2018 Cardinal Classic
- August 25th-26th, 2018
- Cardinal Arena, Louisville, Kentucky
Highlight Match: IUPUI at Louisville
- (RV) Louisville Cardinals def. IUPUI Jaguars 3-0 (25-14, 25-12, 25-23)
- Louisville moves to 3-0; IUPUI falls to 0-3
- Box Score
- Louisville Recap / IUPUI Recap
- Attendance: 748
The defending ACC Co-Champion Louisville Cardinals opened their season 3-0 with sweeps of Southern Illinois, Tennessee-Martin, and IUPUI.
The 3rd match, Saturday’s showdown with IUPUI, seemed on paper like it would be the best matchup of the weekend. IUPUI finished last season ranked 117th in RPI, more than 100 spots better than the other two participating teams, but the Jaguars lost to both Southern Illinois and UT-Martin on Friday, dampening some of the excitement ahead of the match.
“It’s good to get tested there against IUPUI, but I thought we battled pretty well. To win nine sets in a row is tough, so it was pretty good,” said head coach Dani Busboom-Kelly. “We are very confident in the service line, and I think that will always keep you in any match no matter what the score is.”
The Cardinals’ junior outside hitter, Amanda Green led the team in scoring for the 2nd-straight match. She had 11 kills, following 9 and 8 in the first two matches, respectively, but add 6 errors – twice as many as she had in the first 2 matches combined. That left her with a weekend-low .185 hitting percentage, but she also contributed 5 blocks (4 assists, 1 solo) and 6 digs for a better defensive effort that she’d had in the first two matches.
As a team, Louisville hit .302, while holding IUPUI to .104 hitting, with a 9-3 team blocks advantage. While fellow junior outside hitter Melanie McHenry had been Green’s equal offensively in the first two matches, on Saturday against IUPUI it was Megan Sloan at opposite who got a bigger run of the action. She had 23 attacks in the first two matches combined, but that jumped to 25 swings in match 3, where she responded with 10 kills and a .360 hitting percentage.
All-Tournament Team
The All-Cardinal Classic Tournament Team was named at the end of the match. The players named to the team are:
- Brooke Gyori, Tennessee-Martin (4 aces, 64 digs)
- Maggie Nedoma, Southern Illinois (49 kills, .231 hitting, 3 aces, 20 digs, 3 blocks)
- Patience Brown, Southern Illinois (32 kills, .403 hitting, 1 ace, 10 digs, 2 blocks)
- Jasmine Bennett, Louisville (20 kills, .486 hitting, 7 blocks)
- Wilma Rivera, Louisville (5 kills, 6 aces, 99 assists, 20 digs, 4 blocks)
- Molly Sauer, MVP, Louisville (3 kills, 7 aces, 40 digs)
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