No. 23-ranked Cardinals Head to RV Notre Dame for Midweek Showdown

Wednesday, October 16

South Bend, IN

7:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

Notre Dame

Anna Stevenson during the Cardinals match against UNC at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena on September 29.

No. 23-ranked Cardinals Head to RV Notre Dame for Midweek Showdown

October 15, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

2019 VB Match Notes for ND and VT Louisville Season Stats

Cards vs. Irish will be televised on ACC Network

By: Nancy Worley

The No. 23-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team has a quick turnaround this week as ACC play continues. The Cardinals head to Notre Dame for a midweek matchup on Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. UofL then heads out to Virginia Tech for an Oct.20 tilt at 1 p.m. in Blacksburg, Va.

After a pair of sweeps of ACC opponents over the weekend, the University of Louisville volleyball team has moved up two spots to No. 23 in the AVCA rankings and have an RPI of 11.

Last weekend, Coach Dani Busboom Kelly's squad took care of business with 3-0 wins at both Duke and Wake Forest to stay unbeaten at 6-0 in the ACC. Anna Stevenson had 11 kills, hit .588 and added two blocks to lead the No. 25-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team to a 25-21, 25-17, 25-14 sweep at Duke. Louisville hit .430 with three aces and four blocks. UofL's Aiko Jones had nine kills, an ace and two digs with teammate Melanie McHenry adding eight kills, two aces and a block. Tori Dilfer had a match-high 34 assists and eight digs. Duke hit .119 with three aces and three blocks. DU was led by Payton Schwantz's 10 kills and eight digs.

Aiko Jones had 11 kills and three blocks to lead the Cards to a 25-19, 25-19, 25-17 sweep of Wake Forest on Sunday in Winston-Salem, N.C. Melanie McHenry added eight kills and three aces and Shannon Shields chipped in 34 assists. UofL hit .337 and had 10 blocks and nine aces. Wake hit .137 with four blocks.

Notre Dame
The Irish return to Purcell Pavilion for the matchup with Louisville in a battle of the unbeaten ACC squad and the match will be televised on ACC Network at 7 p.m. ET

The Irish bring one of the best blocking games in the ACC. ND has 167 team blocks this season, which ranks second in the ACC, and are currently out-blocking their opponents by a +4.75 margin. Kristin Baer is third in the ACC with 80 total blocks while sophomore Lauren Wenzel ranks 10th in the ACC with 65 blocks. In line with their defense, the Irish are tops in the conference with an average of 15.66 digs per set. The Irish have earned 70+ digs in four matches so far in 2019, including a 79-dig effort in a five-set victory over Michigan on September 18th.

The teams split last year in their two meetings. UofL won the Oct. 10 match 3-2 when the two team met at a high school gym after a power outage at Cardinal Arena. The Irish got revenge in when they rallied for a five-set victory on November 16, 2018. Sydney Bent (19 kills) and Charley Niego (17 kills) led ND. Last weekend, the Irish beat Wake Forest 3-1 and Duke 3-1.

The Irish vs. The Cards in Championship Play
Louisville and Notre Dame met six times in the Big East Tournament Championship with UofL leading 4-2 in those matchups. UofL won the Big East Crown in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, while the Irish won in 2005 and 2011.

Virginia Tech
Wrapping up its first ACC home weekend, the Virginia Tech volleyball team was defeated 3-0 by Georgia Tech on Sunday. Virginia Tech relied on play from setter Talyn Jackson (25 assists, four digs), outside hitter Cera Powell (eight kills, three digs, one block) and middle blocker Marisa Cerchio (eight kills, two digs, two blocks and an ace). On Friday, the Virginia Tech volleyball team fell to Clemson 3-1. The Hokies won the first set, but could not hold off the charging Tigers Tech was led by junior Kaity Smith, who tallied her third straight double-double with 12 kills and 15 digs.

Katie George from Setter to Analyst
Tonight's analyst on the ACC Network broadcast, Katie George, is a former Cardinal setter. During her career, she won three conference championships in three different conferences with a Big East Tournament crown in 2012 (beating Marquette), the 2013 American Athletic Conference (AAC) crown (running the table 18-0) and the 2015 ACC Championship. Katie was 3-2 against the Irish in her career.

RPI Run Down
The Cardinals' RPI is 11, the second best in the ACC behind Pitt (7). RPI stands for Ratings Percentage Index and the index comprises a team's winning percentage (25%), its opponents' winning percentage (50%), and the winning percentage of those opponents' opponents (25%). The opponents' winning percentage and the winning percentage of those opponents' opponents both comprise the strength of schedule (SOS). Thus, the SOS accounts for 75% of the RPI calculation and is 2/3 its opponents' winning percentage and 1/3 its opponents' opponents' winning percentages.

Watch the Cards
The Cardinals and the Irish will appear on the ACC Network with Cardinal Forever Katie George and Eric Frede on the call.