VB defeated in Raleigh (by Golly) -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

  WOLFPACK VB DOWNS CARDS IN 4 SETS

An unexpected result in a ACC Volleyball match Sunday afternoon. 

North Carolina State took the #4 ranked Cards down in four sets...25-19, 25-21, 22-25 and 25-15. Louisville simply could not win the battle at the net and that'll get you sometimes. 58-46 in kills delivered -- advantage NCST.  Also, .338 hitting for Ms. Wuf's gals and a dismal .164 for UofL  A loud, packed and rowdy crowd in Reynolds Coliseum appreciated the (now) 13-2 NCST effort in shutting down the main guns in the Cardinals offense. DeBeer, Kong and Luper. 

And the Cards were allowing the home team a lot of opportunities to power shots past their front line. Maybe UofL came in underestimating the NCST skills set or personnel.. They found out quickly that Rice, Brizzard and Cabello had the agility and ability to not only hit through block attempts, but also send shots to vacant areas on the floor.. 

SET ONE

The Cards and Pack hung tough with each other early on, before NCST broke open a 12-12 tie to go up 15-12 and then 18-13.. The Wolfpack pushed that advantage to 22-17 and closed it out with a kill for the 25-19 set victory.  Sadly, a lot of the viewing network missed the early action because the ACC Network wasn't done showing the FSU match yet..  (Or, maybe it was a good thing the Cardinals fans missed the beating). 

SET TWO

Another set that was pretty close early before NCST jumped out to a 13-10 edge. Louisville did battle back to tie it at 13 and went into a timeout trailing just 15-14. Louisville regrouped and take a 19-18 lead on a Kong kill. The teams were tied at 20-20 before NCST got hot and scored five of the next six set points for the 25-21 win. 

The Cards were down two sets to zero at halftime and one had to wonder if Louisville could rally and maybe put a reverse sweep together like Stanford did to them.

SET THREE

Louisville used an early 3-0 run to build an 8-4 lead. That held true as the match went on, the Cards in charge at 13-8. Things were looking pretty promising with Louisville up 20-15, but NCST dug down deep and got within two at 22-20. DeBeer had a kill and Cresse a block to end it, though, and the set went to Louisville 25-22. 

SET FOUR

Sadly, NCST gained control early and kept adding to their early lead. A crucial 6-1 run gave the Raleigh school a 15-8 lead and it looked bleak for the Cards. Louisville did manage to get as close as five... late in the match, but NCST was in control for most of the set (and match) and a Wolfpack ace and kill gave them the 10-point romp. 

You can bet the rest of the conference will study this one as they prepare to face the Cards in the remainder of the season. It's a case where Louisville needs to study the tape on this one, and figure out how to avoid this happening again. Shaking it off and saying "these things happen" is not and does not make it all better if you are in the Cardinals camp. 

the most ridiculous thing I saw on social media last night concerning the match was that the NC State win was a payback for Louisville defeating NCST in football Friday night. 

Yeah, OK. Sure it is.

Ask Wolfpack football if they feel justified now. Remember, Morons are out there, folks, and they come in all shapes, sizes and types of button-fly jeans.

 

And, why didn't we get to see Ms. Wuf on the television set? Damn ESPN...

 paulie