Offensive Firepower Not Enough as Wake Forest Falls to No. 13 Louisville

Sunday, March 7

Louisville, KY

2 P.M.

Wake Forest University

0-8,0-7ACC

No. 13 Louisville

7-2,6-2ACC

Wake Forest

Louisville

Offensive Firepower Not Enough as Wake Forest Falls to No. 13 Louisville

3/7/2021 4:44:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Louisville, Ky. – The Wake Forest volleyball team dropped its second match of the 2021 spring season to No. 13 Louisville.

Wake Forest was led offensively by senior Caroline Kuhn with nine kills and freshman Ashley Slater with seven. Sophomore Peyton Suess and freshman Chloe Wilson each had four. Freshman Meg Merril recorded her first service ace this spring early in the match and redshirt-junior Alysia Nielson contributed two key aces in the third set to keep the Deacs close.

How It Happened
The Demon Deacons started the match with offensive firepower from Kuhn and were able to stay within four of the Cardinals for almost the entire set. With the score the closest it had been at 15-17 Louisville; the Cardinals went on an offensive tear to separate themselves 23-16. They took the first set 25-19.

After Louisville took the second set, 25-18, Wake Forest came out at the beginning of the third ready to play. The Deacs took an early 3-2 lead over the Cards and stayed within three for the first half of the set, including two tie scores. Louisville once again took control of the set and got up to as much as an eight-point lead, 20-12. After a kill from senior Madeline Holt and a Louisville error, Nielson hit her two service aces to cut the deficit and force a Cardinal timeout at 16-20. Louisville took the match, 3-0, with a 25-18 win in the third set.

Coach's Comments
"We played a really good Louisville team this weekend. They're a nationally ranked team for a reason. I thought we came in and played hard and made some great adjustments in the second match today. Our serving and passing was better which allowed us to be more aggressive on offensive. We still had some errors but are going home with some good film to review and prepare for next weekend. We're very excited to play in the Joel again this spring." – head coach Randi Smart

Up Next
Wake Forest will return to Winston-Salem to host the Pittsburgh Panthers and NC State Wolfpack in a weekend series at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum March 12-14.