Never gets old, beating Notre Dame no matter the sport, or the Irish’s won-lost record at the time.
Looked like it might be a long night for the University of Louisville volleyball team with Notre Dame jumping out to a 6-1 lead and increasing it to 8-2, seemingly on its way to highly unlikely upset of the nation’s fourth-ranked team. The Irish were obviously playing on adrenaline that could not be sustained beyond the halfway point of the first set, and bore no resemblance to themselves the rest of the way.
The first of two matches against the Irish this week was played at L&N Arena on Belknap Campus. The Cardinals prevailing by scores of 25-17, 25-17 and 21, improving their won-lost record to 18-3 on the season and 10-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. They will meet again Saturday in South Bend at 3 p.m.
Impressively, UofL completed the sweep without the services of outside hitter Charitie Luper and middle blocker Phekran Kong, both taking a break from the challenging competition of recent weeks. Both seen smiling and celebrating often on the sidelines.Expect to them back in action this weekend.
All America fifth-year senior Anna DeBeer led the Cardinals with 10 kills and three blocks. Freshman Payton Peterson added nine of her own, along with seven each from senior Sofia Maldonado-Diaz and sophomore Hannah Sherman.
