VolleyCards Fall to Pitt — Happy Thanksgiving — THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Falls at Home to Pitt

Louisville volleyball concluded their home finale of the regular by welcoming #1 Pittsburgh to the KFC Yum! Center. 12,510 fans packed the arena for one of the biggest NCAA Volleyball matches of the season. The crowd was the third largest in Louisville history for a home regular season match. 

Set One: Pitt 25, Louisville 23

After Pitt jumped out to a 3-0 lead, the Cards were able to battle back and bring it within one multiple times. The Panthers relied on aggressive blocking to push ahead12-8. Pitt led 15-11 at the first media timeout. Louisville called its first timeout when a Pitt block pushed the Panthers lead to 18-14. Service and attack errors by the Cards gave Pitt a sizable lead but the Cards rallied to the deficit to one, forcing Pitt to call a timeout. The Panthers survived and took the first set by a slim margin.

Set Two: Louisville 25, Pitt 18

The Cards and Panthers traded points early on before Louisville was able to gain an 8-5 advantage thanks to a monster block, forcing a Pitt timeout. Aggressive serving and blocking propelled the Cards to a 14-9 lead. Pitt wasn’t ready to go away, though, and cut the score to 15-13 and then 17-16. Louisville bent, but did not break, and went back up 20-16, leading to Pitt to burn a timeout. Out of the timeout, Louisville stayed hot, winning three more in a row and then going on to win the second set by seven.

Set Three: Pitt 25, Louisville 20

Attack errors and serve receive errors by Louisville gave Pitt an early 6-3 edge. The Panthers pushed their lead to 9-5. After Pitt went up 11-5, the Cards called a timeout to regroup. After going down 14-6, the Cards went on a 3-0 run and Pitt took their first timeout of the set. Pitt took a commanding lead in the third set, going up 21-15. The Cards answered with a quick 3-0 spurt. The Panthers put the rally to rest, winning the third set by five.

Set Four: Pitt 25, Louisville 

Similar to the second set, the two foes traded points early on before the Panthers took a 9-7 advantage. A questionable call by the officials that had the entire arena in an uproar extended their lead another point… the officials didn’t have a strong explanation there so we’ll say Pitt got a freebie. The Panthers continued to pull ahead and extended their lead to seven at 20-13. The Panthers went on cruise control the rest of the way for the win.

Louisville hit .289 on the night. Serving continued to be a struggle as the Cards had more errors (9) than aces (6). Anna DeBeer led the team with 14 kills and Reese Robins added 10. Pitt hit .310 and Olivia Babcock had one of the best games of her career with 23 kills, five digs, and five blocks. Too many unforced errors, whether attack errors, service errors, or serve receive errors were the Achilles Heel for the Cards tonight.

All of Louisville’s losses have come to teams in the top four. Unfortunately, last night was one of them as Pitt played one of their best matches all season and Louisville seemed to be a step slow at times. Don’t worry, Louisville will get their revenge when it matters- in the NCAA Tournament. 

Louisville hits the road to face #7 Stanford on Black Friday to close out the regular season. The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will be at 6:00pm on Sunday. The Cards will play the opening weekend at the KFC Yum! Center.

Happy Thanksgiving!

In the past, we have chosen to forgo a regular article on Thanksgiving in recognition of the holiday. However, we are quite fortunate to have a top-five volleyball team playing on national tv on Thanksgiving Eve that we get to report on.

We at Cardinal Couple are thankful for the opportunity to cover so many great UofL women’s sports each year. We are also especially grateful to YOU for your constant support of everything we do. Whether you interact daily, listen to the podcast each week, or just check in every once in a while to see how things are going, we appreciate you.

Happy Thanksgiving from Jared, Paulie, Jeff, Case, Daryl and Sonya and .....Go Cards!

