Volleyball's final regular season test a tough one -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

GEORGIA TECH COMES TO TOWN TO CLOSE OUT CARDS REGUAR SEASON AND CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

First off, what's up with the 5 p.m. start on this one tomorrow? Yes, I know, some are fortunate to get a shortened work day on the day before Thanksgiving, but more than a few will probably  have to struggle to get to this one by first serve. It's an important match for the Cards, let's not forget that Buzz's squad took it took the Cards in 4 sets earlier this month in Atlanta. 

There is no ACC Volleyball post-season tournament. I was asked ut that, and if I knew why. I don't but the lack of the ACC playing a post-season tournament isn't a rarity among conferences. Seven conferences (AAC, ACC, SEC, PAC12, BIG10, BIg 12 and West Coast) forego the post-season tournament each year. In the 32-team automatic qualifier for the 64 team tournament, most of...if not all...of the conferences listed above will get in more than one school. 

Georgia Tech is 22-5 on the season comng into the match and four of those are ACC losses...twice to Pitt and twice to Miami.It's pretty certain that the Techsters are in the NCAA Tournament, but a win over Louisville -- a second time and this time on their court -- would be advantageous to their ranking and seedings,

We are 99.9% sure Louisville is in the NCAA Tournament. The only thing that would seemingly preventt the Cards from getting in would be if a giant meteor were to fly into our city and wipe out the campus and the KFC YUM! Center.  But, NASA hasn't alerted us of anything like that upcoming, although they have issues warnings about the rockets that come form the forearms of Anna DeBeer, Aiko Jones and Charitie Luper. 

On a more serious note, once a team beats you, and they are on the schedule to play you again, they hae the self confidence, as a rule, to beat you again. They've exposed your weaknesses, flaunted their strong points againstt you and backed you, not them, into a corner. 

You've also got to wonder why this one is on campus at the LNFCU, where about 27 people get in to watcj matches, s compared to beingg downtown at the FC YUM Center. I did a quick calender check to see if the YUM! was booked tonight, and there is nothing scheduled in there. Uofl is fond of saying they move the big events to the YUM! for Volleyball. Well? Isn;t this a big event? My guess is that they couldn't get ACC to how it and that's why it is on line at ACCNX. 

Your top four in the conference:

Florida State	15-2	.882	8-0	7-2	W6	22-8	.733	10-3	9-4	3-1	9-1	W7
Pitt	14-2	.875	8-0	6-2	W3	23-4	.852	12-1	10-2	1-1	8-2	W3
Louisville	14-3	.824	8-0	6-3	L1	23-4	.852	13-1	7-3	3-0	8-2	L1
Georgia Tech	13-4	.765	7-2	6-2	W1	22-5	.815	9-2	9-3	4-0	7-3	W1

Maybe because it just a batttle for third place. But, a darn good volleyball match. It's a shame more people can't get in to see it "live"....

JARED ANDERSON PHOTOS

paulie

Final Four Bound and Gameday - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Volleyball is Final Four Bound

It was a historic ACC battle in Freedom Hall as the wide net Cards punched their ticket to Columbus for the NCAA Volleyball 2021 Final Four.  The deed was done in four sets, 25-18. 21-25, 25-21, 25-20.  Georgia Tech battled, but the Cards ultimately blocked their way to advancement.

A moment of silence for those impacted by
tornadoes in western Kentucky and the region.

Louisville has gotten off to a slow start a number of times this season, and this match was no exception with the Yellowjackets getting out to a 4-1 start before the Cards shut it down with a six point run.  Once the tone was set, UofL was able to slowly stretch the lead with GT only able to get the score margin down to two points the rest of the set.  .281 hitting for UofL over GT's .186 basically tells the tale.

