VolleyCards sweep Notre Dame in KFC YUM! Center

[Sonja]

A crowd of 9,000+ got a treat Weds. night when Louisville Volleyball played in the KFC YUM! Center and swept Notre Dame 25-10, 25-22, 25-14.

It was the largest crowe in history that has attended a Louisville Volleyball event and if the UofL Athletic Dept. hasn't gotten the picture by now that the VolleyCards need a bigger arena to play home matches in ...they probably never will

There's a big, gravel lot that sits just north of Lynn Stadium. Right now, it houses vehicles. It would be a fine place to erect a volleyball arena. I'm tired of hearing that there's no money for something like that. Creative funding, financing and a clear, direct objective of investing money in programs that work, is elementary economics. Get it done, UofL.

The Cards came out on fire Wednesday Night and showed just how excited they were to be playing in front of a big, appreciative crowd. They jumped out to a 19-4 lead -- powered by .562 hitting -- in the first set. The 15-point win was the fewest points allowed in a non-fifth set this season by the Cards. Claire "In The Air" Chaussee led all hitters with five kills in the first set. Amaya Tillman added three blocks.

Give the Irish some credit for not heading to the bus early and getting on I-65 North. In set two, UND tied the score at four early and took their first lead at 7-6 on a missed Cardinal serve. The Cards retook the lead at 12-11 on a block by Aiko Jones and Tillman and had grabbed a 15-11 by the media timeout. The Irish cut that lead to one at 19-18 on a kill and tied the set at 19. Then, the Cards decided to play "Mbonu on you" and three straight Nena Mbonu kills gave UofL a 22-19. A bit frustrated, Notre Dame called timeout. A block by Tillman and Jones gave the Cards set point at 25-22

After the halftime break, the Cards came out with broom in hand. UofL jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the third set. The Cardinals spread the lead to six at 12-6 on a kill by Tillman. Louisville used a 9-3 run to close out the third set for the 25-14 win.

A rollicking good time for all (except those who root for ND) last night in the KFC YUM! Center. Let's hope many more for Volleyball to follow in the downtown arena...or any arena that holds more than 27 people. It's time to stop hiding the arguably best sports squad on campus and put them in a place where more people can attend matches.

Your serve, Josh Heird.

Jurich would have found a way to get it done. Even Vince probably would have recognized that Volleyball needed a bigger arena. Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin constantly find a way and have the arena to bring 5,000+ to matches. IT COULD BE DONE HERE.

--sonja--

 

[KozmasAgain]

I posted on another thread that we should do at least 4 matches in the YUM every year until we get a bigger arena.

 

[Bardman]

I have heard, and read, they like their current home court. It gets packed, fans are on too of the court and provides a great home court experience (sort of like Duke’s Cameron Arena). Can you get the same experience in a larger location like Sonja mentions? Maybe (I would hope so). I agree we should have a few premier matches at the Yum. Getting 8-12K would be doable for each match. 9K for UND who isn’t very good says a lot. GT, Pitt, UK, Purdue, etc. would draw BIG crowds.

 

[ulcards1]

Last night was amazing, incredible atmosphere and performance from our women. It's easy to get down on UL sports with the mediocrity of our men's bball and fball teams, so we really need to appreciate what a great program Coach Kelly has built.

-Chaussee was brilliant and I think intimidated ND early.
-pleased with Tillman's improvement. Much more active and athletic at the net than last year.
-Lazaro has been an ideal replacement for Tori at setter (difficult task) and was very solid last night.

I also vote for more games at YUM like 2 or 3, but not too many because I want to maintain that home court snakepit advantage. Of course, a 5k seat on campus stadium would be preferred over all options.

 

[FlavRunit]

We need a 10,000 seat stadium. On campus…. Do it soon, get those banks behind it…. Start with L&N to retain naming rights…. This is how Josh earns his mettle….. great game and can’t wait to get Debeer back.

side note: I watched Wisconsin sweep Nebraska last night….. They both looked incredible…. We still need a few more pieces….. Develop those middle blockers.

 

[KozmasAgain]

I watched Nebraska a couple of weeks ago and they do look good. No counting my chickens before the eggs hatch but I could see the same teams back in the Final Four again this year. We are a really good team but we still have a lot of work to do. We need to come up with a nickname for Chaussee because she is pounding the ball.

 

[gocds]

I would be in favor of an on campus arena to house womens volleyball and basketball. Around 8k to 9k would be sufficient in my opinion. The Yum is simply too large for those events but it does a fantastic job for Mens basketball.

GO CARDS!!!

 

[KozmasAgain]

I would be in favor of 10,000 seat arena with room to expand if needed. The more exposure the women get the more in demand they will be. They are definitely putting exciting teams for our fans entertainment.