The Cards lost a hard fought battle last night in Lexington as the Volleyball Cards went down 3-2 to the 17th ranked kentucky team. After winning the first game the Cards dropped 2 straight. They won the fourth and were down big in the fifth before coming back to take the lead but ultimately losing in game 5. Maya McClendon’s lead the team with 17 kills and 16 digs. The Cards are now at 2-4 and unranked
Below is the official press release
Go Cards!
Maya McClendon’s 17 kills and 16 digs were not enough as the University of Louisville volleyball team fell 3-2 in a fierce rivalry match Tuesday night in Lexington.
“It was a balanced match in that we had rotations that worked and we had rotations where we were weak and so did they,” said U of L head coach Anne Kordes. “ It was a matter of trying to take advantage of your opponent’s weaknesses, like perhaps when Billings was back row. It was a heck of a match with a great crowd. I couldn’t be more proud of my team.”
The Cardinals, 2-4, hit .245 and outblocked the Cats 9-6. Senior Randi Ewing, with her father Patrick, of NBA fame, in attendance, had nine kills and six blocks. Janelle Jenkins added 16 kills and four blocks. The Cats were led by Alexandra Morgan’s 13 kills.
U of L scored six unanswered points to take a 17-10 lead in the first set. The Cards hit .355 and kept unforced errors to a minimum as they pulled away. A long rally ending in a Randi Ewing block took the Cards to set point at 24-17 and a UK miscue gave the Cards the 25-17 win. The Cards were led by Maya McClendon and Janelle Jenkins who each had four kills.
In the second set, UK blew out to 12-7 lead and Kordes was out of timeouts when her team rallied and cut the deficit to one at 24-23 before the Cats finally closed the deal after using both of their timeouts for the 25-23 win.
In the third set U of L fell behind 11-4 but made a run to come within two at 17-15 and draw a UK timeout. The Cards pushed but a pair of service errors scuttled the momentum. Still alive at 23-20, two U of L errors tipped the set to the Cards 25-20.
U of L powered out to a 6-0 lead in the fourth and then managed to hold off a concerted UK comeback that came as close as four at 22-18 but the Cards shut the door with the 25-19 win.
In the fifth set, UK had a 5-2 lead but the Cards managed to tie at eight and then traded points until 11-11 when the Cats were able to reel off four straight for the 15-11 win.
“I was very proud the way we came back more than once to stave off Kentucky early in the match when they made a push. Errors played a role at times for both teams. Taking care of the ball against a good team is crucial. You have to take control of the ball,” said Kordes. “Their block of Maya in the fifth may have tipped it to them. We had to go away from her and then we sort of flubbed the last play.”
