Volleyball in KFC YUM! Center tonight -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

CARDS VOLLEYBALL FACE NOTRE DAME IN KFC YUM! CENTER

It's been awhile since we could make that headlining statement...about Louisville regular season Volleyball downtown in the KFC YUM! Center. You have to go back to 2016 to find the games downtown. Louisville played 13 games in the KFC YUM! Center and two in the L&N Federal Credit Union.  

It'll be interesting to see what the attendance is tonight for this one. We hear more and more conversation about the want to see Louisville Volleyball in a bigger arena that the on-campus LNFCU. Games at the YUM! Center would traditionally bring in more than 2,000 fans, which is more than you can fit in the LNFCU, but only around 10% capacity for the Downtown Arena. People point out that Louisville would draw many more now...but the 2016 squad had a lot of talent in Melanie McHenry, Molly Sauer, Jasmine Bennett, Tess Clark and Maggie De Jong and the UK game attracted nearly 4,000....despite the squad going 12-18. 

The Irish come to Louisville with a 9-11 record and they are 4-6 in ACC play. Virginia and Pitt defeated them in their last two contests (both on the road). Notre Dame did host third place conference team Georgia Tech in late September, but got swept in three sets. Notre Dame is tied with Wake Forest for 10th place in the conference standings/ 

Avery Ross leads Notre Dame in kills with 191 and Kaylin Winkler has 150. Lucy Trump has 147. Trump and Ross are freshmen outside hitters...Winkler is a grad transfer from SMU.  It's a rebuilding project underway in South Bend for Irish Volleyball, they have just two seniors on the roster and four grad transfers...compared to six freshmen and three sophomores. 

The Cards will be looking to bounce back from the Sunday loss at Pitt. The loss dropped then to 9-1 in the ACC (second place) and 18-2 overall. It also dropped them to #4 in the nation, behind Nebraska, Texas and surprising San Diego. Pitt, in another surprise, only moved up one spot -- from #8 to #7. You know how polls are, though. They're a popularity thing first, actual record and performance numbers behind that. 

The Cards need a solid convincing win in this one and you probably can't blame them if they keep looking at the door to see if Anna DeBeer is actually back and ready to go. Not that Chaussee, Mbonu, Kong, Jones,Tillman and Bartlett haven't stepped up and tried to help shoulder the load...they have...but DeBeer is the best player on this squad and they miss her. Knees can be tricky, you don't want to come back too fast on them and you need to protect them when you do first come back. (I know from experience).  

Only seven regular season games remain after tonight's match for Louisville against and make note of the start time -- 8 p.m. Katie George will be on the ACC Network broadcast with Eric Frede. We last saw Katie in Lexington, when she had the call for Louisville vs. Kentucky Volleyball...and....yes, she is still a "10". A married "10"....but still double digits.  

Let's hope the Cards Volleyball get the "W" and a fun time is had by all in the KFC YUM! Center. You've been asking for it, Louisville fans, so get down there and enjoy it ! 

paulie