Oct. 29, 2010
Box Score
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Three Wildcats recorded double figure kills as junior Maggie Mergen led the way with 14 and redshirt sophomore Morgan Petkovich recorded 13. Sophomore CeCe Twitty connected for a career-high 12 kills and hit .429.
Freshman Alyssa Anderson dished out 46 assists and collected 12 digs for her third consecutive double-double of the season.
Junior Kim Maroon tallied 23 digs.
Villanova trailed for much of the first set before a kill from freshman Allison Williams tied the set at 17 apiece. Consecutive errors from Louisville gave the Wildcats their first lead at 19-17. After a tied score at 21-21, Petkovich connected on back-to-back kills to take a 24-21 lead and Mergen found the floor for the final kill to win set one.
In the second frame, Maroon served three aces and the Wildcats jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead and forced Louisville into a timeout. After the Cardinals trailed 12-5 and used their final timeout, Villanova went on a 7-2 run out of the break and extended their lead to 19-7. Petkovich connected on a kill and served an ace to stay in front, 21-12. Twitty connected on a kill for set point at 24-15 and an error from Louisville gave the `Cats the set two victory.
After trailing 13-9 in the third set, Villanova scored four unanswered points to tie the score at 13 apiece. The teams traded points back-and-forth, but the Wildcats trailed 21-18 after consecutive errors and called a timeout. Villanova closed to within one point 22-21 after multiple errors from both teams. Sophomore Krista Anderson smashed a kill to extend the match, but `Nova fell 25-23.
The Cardinals won the fourth set to force a fifth and final frame with Villanova taking a 7-4 lead after Petkovich connected for three consecutive kills. Louisville closed to within one point, 9-8 after a timeout and scored four unanswered points to take a 12-9 lead and force the Wildcats to use their final timeout. Mergen found the floor for a kill to come within one point, 13-12, and then smashed another to continue the match, but Louisville earned the win on an error to finish the match in five sets.
Villanova will travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