Jared

VB Takes Down Georgia Tech -- Thanksgiving -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Defeats Georgia Tech

Happy Thanksgiving! Normally, we would forgo an article today and send holiday wishes, but when a Louisville team takes down a ranked opponent at home to close out the regular season, we have to spend a little time focusing on them. #7 Louisville volleyball defeated #12 Georgia Tech 3-1 (19-25, 26-24, 25-18, 29-27).

Georgia Tech took control early in the first set with plenty of help from Louisville hitting errors. Despite a SCTop10-esque play from Elena Scott, Tech would take the first set fairly easily.

The Cards and Yellow Jackets battled back-and-forth in the second set and GT had set point with the Cards sitting back at 21. UofL would score the final five points of the set to win. We saw a rare out of rotation call against Georgia Tech that led to Louisville earning a point and a 25-24 lead.

Set three was all Louisville as the Cards raced out to sizable leads on multiple occasions. The Yellow Jackets had 3-0 and 2-0 spurts but every other point was met by a sideout from Louisville.

A 13-5 deficit in set four somehow turned into a Louisville win. The Cards strung together a few runs and managed to even the score at 23 apiece. UofL held a 24-23 match point but the two teams continued to side out for a while before Louisville finally got the win on a service ace.

Louisville barely won the hitting percentage battle .235 - .229. The Cards tallied 56 kills, getting nearly three times as many kills as errors. Anna DeBeer (18 kills, 15 digs) and Charitie Luper (12 kills, 13 digs) each recorded a double-double.

The Cards conclude the regular season 24-4 overall and 15-3 in ACC play. There is a scenario where they can end up in a three-way tie for first in the conference with Pitt and Florida State, given that both of the latter teams lose. Otherwise, Louisville will most likely finish third in the conference.

Louisville is a lock to host the opening weekend of the tournament (we've been told that the first and second rounds will be Thursday, November 30 and Friday, December 1), but the chances of hosting the second seem slim.

Aiko Jones proudly throwing her L's up

Jeff answers with an L's up

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from Cardinal Couple!

Now, onto the fun for today. It's Thanksgiving! For a majority of the American population, today is a day off from work that involves eating a lot of food surrounded by loved ones.

Whether you choose to enjoy Thanksgiving in the peace and quiet of solitude or your day involves spending time with 100+ of your closest friends and family, may your food be as delicious as can be.

We here at Cardinal Couple are grateful for each and every one of you as you continue to support us and allow us the chance to cover the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics. I'm thankful to be a part of this awesome team. I'm also thankful for some of those men's sports too... especially a certain highly successful one that's bringing in plenty of revenue to increase the UofL Athletics budget. That's one way to spread the wealth and add money to our women's programs.

Jared takes a selfie with Ceci Rush

Jared takes a selfie with Aiko Jones

Happy Thursday, Happy Thanksgiving, and Go Cards!

Jared

Volleyball Wins ACC Title -- Happy Thanksgiving! -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Volleyball Sweeps Notre Dame, Wins ACC Title

It was a great night for Louisville volleyball as they closed out the regular season with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-13) sweep at Notre Dame. The win also guaranteed the Cards at least a share of the ACC title, pending what Pitt does against Boston College on Saturday.

Pitt survived a scare against Georgia Tech last night, winning the final set 19-17 (play to 15, but win by two). A Pitt loss to Boston College on Saturday would give Louisville the ACC Championship by themselves. A Pitt win would mean the Cards and Panthers share the ACC title.

Notre Dame celebrated their final home match of the regular season at the Purcell Pavilion and the Irish did not want to go down without a fight. The hosts held a small lead midway through the first quarter before Louisville pulled ahead. The Cards held a small lead in the second set, but could never pull away as Notre Dame continued to battle close. Louisville made some halftime adjustments and cruised through the third set for the win.

Louisville finishes the regular season 26-2 overall and 17-1 in the ACC. They lost in four sets at home to a top-10 Ohio State team early in the season and lost to a top-10 Pitt team, whom they later swept on Senior Day at the L&N FCU Arena, in five sets on the road a few weeks ago. The Cards seem to sit comfortably in the top four spots according to the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

The NCAA Selection Show is Sunday evening, but it appears we could see Louisville host four matches, provided they win, here in town.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We typically don't do a true article on Thanksgiving, but we felt highlighting the success of Louisville volleyball important enough to break tradition.

