Volleyball Gets Back on Track -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Downs Virginia in Straight Games

Following a disappointing loss on the road against a Virginia Tech that previously had no ACC wins, Louisville was desperate need of a shot in the arm before one of the biggest matches of their season. The Cards will host Pittsburgh tomorrow, but needed to get past Virginia first. Led by Claire Chausee and Anna Stevenson, Louisville thumped the Cavaliers in a sweep, holding Virginia to just 43 points in the match. 

Though the Cards' hitting percentage grew progressively worse throughout the match, it was one of those matches where the opponent did the same thing. Louisville opened with a .364 in game one and ended with a .148 in game three, but were still ahead of the Cavs who finished with a -.040 on the night. Checking out the box score only continues to showcase Louisville's domination as they beat Virginia in every listed category.

Louisville was led offensively by a pair of players who finished hitting .333 on the night. Claire Chausee paced the Cards with 10 kills on 18 attempts and added in 3 block assists as she continues to try to fill the void left by Melanie McHenry's absence. Anna Stevenson continued to show that she will be a force throughout her career. Stevenson added 7 kills to her 3 solo blocks and 5 block assists, leading the way on Louisville's 12 total blocks for the night. On the other side, Aiko Jones is still looking to find her way without McHenry on the opposite side, putting down just 5 of her 20 attempts. I think Jones will still grow to be an unstoppable force by the time she is done at UofL, but she is definitely missing her offensive partner at this point. 

Outside of the good individual performances, there isn't a lot to talk about from last night's match. Louisville used a couple of decent runs in the first to pull away late to take it 25-18. In the second, Louisville used an 11-0 run in the middle of the game to put it away. Finally, in the third, Louisville was able to consistently score 2-3 points for every point scored by Virginia, in a game that would have taken ages were rally point scoring not a thing. 

The Cards certainly needed their confidence boost as the Panthers come to town tomorrow. Pittsburgh is still atop the ACC at 9-0 and have lost only one match on the season. That loss came against top 5 ranked Penn State in 5 sets, who the Panthers also beat 3-0 two days prior. Tomorrow's match is at 3PM in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena, so be sure to come out and support the Cards in a huge match.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're without a couple of talking heads today, but Worldwide, Paulie, and I will be in studio to bring you a recap and preview of a couple of big weeks for the Louisville women's athletics teams. Tune in for plenty of chatter about soccer, volleybally, and field hockey, as well as a bit of preview on the upcoming basketball media day. Tune in at 11AM to WCHQ FM for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. WCHQ is available at 100.9FM, wchqfm.com, the WCHQ App, and on Facebook Live.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-