MATCH STATS
- (RV) Louisville def. (RV) Notre Dame, 3-2 (25-22, 25-17, 18-25, 18-25, 15-10)
- Louisville improves to 15-6, 9-2 ACC; Notre Dame falls to 16-6, 6-5 ACC
- South Bend, Indiana
- Attendance: 573
- Box score
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – (RV) Louisville watched a 2-0 set lead in a tough road match disappear. But two quick aces and a kill sparked an energetic run in set five to seal the road win over (RV) Notre Dame, 3-2 (25-22, 25-17, 18-25, 18-25, 15-10). The win also kept the Cardinals within a half game of ACC leaders Pittsburgh and N.C. State (both are 9-1 in conference play), with a match against Pitt at home on Friday coming next.
Louisville was led by Speedway, Indiana native Melanie McHenry who scored a double-double on the evening. Her 20 kills led all attackers in the match, and she added 15 digs. The only other double-double for the Cardinals was from setter Wilma Rivera with 50 assists and 15 digs. Rivera also added a match-high 6 aces on the night. The only other double-digit kill producer for the Cardinals was Tess Clark with 13 kills. Libero Molly Sauer scooped a team-high 21 digs to go along with 6 assists.
For the Irish, Rebecca Nunge led Notre Dame with a team-high 16 kills, missing her career-high by one. Nunge hit .304 on the night to go along with 4 digs and 2 blocks. Sam Fry had a season-high of 13 kills, hitting .423 to go along with 3 blocks and 2 digs. Sydney Kuhn added 10 kills of her own and dug 7 balls. Libero Ryann DeJarld had a match-high 28 digs, her 17th match of the season with 20 or more digs. Setter Caroline Holt ran the offense with 47 assists. Holt filled the rest of the stat sheet with 5 digs, 4 kills, a block and an ace.
With the exception of team hitting percentage (.207-.169), Louisville led in almost all other statistical categories. The Cardinals outkilled (60-55), outdug (88-74) and outaced (11-6) the Irish, while both teams had 7 blocks each.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of Louisville Athletics
Melanie McHenry had 20 kills and 15 digs to lead the University of Louisville to a 3-2 win over Notre Dame in ACC volleyball action Wednesday night in South Bend.
UofL won 25-22, 25-17, 18-25, 18-25, 15-10 to improve to 15-6 overall and 9-2 in the ACC. The Cards got 13 kills from Tess Clark, who added a pair of blocks. Maggie DeJong had eight kills and three blocks and Jasmine Bennett had 8 kills and three blocks. Setter Wilma Riverahad a season-high six aces and added 50 assists and 15 digs. The Irish move to 16-6 and 6-5 in the league. Notre Dame was led by Rebecca Nunge‘s 16 kills and two blocks. Sam Fry had 13 kills, hit .423 and had three blocks.
The Cards let the Irish roll out to a 9-2 lead before Busboom Kelly called a timeout as a wakeup call for the Cardinals. UofL responded and had a 5-2 run to get within two at 11-9 and spark an Irish timeout. UofL tied at 13 on a kill by Tess Clark and took the lead for good at 15-14 on an ace by Gabbie Wiley. Up 23-18, the Cards sputtered a bit as the Irish pulled within two at 23-21 and Busboom Kelly spent her final timeout to try to chill ND. Melanie McHenry gave UofL set point at 24-21, a miss by the Cards. An attack error by Sydney Kuhn gave the 25-22 win to the Cards.
In the second set, the teams stayed close with the Cards maintaining a slight lead before UofL went on a 6-1 run to give Louisville a 19-13 lead. The Irish reeled off three straight but were outscored 5-1 down and fell 25-17 to give UofL a 2-0 set lead going into the break. Wilma Rivera had two aces in that set as the Irish gave up the most aces of the season.
In the third set, Notre Dame powered out to a 18-9 lead while hitting .351. UofL’s serving went cold and the Irish survived a late Cardinal push easily to roll 21-18. Tess Clark and Melanie McHenry each had four kills to pace the Cards. ND’s Rebecca Nunge came alive for four kills and two blocks.
In the fourth set, UofL let the Irish zoom out to a 10-3 lead and then tried to play catch up with .062 hitting while the Irish uncorked three aces and had the Cards on their heels. Down 18-10, Busboom Kelly called timeout but could not stem the flow as the Irish rolled 25-18 to even the set score.
