Volleyball Set for ND Return Trip -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Face Irish for Second Time in Three Days

With two seasons seeing somewhat premature ends and basketball right around the corner, it could be easy to think that the fall sports season is coming to a close. Volleyball still has quite a bit of time remaining in their schedule, though, and it is filled with big matches. One of those matches, though it might not seem that way on paper, comes today. Louisville is coming off a sweep of Notre Dame in L&N FCU Arena Wednesday night, and they take on the Irish again this afternoon. 

I know you're thinking, "That was a pretty simple sweep on Wednesday. I'm not too worried." But allow me to remind you that Pitt's first loss of the season came in a similar situation. They swept their travel partner (SMU) at home on Wednesday, then headed down to Dallas and lost in five sets on Saturday. SMU is a fair shout better than Notre Dame this year, but the Cardinals and Irish have had some scraps despite presumed dominance in recent seasons. 

The Irish managed to take a set off of the Panthers themselves on Sunday in Pittsburgh, so their 9-11 record could belie their ability to jump up at anyone on any given day. After starting the conference season 2-2, they are in the midst of a seven-game losing streak, so you can bet that they'd like nothing more than to end that skid with a big upset of a rival. 

For the Cards, the stakes remain high. Louisville is currently third in the ACC's three-way tie for first. They sit at 10-1 with Pitt and UNC. UNC has a better overall record than Louisville, but they have still not played Pittsburgh, Louisville, Stanford, or SMU in conference. Pitt holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Louisville, obviously, but the Cards will have a chance to get that game back. With two games remaining against Stanford and Pitt, Louisville can ill-afford to drop a game against the teams outside the race for first. 

Miami handed Louisville a gift last night when they beat Stanford in five sets. Stanford is now at 8-3 with SMU, Georgia Tech, and Florida State. That makes Louisville's case for a top-4 finish in the country even better, but Louisville will need to take care of business. Splitting with Pitt and sweeping the season series with Stanford to take first in the ACC outright would be a nice feather in the cap. 

Today's match against ND will get underway at 3PM and will be available to watch on ACC Network Extra. Jeff will be in attendance, so be sure to check out his article tomorrow to learn all about the sights and sounds. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

With Jeff on the road and Daryl off doing Daryl things, we'll have three on today's show. Paulie, Jared, and I will take you through the joy and excitement of Louisville Volleyball women's athletics as we look at the past week of play. Unfortunately, there will be some negatives to cover, but we'll do our best to look forward to the things to come. With Jeff out, there won't be a live version of the show, but we have there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case