Volleyball Senior Day
McHenry suffered an ACL tear in the Notre Dame match a few weeks ago and has been sidelined ever sense, but on the sidelines she has been. Even three days after surgery, McHenry did what she had to do to be there for her team on the sidelines last Friday against Syracuse. I'd say her support payed off, with the team finally coming together and "gel"ing for the first time, really, since McHenry was injured.
That team play continued, again with McHenry on the sidelines, in the return visit from Notre Dame, earning the Cards their first sweep against Notre Dame in 3 years.
My comment during the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour yesterday was that the team play against Notre Dame was the probably the most put together play I've seen from a UofL Volleyball team. I've seen teams with more talent, and I've seen many better individual performances, but I don't think I've ever seen a team play together, cohesively, like I saw UofL do Friday evening.
Today's match is against Miami at 1pm in the L&N FCU Arena. The Cards did get the win over Miami, in Coral Gables, during the nigh on disastrous stretch of matches after McHenry's injury. They did take the full five sets, with two of them involving extra points to get the win.
Today's match is yet another case of the Cards being able to get a win, IF they show up and play the way that have seen that they're capable, and the way they have done so the past two matches. This is almost a must-win match for the Cards to ensure their post-season opportunities. Right now they almost certainly have a berth in the NCAA tournament (there is no ACC post-season tournament for volleyball), but a loss to RPI 134 Miami might drop them into "bubble" territory, and if the Cards are on the bubble, the 2-5 record, towards the end of the season, between the Virginia Tech and FSU matches will loom large over the Cards resume.
In a slightly unusual change, the Senior Day presentation will be after the match, rather than before, so be sure to stay through to the end.
Basketball Battling Boise
We talked during the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour yesterday, about the lack of generalized respect that teams like Boise State get in mainstream media, when they have a tradition of competing well in women's basketball. The comparison was made to WKU, who nearly always have a competitive team in a mid-major conference as well.
Fans of women's basketball will not overlook teams like Boise State, particular given the state of Cards play right now. Walz has a lot of talent on his squad this year, and in an almost diametrically opposed scenario to what I saw in volleyball, maybe the most talent he's ever had on his team, but their team play...yeah, not so much, right now. OK, there are also some fundamental execution errors that need to get cleaned up (hello lay-up stats), but there's talent, and certainly a will to win, but there's a lot of "putting together" that still needs to happen on this squad.
This game also tips at 1 p.m., the same time as volleyball, so you'll have to decide on downtown vs campus for these.
Both competitions are available for streaming on ACC Network Extra.
Cardinal Couple Radio Hour
The "A team" was in studio yesterday for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. It was a good hour (well,a bit over an hour) of discussion on Volleyball, Basketball, Soccer, and Field Hockey. It's a busy time of year, but it makes for some fun conversations, that's for sure.
Check it out, if you missed it, at:
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JMcA
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