Volleyball Hosts NCAA Regional
Fresh off a great date night last night and enjoying a day off work today, I'll be one of the thousands of fans... er, media for me... heading downtown to the KFC Yum! Center to see Louisville volleyball play in the opening round of the NCAA Regional and the third round of the NCAA Tournament. 1-seed Louisville hosts 4-seed Baylor following the conclusion of 2-seed Nebraska vs 3-seed Oregon.
Louisville swept Samford in the first round of the tournament and followed it with a sweep against Purdue to advance to its fourth straight Sweet Sixteen. The ACC Champions have made eight Sweet Sixteen appearances in program history.
Baylor enters the match with a 25-6 overall record. The Bears received an at-large bid after they finished second in the Big 12 with a 12-4 conference record, sitting only behind Texas. They did take down Wisconsin early in the season, but are 0-3 against the remaining field with a loss to Minnesota and two losses to Texas. They also have wins against other teams that made the NCAA Tournament in Pepperdine, TCU, Iowa State, Rice, Kansas, and Stephen F Austin.
The Bears posted a dominant 16-1 record at home, but struggled on the road (6-4) and found moderate success at neutral locations (3-1). Baylor has had a balanced offense this year with five players having anywhere from 221-340 kills. Lauren Harrison leads the charge. Defense has also been by committee with five players recording anywhere from 171-381 digs. Libero Lauren Briseno has been the top performer there. Averi Carlson made an immediate impact this season as libero and was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year. Her stats include 1232 assists, 30 aces, 220 digs, and 30 blocks.
Like Louisville, Baylor prides itself on being a blocking team, accumulating 294.blocks this season for an average of 2.6 per set. Seven players are listed as 6'3 or taller, giving them a slight height advantage over Louisville.
The Cards and Bears seem to match-up well in terms of style of play and stats, giving this match the potential to be an exciting one.
Only the lower bowl will be open for today's match with Ticketmaster listing tickets for $37.15 plus fees. You can also catch this on TV on ESPNU if you can't make it to the match. Start time is set for 30 minutes after Nebraska vs Oregon ends so it's anticipated the match will start between 1:30-2:00 p.m. ET.
Here is the regional schedule for Thursday, Dec. 8:
- No. 3 Oregon vs. No. 2 Nebraska | 11 a.m. ET | ESPNU | Louisville regional semi
- No. 3 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Minnesota | noon ET | ESPN2 | Austin regional semi
- No. 4 Baylor vs. No. 1 Louisville | 1:30 p.m. ET | ESPNU | Louisville regional semi
- No. 4 Marquette vs. No. 1 Texas | 2:30 p.m. ET| ESPN2 | Austin regional semi
- No. 3 Florida vs. No. 2 Pittsburgh |3:30 p.m. | ESPNU | Madison regional semi
- No. 4 Penn State vs. No. 1 Wisconsin | 6 p.m. ET | ESPNU | Madison regional semi
- No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 2 San Diego | 8 p.m. ET | ESPNU | Stanford regional semi
- No. 5 Houston vs. No. 1 Stanford | 10:30 p.m. ET | ESPNU | Stanford regional semi
(PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON)
Happy Thursday and Go Cards!
Jared
If you are a Volleyball fan, what a great day for watching matches. I do hope it's a good turnout at the YUM! I'd be there if I could, but still in Iowa. Glad there is so much TV coverage !
ReplyDeleteCurtis "Bee Kind" Franklin
Hey, Curtis
ReplyDeleteMeant to tell you that I was in a HyVee in Bloomington, IL last week. I love their layout, options and can't wait until they get to the Louisville area!
We had to go to Peoria for a funeral and drove through Bloomington. I needed gas, so I started looking and saw a HyVee with gas pumps. We went inside first up to get some snacks and were really impressed. We signed up for a HyVee gas card and got a whopping discount for our gas as well.
Kroger and Walmart and Meijer have had their way too long in this area. Glad to see someone is coming in to shake them up
Nick O.
Nick
DeleteHow cool! I spent two weeks at that one not too long ago filling in for the produce manager. When they ship me around to fill in at stores, it's a pretty nice set up. Food, lodging and expenses all covered. I've even had a couple of store managers ask me if I'd like the full-time produce manager job at their stores. To be clear, though, my heart belongs to Louisville and I can't wait to get back there permanently.!
Curtis "Bee Kind" Franklin
Hello Friends!
ReplyDeleteArthur Here!
Well, first off, congratulations on the football coach hire. I know this is a women's sports only site, but I bet a lot of you up there are happy about it.
Volleyball will be fun to watch today, especially since I'm "down in the back" after rearranging a room to make things a little easier for Bea to get around, in, and out of. I should have used a little common sense and got a young pup to do it.
Baylor looks like a pretty strong squad, based on what I have seen.
Will you all have coverage at the match in addition to Jared taking photos?
Will Daryl have the post-game write up? (You all know -- she's my favorite writer at the site --)
Your Friend
#1 Clemson Fan
Arthur
Greer, SC
As far as I know, Arthur...Daryl will have the write up. Jeff will be there as a fan, Jared taking photos and I was not granted credentials. Crazy, right?
Deletepaulie
I will also not be tweeting score updates for the Louisville regional matches either. I suggest you follow either Jared or Jeff. Their Twitter accounts can be found on the right hand side of the site.
Deletepaulie
Found out I have credentials but never got notification. Hope we win, I'll go to the next one.
ReplyDeletepaulie