Volleyball Wraps Up Productive Spring Season
April 24, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
The University of Louisville volleyball team faced one of its steepest spring challenges with a schedule designed to test the returning Cardinals and expose any possible weaknesses according to Head Coach Anne Kordes.
"Our opportunity to play so many tough opponents and not just at home was what made this spring so great," said Kordes. "We had great success with different lineups and play kids in various positions and come out with positive results. I thought our team made strides forward because they trained hard and then competed against quality competition."
The Cards hosted a tournament at the Ohio Valley Volleyball Center (OVVC) where they faced regional rivals Morehead State, Dayton, Ohio State and Michigan State. UofL beat Morehead and Ohio State and split with Dayton and Michigan State in the two-set format.
"After all our hard work this spring, we, as coaches, could tell we were getting so much better. It was fun for them to go out and compete and see for themselves the level they are playing at. We are definitely coming out of this spring with excitement and confidence."
UofL hosted five-set matches with Illinois and Kentucky, both of which they won in four in the five set format. The Cardinals went to Indianapolis and had two-set matches with Indiana and Indiana State which they won as well as Western Kentucky and Purdue, where they split.
The Cardinals will open up the regular season at Illinois and then come home to host Wisconsin and Minnesota. In all, Cards will play eight of ten pre-conference matches against teams who competed in the NCAA Tournament last fall.
"We will have one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country," said Kordes.
With that in mind, the Cardinals reinforced their offensive ranks with USF transfer Erin Fairs who Kordes believes will be hard to keep off the court as far as her ability and competitiveness.
"She will be a fun player for our fans to watch this year," said Kordes.
Kordes lauded Maya McClendon's spring, citing continued improvement as well as Laura Blab, who impressed Kordes with her spring improvement especially on the defensive side. Janelle Jenkins made improvements in her block as well as from the service line. Transfer Ashley Pettibone has come in and added another layer of competition on offense.
Setters Katie George, an All-ACC selection and Lyndsay Palmer were both credited with running the Cards' offense well this spring.
"We worked all spring on tempo and location and there were incredible strides made there," said Kordes.
The middle blockers, Tess Clark, the AVCA East Region Rookie of the Year, and Maggie DeJong had a productive spring as well.
"They both got better at blocking especially near the end of the spring and both are extremely offensive which is fun because with improved ball control that we will have next fall we will want to continue to get them the ball," said Kordes.
On defense, Kordes expects a battle for playing time because Eleni Georgiafandis, Gabbie Wiley and Roxanne McVey all showed marked improvement in ball control and showed increased range.
Louisville will need every bit of improvement under its belt as it heads back for its second foray into the ACC schedule.
"What is so exciting about the conference with the teams that have been added in the last two years is that it puts us in contention for the best volleyball conference in the nation with regards to RPI," said Kordes. "There is not a team that could not advance to the NCAA, which makes for a tough grind-it-out kind of season where you have to go into battle every night."
