Melanie McHenry had a career-high 30 kills and two blocks to lead the University of Louisville to a 3-2 win over North Carolina in ACC volleyball action on Senior Day Sunday afternoon in Cardinal Arena.
“It was a good win by our team, it’s hard when you lose momentum to get it back and we did a great job keeping our composure in game five even when we were down,” said Dani Busboom Kelly, UofL head coach.
UofL won the first two sets and then had to hold off a hard-charging Carolina team in the fifth set for the 25-21, 25-17, 23-25, 21-25, 15-11 win. The Cards hit .210 with 11 blocks and five aces, registering 70 kills. UNC hit .143 with 50 kills four aces and 14 blocks. UofL’s Jasmine Bennett and Tess Clark each had 11 kills, with Bennett adding five blocks. The Tar Heels were led by Taylor Leath’s 14 kills and 15 digs. Senior Gabbie Wiley had a match-high, career-high 28 digs. With the win, Louisville remains in a tie for first place in the ACC with Pitt at 22-6 (16-2 ACC), while UNC falls to 14-12 (11-7 ACC). The Cardinals do have head to head advantage over the Panthers going into the final weekend.
“I can’t really single out one person, I feel like the whole team stepped up. They started looking each other in their eyes again, and just decided were going do this,” said Busboom Kelly. “Melanie McHenry carried us today, she’s been due for a great match. She had two great matches back to back this weekend, its awesome to see her perform that way. Gabbie Wiley led our team in digs and that’s extremely difficult for a defensive specialist, but she did an awesome job.”
The first set featured eight ties and six lead changes in a back-and-forth affair. Louisville pulled in front 10-7 on an ace by Maggie DeJong. Carolina countered, getting to within one at 11-10 before a 3-0 run gave the Heels the lead at 17-16. Louisville answered with a 5-1 run to go up 21-18. Melanie McHenry connected for three straight kills to get to 24-21 and then McHenry and DeJong blocked Taylor Leath for set point.
The Cards popped out to a 4-0 lead in the second set, and never trailed. UofL added to the lead 9-2 on a block by McHenry. The Heels made a little run late, with three straight points, cutting the deficit to six at 20-14, but the Cardinals closed ranks on the strength of .375 hitting for the 25-17 win. Carolina hit just .061 but had four blocks.
The Cardinals used a 7-1 run midway through the third to go up 16-10, and then spread the lead even further at 20-13 on a kill by Amanda Green. The Tar Heels’ block came alive, with seven in the third set and three-straight blocks, one by Beth Nordhorn and two from Taylor Fricano, moved the Heels to within two at 20-18. The Tar Heels had a 6-0 run to move into the lead and get to set point at 24-21. The Cardinals staved off two set points before a kill by Leath kill finished off the third, 25-23. Louisville did little to help its own effort with .049 hitting.
“UNC is a good team. They’ve had a lot of injuries, some ups and downs. They’re a team that if you give them some life, they will battle. That’s what we didn’t want to do, unfortunately we did that,” said Busboom Kelly. They fought really hard. I thought they made some great defensive plays. We decided we had to stick together, and our whole team has to play great to win.”
The fourth set featured 11 ties and six lead changes. Neither team could gather any breathing room until a five-point run down the stretch by the Tar Heels made it set point, 24-20. A kill by Carolina forced a fifth set with a 25-21 victory.
Carolina popped out to a 5-1 lead early on three kills before a four-point Louisville run, powered by McHenry’s aggressive serving gave the Cardinals a 7-6 advantage. UNC regained the lead at 8-7, just before the side change, but it was all Louisville down the stretch. A UofL service error and a rare miss by McHenry tied the score at 11. Louisville ran off four straight, as McHenry’s 30th kill of the match was also match point at 15-11 for the win. The Cardinals kept their 10 match ACC home winning streak alive in Cardinal Arena.
UofL finishes up its regular season slate at Boston College on Wednesday 7:30 and at Syracuse on Friday at 1 p.m.
Nancy Allison Worley
Associate Director, Sports Information
University of Louisville Athletics
