24-0 CARDS HEAD TO SOUTH BEND FOR MONDAY MATCHUP
There is one undefeated squad on the UofL campus and they have put up two dozen wins this season. Louisville Volleyball (24-0) puts the record on the line tonight with a 6 p.m. match against conference foe Notre Dame in the on-campus Purcell Pavilion.
A quick check with UofL women's basketball associate coach Sam Purcell confirmed that the facility was not named after him and the fine work he has done for the Cards. The pavilion, dedicated in 2010, bears the name of financial stalwart Phil Purcell III, with Morgan Stanley, who provided the leadership grant of $12.5 million for the renovation of the facility that is home to Notre Dame basketball as well. It's also known as the Joyce Center, The dome has the pavilion in the southernmost part of the dome.
The Irish have had what could be called a rebuilding season this year, sitting at 11-13 overall and 8-6 in the ACC. Mike Johnson is in his fourth year as head coach of UND.
Notre Dame is led by outside hitters Aubrey Hamilton and Charley Niego. Both have 272 kills. Hamilton is a 6'2" sophomore out of Hartland, WI and Niego is a 6'0" senior from Chicago. Zoe Nunez is the main setter for the Irish and Hattie Monson sees the majority of time at libero for Johnson's squad.
Dame downed visiting NC State Friday in straight sets (25-16, 25-17, 25-20) and dominated all three sets against the Wolfpack. The win was a reversal of fortunes for the Irish, who previously had dropped a five-set match to NCST in Raleigh five days earlier.
This will be the 41st. matchup between the Cards and Irish. Notre Dame leads the overall series 23-17.and swept the Cards in straight sets last year in the LNFCU in the squads' only meeting. UND went to the NCAA Tournament as well, but was eliminated in the second round by Oregon.
The Cards are #1 in the nation in ranking and now in RPI.
The Cards know that the Irish are a dangerous foe that cannot be overlooked. Louisville has four matches remaining in the regular season. After tonight's match, the Cards will travel back home to face Duke on Friday, November 19th., then head to Pittsburgh for a Weds. November 24th.showdown before ending the regular season facing the Irish again, this time in Louisville, on Friday, November 26th.
This one will be shown on the ACC Network tonight.
Best of luck to Louisville tonight!
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Just how crazy has the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament been? The Final Four was determined yesterday and the top three seeds were knocked out of action !!
Liberty took down #1 seed Rutgers 3-2, Northwestern eliminated 2 seed Iowa 1-0, Harvard upended #3 seed Michigan 1-0 and Maryland earned a berth by beating the lone ACC school left in the dance, Syracuse, 2-1
Liberty gets Maryland next and Harvard will face Northwestern.
Yes, it's a "twilight zone" scenario and we could possibly see a championship game devoid of a Big 10 or ACC member school.
If anyone had told me a Liberty vs. Harvard NCAA Championship game might be a possibility before the season began, I would have signaled the bartender to "cut them off".
Maybe the old heavy metal band Savatage had it right. Madness reigns in the hall of the Mountain King.
LINK: MADNESS REIGNS
Have a marvelous Monday!
paulie
A big one indeed for Cards. I want to beat Notre Dame in everything and anything the Cards play them in. Since it's up there I hope they don't put Muffet McGraw on the broadcast.
ReplyDeleteNick O
Oh dear...can you imagine Muffet trying to cover volleyball?
DeleteFortunately, I think we're safe in this one.
Notre Dame? No big deal, nuthing fancy
ReplyDelete