2-seed Louisville squares off against 3-seed Creighton in the Sweet Sixteen today at noon. The Cardinals and Blue Jays will play at the Fitzgerald Field House, also known as 'The Fitz', in Pittsburgh, where 1-seed Pitt and 4-seed Washington State will also play. You can catch the match on ESPN2.
Louisville's tournament run has featured a 3-1 win over Wichita State in the opening round followed by a 3-0 sweep against Western Michigan. The Cards also defeated Wichita State in their third match of the season, coincidentally a 3-1 win. Louisville did not see the Raiders in the regular season. If Louisville and Washington State both win, then they will play in a rematch from the second match of the season, where UofL won 3-0. If Louisville and Pitt both win, it will be a rematch from twice this season- Louisville won at home 3-0 and Pitt won at the Fitz 3-2.
Creighton's tournament has consisted of sweeps over Colgate and Minnesota. The Blue Jays defeated the Golden Gophers on the road in five sets in September. Creighton went 25-4 in the regular season with all four losses coming by October 6. The Blue Jays have won 17 straight matches.
Ava Martin leads the Blue Jays with 404 kills. No one else on the team has broken 300 kills. As a team, Creighton has tallied 1,626 kills. Kendra Wait has commanded that setter position and has logged 1,158 assists. The back row defense has been shared by many players: Kendra Wait (380 digs), Ellie Bolton (295 digs), Sydney Breissinger (271 digs), Sky McCune (232 digs), Ava Martin (222 digs), and Norah Sis (198 digs).
Louisville and Creighton met once back in August 2015, where the Cards took a 3-2 win.
Louisville Players to Keep an Eye On
We get used to seeing the same names fill up the stat sheet each match, but the Cards have a few players that aren't regularly all over the box score that can affect the result of this match.
Reese Robins is a freshman that has started seeing more and more playing time. The minutes she's seeing on the court have been impactful both offensively and defensively as opponents have yet to figure out how to stop her size and strength.
Brigitta Petrenko transferred in as a setter to run with Elle Glock. While Glock ultimately won the starting position, Petrenko has come in as a serving specialist who can also double as a setter when Glock needs a break or the coaches want to pull her for a moment to go over a couple plays. She helped spark multiple rallies this postseason.
Kamden Schrand is a freshman defensive specialist that has seen plenty of court action. Louisville has had some trouble on passing and serve receive this season and Schrand has been able to come in and help take the pressure of those struggles.
Happy Thursday and Go Cards!
Jared
Jared
GO CARDS!!!
ReplyDeleteGo Cards 🏐🏐👍
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