It looked like it would be another relatively easy cruise for the Cards but Tech had another idea, and Louisville let off the gas a bit in the second set.  The Cards got a bit sloppy late in the set...well, as sloppy as this team ever plays, anyway.  The birds and the bees mostly traded points with a slight edge to the Cardinals leading to a 20-15 lead for UofL.  Tech then reeled off six straight points, with five of them listed as Cardinal hitting or blocking errors.  Anna Stevenson would stem the tide slightly, but the techsters would get back on it to close out the set with another four straight with two Louisville hitting errors as part of it, to take the second set.  Louisville hitting cooled to .152, and GT heated up to .281.

Anna says, "No means no."

It wasn't to last for Buzz, though.  The third set opened up much like the first, with GT getting out to a 4-1 lead before Louisville settled in and ripped off another 6-0 run.  Every bit of this one was GT attack errors, but four of the seven were credited to Louisville's blocking.  Not so fast, said GT, though, climbing back into a tie ballgame at 8-8, then a few points later, but UofL would get the lead back and never give it up in the third set.  A 6-1 run for the Cards was a big part of that, ending with a 17-11 lead.  Tech would get it within two a few times the rest of the set, but never closer.  UofL's hitting rebounded to .222.

Again, the broad pattern repeated in the fourth set.  GT put a 6-2 lead on the board before UofL would come roaring back with an 8-1 run for a 10-7 lead.  Trading points again, until an Anna DeBeer kill at 15-12.  The rotation saw Ayden Barlett sub out for Claire Chaussee returning for the front row.  But this wasn't just the usual Chaussee, this was Tournament Claire.  After a Stevenson kill, five of the next six UofL points were kills by Chaussee pushing the UofL lead out to 22-17.  A pair of GT hitting errors gave UofL match point at 24-18.  Tech staved off two of them before Stevenson had enough and planted the final point of the match through the NCAA sport court.  Hitting stayed on track at .216 in the fourth.

Overall, .217 hitting for the Cards is fine, but nothing to write home about.  Credit to GT's defense, including reasonable blocking - 7, for much of that.  GT's hitting wasn't great at .152 and the Louisville blocking was a major factor, totaling 17 blocks at a 4.25 blocks/set clip.  Back that up with Anna DeBeer and Elena Scott doing some great digging, 21 for DeBeer, and 19 for Scott, and GT had to be frustrated in their hitting game.

Tournament Claire asks, "Did someone say it's
tournament time?"

Tournament Claire led the UofL hitting at 18 kills with The Anna's not far behind, 14 for DeBeer, and 13 for Stevenson.  Three solo blocks for Stevenson, plus a solo for Amaya Tillman would headline the UofL blocking.  They would also lead the shared block category with seven and six.  Aiko Jones and Tori Dilfer each participated in four with the left side hitters, DeBeer and Chaussee contributing three and two shares apiece.

Let's give some credit on GT's side of the net for a very fine game from one of the Killer B's, Mariana Brambilla with 27 kills at a .243 clip.

So the Cards advance to a program first Volleyball Final Four.  The Cards get the "early" match in Columbus on Thursday with a 7pm first serve.  They'll be playing Wisconsin who advanced from the all-Big-Ten Regional final in Madison over Minnesota in a sweep.  The other side of the bracket has three seed Pitt with a four set win over Purdue.  Give credit to Purdue for pushing Pitt well, including a 30-28 win in the second set.  The nightcap match was Texas vs Nebraska.  The 10th seed Huskers were able to set up another reunion between Dani Busboom Kelly and her collegiate coach John Cook with a four set win over second seed Texas in the Longhorns home.  So we have an ACC vs Big Ten Final Four, with the Big-12 and PAC-12 being eliminated.

The Volleyball Final Four will be held in Columbus, OH Thursday and Saturday.  As mentioned, UofL gets the early match on Thursday with a 7pm start.  The second match will be 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first or at 9:30, whichever is later.  Both matches will be aired on ESPN.  The championship match will be Saturday evening at 7:30 on ESPN2.

