Outside hitter Melanie McHenry had 16 kills, 12 digs and two blocks to lead the University of Louisville volleyball team to a 25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20 win at Boston College in ACC volleyball action Wednesday evening in Power Gym in Boston.
UofL moves to 23-6 and 17-2 in the ACC. A win at Syracuse on Friday will clinch a share of the ACC crown for the Cardinals, who were picked eighth in the preseason poll.
The Cards hit .168 with 50 kills, 12 blocks and seven aces. Molly Sauer had a career high fie aces and added 18 digs. Tess Clark had nine kills and four blocks and Jasmine Bennett added seven kills, hitting .353. Boston College drops to 7-22 and 4-15 in the league. The Eagles were led by Lynn Braakhuis’ 17 kills and 16 digs.
UofL ran out to a 8-3 lead early in the first set and then withstood three 3-0 runs by the Eagles before scoring four of the final five points of the set for the 25-20 win. Tess Clark led with four kills on five swings and no errors. UofL hit. 242 as a team and added three blocks.
In the second set, UofL popped out to a 5-1 lead early but the Eagles made a push and took their first lead of the match at 7-6. The teams traded points until a kill by Melanie McHenry and a Maggie DeJong block put the Cards up two at 14-12. Boston College countered again and tied at 14 and sparked a Cardinal timeout. UofL ran off four straight and seemed in control when BC called timeout down 20-15. Molly Sauer dropped an ace off the tape to take the Cardinals to 23-18 and a BC service error gave UofL set point at 24-17. BC staved off the UofL win four straight points before falling 25-21.
In the third set Louisville fell behind 13-2 and used a 13 point serving run by Molly Sauer to tie at 20. The teams traded points but the Cards’ comeback fell just short as BC won 25-23. Melanie McHenry had six kills and Maggie DeJong had three blocks and two kills in the third stanza.
In the fourth set, UofL lead 12-4 but let Boston string together an 8-0 run to tie at 12. UofL answered with a 5-1 run of its own to lead 17-13 and then held off Boston College’s late rally to win 25-20.
UofL heads to Syracuse for the regular season finale and a shot at the ACC crown when they face the Orange at 1 p.m.
Nancy Allison Worley
Associate Director, Sports Information
University of Louisville Athletics
