Volleyball Takes on UNC; Other Upcoming Events -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Pleading his "Case"

I'm back! As Jeff mentioned, I was out yesterday doing something "interesting." That interesting thing was staring at pavement and dashed lines for five hours through fits and starts of rain as I drove back from a Friday night wedding in Memphis. The biggest lesson I took from my drive there and back is that when I need to travel to Memphis for work on a couple of projects I have coming up, I'll be going by plane.

Volleyball Hosts UNC

After taking care of another team from the Tarheel State in a sweep Friday, Louisville will host the Heels themselves today in the L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. It will be the first of two matches in short order for the two teams, as they'll meet in Chapel Hill next week. Louisville has a big match against Georgia Tech on Friday before that, but UNC will get the Cards in back-to-back games.

UNC is coming off of a sweep of their own, taking down the Irish 3-0 in Purcell Pavilion on Friday. The Heels are 15-9 overall this season and 7-6 in conference. The win over Notre Dame was their third in a row, and they've won six of eight since starting conference play just 1-4. North Carolina hasn't been swept since September 10th against Michigan, an impressive feat after opening the season 1-2 with a sweep over UC Santa Barbara splitting a pair of losses to Colorado State and Northern Colorado in which the Heels won just one set. UNC has also held their own in conference play. While they don't have any marquee wins, having not been swept means they've stolen a set off of both Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech.

UNC will get Louisville back-to-back before closing out their season with FSU, Duke, and Virginia. Louisville, on the other hand, has rematches with GT, Pitt, and Notre Dame to go along with the UNC matches. The Cards will need to remain focused to avoid any hiccups against a surging Carolina. The two teams have split their all-time meetings 8-8, going back to 1984. Louisville won that first matchup in Baton Rouge before winning just one set over the next three matches. After two wins in the 90s moved the series back to 3-3, the two teams last met before Louisville joined the ACC in 2000. It was another UNC sweep. Once the two teams occupied the same conference, things didn't get much better. The Cards dropped the first four conference matchups between the two teams, extending their losing streak in the series to five. 

Since the second match of 2017, though, it's been all Louisville. Louisville has won five straight to bring the series back to even. Over those matches, Louisville has only been able to sweep UNC once. That match came during the Covid spring season in 2021 when teams traveled in pods. The Cards swept the Heels in a neutral site match hosted by Miami. It was the first neutral site meeting between the teams since they met in Lexington in 1989. 

Louisville has taken care of business over their last three, as well, matching UNC's current winning streak. The Cards have bounced back after the 5-set loss to Pitt and have won nine straight sets in the past two weeks. Given UNC's season and the history between the two teams, a sweep today seems tough, but Louisville will continue working Anna DeBeer back into the lineup after her return on Friday. This one will be available to watch on ACC Network Extra when it gets underway on campus at 1PM.

Field Hockey Selection Show

Louisville field hockey finds themselves in an unenviable position, having lost four straight after bowing out in the first round of the ACC tournament. The Cards were 12-3 and ranked in the top 4 before that skid began, so we can do nothing but hope that they built enough good will to make an impression on the selection committee in the first portion of the season. The selection show for the NCAA Tournament is tonight at 10PM, and can be viewed on NCAA.com. Only 18 teams will make the draw, and ten of those will be automatic qualifiers. Louisville is likely the sixth ACC team being considered, so the conference would need five of the eight at-large bids for the Cards to get in. It seems unlikely, but anything could happen. 

Basketball Season Tips Off

It's here! No need to fuss about with exhibition games; Louisville women's basketball will open the Yum! Center tomorrow evening with a real matchup against Cincinnati. The Cards and Bearcats tip off at 5PM, and the game will be carried on ACC Network. Right at the close of business on a Monday is an ugly start time, but hopefully fans will be able to turn out for the team. Louisville is ranked fifth or seventh depending on your preference of poll, and they'll be looking to build on a final four season a year ago. Check out tomorrow's article for a full preview.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

It was a throwback episode yesterday, with just Jeff and Paulie holding down the fort. If you missed the show live, you can always check out a replay on the YouTube channel or subscribe to the podcast in your player of choice. Yesterday's episode can be found on YouTube here or you can go to the podcast's Anchor page to listen to the episode in your browser or add it to your favorite podcast app.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case