Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Josh Heird Extended Through 2030 -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
Monday, December 9, 2024
At 5-4, is this a rebuilding year for Louisville WBB?-- Monday Cardinal Couple
LOSS INDICATES PLENTY OF WORK NEEDED FOR CARDS WBB AFTER 85-52 LOSS TO UCONN.
Maybe the good thing about the loss to UConn Saturday night in Brooklyn is that it was a late game and a lot of Cardinas fans had already gone to bed or were coming home from a huge epic battle and win for in the KFC YUM! Center with UNI for the VolleyCards in NCAA Tournament action. .
The ball just wasn't going in the hoop for the Cards early and UConn was making swiss cheese of the Louisville defense, soaring out to a 28-10 first quarter lead and holding Lousville to 23.5% shooting in the first ten and the Cards had a poor 0-6 three point effort The Cards defense was non-existant and it was painful to watch on TV.
And, Louisville did a half decent job on Bueckers. Imagine how bad this one could have been if she had been sinking shots per her usual efforts. .
Youth was not served Saturday night. Instead, it was placed into the corner and told there was no room for them tonight...if it was in Cardinal white. Several fans I know finally turned it off. Maybe Shark was the right name for this tournament, the Cards certainly were shark bait for the killer UConn squad that ruled Brooklyn Saturday night.
Only one of the returning Cards from last year were in double figures for UofL WBB. Jayda Curry is tied with freshman Taj Roberts as Cards WBB's leading scorer at 12.0 a game. Curry, a senior, in her second season with the Cards after transferring from California,
So, these next three games for Lousville could mean a lot. Grambling State and NC State come to Louisville...then a trip to Memphis to play the Tigers. The Cards should be able to handle Grambling State, will probably get thumped by NC State and who knows about the trip to Memphis? The Tigers are 2-6 on the season so far and on a five game losing streak .
If it is to be a rebuilding season, and all early indications show that is it is...I'd like to see the Cards getting more playing time for the ones that will suit up in the 2025-26 season. Isla Jufferman looks like she could be a force in the middle, but needs a little more quickness. time on the court and less fear in crashing the boards. Elif Istanbulloglu needs to be on the court more. too. That European experience and the strong style she demostrated in just 16 minutes a game is encouraging. Freshmen Taj Roberts and Mackenly Randolph at starting guards is about what one would expect from freshmen, but it is good that they are seeing a lot of action agains a killer schedule. Nyla Harris returns next year , too, and could be a key force if she can bond and be a leader for these young players.
In this age of NIL searching and players jumping from school to school like frogs by a pond, one might hope that these Cards that will be back next year as Cards.
I haven't totally given up on this season, I do think Louisville WBB could be good enough to be an NCAA Tournament team, but the ACC is looking to be a real beast this season, and the Cards will have to have these freshmen grow up really fast. It can be done, and Walz and his staff can give them all the tools they need for success.
The question is...will the players learn them and use them?.
paulie
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Sunday, December 8, 2024
A Draining Saturday for Basketball and Volleyball - Sunday Cardinal Couple
Basketball Mauled by UConn
I doubt too many people will find this surprising, but Louisville went up to New York City to play UConn in the Shark Beauty Women's Champions Classic, and...
(I rushed home from Volleyball to watch this?) |
F - 70% free throw shooting percentage overall, is, of course, just on the cusp of our acceptable percentage. As I explained last week, I use a lower case "f" for 70-75%, while I believe the rest of the Cardinal Couple crew consider this an all or nothing for "F".
Head coach Jeff Walz was his usual "to the point" self about the loss in post game and some of his terse comments may not be suitable for the kiddos. You have beem warned.
Volleyball Wins an Instant Classic
Finally able to celebrate after a 22-20 fifth set |
Elena Scott flying through the air |
Now, with that said, and to take away nothing from UNI, Louisville did not play their best. Digging and passing was not as sharp as it typically is. "Serve and pass" (or some rewording of that concept) is an evergreen entry to every "Keys to the game" segment for every team and match out there, and the Cards were a bit sloppy there. Some of that is, again, credit to UNI for good passing and hitting, but not all of it.
