Xavier University Athletics
Xavier University
#6 Louisville
Xavier Volleyball Falls to No. 6 Louisville
10.11.05 | Volleyball
Oct. 11, 2005
CINCINNATI - In the third match of the year against a ranked opponent, Xavier fell to No. 6 Louisville on Tuesday night at Cintas Center. The undefeated Cardinals took the match with scores of 30-27, 26-30, 22-30 and 16-30. The Musketeers drop to 12-7 on the season and U of L improves to a perfect 17-0.
Game one found a back and forth battle that ended in favor of the blue and white. After 11 ties and five lead changes, the Musketeers emerged on top and were powered by a .302 hitting percentage, which was the highest percentage in a game by XU on the night. With the score tied at 14-14, Xavier would take the lead for good on the next point after a Kate Duchek kill. XU would rattle off five of the next six points to take the 19-15 lead before playing back and forth the rest of the duration. Duchek ended with five kills in the game, while Jordan Brightwell, Erica Kaczorowski and Carley Horvath each had five digs.
The Musketeers would again put up a fight in game two with six ties, but only one lead change is all the Cardinals would need to win the second frame. With the score tied at 5-5, Louisville gained the 6-5 advantage and held the lead until the end. XU would stay close until the score was 21-20 in favor of Louisville. At that point, U of L would score six of the next nine points and increase the margin to 27-23 before holding on for the win. Duchek again led XU with seven kills on the game and freshman setter Jenn Welsh posted 16 assists.
After the break, game three went in favor of the visitors as 20 kills and a .306 hitting percentage by the Cardinals would prove to be too much. Xavier kept the score close until the score was tied at 17-17. Louisville would make a 9-1 run to create an insurmountable lead at 26-18. Junior Astyn Bjorklund had four kills on seven attempts for a .571 hitting percentage and Kaczorowski notched nine digs in the frame.
The final game showed why the Cardinals are No. 6 in the nation as a strong net presence proved too much for the Musketeers. Louisville tallied eight team blocks to only one by XU and pounded out a .433 hitting percentage, while holding Xavier to a mere .049. U of L meant business from the start posting an early 8-1 advantage before increasing its lead to 11 with the score 19-8. Sophomore Jill Quayle paced XU with four kills in the game with Welsh and Horvath each picking up four digs.
On the evening, seniors Duchek and Laci Hasenour led the Musketeers. Duchek ended with 18 kills to go along with one solo block and one block assist. Hasenour ended the night with a season-high 12 kills, five digs and one ace. Bjorklund and Horvath rounded out the player in double digits as each had 10 kills. Kaczorowski would tally a match-high 18 digs and just miss her career high by one. Horvath, Welsh and Brightwell each had double digit digs as well posting 17, 14 and 13, respectively. Welsh would finish with 51 assists.
Xavier will finish up its season-long five match home stand this weekend as Saint Louis and Duquesne visit Cintas Center for two A-10 contests. XU will take on the Billikens on Friday night at 7:00 pm and follow up with a match against the Dukes on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 pm. Catch all of the live action with Gametracker at www.GOXAVIER.com.
