It’s been an up and down week for Louisville Volleyball but the Cards head into tournament play looking for another run.
The Louisville volleyball team ended their regular season in disappointing fashion with back-to-back ranked matchups against No. 4 Pitt on Tuesday, November 26, and No. 5 Stanford on Friday, November 29. Both matches carried serious ACC Championship implications, and unfortunately, the Cards fell short.
Panthers showing their teeth
Louisville volley took on a Pittsburgh team that had put together an outstanding season, entering the match with an impressive 26–4 overall record and an 18–2 mark in ACC play. It was also a dominant year for the Panthers in their series against Louisville, as they won both meetings by a combined 6–2 in sets.
The first matchup was extremely competitive, with Louisville taking a 2–1 set lead before ultimately falling 3–2.
The rematch, however, brought worse news: Pitt swept the Cardinals 3–0 in their final meeting of the regular season.
Do trees have teeth to show?
After an embarrassing loss to Pitt, many expected a bounce-back performance against a strong Stanford team that entered with a similarly impressive 27–4 record and 18–2 conference mark. Louisville had handled Stanford fairly comfortably in their first meeting back in early October, winning that match 3–1.
Dan Meske and the team showed fight in the rematch, determined to get back into the win column before tournament play.
Despite their efforts, the Cardinals fell just short. In a back-and-forth contest that went the distance, Louisville forced a decisive fifth set. However, having won only one of their six five-set matches this season, the analytics suggested the odds were stacked against them.
Ultimately, the Cards couldn’t overcome the dark cloud hanging over the end of their regular season and fell 3–2. Still, they showed tremendous resilience and now look to reset quickly heading into NCAA Tournament play this coming week.
A few final shoutouts
We’ve been discussing standout individual performances all year, and those efforts were validated with five Cardinals earning All-ACC honors to conclude the season:
First Team
Second Team
- Payton Peterson
- Kalyssa Blackshear (ACC Freshman of the Year)
The Cardinals stuffed the stat sheet all season, and the awards were well deserved. Now, the focus shifts to the NCAA Tournament, where Louisville looks to capture our hearts once again.
For the first time in the Dan Meske era, the Cards will host their opening-round matchups on their home floor at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.
Louisville’s first match of tournament play comes Friday, December 5, against Loyola University Chicago.
Be there, be loud, and get ready for the Cards to make another deep postseason run.
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