WBB downs CSU 71-56 -- Volleyball opens NCAA against UIC -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

CARDS WBB BOUNCE PAST RAMS 71-56

Louisville WBB finished their three-game western swing with a convincing win over Colorado Stare by 15 on Sunday afternoon in Fort Collins. 

It was the "Smith out western" weapons of Ahlana and Kianna Smith who led Louisville in scoring with 11 points each and Emily Engstler added ten to raise the Cards record to 5-1.

 

Louisville eliminated any doubt early by jumping to a 24-10 first quarter lead. The Cards had three threes in the initial quarter as well, and were never seriously challenged in the game. Walz was able to go deep into the bench early and get everyone significant playing time. 

The Cards went 28-53 from the floor for 53% and got 32 bench points in the win.  it was 41-25 at halftime and Louisville had held the Rams to 10-24 shooting. 

No Card saw more that 24 minutes (Olivia Cochran) and all 13 on the trip played at least four minutes. 

Wins like this back up what we thought to be true at the start of the year, Louisville is a very deep and talented team that uses their defense to create scoring opportunities of the offense and has shown very good passing skills this season. The Cards had 14 assists on the 28 made shots and Olivia Cochran had six of those assists.

The Cards led 57-40 after three quarters and finished the win with a 39-22 rebounding edge over Colorado State, who was undefeated coming into the contest. 

THE FRED REPORT

(No rollercoaster ride for Cards vs. CSU) 

FREE THROWS -- The Cards were 10-13 from the charity stripe (76.9%) and Cochran scored all five of her points from the free throw line. That's good for a CAPITAL "F" --surpassing the 70% efficiency we like to see/ 

REBOUNDING -- A strong showing on the boards for Emily Engstler with eight and Kasa Robinson following with six and Norika Konno grabbed five. When you out-grab a foe a 17, that works for a CAPITAL "R" in the carom category.

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- Cardinal turnovers were a bit high, with 15. The Rams were face-guarding Hailey Van Lith but she sank all three shots she attempted. 20 points in the paint is good, but the main thing about the effort was that the Cards won the offensive boards battle 7-2.  I'll grant the CAPITAL "E" 

DEFENSE -- Another solid effort with eight steal and allowing the Rams just 38.9% shooting success. Colorado State had to work very hard in their offensive sets and didn't score more than 16 points in any quarter. We'll go with a CAPITAL "D" to close out the Fred Report.

FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-R-E-D

The Cards come home, to face Michigan on Thursday in the ACC/BIG10challenge. A good team effort on Sunday for Louisville, against a CSU squad that I feel might make a little noise in the Mountain West Conference this season. 

VOLLEYBALL #1 SEED OVERALL IN NCAA TOURNAMENT

Louisville Volleyball begins their quest to win the NCAA Volleyball Tournament with a Friday 7 p.m. match against University of Illinois-Chicago in the LNFCU. The Cards are the #1 overall seed in the tournament 

Texas got the #2 seed, Pitt the #3 seed and Wisconsin rounds out the top four. 

Ball State and Michigan are the other two teams that will compete in Louisville for a chance to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. 

To see the entire bracket, go here. 

Kentucky will start at home also, hosting SEMO and WKU made the 64 team field -- they'll open against South Carolina down at Georgia Tech. 

We'll have much more on this in the upcoming days, be sure to check back!

paulie