Cards Sweep Western Kentucky
In their first ranked match of the season, #3 Louisville volleyball traveled to Bowling Green to face #22 Western Kentucky. The Cards put their 18-0 all-time record against the Hilltoppers on the betting table and cashed in with a sweep. Their 19th victory against the in-state rival was fairly quick as the match lasted just under 90 minutes.
Set One: Louisville 25, Western Kentucky 18
A trio of aces in the first four points for Louisville helped propel them to an early commanding lead. The Cards went up 7-1 and WKU was forced to burn a timeout early. Louisville pushed the lead to 10-1 before the Toppers were able to break the first run. Shortly after, a 10-0 run pushed the Cards way out in front as they went into the timeout up 17-7. A pair of blocks and a dump by the setter by WKU helped them build momentum to cut Louisville's lead to a 19-13, but a serving error cut the rally short and the Cards paced their way through the rest of the set.
Set 2: Louisville 25, Western Kentucky 15
WKU settled their nerves in the second set and looked more like the Top 25 team we expected to see. Neither team could string together a run through the early part of the set until a key block and a pair of attack errors allowed WKU to go up 9-7. Louisville answered with a rally to go into the commercial break up 13-10. The Cards stretched their lead to 17-11 and forced WKU to burn a timeout. The Cards continued to extend their lead through the rest of the set and enjoyed a comfortable 2-0 halftime lead.
Set 3: Louisville 25, Western Kentucky 17
UofL and WKU played ping pong with the core for a good portion of the third set. Neither team could manage a lead higher than two points until the midway point. The Cards briefly went up by three following a block before Western Kentucky had an answer by evening the score at 16 apiece. Louisville slammed the door on their foe with a 7-0 run to go up 23-16 and then skipped to the finish line.
Louisville is now 12-0 in sets this season, a strong start for a team in hopes of another Final Four run or even a championship.
Louisville's attacking was subpar with the Cards hitting a collective .183. Anna DeBeer hit .250 and had a team-high nine kills while Claire Chaussee added seven kills.
Serving and blocking proved to be the difference-maker as Louisville had nine aces and 14 blocks. Amaya Tillman was a part of seven blocks while Cara Cresse and Raquel Lazaro were involved with five blocks each.
Lazaro had a match-high 22 assists and even snuck in a couple dumps, a nice plus of having a 6'0 setter. Elena Scott recorded over half of the team's digs with 16, far more than anyone else on either side of the floor.
Louisville comes home this weekend to host #15 San Diego and #8 Ohio State. The status of single-game tickets is up in the air but most likely full.
Soccer Prepares for Memphis
Louisville women's soccer hits the road for a neutral site match against #23 Memphis. This is the second of a two-game road trip for the Cards, who are fresh off a 1-0 victory at Northern Kentucky. The site is Harrisonville, VA, home of James Madison University and the Dukes field, which is Sentara Park.
The Cards enter the match 2-1 and have outscored opponents 5-2. Their lone loss came against Xavier at home.
For Louisville, forward Maisie Whitsett and centerback Karsyn Cherry have been vying for the team's golden boot. Each has scored two goals while Whitsett has added a pair of assists. Autumn Weeks has the other goal for the Cards.
Memphis went 14-5-2 last year and finished the AAC with a 5-3 record. The Tigers won the AAC Tournament to earn an NCAA Tournament birth, where they advanced to the second round.
Memphis enters the match 3-1 and has wins against UAB, Arkansas Little Rock, and Iowa State. They have outscored opponents 11-5. The Tigers have one of the top scoring offenses in the country. Anne-Valerie Seto leads the Tigers with three goals on the year.
Memphis leads Louisville 7-4-1 all-time. Louisville's last win came in a 3-2 overtime thriller at Cardinal Park in 2013. Memphis would get their revenge in the AAC Tournament later that year.
Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. and there is not any television or online streaming options listed at this time. We get spoiled with home games being featured on ACC Network Extra or linear TV.
Happy Thursday and Go Cards!
Jared
A very good win by Volleyball over a WKU squad that will probably win their conference.
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