(Volleyball Pictures by Jared Anderson) 

Basketball Gameday

It's hard to believe that a UofL vs UK Top 15 women's basketball gameday is playing second fiddle to anything, but that's where we are this week.

The Cards and the Cats face off at the KFC Yum! Center today at 1pm.  Always an epic battle, this installment should be no different.  The big question is who will stop Rhyne Howard, with some expectation that Hailey Van Lith draws the assignment, at least out of the gate.

How good is this Kentucky team overall?  We're not really sure, yet.  A loss against DePaul certainly raises some eyebrows.  A loss to Indiana isn't bad, and then a bunch of wins over a bunch of "meh" teams doesn't enlighten much.

Beyond Howard, the biggest scoring threats are Dre'una Edwards, Robyn Benton, and Jada Walker.  Howard is the biggest scoring threat from range, though the others have all put in respectable numbers from range.  Let's throw in the fifth scoring threat here, if for no other reason than because she has the best name in basketball, Treasure Hunt.

Louisville Athletics are joining with Kroger and the KFC Yum! Center in encouraging fans to bring cases of bottled water to the game today.  There will be a Kroger truck parked on the plaza in front of the Arena taking donations of cases of bottled water to be taken to western Kentucky to help with relief efforts in the wake of the destruction from the tornadoes that struck early Saturday morning.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Lastly, Case, Jared, Paulie, and I were all on the call for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast yesterday.  We covered a lot of Volleyball, as you might imagine, but we spent some time on Basketball as well.

You can check it out at the Youtube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax65I2s5_70

at it's podcast home at:

https://anchor.fm/cardinal-couple/episodes/Volleyball-and-Basketball-Look-for-Big-Wins-e1bio01

or at pretty much any of your favorite podcast directories.

JMcA 

Volleyball Prepares for Elite 8 Matchup -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Draw Dreaded Third Rematch Against GT

You never want to play a team three times. It happens most frequently in basketball, where teams will often find themselves playing a pair of regular season games and then meeting in their conference tournament. Every so often, basketball teams will even play four times. The rarity of the four time matchup in basketball somewhat matches that of the three time matchup in volleyball, since many power conferences do not play a conference tournament. That's the case for the ACC, yet Louisville had two potential double-rematches on board when the bracket was released with Georgia Tech and Pitt unable to knock each other out before either would face the Cards.

The Cards will get the first of those this evening when they play host to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in Freedom Hall. GT was able to sweep OSU, dashing the hopes of UofL fans that were looking for a longer match to take some life out of the legs of Louisville's next opponent. It wasn't particularly easy for the Jackets, nor have any of their three matches been so far. Though GT is 9-0 on sets in the NCAA tournament, at least one set in each of their matches has been decided by the minimum two points, and twice they have been forced past 25. In the last match, Georgia Tech managed to win by a total of only nine points. Louisville beat Florida by at least nine points in two of their three sets on Thursday.

All of those previous NCAA games go out the window, though, as the only thing that matters for any team at this point is that they are two wins from a battle for the championship and three from a banner. Just nine set victories stand between any team and the crown. When such a fine point is put on it, everything seems to tighten up. This is the pressure that can cause teams to crack, and Louisville is the team with the most pressure. Sitting undefeated and hosting an opportunity to head just up the road to Columbus for the Final Four is a lot to manage. Add that they have to play a team that they have already beaten twice, and things get even more nervy.

As has been noted repeatedly, Louisville took down Georgia Tech in three sets in both of their matchups this season. The Yellow Jackets were 14-4 in conference, managing to finish fourth after a surprise run from Miami, but being punished much more by the schedule than the Canes. GT had to play Pitt and Louisville two times each, while Miami got both teams just once. Though GT was able to take one of the games off of Pitt, the Panthers picked up the rematch and GT stumbled against Notre Dame for their fourth loss. Their only non-conference loss came against UCLA, the 13-seed that was just beaten by Wisconsin. 