A big time block by Cara Cresse and Reese Robins |
The NCAA statistics site has Louisville listed in 2nd place in blocks per set, just behind Wisconsin, at a rate of 3.02 blocks/set (Wisc has 3.1/set). When this match gets added into those stats, I suspect Louisville will pop up to the top of the list again. UNI's 17 blocks in the match would, if sustained, put them right at the top of that list as well, so again, respect for the Panthers.
6'6 Cara Cresse stretches as high as she can |
Cresse was a monster at the net with three solo blocks and 11 shares. Maldonado also had a solo and six shares for an impressive night at the net.
Flying, levitating, floating... Elena Scott does it all |
Celebratory hug |
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?!?! |
Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast
Jared, Paulie, and I gathered for the CCRHP yesterday. We did some fairly quick coverage of the basketball loss to Oklahoma and preview of the UConn game, before shifting to more extensive coverage of volleyball.
Anna DeBeer |
Charitie Luper |
Elle Glock (right) sets Cara Cresse (left) |
Elle Glock saves the ball after an Anna DeBeer dig |
Victory celebration |
Saturday, December 7, 2024
Volleyball Sweeps Chicago State in NCAA Opener -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
Maldonado Diaz Leads in Louisville Romp
WBB Looks to Bounce Back in Big Matchup
Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast
Until next time, Go Cards!
Friday, December 6, 2024
Volleyballs Opens Up NCAA Tournament Against Chicago State -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
Happy Friday, Cards fans! Jared checking in here for Daryl. She graciously traded days with me this week so I could edit photos from the Louisville women's basketball game Wednesday night. Sadly, Daryl had to recap a not-so-great loss. I, on the other hand, get to preview the excitement of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
Cards Face Chicago State in First Round
Louisville Volleyball opens up the NCAA Tournament tonight against Chicago State. The 1-seeded Cards will play the latter of the two matches tonight as 8-seed Northern Iowa and Illinois will square off at 4:00pm. With the Cards and Cougars set to begin at 7:00pm, we do not expect any major delays even if the first match runs long.
The match will be aired on ESPN+. All first and second round matches in the NCAA Tournament are exclusively aired on ESPN+ regardless of what other streaming options the host sites might have.
This is the 33rd NCAA Tournament appearance for Louisville, who has two Final Fours and a National Runner-Up finish since Dani Busboom Kelly took over as head coach.
Louisville went 25-5 this season and finished second in the ACC with a 17-3 mark. 19 of the 30 opponents Louisville faced made it to the NCAA Tournament.
THE FOE
Chicago State went 19-9 this season. They cruised through the Northeast Conference, going 13-1 in the regular season and winning the Northeast Conference Tournament. The Cougars did not face many "Power Five" teams, but fell in all of them- Cincinnati (3-0), Indiana (3-1), and Minnesota (3-0).
Patrycja Lagida leads the offense with 3.39 kills per set. Karly Klaer (2.72) and Zahara Quraishi (2.27) have also produced strong numbers on the offensive end. Chicago State also utilizes aggressive serves to help with offensive production. The Panthers average nearly two aces per set.
Defensively, Andrea Calderon has been the go-to player with 4.48 digs per set. Karly Klaer (2.55), Wiktoria Zagumny (2.20), and Patrycja Lagida (2.15) have all provided solid back row defense.
NCAA Volleyball Tournament Updates
NCAA Tournaments, regardless of the sport, are always enjoyable for me. You can't beat watching several games all back-to-back with all teams putting everything on the line.
This year's tournament opened up with an upset as Loyola Chicago swept 5-seed BYU. Upsets are bound to happen when postseason rolls around but it's rare to see an upset happen in sweep fashion. Another upset on the night was Ole Miss taking down 7-seed Florida State in five sets.
We did see 7-seed Georgia Tech hang out to beat Tennessee in five sets. The Yellow Jackets won the third set 32-30. The last of the three ACC teams in action last night was 2-seed SMU. The Mustangs had a little trouble against Wichita State, but prevailed. The two teams had an extended first set with SMU winning 28-26.