However, we still would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! We all have personal things to be thankful for, but here at Cardinal Couple, we are especially grateful for YOU, the readers. Cardinal Couple is nothing without you. Whether you just like to read our coverage on Louisville women's athletics, or you enjoy our podcasts, or you like to engage in conversation and discussion in our comment threads, we would be nothing without you.

Covering the 'Joy and Excitement of Louisville Women's Athletics' is a passion we all have and we strive to bring you the latest news and in-depth coverage.

We wish each and every one of you a safe, healthy, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thursday, Happy Thanksgiving, and Go Cards!

Jared

PS. Paulie has elected to take Friday off from going to Louisville women's basketball vs Longwood as he continues to recover from COVID-19. He has entrusted Daryl and I to take the reins for the game so we will still be present to provide coverage of the game.

VBall Downs Pitt -- Happy Thanksgiving -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Thanksgiving, Cards fans! Normally we take today off from posting any articles... buuut we have a good reason to post a story today.

Louisville Volleyball Remains Unbeaten, Downs Pittsburgh

#1 Louisville Volleyball had the attention of the entire volleyball world last night when they traveled up north for a match with #3 Pittsburgh. The match was a rematch from a five-set thriller when the two ACC rivals were ranked second and fourth, respectively, at LNFCU Arena.

This match certainly lived up to the hype as the Cards took down the Panthers 3-1 (25-19, 25-19, 17-25, 25-21) at Fitzgerald Field House.

The two powerhouse programs through haymakers at each other all night, never giving the other a chance to get comfortable on the court.

Set One: 25-19

The Cards and Panthers traded points back-and-forth for the first half of the opening set all the way up to 14-14. Louisville managed to break through with a 5-0 run highlighted by the 'Anna Show' with Anna Stevenson logging a pair of kills and Anna DeBeer earning a kill and an ace in the run. A mini run of three straight Claire Chaussee kills gave the Cards a 23-16 cushion before a DeBeer kill claimed the first set victory.

Set Two: 25-19

Pitt found themselves ahead 5-2 following a 4-0 run early on. Louisville used their own small run to tie the score at five apiece after Stevenson earned her first two kills of the set. Louisville and Pitt would continue to fight back-and-forth up to a 13-13 tie. Similar to the first set, a mid-set run helped the Cards pull ahead. Two straight Chaussee kills, a Pitt error, and a kill by Amaya Tillman allowed Louisville to take a moment to breathe. Ready to extend their lead, another 4-0 run late in the set pushed the Louisville lead to 22-15. Pitt never got closer than within five the rest of the set as the Cards took a 2-0 lead into halftime.

Set Three: 17-25

When playing the #3 team in the country on their Senior Night, you expect them to battle back. And that's what Pitt did. Much of the set involved Pitt building a one-to-two-point lead and Louisville having to play from behind. Up 18-16, the Panthers were ready to close the door on the third set, using a 6-0 run to go up 24-16. The run was disrupted by an Amaya Tillman kill, but the Cards could not muster up a rally and surrendered the set to the Panthers.

Set Four: 25-21

Allowing a home team to build momentum is never good, and Pittsburgh was ready to run with their momentum. Louisville held an early 4-1 lead, but things seemed to crash and burn right after. Pittsburgh got hot and went on a 9-0 run to build a commanding 10-4 lead. Anna Stevenson was able to put an end to their run with a kill. The two teams would traded points until Louisville went on a mini 3-0 run started by a Pitt service error and ending with an Ayden Bartlett service ace. Not ready to relinquish their lead Pittsburgh scored a quick point and went up 14-10. However, Louisville didn't become #1 by sitting down and quitting. A 5-0 Louisville run that featured a little help on some poor Pitt attacking, gave Louisville a one-point lead.