The set scores between Louisville and Georgia Tech paint a bit of a different picture than just the top-line sweeps. Louisville opened their first match with a 25-15 win, which took a bit of shine off of Georgia Tech. Entering the match, they were looking to hunt some big game and were hosting a top-ranked undefeated team at home. The second set, though, turned things on their heads when it went to a whopping 70 points. Louisville ultimately claimed victory 36-34 before halftime, then came out with a close 25-22 win in the third. The second match was decided by just 11 points total, with a pair of 25-21 sets preceding another overtime set, which the Cards won 27-25. Having won the first set of six by ten points, the Cards managed to win the next five by an average of just 3.2. 

In both matches, Louisville faced a balanced attack from Georgia Tech's Killer Bees (a fun squad nickname on a team named the Yellow Jacket): Mariana Brambrilla, Julia Bergmann, and Bianca Bertolino. The three were effective against Ohio State as well, combining for 36 of the team's 50 kills. Louisville will need to excel in their attack and blocking, as they have throughout the tournament and the whole season, to get a third win against a team with plenty of experience and film on them.

Tonight's match is at 6PM and will be carried on ESPNU, just as the Florida match was. There are likely tickets available for Freedom Hall, so check in if you can make it out. The winner of this one will take on the winner of Minnesota and Wisconsin in the penultimate match in Columbus.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're back this week with plenty to talk about, as always. The hot topic will, of course, be the victory over Florida and the upcoming match against Georgia Tech. We'll make sure to cover the closer than expected basketball game against Belmont and look ahead to tomorrow's top-15 game against Kentucky. As always, 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

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Breaker: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

CARDS VOLLEYBALL AVOIDS YELLOW JACKETS STING -- FIELD HOCKEY TODAY -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS GEORGIA TECH IN ATLANTA

Louisville Volleyball travelled to "the flats" yesterday -- Georgia Tech's name for their campus -- but was anything but flat in a three-set sweep of the Yellow Jackets. 

"The Anna's" were leading the Cardinals charge --middle blocker Anna Stevenson had 11 kills and five blocks and outside hitter contributed 12 kills and three blocks in Louisville's 25-15, 36-34, 25-23 sweep of the 11-3, 2-2 Tech squad. With the win, #3 Louisville goes to 14-0. 

It certainly looked like Louisville would have no troubles at all with the home-standing foe in O'Keefe Gym early on. The Cards jumped out early to a 8-4 lead and, after a GT timeout, proceeded to go on a 8-1 run to erase any doubt on who was going to win the first set. The Cardinals "A-Team" was outplaying a step-slow, hesitant bunch of "killer B's" and cruised to an easy, 10-point set victory. 

Georgia Tech, however, was not ready to be completely destroyed by the Cards powerful block and kill attack. The Atlanta school kept it close the entire set and looked to have Louisville on the ropes with a late 24-21 set lead. The Cards were able to tie it, though at 24-all and then a wild "score point, allow point" sequence started that pitted UofL's block capabilities against the GT strong kill game. Back and forth the two went, and, they eventually reached a 34-34 tie, 

Stevenson stepped up huge for the Cards at that point --  getting a kill to push Louisville into the lead and then combining with Tori Dilfer for a block that finally gave the marathon set to Louisville 36-34. The outcome produced the most points Louisville has ever scored (or given up) in the 25-point match era. 23 ties and 11 lead changes. A deserved halftime break for both after that "slug it out" fest -- but, the Cards had grabbed a 2-0 set lead against a Techster team that would not go away. 

Set three started with GT jumping out to a 4-1 lead. It was clear that the Yellow Jackets weren't ready to concede a sweep to Louisville, but the Cards came alive and threw a 6-0 run at Buzz and the Killer B's. Tech, however battled back to climb within one at 15-14 and made another late rally, cutting a Cardinals 22-17 lead to 24-22. Anna DeBeer made sure another marathon session wouldn't take place, though, taking a Dilfer set and sending it home to give Louisville point, set and match.

