"Jucătorul a lovit mingea."

Translation: The player kicked the ball.

[Schattenparker]

a lovi (hit, strike) stems from Slavic root for "hunt, catch"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/loviti

I could not find a relation with English to lob (hit, throw, or kick a ball) 
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?searchmode=none&search=lob
(It is still a got mnemonic, though, isn't it?)