Cards Split ACC Openers -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Sweeps BC

Louisville volleyball opened their ACC slate at home against Boston College and took care of the Eagles in fairly short order. There wasn't a lot of drama in any set as the Cards won 25-12, 25-17, 25-15. Louisville hit .422 on the evening, compared to just .049 for BC, and that was despite BC winning the blocking battle. 

Outside of 8 total blocks, BC was not stellar on defense (as evidenced by Louisville's hitting percentage). Louisville's offensive leaders were incredibly efficient. Payton Petersen led the way with 13 kills and just two errors on only 21 attempts. That equates to a .524 hitting percentage from a pin hitter. Yeesh. Chloe Chicoine was also strong, going nine and one on 17 attempts for a .471. Kalyssa Blackshear rounded out the pin attackers (for the most part) with a .263 hitting percentage and seven kills. The middles were actually defended a bit better, with Cara Cresse and Hannah Sherman combining for eight kills and four errors on only 15 attempts. 

Nayelis Cabello continued to play well on the floor, as she finished with 35 assists and went three for three on offensive attempts. I say "on the floor" as she was one of many who stumbled a bit at the serving line. Louisville finished with seven aces, but they also had twelve service errors. Cabello had none of the aces and three of the errors. So it goes sometimes. Hannah Kenny led the way with three aces, but she had two errors as well, so Molly Wilson actually had the best day at the line with two aces and no errors. Kamden Schrand and Ava Utterback had the remaining two aces. 

Defensively, BC made it pretty easy. They did the thing you aren't supposed to do on offense, which is hit it basically straight to the libero every time. Schrand finished with 21 of Louisville's 40 total digs. Hannah Sherman had the best day at the net, racking up four block assists and one of Louisville's two solo blocks (Alanna Bankston had the other). Blackshear finished with three block assists and Cresse, Cabello, and Petersen all contributed one each. 

As I mentioned earlier, there wasn't a lot of drama in this match. Louisville trailed just once, and that wasn't until the third set. With the help of a block, a Louisville unforced error, and one of their three aces, BC had a three point run early in the third set to go from a 3-1 deficit to a 4-3 lead. Louisville won the next four points and didn't look back. 

They won't always be so easy, but after I mentioned that Louisville had been prone to dropping sets on last week's show, they responded by sweeping both opponents this week. The Cards are back in action tomorrow when Syracuse comes to L&N Arena for a 1PM match. The Orange are having a bit of a renaissance season, though their competition has been questionable, as they sit at 9-2 on the year. Their two losses came on back-to-back days in a home-and-away match up with Colgate. Syracuse defeated Notre Dame 3-1 Friday evening in South Bend. 

Field Hockey Falls in Shootout

Louisville hit the road to open their conference schedule and played a nail biter of a match with Stanford. Ultimately, Louisville was unable to find a game-winning goal, and they lost in a shootout. The final score of 2-1 represents the single point awarded to Stanford winning the shootout after each team scored one goal in regulation. Coincidentally, the final score of the shootout was also 2-1. 

The match was a constant struggle of early offensive action followed by periods of strong defensive play. Stanford scored the first goal on a penalty corner in the first quarter. Louisville matched that with a PC goal of their own in the second. After halftime, both teams were able to amass just one shot on target for the entire second half. Louisville's goal came from Rylie Wollerton, her seventh of the season. Assists went to Tatum Kroon and Annabel Sep. 

The overtime periods played out very similarly. Louisville survived a PC attempt from Stanford early in the first OT and managed to find three shots late in the period, but neither team found a Golden Goal. Their search continued in the second overtime, but the efforts were even more fruitless: neither team was able to even find a shot. 

Even the shootout had a similar flavor. Louisville scored on their first attempt (Gracie Potter) while Stanford scored their first two. The Cards were blanked for their remaining four attempts, and while Stanford was unable to extend their lead any further, one extra goal was all they needed. Interestingly, after Emily Young made three saves during the game, she was substituted for Alessia Cicuto for the penalty shootout. I won't second guess the goalie whisperer that is Justine Sowry, so I'll just assume that Cicuto has shown more in practice in the way of penalty acumen. 

It's a tough way to start the conference season, as Louisville's mercurial offensive play continues, but they'll have a long week to recover. It was a single game weekend for the Cards on the west coast, as they get a Sunday bye. Louisville is back in action Friday, when they return to Trager Stadium to host Wake Forest. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Jared is off galivanting around Louisville, so he'll miss this week, but we'll have three on board the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast. Daryl will be forced to give us her rundown of the past two weekends and Louisville's annual music festivals before we get into the week that was in Louisville women's athletics. You can check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case