 Once again, UofL and Pitt traded points until they came to an 18-18 tie. A service error sparked a mini 3-0 Louisville run that ended in controversy. Pitt challenged a kill by Jones, stating that the kill was long. Replay appeared to agree with the Panthers, but the officiating crew stuck with their initial call before awarding an arguable make-up call the next point. Following the theme, it was another series of trading points until Louisville found themselves at match point and a 24-21 lead. It was only fitting that one of the best blocking teams in the country win the match on a block by Stevenson.

The sold out crowd of 3052 was silenced... well, there was a fairly decent Louisville fan base present celebrating, as the Louisville squad rushed to the middle of the court celebrating the big victory. The win secured the sole ACC title for Louisville as well as extended their undefeated season to 27-0.

Three Cardinals were in the double-digits in kills- Claire Chaussee (16), Anna DeBeer (15), and Anna Stevenson (12), with all three hitting north of .380. Nearly all of those kills were credited to Tori Dilfer's game-high 45 assists.

On the serving side, Louisville committed nine service errors as opposed to 10 from Pitt, but Louisville did come up with six aces. Aiko Jones and Ayden Bartlett each had two aces while Elena Scott and Anna DeBeer contributed one apiece.

Louisville's blocking wasn't the difference maker in this match per se (11-10 advantage), but the blocks came at opportune moments. Anna Stevenson was apart of seven blocks (five solo blocks). Aiko Jones was a part of five blocks and Amaya Tillman got in on four.

Louisville will wrap up their regular season at home against Notre Dame this Friday at 5:00 p.m., ET. The match is sold out.

Louisville is also guaranteed to host the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament a LNFCU Arena (sold out, but that could change based on the number of tickets each team receives) and they're in good position to host the NCAA Regionals at Freedom Hall. The Final Four will be held in Columbus, Ohio.

Happy Thanksgiving

We normally like to take today off to celebrate and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. A day off from work and Louisville women's sports is needed every once in a while. Don't forget that we cover 12 UofL women's teams throughout the year as well as try to stay up-to-date with Louisville Alums around the world in their various professional teams.

I think Jeff gave a wonderful Thanksgiving article back on Nov. 14 (it may be on the second page for most devices) and there's no way I can top that. But I do want to go ahead and give thanks.

First, I want to thank everyone that is a part of our Cardinal Couple Crew that allows us to continue to run smoothly (usually) and to stay up-to-date with so many Louisville happenings. Seriously, have you tried knowing everything about every Louisville women's team at the same time? It's definitely not a one-person job. Between our daily coverage, recent photos, personalized player and coach interviews, and a unique and one-of-a-kind podcast, it feels like we have a full army keeping this ship upright.

Secondly, I want to thank YOU. Whether you check out Cardinal Couple to see how one specific sport or player is doing, or you like to get caught up on all the happenings, or you want a unique perspective on many sports, or you enjoy a judgement-free zone to post your thoughts, we would not be able to function without our readers/fans/engagers.

Third, I would be remiss if I did not thank Louisville Athletics. Without Louisville Athletics we have no teams to cover and no purpose here. They bring us great joy (and the occasional frustration) and allows us to do what we love. Included in this would be the terrific Sports Information Directors who provide us with media credentials and all of the resources we need to do our job efficiently.

I am also thankful for the opportunity to continue to grow and share my photo abilities here. Cardinal Couple was the first place to bring me on for photos. Looking back at my early work, I appreciate that Paulie ttook a chance on me when he agreed to bring me on. Over time, my work has improved and I've been able to provide better quality work to share here.

On a non-UofL note, I am also thankful for my family. My parents and brother live no more than a couple minutes from me so I am able to see them regularly. Much of the rest of my family is nearby as well, including aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents, so I get to see them too. Of course, I am absolutely blessed to have such a fantastic and amazing fiancé in Katy. She has been my biggest cheerleader and supporter and I have no idea where I would be without her.

From our Cardinal Couple family to You, have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

Go Cards!

Jared