Volleyball Cards Fall Just Short in 5 Sets
It just wasn't meant to be for Louisville as they saw their chance at another conference title officially shot down with a five set stunner on the road against Notre Dame. The Irish were celebrating four seniors, and used that emotion to motivate them to a roller coaster of a five set win. After dropping the first set in extra points, Louisville jumped out to a 2-1 lead, winning the third set by 6 and appearing to have some momentum. Notre Dame refused to sit idly by, though, and went on a tear of their own to win the fourth set by 9. Tied match heading into a fifth set.
Notre Dame came out in the fifth and completely dominated early, jumping out to a 10-3 lead in the set. The Cards were able to recover a bit, and won three straight points to stave off match points for Notre Dame, but it wasn't enough as the Irish won the fifth 15-11. The Cards hit just .042 in the final stanza, bringing their average for the match down to just .169. Notre Dame hit only .179 in the match and had only one fewer serving error than the Cards, but they strung points together when they needed to and it won them the match.
As Melanie McHenry goes, this team goes, and that was literally true last night as McHenry hit only .169 to match the team. She led all hitters in the match with 20 kills but added 10 errors to reduce her overall effectiveness. McHenry did contribute 2 block assists to a total 13 team blocks, but her effort wasn't quite enough. The team struggled as a whole, being out hit and out blocked by a team against they should have seen success. I get that it is hard to win on the road, but the Cards have shown their ability to do just that over the last two years and this was a match they should have been able to finish out.
Louisville was led defensively, obviously, by Molly Sauer, but it was clear that the Irish intended to keep Sauer out of the play. She finished with only 23 digs compared to Mia Stander's 22. Piper Roe and Wilma Rivera led the way for the net battle with 10 and 7 block assists, respectively. Rivera's seven matched the highest volume from two players for Notre Dame, but, once again, it just wasn't enough.
Louisville will take on Georgia Tech in the season finale after a week long break. The Cards return to Cardinal Arena on Friday the 23rd for a showdown with the Yellow Jackets. A win against GT probably doesn't do much to solidify Louisville's hopes for an NCAA tournament bid, but a loss against GT would almost certainly do those hopes harm. Louisville had a disappointing end to last season, and it would be a shame to see the season end the way it has after a tough late season stumble. Louisville's four conference losses have all come in the last eight matches, and I can assure you that Coach Dani Busboom Kelly does not intend for the motivation to completely leave the locker room before this season is officially over. Look for the Cards to rebound against GT next week and hopefully parlay that into some playoff aspirations.Cardinal Couple Radio Hour
With Jared banking and Paulie tailgating, you'll get the rare opportunity to hear Jeff and me run the radio show for the entire hour by ourselves. If you like hearing about volleyball and soccer, then boy do we have the show for you! If you are a basketballer, then I'm sure we can find something that is right up your alley, as well. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour this morning at 11 AM on WCHQ. WCHQ is available at 100.9 LPFM, wchqfm.com, the WCHQ app, and on Facebook Live.www.wchqfm.com
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