Looking into the great Commonwealth of Kentucky, two of the four Kentucky schools played last night. Western Kentucky fell to 6-seed Minnesota 3-1. The Hilltoppers scored 20 or more points in all four sets. 3-seed Kentucky was also in action as they easily took down Cleveland State.
Besides Louisville, the other ACC teams in action are 1-seed Pitt vs Morehead State, 8-seed North Carolina vs Yale, 8-seed Miami vs South Dakota State, and NC State vs 6-seed Florida.
Happy Friday and Go Cards!
Jared
Thursday, December 5, 2024
Cards WBB falls to Sooners 78-72 -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
WBB
Cardinals 72 - Sooners 78
The Cardinals are 5-3 on the season... with another top ranked matchup on the schedule for this weekend, so they will have to move on pretty quickly.
Recap
FG %
8-21 38% Cards
4-15 26.7% Sooners
Reb. 15-12 Cards
3-pt %
2-5 40% Cards
3-8 37.5% Sooners
No changes to the starting lineup Walz has been utilizing recently.
Who else would hit the first shot other than Payton Verhulst, a three of course.
The Cardinals started 0-4 from the field before a strange timeout called by the refs when Ja'Leah Williams was about to shoot her second FT. It's rare to see the refs "ice" a player, and do it so early in a game, but it worked, Ja'Leah clanked the second one.
UofL first scored when Olivia Cochran made a jumper assisted by Merissah Russell. Then Russell followed up with a three to tie it up 5-all with 6:30 left in the first quarter.
Then, the Sooners went cold, scoreless for more than 3 minutes while the Cards took their first lead when Elif Istanbulluoglu headed to the FT line and goes 1-2 Nyla Harris gets the rebound to put it back up and in to make it 8-5 Cards.
It was a back and forth quarter. Olivia went to the line and missed the shot but who's there to clean it up again? Nyla Harris , as she corrals it and goes up. She gets fouled. The Cards were 1-5 at the FT line at this point, Nyla hit them both to put the Cards up 17-14.
Cards started to find their strength in the paint as Mackenly Randolph powered by the OU defense to put the Cards ahead 21-14.
End of 2Q 20-15 Cards
FG %
6-18 33.3% Cards
4-8 50% Sooners
Reb. 9-6 Cards
3-pt %
1-6 16.7% Cards
3-5 60% Sooners
The Cards struggled to score in the opening minutes of the second quarter before Roberts stole the ball from Verhulst and scores on the next two possessions. Another 2 min scoring drought for the Sooners gives the Cards some room to extend the lead before going scoreless themselves for a couple minutes before the media timeout...where the score was 27-20
Roberts hits the 3 with 3 min left in the half to put the Cards up 36-24. A Curry steal and Russell layup forces the Sooners to call a timeout.
HALF 41-29
End of 3Q 20-19 Sooners
FG %
7-17 41.2% Cards
7-14 50% Sooners
Reb. 12-6 Sooners
3-pt %
3-8 37.5% Cards
1-5 20% Sooners
Once again the Cards slowly start a quarter...and allow the Sooners to cut the Louisville lead to 43-38 in the first 3 minutes. OU went on a 9-4 run to open the second half. The Cards led the Sooners 45-40 before the Cards went on another run to push the lead back to 10 with less than 4:30 left in the third quarter.
Jayda Curry hits her first three with 3:33 left in the third to put the Cards up 55-42.
But a 2:30 scoring drought for the Cards allows the Sooners to get it within single digits before Russell says..."Hold my beers" and drains her 4th three of the game to put the Cards up 60-49 at the end of the third quarter
End of 4Q 29-12 Sooners
FG %
4-16 25% Cards
9-16 56.3% Sooners
Reb. 13-7 Sooners
3-pt %
0-7 0% Cards
2-6 33.3% Sooners
The Sooners would not go away that easily. Every time the Cards went cold, OU inched close,r but the Cards maintained about a 5 point lead throughout the 4th quarter until OU was able to pull it to 68-66 with 3:30 left in the game. Merissah pulled up for another 3 but this one did not fall. The Cards come out of the timeout and turn the ball over... allowing the Sooners to tie it up at 68-all on the next possession.
