Volleyball Sweeps; WBB Set for UK -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

#3 Cards Handle Duke in L&N FCU Arena

At 5-9 in conference and 9-16 overall, I don't think anyone was overly concerned about Duke coming into Louisville last night and sparking an upset. Even with that, though, the level of beatdown that Coach Dani Busboom-Kelly's squad put on the Blue Devils was a bit unexpectedly thorough. The Cards opened with a 25-13 win in the first, allowed slightly more for Duke with a 25-16 second, and then came out of the halftime break to end the match with a 25-10 thumping. If there was any worry that Louisville would be looking ahead to the more interesting matchup against UNC on Sunday, the Cards quashed it immediately. 

I'll spare you the recap of a play-by-play, as there wasn't any drama. Duke led for exactly one point in the match, after they won the first point of the third set. A bit ironic, you could say, that the only time they led came in the set they were beaten most badly. The Blue Devils actually managed to tie that set at 3, as well, before Louisville went on an 18-5 run. In seasons of late, Louisville Volleyball has been the most deserving UofL program of the Boom U nickname. 

In the match, Anna DeBeer led all hitters with 13 kills. She was on fire, hitting .550 for the match. She also added nine digs, which tied Elena Scott for most in the match. While she was one dig short of the double-double, DeBeer's nine kills pushed her over the 1,000 dig milestone. Anna is the fourth Cardinal all-time to eclipse 1,000 career kills and digs. 

As a team, Louisville hit .432, putting up 41 kills with only nine errors. It helped that Duke could only manage three blocks, but Louisville showed their dominance offensively. Charitie Luper finished with eight kills and no errors, while Sofia Maldonado Diaz had six and one. It was a bit of a quiet day for the middles, offensively, as Cara Cresse and Hannah Sherman combined for only nine kills and two errors. They only had sixteen total attempts, though. Defensively, both were stellar, as each had two solo and three assisted blocks. Louisville had ten blocks as a team. 

Louisville will now turn their attention to the Tar Heels of UNC. As expected, their glittering season turned out to be a bit of fool's gold once the schedule toughened up. UNC is no longer tied for the lead in the ACC, having dropped three straight to ranked opponents. In fairness to the Heels, they took GT to five sets in Chapel Hill, but they were swept in Pittsburgh and lost 3-1 in Dallas. UNC defeated Notre Dame 3-1 last night. All that said, Louisville still can't afford to take any opponents lightly. The Cards hold onto a buffer over Stanford, but they're still tied atop the league with Pitt. Tomorrow's match gets underway at 1PM and will stream on ACC Network Extra. 

WBB Battle of the Bluegrass Tonight

In what feels like a pretty early matchup, Louisville and Kentucky will renew their rivalry this evening with a new twist. No longer will the Cards have to worry about the big matchups against UK and Kenny Brooks separately; those now happen at the same time. Tonight's Battle of the Bluegrass will be the first with Kenny Brooks at the helm for the Wildcats, and he has the Cards' familiar foe Georgia Amoore suiting up in blue for good measure. 

This will be an incredibly interesting matchup, as both teams are ranked roughly the same. UK started the season ranked 20th, and dropped two spots to 22nd after a season opening win over USC Upstate 98-43. The Cats responded with a 29-point victory over NKU and beat Wofford 76-42 on Tuesday. Unlike Louisville, who has played three games in three different arenas, UK has not yet left the friendly confines of Memorial Coliseum. With another home game after tonight and then games against Arizona State and Illinois in Nashville, Kentucky does not play a true road game until December 5th against UNC. How's that for friendly scheduling? 

With this being a road game for Louisville, it certainly isn't a bad thing that they've played a neutral site game against a highly ranked opponent and a true road game against a scrappy UT Martin squad. While the Cards weren't necessarily dominant against the Skyhawks, they never appeared threatened, either. Tonight will be different, of course, with a tough opponent and all of what goes into the UofL/UK rivalry. 

While Georgia Amoore is the big name Louisville fans will be worried about, Clara Strack is the big player sure to be on Coach Jeff Walz's whiteboard. Strack is averaging a double-double so far this season, leading the team in both points per game (17.7) and rebounds per game (11.3) with a 27 minute average. Amoore has shot just 34.3% from the field and 17.6% from three so far this season, so I'm sure she'll pick tonight to find her rhythm. On the outside, Louisville will need to cling to Dazia Lawrence, as she is shooting 50% from the floor so far and is 7/12 on the season from deep. 

Tonight's game tips at 6PM and will air on SEC Network +. I believe that availability should be similar to ACC Network Extra, but I know that an ESPN+ subscription will get you the game. Tune in for what should be an exciting matchup in the first of a new era. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We should have four on the line today, with Daryl otherwise occupied. With volleyball in the thick of their season and basketball really getting off the ground, we'll have plenty to discuss. It should be an exciting show, so be sure to tune in. You can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case