In one of the most anticipated non-conference matches of the season, the No. 3 Louisville Cardinals were able to fend off 19 kills from senior Adanna Rollins in five sets, 3-2 (20-25, 25-15, 26-24, 24-26, 15-11) in front of the seventh-largest crowd in Kentucky Volleyball history Wednesday night.
In the largest crowd since 2017 at Memorial Coliseum and in only the fourth-ever nationally-televised regular season match on ESPN, Rollins hit .233 for the night with 19 kills on 51 swings with 10 kills for the third double-double of her season and a block.
Louisville (8-1) hit .299 on the night, about .050 higher than UK for the night with 16 kills from Claire Chaussee to pace the Cardinals offense, which hit close to .300 in the fifth set and above .300 in three of the first four sets of the match.
Junior opposite Reagan Rutherford recorded her third double-double of the season with 13 kills and 12 digs. The left-handed hitter delivered significant amounts of cross-court terminations during the match and has now recorded 10+ kills in seven-straight matches since opening night.
No. 13 Kentucky (5-3) will play host to No. 2 Nebraska on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2 with Courtney Lyle and Holly McPeak on the call from Lexington. Tickets are available at UKathletics.com/tickets.
Set One
Sophomore Emma Grome got the Kentucky offense going early as she dished out 16 assists in the first set. She led her team to a .441 hitting percentage through the first set. Along with Grome, the offense looked fired up early with multiple kills from outside hitters Adanna Rollins and Erin Lamb. At 11-8, Reagan Rutherford and Elise Goetzinger came up with a great block, giving the Wildcats some added energy on the defensive end and a three-point advantage. Grome hammered the ball off an overpass to expand the lead to 16-11for UK just a few plays later. Bringing the lead to 20-14, Goetzinger tipped the ball over the block and Rollins served one of the Wildcats’ two aces in the opening set to force a Louisville timeout at 22-15. Following the timeout, Louisville went on a run that brought them back within three at 22-19. Azhani Tealer helped the Wildcats record a crucial kill to push towards set point, and Rollins followed it up with a back-row attack the next play to take the set, 25-20.
Set Two
Freshman defensive specialist Audrey Whitworth saw some action in the second set as the Cardinals took the set 25-15. Starting off with kills by Tealer, Grome and a block by Lamb, the Wildcats got going with a 3-1 lead. With an improved hitting percentage since the first set, the Cardinals continued on a six-point run. Goetzinger continued to be a force at the net, getting her hands on many of the tough hits from the Cardinals side. With a 17-9 Louisville lead, Tealer delivered her sixth kill of the match to slow things down a bit. Louisville found themselves at set point with a score of 24-15, ending the frame with a tip off of an overpass by the Wildcats.
Set Three
Bringing the energy back to the first set, a Goetzinger monster block and Rollins ace brought the Wildcats to a 2-0 lead. At 7-5, libero Eleanor Beavin dug a hard-hit ball and Lamb used the Cardinals block as a tool to earn the next point. Grome stepped behind the service line with an ace to regain the Wildcats two-point lead with a score of 12-10. Halfway through the set, Rutherford regained some spark in her swing, killing the ball to push UK’s lead to 15-14. A Tealer kill and ace brought the Wildcats and Cardinals to 18 all. Rollins delivered with another kill a couple of plays later to bring things even again, followed by a Rollins ace to bring the Cats ahead at 21-20. Rutherford crushed an overpass to send the Wildcats up with a score of 23-22. With pressure rising and a tied score 23-23, Lamb used the block once again to push UK to set point. After a Louisville timeout, the Cardinals were able to come up with a kill and the score was tied once again. Ahead 25-24, the Wildcats were then forced to call a timeout of their own but was followed by yet another kill to end the set with a score of 26-24.
Set Four
Adanna Rollins started the set with three kills, giving the Wildcats all their points early with a 3-3 score. With Rollins now behind the service line, UK went on to lead 6-3. Playing great on both ends of the court, the Wildcats received a strong swing by Tealer once again. Now at 9-7, both teams rallied with great plays, but the play was ended by yet another Rollins kill. Taking control of the momentum, Tealer served two aces to put UK ahead 13-9. Erin Lamb killed the ball crosscourt for kill number 12 of the match for her. With the Wildcats trailing 19-17, Lamb killed the ball once again to pull UK to within one. With 10 less hitting errors than the Wildcats, the Cardinals pushed their biggest lead of the game at 22-18. Rollins answered with a kill of her own, sending Tealer behind the line and delivering another ace. Taking control of the offense, Rollins and Grome used their connection to bring the Wildcats within one point at 22-21. Goetzinger tied the set at 22-22 with a big block, and Rollins again with a kill at 23-23. With match point on the line for the Cardinals, a service error pulled the teams even. Two Cardinal errors ended the set, bringing the Wildcats a win with a score of 26-24 and forcing a fifth set.