Olivia Cochran fouled out when she was called for one against Verhulst that put Payton at the line. She put the Sooners ahead for the first time since the first quarter.
jayda Curry tied it up on the jumper with 1 minute left but OU responds with the jumper of their own and then 2 FTs put them up 74-70. Walz calls the timeout. It was a fouling match the last minute of the game but the Cards could not overcome the deficit.
FRED REPORT (Freddy Mercury)
REBOUNDING -- UofL lost the rebounding battle 43-37 with Olivia Cochran once again leading the efforts for the Cards with 9. It was a great game for Olivia, I think she needed a big night against a big team on a big stage. It just sucks the Cards couldn't get the W along with it. No letter
EFFORT/EXECUTION -- The Sooners are the #11 ranked team in the country, They are a veteran squad that scores a lot of points... if the Cards hadn't been up by 17 points on them and just let this one slip out of their grasp, I wouldn't have been shocked to lose to OU... But they did have major control and looked like they were going to pull away big. I do think some things were learned by the squad and coaching staff and this one stung a little bit extra, however the Cards shooting took a vacation at the end of the game...going 1-9 from the field. No letter.
DEFENSE -- After holding them to 35% shooting in the first half, the Sooners shot 53% in the final 20 minutes. Olivia and Nyla both fouled out with a couple minutes left in the game. no letter
FINAL FRED TALLY: F_ _ _
As always
Go Cards!
~Daryl
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Cards WBB hosts Oklahoma tonight --WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
#11 SOONERS VS #24 CARDS IN SEC/ACC MATCHUP
Louisville WBB looks to go to 6-2 on the season when they bring Oklahoma to town for a Wednesday matchup in the KFC YUM! Center. Note the early start time on the contest -- 5 p.m. -- alledgedly a "TV created tip-off time" to faciliate ESPN2, who is supposedly televising the game...we think.
ESPN2, however, lists they are showing a game with Vanderbilt v. Miami in their Wednesday listings at that time, but so is the ACC Network, so...I guess the TV viewers will find out which is where at game time. It is part of the ACC vs.SEC Challenge...it's still hard for me to remember the Sooners are SEC after being BIG 12 for eons. Who's on first stuff...
(How many of the above names are still revelant in college hoops ths season?) |
Maybe your best bet is just to attend the event live... it's gonna be a good one. or check the ESPN2 and ACC Network broadcast schedules tomorrow, if you can't attend.
Oklahoma is 6-1 on the season, starting the season with six wins...over Southern U, Virginia, Western Carolina, Wichita St., UNLV and DePaul...before falling in overtime to Duke 109-99. The loss saw Oklahoma battle back from a 15 point deficit and force the o.t. on a Payton Verhulst buzzer beater three.
Oklahoma also usuallly starts Reagan Beers, Skylar Vann, Sahara William and Neveah Tot along with Verhulst. . Verhulst, Beers, Vann and Williams all average in double figures for a Sooner squad that averages 92 points a game. Louisville allows just 64 points a night, so it'll be interesting to see how the pace goes in this one and how many points the visitors actually score.
Coach Jeanie Baranczyk |
Head coach Jeanie Baranczyk is going into her fourth season as the head honcho for OU hoops, coming over from Drake, where she was the head coach for nine seasons. She has been very successful in her time at OU, winnng 25 games in 2021-22, 26 games in 2022-23 and 23 games in 2023-24.
Jeff Walz met with Louisville media on Tuesday to preview the match. You can see that presser at the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnVn3FVXkCM
What must Louisville do to win this game? i see five keys:
1) Control the tempo. Louisville wants to avoid a runout against the Sooners. Oklahoma wins those, usually, by 20 points or more.The OU game against Duke may be the exception, but it was an overtime contest and at a neutral site.
2) Go to the boards. OU is not a exceptionally tall squad, with Beers being the tallest starter at 6'4" The Cards won't see a "monster" center, like they did at UK or against UCLA. Cochran and Harris need to be invested in this one and rebound the basketball. Elif and Isla could also be key contributors in this one.
3) No one's guarding you, make the shot. I speak of free throws, the Cards are only sinking 64% of those this season. Roberts and Cochran must do better at the charity stripe for a UofL win Wednesday.
