The Louisville volleyball team went on a road trip to the state of North Carolina. The Cards fell to Duke 3-0 before beating Wake Forest 3-0.
On Friday night, U of L visited Duke. The Blue Devils walked away with a 3-0 victory (25-22, 26-24, 25-15). The Cards kept things tight for the first two sets before falling back in the third.
Tess Clark had 11 kills with Melanie McHenry not far behind with eight. Clark also led the way with two aces and two blocks. Kali Eaken's 31 assists led all Cards and Molly Sauer had another strong defensive showing with 20 digs. Duke improves to 18-6 and a 12-2 record in the ACC. Duke looks to remain in the top four in the ACC for a first round bye in the conference tournament.
On Sunday afternoon, the Cards defeated Wake Forest 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-23). Going into halftime with a 2-0 cushion is always a motivational booster and helped propel the Cards to a sweep.
McHenry led with 12 kills and three aces for U of L. Clark had a whopping seven blocks in an 11 block performance by Louisville. Morgan Miller had 16 assists and Lyndsay Palmer added 15 as the two split time as setter. Palmer and Sauer also had nine digs apiece. Wake Forest falls to 9-16 and 5-9 in the ACC.
Although Louisville is only 8-16 and 3-11, things seemed to have start clicking some. Their four game losing streak was snapped and the long uphill battle has begun.
Many players, such as McHenry, Palmer, Eaken, Miller, and Jasmine Bennett, have seen ample playing time this season after playing very little last season or being new to the team altogether. Communication and passing have improved greatly for the Cards. Louisville continues to battle for a chance to make the ACC tournament.