Wilma Rivera aced the Irish for the first two points of the fifth set and then Jasmine Bennett blocked ND to take a 3-0 lead and spark an Irish timeout. The teams tied at four and Louisville called timeout. The teams traded points until, tied at nine, UofL scored four straight to go up 12-9 and then finished the set off when Jasmine Bennett scored on a kill and then got a block to give UofL match point. Melanie McHenry spanked one for the set and match winner.
Courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Notre Dame (16-6, 6-5 ACC) battled its way back from a 2-0 deficit for the second straight match, but unlike Sunday’s come-from-behind win over Miami, the Irish could not complete the comeback against Louisville (16-6, 9-2 ACC), falling 3-2 (25-22, 25-17, 18-25, 18-25, 15-10).
Notre Dame’s attack was led by Rebecca Nunge, who finished with a team-high 16 kills and a hitting percentage of .304. The 16 kills were one shy of matching the junior’s career high. Seniors Sam Fry (13) and Sydney Kuhn (10) also finished in double figures for kills. Junior Ryann DeJarld totaled a team-high 28 digs to lead the Irish defense.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish attack came out firing on all cylinders, as Notre Dame jumped out to an early 9-2 advantage in the first set, with five of the points coming from kills. The Cardinals abruptly responded, as the visitors rallied to tie the set at 13-13. Louisville began to pull away, taking a 23-18 lead in the opener, however, the Irish staged a late rally to cut their lead to two at 23-21 courtesy of a block from Kristin Baer and Nunge. In the end, the comeback fell short, as the Cardinals took the opening set 25-22.
Louisville carried its momentum from the first frame into the second, building a 19-13 lead. The Irish rebounded to claim four of the next five points, cutting the deficit in half at 20-17. Unfortunately for Notre Dame, Louisville won the final five points of the set to grab the set 25-17 and open a 2-0 lead in the match.
Notre Dame regrouped during the 10-minute intermission and came out ready to play in the third. The Irish outhit the visitors in the set .351 to .165 en route to a comfortable 25-18 win. Notre Dame dominated from the start, racing out to a 7-1 lead. The Irish never trailed in the stanza and led by as many as eight points on four occasions before taking the set and cutting the visitor’s match advantage to 2-1.
The excellent run of play continued into the fourth set for Notre Dame, as the Irish reeled off six straight points to open the set. Notre Dame did not let up throughout the fourth, as it led by as many as nine at 22-13 before closing out the frame with a score of 25-18 to level the match at 2-2. The Irish totaled 13 kills and three aces in the fourth to tie the match.
The fifth set started poorly for Notre Dame, as Louisville used two aces and a kill to quickly go up 3-0. After the score moved to 4-1 the Irish rattled off four consecutive points of their own to take their first lead of the fifth at 5-4. The two sides traded points and Notre Dame held on to its one-point advantage at 9-8. The Cardinals then took control of the fifth frame, winning six of the final seven points to take the set 15-10 and escape with a 3-2 victory in the match.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Fry matched her season-high for kills in a match with 13 against the Cardinals. The senior was Notre Dame’s most efficient hitter, posting a hitting percentage of .423 (13-2-26) over the five sets of play. The Cincinnati native also added a team-high three blocks, two digs and an assist.
HEAD COACH Jim McLaughlin’S TAKE
On what changed between the first two sets and the third and fourth sets…
“I don’t think a whole lot changed. It’s simple, we played better and had better energy. When we do that everything is taken care of. We had a good emotional win and took a lot of energy and emotion down in Miami. We had a bad practice yesterday with no energy or emotion. We’ve got to play the same way every time. We can’t come out and get behind and not play well. We fought at times. There were some good things but not enough good things.”
On Sam Fry’s play…
“Sam has been good over time. Sam has been consistent and its all about consistency and doing the things you are supposed to do with consistency.”
NOTES OF THE MATCH
- DeJarld surpassed the 20-dig mark for the 17th time this season, finishing with a team-high 28 digs.
- Nunge recorded 10+ kills for the eighth time in 2017 on Wednesday.
- Kuhn finished with double-digit kills for the ninth match this season, notching 10 against the Cardinals.
- Yeadon posted her double-digit digs for the 17th time this season (11 digs).
- Madison Cruzado tied her career high in digs with 12.
- Natalie Johnson tallied two aces in the match and has now finished with multiple aces 12 times during her senior campaign.
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