 

A hard-fought sweep for Louisville, which didn't come easily at all.  I'd speculate the Cards were probably overjoyed to leave the hot, high-school type setting and return home. Give Tech credit for showing up to support their Volleyball squad. There were 1200 jammed into the facility yesterday and theu were making enough noise for three times that number. The Cards will bring in a couple of very strong foes to the LNFCU beginning Friday Oct 8th, when 12-6, 2-2 Boston College visits and Sunday, Oct 10th., when former UofL Volleyball head coach Leonid Yelin brings his currently 14-2,3-1 Syracuse Orange to town for a 1 p.m affair. 

This Louisville squad is cool under pressure and has so many different weapons  Triple blocks From foes don't phase them, they simply find another way and source to attack with. Georgia Tech has a very good and definite NCAA Tournament participant roster that will likely be a headache for the rest of their ACC foes and could make some big noise come December. 

DANI BUSBOOM KELLY POST-GAME REMARKS: 

(via Twitter):  "It was a hard fought battle to get this sweep. There was some serious power on the court today...really enjoying this 2021 journey!" 

FIELD HOCKEY HOSTS RED HAWKS TODAY

We aren't used to Monday Field Hockey for the #3 Louisville Field Hockey flock, but the Cards will welcome in Miami (OH) today for a 7 p.m. match at Trager tonight on the ACC Network. 

Why the Monday match? It seems the red Hawks were engaged in a Sunday match in Oxford, OH -- entertaining Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons took a 2-1 win back to Winston-Salem with them yesterday -- dropping Miami (OH) to 6-7 record. The Red Hawks loss snapped a three-game win steak that saw them outscoring opponents 12-2

Just because the RedHawks are under .500 on the season doesn't mean they can be taken lightly. They had a very tough and competitive pre-conference slate that featured three BIG 10 ACC and three Big 10 squads -- a total of eight top 25 squad in all. 

Miami (OH) was picked as the preseason MAC favorite and is atop the pack with a 3-1 in conference record so far in 2021. They'll end the regular season hosting fellow Mid-American conference member Bellarmine, who is 1-9 on the season. 

Claudia Negrete Garcia leads the RedHawks with 10 goals on the season and Miami is outscoring foes 25-22 so far. Goalkeeper Isabelle Perese has started all 13 matches and has five shut outs. 

It'll be a homecoming for six RedHawks who played their high school hockey in Louisville. Sophomore Mary Kate Barbee, and freshmen Reese Wearren and Kennedy Vinson starred for Sacred Heart Academy, seniors Laurel Dortch and Taylor Curran are from Christian Academy grads and freshman Becca Kline spent her high school days at Assumption. 

Louisville won the last meeting back on March 22nd. 2-1 at Trager. The Cards have won the last 15 matches in the series. 

For Louisville, it pretty much breaks down to the Cards playing what head coach Justine Sowry likes to call  "Louisville-style" Field Hockey in order to get the "W".  Will there be "extra hockey" tonight? The Cards have gone double overtime in their last two wins (over Ohio State and Wake Forest). No stranger to challenges, the Cards have played six consecutive top 25 opponents in a row. 

This will be the Cards last appearance in Trager until Oct 29th. A five-game road trip awaits -- with trips to Michigan, Boston College, Northeastern, North Carolina and James Madison ahead. -- before Louisville closes out the regular season hosting Syracuse .

Have a marvelous Monday! 

paulie

 

Cards get a Wake Win - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Cards WSOC With A Wake Weekend Win in Soccer

Overall UofL went 2-1 versus Wake Forest this weekend, with the women holding up their side of the competition.  After Field Hockey got their win on Friday, Karen Ferguson-Dayes' squad took to the pitch and also got a 2-1 victory in golden goal overtime.  You could argue that soccer handled it better because they only took a single overtime period to get the win vs the two that field hockey used, but that's getting pretty nit-picky.

