VolleyCARDS in Final Four -- WBB wins 73-43 vs Bellarmine -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Hello readers! 

Daryl checking in.. It's not Friday but it feels like it is for me.  UofL closes for the winter break and I am so looking forward to it.  

I'm also looking forward to a big Volleyball match tonight!  Louisville gets a rematch with the Panthers in Omaha, NE.   

As Doja Cat says, lets Get into it (Yuh) LINK: Let's Get Into It, Yuh.

Volleyball

The #1 seeded Louisville Cardinals are set to face the #2 seeded Pitt Panthers for the third time this season.  The two programs are ACC Co-Champions with the Cards sporting a 30-2 overall record and 17-1 in the ACC while Pitt is 31-3 and also 17-1 in the ACC.

Both Louisville and Pittsburgh had 4 players named in the AVCA All-American conversation yesterday.

Claire Chaussee was named an AVCA First Team All-American. Elena Scott earned Second Team honors, Amaya Tillman earned Third Team honors, and Raquel Lazaro earned Honorable Mention honors.

For Pitt, Courtney Buzzerio and Serena Gray had been named 1st Team All-American, Valeria Vazquez Gomez was named 2nd Team All-America with Rachel Fairbanks earning 3rd Team All-American honors.

The two split the regular season meetings,  UofL losing the first matchup in five (15-25 13-25, 27-25, 25-20, 12-15) and sweeping the second matchup (25-15, 25-21, 25-18).

Pittsburgh has four players with 200+ kills this season, led by Courtney Buzzerio with 448 kills hitting .329, who was also named NCAA Madison Regional MVP.  The right side hitter added 33 aces, 10 digs, and 82 blocks to the stat sheet this season.  Valeria Vazquez Gomez recorded 351 kills hitting .245, 23 aces, 279 digs, and 38 blocks. Serena Gray led the team in blocks with 127 and added 238 kills hitting .404, 24 aces, and 77 digs. Rachel Fairbanks, who led the team in double-doubles (15), had 136 kills, 851 assists, 39 aces, 282 digs, and 48 blocks.

Louisville is holding opponents to just .152 hitting through the first four rounds, the second lowest of the Final Four teams, behind Texas (.108). This will be the 33rd all-time meeting between the two schools with UofL leading the series, 14-18.  The series is split, 5-5, in the Fisher/Busboom Kelly era (since 2017).

It's a ESPN game, and the second part of the doubleheader. It'll start (appox) 9:30 p.m. unless the first match (San Diego vs. Texas) runs long. We have Jeff McAdams on site for the matches, we'll see if he offers any commentary or thoughts. 

The winner will play for the National Championship on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 8 p.m.

Basketball

UofL has now won 3 in row before opening up ACC play this weekend with a 73-43 win over the neighboring Bellarmine Knights Wednesday night at the former home venue, Freedom Hall.   Hailey Van Lith and Chrislyn Carr lead Louisville with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 13 points, 7 assists and 4 steals respectively.  

End of 1Q  15-6 Cards

FG %
6-15 40% Cards
3-10 30% Knights
Reb. 7-9 Knights
3-pt %
1-3 33.3% Cards
0-3 0%  Knights

Louisville got out to a 13-2 lead before Bellarmine calls a timeout with 2:43 left on the clock in the 1Q. Carr lead the offensive charge in the quarter with 7 points on 3-of-3 shooting and two steals in the quarter.

End of 2Q  19-2 Cards

FG %
9-18 50% Cards
1-10 10% Knights
Reb. 10 all 
3-pt %
1-1 100% Cards
0-4 0% Knights 

Cards open the 2Q with a 11-0 run in the first two minutes of play.   Bellarmine had committed 12 TO with 7 min left in the 2Q and 16 turnovers in the first half all together.  According to WBB SID Matt Paras, the 2 points allowed in the quarter ties the program record and the 8 Bellarmine half-time points sets a new record. 

HALF  Cards up 34-8

(caption this pic...)

End of 3Q  Cards 21-20

FG %
9-15 60% Cards
7-15 46.7%
Reb. 9-4 Cards 
3-pt %
2-4 50% Cards
1-1 100% Knights

End of 4Q  18-15 Cards 

FG %
8-19 42.1% Cards
5-19 26.3%
Reb. 14-11 Cards
3-pt %
1-5 20% Cards
1-3 33.3% Knights

The second half was about maintaining the lead and getting the bench some playing time.  11 players saw the floor with 9 players getting on the stat sheet. 

Bellarmine shook their shooting woes and almost took the second half.  

POST-GAME WALZ:  POST GAME JEFF WALZ REMARKS

(No players were made available for post-game remarks.) 

POST GAME CHANCELLOR DUGAN RADIO:  (audio only)  POST GAME CHANCELLOR DUGAN REMARKS

POST GAME DUGAN PRESER:  DUGAN POST GAME PRESSER

UP NEXT

Louisville at Pittsburgh

Sunday 2 P.M. 

ACCN

FRED REPORT

(Cards danced past Bellarmine like Fred Astaire...)

FREE THROWS --  There weren't a lot of opportunities here, as Louisville went 4-5 at the line on the night good for 80%.  HVL was perfect in her only 3 attempts at the line but she asked for the Oprah treatment for anyone in red.  Capital F for the category

REBOUNDING --  The Cards outrebounded Bellarmine 40-34 with Olivia Cochran leading Louisville with 8.   The Knights were pretty outsized in this one with the exception of freshman center Gracie Merkle who also pulled down 8 rebounds.    I give it a small case  'r' 

EFFORT/EXECUTION --  UofL's defense in the first half made it look alot like we were headed for a repeat of last years meeting between the two squads where the Knights only scored 25 points.   After scoring only 8 points and committing 16 turnovers in the first half, the Knights came out of the halftime break looking like a whole new squad scoring 35 points and only committing 3 turnovers in the second half.    Olivia's shots struggled to fall but the team shot better than 47% from the field and converted 20 assists on 32 made buckets, 42 points in the paint and 15 second chance points.  Capital E 

DEFENSE --  A large halftime lead kept this one without doubt for Louisville but the Cards squeaked by the Knights 39-35 in the second half.  Walz used the large lead to give the bench players some playing time while Bellarmine tried to find something positive to take away from the blowout. The Cards totaled 13 steals and 7 blocks. The Cardinals turn those steals into 24 points off turnovers, their ninth game this season with 20 or more points off turnovers.  Capital D 

FINAL FRED TALLY: F-r-E-D

Friendly reminder, we have 10 days till Christmas!  Don't forget to tell those you love how much you care about them and enjoy your time while you have it.  

(VOLLEYBALL AND BASKETBALL PHOTOS FROM: (choose one)

A)  Cortnee Walton

B)  Chancellor Dugan

C)  Jared Anderson

D)  Anderson Cooper

As Always, 

Go Cards! 

~Daryl 

(uh, "C" is the correct answer.to 'who took the photos'?..we're pretty sure, but, the lack of selfies is a bit distressing...)