VolleyCards Set for Sweet Sixteen Match-Up
Louisville volleyball's postseason run continues. The 1-seeded Cards remain at home, this time hosting 4-seeded Purdue.
Well, Louisville's two primary home courts are L&N FCU Arena and the KFC Yum! Center. L&N FCU Arena is too small to host an NCAA Regional and the KFC Yum! Center has conflicts with a pair of women's basketball games and UofL commencement. The third option for a home match is somewhat familiar to Louisville fans- Freedom Hall.
Freedom Hall is the former home to both Louisville women's basketball and Louisville men's basketball. In recent years, it has also hosted events for the TBT, a basketball tournament consisting of teams made from college alumni, and Bellarmine basketball games. Freedom Hall also played host to an NCAA Volleyball Regional in 2021 when Louisville defeated both Florida and Georgia Tech to advance to their first ever Final Four.
This year, Louisville earned a 1-seed by going 25-5 in the regular season and 17-3 in ACC play. The Cards have a plethora of wins against ranked opponents. UofL opened the tournament with a fairly easy sweep over Chicago State. The second round was not so easy as Northern Iowa took the Cards to five sets and proved to be a back-and-forth affair all match.
Purdue went 25-6 during the regular season. They finished fourth in the Big Ten with a 16-4 conference record. The Boilermakers dropped matches to Kansas, Creighton, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Penn State (2x). They also have wins against Kentucky, Minnesota, Oregon, and USC.
Purdue's trip to the Sweet Sixteen has been smooth. They opened the tournament by sweeping Western Michigan. The Broncos tried to put up a fight, with all three sets being in the 20s. The Boilermakers then swept Loyola Chicago. The Ramblers kept the first two sets close before Purdue slammed the door in the third set.
The match is expected to begin at approximately 9:30pm. 2-seed Stanford and 6-seed Florida play at 7:00pm so Louisville's match does have a possibility of starting late.
Women's Basketball Hosts Grambling State
One Louisville team is at the KFC Yum! Center tonight. Louisville women's basketball hosts Grambling State at 7:00pm on the ACCNX. This is just the fourth home game for the Cards, who have spent most of the early portion of the season on the road.
Louisville is 5-4 on the season after suffering back-to-back losses against Oklahoma and UConn. All four Louisville losses have come against current Top 25 teams.
Grambling State is 2-7. After opening up the season with a pair of wins against Centenary College (Louisiana) and Xavier University of Louisiana, the Tigers have dropped seven straight including losses to LSU and ACC foe California.
In their seven losses, Grambling State has not scored more than 65 points. They have allowed 76 or more points in six of those seven losses.
Cardinal Couple plans to have coverage at both events tomorrow.
Happy Thursday and Go Cards!
Jared
Grambling St coach Courtney Simmons played for Louisville under Walz on that first final four squad 👍
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