Savina Zamborini is somewhere in the middle
of that celebration

The game was scoreless in the first half, though Savina Zamborini had a good chance at a goal.  Her time would come in the second half.  Julia Simon got the ball, drove deep down the sideline and with a marvelous juke and cut-back, was able to get a clean cross that might have been targeted for Brooke Dardano.  Dardano was well marked and the ball passed her by and found an open Zamborini.  The hometown Zamborini (Manual HS) put it in the lower left corner of the goal for her first career goal in her sophomore year.

Hiscock's shot is about to be deflected. She'll
regain the rebound and score.

Wake Forest got the equalizer in the 87th minute and pushed the game into overtime.

In the 10 minute overtime period, there were officially three shots recorded on the scoresheet, with Wake getting a shot in the 97th minute.  UofL marched down the field and a minute later, Emma Hiscock would take a breakaway shot.  Her first kick would be swatted by the Wake Forest goalkeeping charging out of the goal to try to stop the break, but Hiscock found the ball back at her feet after the deflection and buried into the now open goal, her fourth of the season.  Nina Nicosia was credited with the assist.

Check out Jared's interviews with Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes, Gabby Kouzelos, and Emma Hiscock:

Soccer heads to South Bend next, for a Thursday evening game against Notre Dame.  TV for this one is listed on the dreaded RSN, so your guess is as good as mine as to how and whether we'll be able to watch it.  First kick will be a little later than usual, at 8pm.

(Photos by Jared Anderson) 

Top-20 Volleyball

UofL, ranked number three in the nation, has a top-20 battle today against Georgia Tech.  We'll get this match in today and still claim it as a top-20, though Georgia Tech will almost assuredly drop in the polls when they are released tomorrow after a five set loss to unranked Notre Dame on Friday.

Georgia Tech has been mired in the poll at 18 for three weeks and I'm sure was looking for some wins to help them move up in the polls.  Instead Notre Dame heads down to Atlanta and gets a reverse sweep.

So the Yellowjackets will be looking for a measure of revenge.  Georgia Tech is 11-2 overall, 2-1 in conference now.  They beat Wake Forest and Virginia Tech last weekend, both teams currently sitting at the very bottom of the ACC standings in this early season.

The biggest threats for Georgia Tech are all international players.  Julia Bergmann, easily spotted as a 6'5" redhead, hails from Munich, Germany and is the leading attacker on the team.  Bergmann is followed closely behind by Mariana Brambilla, from Porto Alegre, Brazil.  The other offensive threat is Biana Bertolino, from San Guillermo-Santa Fe, Argentina.  Paula Pimentel is the Libero for the squad, also from Brazil, hailing from Rio de Janiero.  Mattie McKissock is the setter for the squad, not an international player, from Wintermere, Florida in suburban Orlando.

Bergmann will prove to be a challenge for the vaunted UofL block, at 6'5", she has some chance of hitting over it, though that's a tall task with 6'2" and 6'3" Anna Stevenson and Amaya Tillman.  Brambilla doesn't have the height, at 5'11", so may find Louisville's blocking more of a challenge.

If Louisville's serving can force GT out of system, something that the Cards have done fairly well with this year, that will help take the edge off of Bergmann's attack making the path to the UofL victory that much easier.

1pm first serve, this one is on ACC Network Extra streaming.  It will be considered the top match of the day for volleyball nationally, with a 3 vs 18 going head to head.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

A trio in the virtual studio for the CCRHP.  Daryl took advantage of the good weather in the morning to hit the links, and Case is enjoying a well-earned vacation.  Jared, Paulie, and I held down the fort and were shocked at how quickly the how passed.

Volleyball, Field Hockey, and Soccer more than filled the time with all in hot and heavy action this time of year.  Check out the fun below.  With Case on vacation, the podcast form is not yet available.

JMcA