Louisville fans got to enjoy the success of the women's sports again over the weekend after a disappointing but unsurprising weekend by the men's sports in football and basketball. Volleyball and women's basketball had some close games that resulted in wins.
Volleyball
The "Cardiac Cards" spread across all of the Louisville teams with Louisville volleyball being no exception. After trailing 2-0 at a highly-ranked Georgia Tech team, the Cards bounced back with a reverse sweep for the 3-2 win. They followed that with a dominating performance in a 3-0 win at North Carolina.
At 15-1 in the conference, Louisville has secured a top two spot in the ACC. The team standing in their way at 15-0? Pitt. The Panthers claimed a 3-2 win at the Fitzgerald Field House in late October and now Louisville looks for revenge. The Cards and Panthers square off at the L&N FCU Arena Friday night.
A victory on Friday would temporarily give the Cards a 16-1 to 15-1 record advantage over Pitt in the ACC with only Notre Dame remaining on their schedule next Wednesday. Pitt still has Georgia Tech (11-4 ACC) and Boston College (6-10 ACC) on the schedule, giving each team 18 total conference matches played.
The VolleyCards moved up to #4 in the AVCA Poll following the good weekend. Texas, San Diego, and Wisconsin stayed put in the top three spots while Nebraska dropped to #6 following their loss to now-ranked #5 Ohio State. Pitt stayed put at #7. The NCAA Tournament Committee still has the Cards at #2, which is more important.
Women's Basketball
Louisville women's basketball survived a scare against an NCAA Tournament caliber opponent over the weekend. It was also the Cards' first road test on the year before heading to international territory in the Bahamas to face Gonzaga, whom the Cards took down in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year.
The Cards moved up to #6 in the latest AP Poll, mostly due to Tennessee falling at home to now-ranked #8 Ohio State. South Carolina, Stanford, Texas, and Iowa retained their first-fourth rankings and UConn moved up a spot to fifth.
Besides a tough Gonzaga team coming up soon, the Cards could also see Texas on the schedule down in the Bahamas. Ohio State is also on the non-conference schedule to close out November. Ranked ACC opponents include #9 Notre Dame, #10 NC State, #13 North Carolina, and #14 Virginia Tech.
Jeff Walz and Co have a pretty tough schedule again this year. A shaky performance like the one at Belmont can be unforgiving later in the season, but the season is young and plenty of new faces are still learning their role and the UofL system. The team we saw Sunday won't be the team we'll see by the time conference play rolls around and that team won't be the same that we'll see come postseason. Despite more talent and depth than he knows what to do with, Jeff Walz has a team that will be developing throughout the year.
Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!
Jared
Work on the defense Cards.
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