Volleyball Punches Final Four Ticket
(All volleyball photos from Jared Anderson)
It's been the goal, and maybe a source of a bit of unwanted pressure, for the Volleyball team to reach the Final Four. That is now a perennial goal for the Cards volleyball team these days, but it took on extra significance this year with the Volleyball Final Four being hosted here in Louisville.
 |
| Sofia Maldonado Diaz swinging, not in the first set |
The Cards basically spotted the Card five points as Stanford climbed out to an early 6-1 lead, leading to an early Louisville time-out. After the timeout, however, Louisville seemed to settle their early jitters and play confidently and consistently. The rest of the first set saw very little change in the margin, with a slight comeback by the home towners, but not enough to win the set.
 |
| One of many Anna DeBeer attacks |
In the third, the teams played very competitively, as the score demonstrates, but along the way, neither team had a lead larger than four points, and much of the set saw the teams within two points of each other. A pair of service errors by Stanford in extra points brought back some of the heart-in-throat vibes of the Northern Iowa match.
 |
| Nayelis Cabello serving for set point. L's up! |
The last set saw the Cards slowly, ever so slowly, grow the lead throughout the set to the final five point margin.
Louisville, as they live and die by the block, did end up outblocking Stanford 16-10, but that was a late surge with the west coasters leading in blocks after the first set. Cara Cresse, Phekran Kong, and Sofia Maldonado Diaz all got in on six shared blocks, with PK and Maldonado also get a solo block each.
Elena Scott and Luper both had 13 digs, Cabello 10, and Reese Robins with an uncharacteristically high seven.
 |
| The moment the Cards advanced to the Final Four. |
Offensively, Anna DeBeer led with 15 kills, Charitie Luper had 13, and Maldonado Diaz had 12. A bit of an asterisk on the Maldonado number, though, she had zero attack ATTEMPTS in the first set, so her 12 were all tallied in three sets.
The Cards advance to face ACC foe, and recent rival, Pitt in the Semifinals on Thursday after defeated longtime Louisville rival Kentucky in three straight sets. The other half of the Final Four bracket will be set with matches this evening with matches between 1 seed Nebraska and 2 seed Wisconsin, and between 1 seed Penn State and 2 seed Creighton.
The matches on Thursday will start at 6:30, with the second match following 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first. It's likely that Louisville vs Pitt will be the later match, so expect another late Thursday night of volleyball.
(More volleyball photos below)
Basketball Opens Conference Play
Jeff Walz and the women's basketball team will open conference play today vs NC State.
While the 6-4 Cards have certainly not had a cakewalk schedule to this point, they start into conference play where things will also not get any easier overall. They do have one more non-conference game, against Memphis, on the 21st, but otherwise, it's the ACC women's basketball gauntlet from here on out.
The Wolfpack arrive in Louisville with a 7-3 schedule with maybe an ever so slightly easier schedule this point. To their credit, however, they have played, and lost to, South Carolina and LSU, both well ranked teams, and they did beat 18th ranked Ole Miss earlier this month.
NC State is led by Aziaha James, Zoe Brooks, and Saniya Rivers, all of which are averaging in double-digit scoring on the season.
As a team, NCSU shoots 34% from beyond the arc and 44% overall. Both a good numbers, but they fall short on the free throw line, shooting only 63%...not good enough for the "F" in the Fred report.
In general, Wes Moore always has well coached teams, and we shouldn't expect them to go down without a fight.
On the Louisville side of the equation, it's really getting to be time for this team to knuckle down and start producing. We, as a fan-base, have accepted that there are a lot of new faces in the crowd, but if there is going to be late season success, it needs start coming together now.
Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast
 |
| Full House Saturday...Paulie dealing |
The CCRHP had a capacity crowd for the first time in quite a while. Jared got his car troubles resolved quicker than expected as was able to join Case, Daryl, Paul, and myself for the show. It's always a joy to have the whole crew on!
It's always a great show when we're five strong and yesterday was no exception. Coverage of basketball and volleyball were, of course, the topics of choice.
Check it out:
https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/Volleyball-in-the-Elite-Eight-e2sb0gu
--
JMcA
JARED ANDERSON PHOTOS
 |
| Hoisting the Regional Championship trophy |
 |
| "Louisville Bound" seems a bit odd at Freedom Hall, but I'll allow it. |
Louisville is LOUISVILLE BOUND 💪
ReplyDelete