aces and nine blocks. UofL’s Jasmine Bennett had 15 kills and five blocks. Tess Clark pitched in 15 kills and two blocks. UofL libero Molly Sauer had a season-high 36 digs. Notre Dame moves to 10-2 with a 0-1 mark in the ACC. The Irish were led by Sydney Kuhn’s 12 kills, six blocks and an ace. The Cards’ win pushed UofL to a 20-3 record in conference openers since 1995.
“It’s pretty awesome the way that the five setter ended. I thought Molly Sauer pretty much took over in the back row,” said Busboom Kelly. “We have been tinkering with our defense and finally got her in a position where she can dig more balls and she was awesome. I think our setter, Wilma (Rivera,) had a great match too. It was just a very good team effort, it was a great team effort. Jasmine Bennett? She came alive and she was unstoppable.”
After tying at 14 on a kill by Melanie McHenry, the Cards lost momentum in the first set as the Irish took off on a 5-0 tear to go up 19-15. Amanda Green went on a tear of her own for the Cardinals with three straight kills to come within one at 20-19 and spark an ND timeout. Cards scored three straight to go up 23-20 to force the Irish to burn their final timeout. The Irish came back to tie at 23 on a kill by Caroline Holt, but could not score again. Tess Clark had a kill to make it 24-23 and then a hitting error by Jemma Yeadon gave the Cards the 25-23 win.
In the second set, Louisville took the lead early and held on until the Irish tied at 22. Melanie McHenryscored to to up 23-22 but then committed three straight unforced errors to fall 25-23 and even the set score at one apiece going into the break.
After the break, UofL skittered out to a 8-3 lead and ND had to use a timeout early to reorganize. Louisville kept the Irish at arm’s length but ND used aggressive serving to get back into the fray, tying at 21 on a UofL miss. The Irish got to set point at 24-23 on a kill by Meg Morningstar but the Cards dug in to tie on a kill by Melanie McHenry and tooke the lead at 25-24 on another kill by McHenry. Morningstar answered with a kill to tie at 25 and then two straight kills by Sydney Kuhn gave ND the 27-25 win. In the set, Notre Dame had .227 hitting and Kuhn had six kills.
Down 2-1 in sets, the Cardinals popped out to an 11-6 lead early in the fourth and maintained that margin for much of the set. Notre Dame managed to get within three at 19-16 on a hitting error by Jasmine Bennett but Tess Clark answered with a kill and then Bennett recovered to score two straight to put the cards up 22-16. The teams traded points but a Kill by McHenry, an ace by Gabbie Wiley and another kill from Jasmine Bennett tipped the set to the Cards 25-18 to force the fifth set.
In the deciding set, UofL powered out to a 7-4 lead and forced an Irish timeout. The Irish fought to tie at 8 but were outscored 5-3 down the stretch. Melanie McHenry scored the final three points of the match for the Cards 15-11 win.
The Cardinals travel to Chapel Hill for a 1 p.m. Sunday match with ACC favorite North Carolina.
“I think it’s just those unforced errors that will have to be cleaned up a little bit. North Carolina is pretty much a completely different team than Notre Dame. UNC is big and physical so it’ll be another really tough task,” said Busboom Kelly.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Notre Dame (10-2, 0-1) fell to Louisville (7-4, 1-0) in its Atlantic Coast Conference opener on Friday evening in Cardinal Arena in five sets by a final score of 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 25-27, 25-18, 15-11). The loss is just the second of the season for the Irish.
The Irish attack was led by sophomore Jemma Yeadon and senior Sydney Kuhn. Yeadon posted a team-high 13 kills and Kuhn added 12. Junior Ryann DeJarld recorded a team-high 28 kills and senior Caroline Holt paced Notre Dame in assists with 34.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish came out ready to play to open the match, gaining an early four-point advantage at 10-6. The Cardinals fought back and managed to level the score at 14-14. Notre Dame once again tried to pull away from the hosts, reeling off five straight points but the Cardinals rallied and found a way to take the first frame by a score of 25-23 to grab an early 1-0 advantage in the match.
Louisville controlled the early stages of the second set, as the Cardinals held a lead for much of the stanza. Trailing 16-13, the Irish won three straight points to even the score at 16-16. The Cardinals responded and reclaimed the lead, holding a one-point lead late in the second at 23-22. Notre Dame dug deep and rattled off three consecutive crucial points, one of which was an ace off Natalie Johnson’s serve, to take the second set 25-23 and tie the match up at 1-1.
The Cardinals came out of the 10-minute intermission locked in and built an eight-point lead at 17-9. It appeared the hosts would take a 2-1 lead in the match but the Irish had other ideas. Notre Dame stormed back by winning 13 of the next 17 points to take its first lead of the set at 22-21. The two sides traded points to 25-25 and then Kuhn came up with back-to-back kills to complete the comeback at 27-25 and put the Irish on top in the match at 2-1.
The Irish found themselves in a hole in the fourth set, but unlike the third stanza, were unable to make a comeback. The Cardinals never trailed in the frame and took the set by a score of 25-18 to force a fifth and final set.
Notre Dame trailed early in the fifth frame by a score of 8-4 but managed to claw its way back by winning each of the next four points to even the score at 8-8. Unfortunately for the Irish, the Cardinals reclaimed the lead and never relinquished it in the rest of the way, as Louisville took the fifth 15-11 to win the match 3-2.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Senior Sydney Kuhn notched her sixth double-double of the season, finishing the night with 12 kills and 16 digs. The Wichita, Kansas, native added a season-high five blocks and an ace to cap off her evening.
ND STAT OF THE MATCH
Notre Dame senior Natalie Johnson fired two aces against the Cardinals, bringing her season total to 24. The 24 aces mark a career high for the senior. Johnson has recorded at least one ace in 11 of 12 matches in 2017 and has recorded multiple aces on seven occurences.
NOTES OF THE MATCH
- The Irish posted 13.0 team blocks against the Cardinals and have now recorded 10+ team blocks in seven matches this season.
- Notre Dame recorded a season-high seven aces in the match.
- Kuhn finished the match with 12 kills and 13 digs, marking her sixth double-double of 2017.
- DeJarld tallied 20+ digs for the ninth time this season with 28.
- Yeadon has recorded at least 10 kills in all 10 matches she has played in during the 2017 season.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame makes the trip from Louisville to Raleigh, North Carolina, to take on the Wolfpack. The Irish and NC State will meet on the court at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 24 to complete the team’s first ACC road trip of the season.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For a behind the scenes look at the Notre Dame volleyball program follow the Irish on Twitter (@NDvolleyball), Instagram (@ndvball), Facebook (/NDVolleyball) and Snapchat (NDVolleyball).
Leave a Reply