Louisville Volleyball defeats Pitt in five game thriller -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FAIRS FABULOUS FINISH FINALIZES FIFTH

Sometimes in sporting events you get to witness one of those moments where a player takes over a contest and wills their team to a win. An unforgettable moment...when each successive triumph just adds to the frenzy and excitement.  

Such was the case last night in the KFC YUM! CENTER when Louisville outside hitter Erin Fairs had seven straight kills in the fifth game to lead The Cards to a wild and exciting 23-25, 25-15, 10-25, 26-24, 15-11 win over ACC opponent Pittsburgh. 

Down 8-5 in the final game, the Cards were needing someone to step up and solve the mystery of Pitt's exemplary front line blocking. Thanks to two kills by Fairs, the Panthers saw that lead shrink to one and called a timeout to re-focus. 

For UofL head coach Anne Kordes, the directive was clear. Feed the monster. Go to the "go-to".

Two more kills from #7 gave Louisville a 10-9 lead. Three more kills by Fairs put UofL up 13-10. The 2600 in the YUM! were at rock concert decibel level and Pitt was confounded, confused and crumbling. Janelle Jenkins was stopped at the net by the Panthers to get them within two, but Fairs crushed another one on the next Panther serve to make it game and match points. 

It would have been fitting and justified if Fairs had gotten that final point of the match...but it was her time to go serve.

With the crowd standing, screaming and celebrating she sent the ball over the net. After a brief volley, Jenkins made up for her previous miscue by pounding one down the middle and the Louisville team rushed to mid-court in celebration.   

Pitt was the worthy opponent...taking a hard fought first game by two....thanks to some late kill work by Katie Kullerkann. The Cards roared back to blow out the Panthers by 10 in the second set....Tess Clark getting four kills in the romp. 

After the break...well, it may have been one of the worst sets in the history of Louisville Volleyball. We'll leave it at this...Pitt won by 15 and it wasn't even that close. The Cards were down two sets to one...back against the wall.

Louisville responded with a nail-biter win in the fourth game. 

Neither team lead by more that three, there were 17 tie scores and seven lead changes. The lead bounced back and forth until Louisville gained a 24-22 advantage on a Maya McClendon kill. Two straight Pitt scores led Kordes to a call a time out...and the Cards were aided by a Pitt service error and a (guess who.?.) Fairs kill to tie the match up.

Fairs was just getting started...

The Cards were led by Fairs 23 kills, Katie George's 53 assists and Molly Sauer's 24 digs.

Louisville (18-5, 12-1) takes the lead in the ACC by a game over Florida State and returns to action Sunday when Virginia Tech (15-10, 6-7) comes to The Ville for a 2 p.m. contest in the YUM!

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THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

Another week of Worldwide in the studio and Paulie doing a live remote from Papa John's Cardinal Stadium today at 11 a.m. on WCHQ 100.9 ( Paulie hates 12:30 football games!) 

WE have a great show lined up with interviews with Justine Sowry, Anne Kordes, Karen Ferguson Dayes and Jeff Walz. 

Give us a listen if you're tailgating tomorrow. Give us a listen even if you aren't tailgating. 

WCHQ 100.9 FM or at CrescentHillRadio.com 

Link below:

THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

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