Oct. 12, 2014
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Two years ago the University of Notre Dame volleyball team overcame a 2-0 deficit against No. 10 Louisville to win a five-set thriller at the KFC Yum! Center. The Cardinals didn’t let that happen this time around, as the home squad swept the Irish, 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-13), Sunday afternoon in front of 2,755 fans.
The Louisville tandem of Maya McClendon (11K, .308 A%) and Janelle Jenkins (12K, .500 A%) helped the Cardinals pound home 46 kills and hit .324 for the match. Notre Dame only totaled 26 kills while hitting .038 for the contest. The Cardinals posted 21 more assists (43-22), 15 more digs (54-39) and five more blocks (8-5) than the Irish.
Elsewhere for Louisville, Tess Clark had seven kills (.700 A%) and four blocks, while Maggie DeJong totaled five kills (.444 A%) and four blocks. Setter Katie George (38A, 5D, 2B, 2K) and libero Roxanne McVey (17D) also had strong showings for the Cardinals.
Irish freshman Sam Fry tallied nine kills and hit .438 in the loss. Setter Hanna Muzzonigro (22A, 10D) posted her third consecutive double-double.
The match featured just one tie and one lead change, with both coming in the second set.
Notre Dame (4-13, 1-5 ACC) returns home to Purcell Pavilion next weekend to meet Clemson (7 p.m. Friday) and Boston College (1 p.m. Sunday).
SET-BY-SET RECAP
Notre Dame got off to a slow start in set one as the Cardinals jumped out to a 6-0 lead before upping the advantage to 11-1. The Irish trimmed the lead to five at 12-7 on a block from Fry and Muzzonigro, but the ‘Ville scored five of the next six points to take a 17-8 lead. Later in the set, a DeJong kill gave the Cardinals the 25-14 victory. Louisville hit .484 for the opening frame, as it pounded home 18 kills. Jenkins totaled six kills and hit .556 for the set. For the Irish, Fry (4K, .800 A%) and Jeni Houser (4K, .667 A%) totaled eight of Notre Dame’s nine kills.
The Irish looked much improved in set two, as they battled back-and-forth early with the talented Louisville squad. A kill by Fry moved the Irish to within one at 11-10. However, three points in a row later in the set turned the tide in the set by upping the Cardinals’ lead to 15-12. Notre Dame couldn’t trim into the advantage as Louisville extended its lead to seven at 22-15. A kill from Clark gave the home squad a 25-19 win in set two and a 2-0 lead going into the break.
Louisville closed out the match with a 25-13 win in set three. The Cardinals controlled from the beginning as they took a 6-0 lead before the Irish cracked the scoreboard with a kill from Fry. Notre Dame got as close as four at 11-7, but couldn’t hold off the Cardinals. Louisville held a 10-point lead at 20-10, and finished the match off with a kill from Laura Blab and an attack error from Notre Dame.
–Russell Dorn, Assistant Media Relations Director
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