Set Five
Starting off hot, the Cardinals jumped off to a 3-1 lead. Goetzinger and Rutherford added a pair of kills to tie up the set 4-4. Lamb then added another kill for the Wildcats first lead of the fifth set bringing them to 5-4. Midway through the fifth set, the Cardinals had the lead 8-5. With both teams fighting, Rutherford had two great kills to bring UK within one at 9-8. An ace by defensive specialist Riah Walker forced a Louisville timeout, as UK trailed 12-10. A big swing and block brought the Cardinals ahead at 14-10, and match point fell their way at 15-11.
Follow along with the Wildcats on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
CHRIS SHOALS
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Claire Chaussee had 16 kills with teammate Anna DeBeer adding 15 to lead the No. 3-ranked University of Louisville to a 3-2 win over No. 13 Kentucky Wednesday night in Memorial Coliseum.
Louisville moves to 8-1 with the 20-25, 25-15, 26-24, 24-26, 15-11 win. UofL hit .299 with 11 blocks and eight aces. Freshman Cara Cresse had eight kills and seven blocks. Setter Raquel Lazaro had 46 assists, 14 digs, three aces and three blocks. Libero Elena Jones had 14 digs and two aces.
Kentucky hit .231 with 10 aces and six blocks. Adanna Rollins paced the Wildcat offense with 19 kills with Elise Goetzinger leading with four blocks, adding seven kills.
The Cardinals head to the West Coast to face Stanford on Saturday at 10 p.m. ET
Set by Set Recap
Set 1
The teams traded points in the early part of the first set. Tied at eight, UK gained some footage with a 4-0 run to go up 12-8. Louisville shaved a bit off the UK lead with kills by Claire Chaussee and Aiko Jones to pull within three at 14-11. Kentucky scored three straight coming out of the media timeout and Coach Busboom Kelly called timeout down 17-11. The Cats kept the pressure on, forcing another UofL timeout at 22-15. Louisville scored two straight to pull within five at 22-17 and the Wildcats used their first timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Louisville ran off three straight and when Elena Scott scored an ace, the Cats used their final timeout at 23-20. Kentucky recovered and scored two straight with the winning kill coming from Adanna Rollins.
Set 2
In the second set, Aiko Jones landed an ace to tie at three and sparked a 6-0 run for the Cards, who went up 7-4. A block by Cara Cresse and Raquel Lazaro took the Cards up 11-5 and the Wildcats called timeout. The Cats scored twice after the timeout but UofL scored three consecutive points on a block by Anna DeBeer, a kill by Cara Cresse and another by DeBeer and UK called its last timeout of the set. UofL ran off the final four points of the set with Cresse landing her sixth kill of the match for the 25-15 win.
Set 3
The teams stayed close in the third set with 13 ties and five lead changes by the 19-19 mark. Kentucky scored two in a row to take a 21-20 lead and UofL called timeout. Amaya Tillman had a block and a kill to get the Cards to a tie at 24 and spark a UK timeout. A kill by Anna DeBeer right after the timeout forced the Cats to call their last timeout. DeBeer was unfazed as she bounced the final ball of the set for the 26-24 win.
Set 4
In the fourth set, the Cats went on a 4-1 run to take a 10-6 lead. The Cards fought back to come within one at 10-9 on an ace by Elena Scott. But Kentucky countered with three straight and after trading points the Cards trailed 15-12 at the media timeout. Down 17-14, Louisville called timeout and came back to tie at 17 and force a UK timeout. The Cards took their first lead since 1-0 when DeBeer connected with Raquel Lazaro for the kill at 18-17. After scoring three straight points to go up 21-18, UK called timeout. Kentucky brought the score within one on an ace and a kill by Rollins and then tied at 22 on a Louisville miss. The Wildcats scored three straight to take the set 26-24 and force a fifth.
Set 5
UofL used a 4-0 run to take an 8-5 lead at the switch. The Cards had a 4-2 run powered by a Cara Cresse block and a Chaussee kill. But UK aced the Cards to come within two at 12-10 and force a Cardinal timeout. Chaussee scored on a swing from the outside and Cresse got a block to get to match point. UK staved off the next point but fell 15-11.
The match was televised on ESPN, just the fourth regular season women’s college volleyball match to be aired since 1997.
| Nancy Allison Worley |