4) Get that big second quarter run. It's been a staple of success this season for the Cards, they're out-scoring the opposition 143 to 78 in the 10 minutes before halftime.
5) Be "Berry good" from beyond the three point arc. I use the pun because Imari Berry is showing alredy this season that she can go on three point runs that seem almost automatic. She's 52% (15-29) from the deep. And, not even a starter. She needs a few more than 18 minutes a game she's averaging, in my opinion.
It should be a fun one tonight and, hopefully, a Cardinals win.
paulie
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Taj Roberts Named ACC Rookie of the Week -- ACC Volleyball Awards -- Volleyball Tournament Reaction -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
Roberts Named ACC Rookie of the Week
For the second time this season, freshman Tajianna Roberts was named ACC Rookie of the Week. Although Louisville only played one game over the last week, Roberts played a crucial role in the road win against Colorado.
Roberts scored 13 points while shooting 50% from the field. She added four steals as well as a pair of rebounds and a pair of assists. This is the sixth time this season where the freshman guard finished in the double figures in scoring. Roberts used a 5-0 run to help spark the Louisville 16-0 run in the fourth quarter.
Louisville returns home tomorrow night to host #11 Oklahoma. Tip-off is a bit earlier than normal, slated for 5:00pm. This game also features the return of former Louisville player Payton Verhulst, who is now with the Sooners.
ACC Volleyball Awards Features Multiple Cardinals
The ACC announced the annual ACC Volleyball awards yesterday. Elena Scott and Nayelis Cabello earned accolades.
Elena Scott was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight time. It is her fourth All-ACC award in her career. This season, the Louisville native averaged 4.43 digs per set played with a total of 456 digs on the year. She also had 110 assists and led the Cards with 33 service aces. Scott's career tallies include 1,861 digs, 419 assists, and 137 aces. The digs and aces both rank in the top-10 in program history.
Nayelis Cabello was named ACC Freshman of the Year. Cabello played a major role in Louisville's 6-2 offense, where she rotated with Elle Glock. The newcomer averaged 5.32 assists per set with a total of 554 this season. She also added 162 digs and 15 blocks. She was named ACC Freshman of the Week six times this season.
Scott was named to the All-ACC First Team alongside Anna DeBeer and Charitie Luper. Care Cresse was named to the All-ACC Second Team while Cabello was named to the All-ACC Freshmen Team.
ACC Player of the Year was awarded to Pitt's Olivia Babcock. ACC Setter of the Year went to Stanford's Kami Miner. Dan Fisher was named ACC Coach of the Year as Pitt won the ACC and was named the top overall seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Louisville opens up play in the NCAA Tournament on Friday night at approximately 7:00pm against Chicago State.
Volleyball Tournament Reaction
With the release of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Sunday night, the biggest question for Louisville fans was answered. What seed would Louisville get? They earned the final 1-seed.
Pittsburgh earned the top overall seed. The Panthers lost one match all season and won the ACC. Nebraska and Penn State each earned 1-seeds, both with two losses.
Louisville beat out Stanford and Creighton, both of whom the Cards beat this season. Stanford did turn around and even the season series against Louisville this past weekend. The Committee seemed to weigh Louisville's wins over Stanford, Creighton, SMU, Wisconsin, and Kentucky pretty heavily. Kentucky earned a 3-seed while the other four on that list are 2-seeds. UofL went 5-1 against 2-seeds and 3-seeds, but went 0-4 against 1-seeds.
Stanford went 5-3 against teams 3-seed or higher. The Cardinal (singular) won three sets against the Cardinals (plural) but Louisville won four sets, which might have helped been the deciding factor.
While Creighton went 29-2, they went 1-2 against teams 3-seed or higher. The Blue Jays fell to Louisville and Nebraska, but did sweep Kansas. The weakness of the Big East most likely played a factor in the seeding.
The ACC saw much love from the selection committee. Four of the top eight seeds are ACC schools: 2-seed Pitt, 1-seed Louisville, 2-seed Stanford, and 2-seed SMU. Nine ACC schools made the NCAA Tournament, The other five include 7-seed Florida State, 7-seed Georgia Tech, 8-seed North Carolina, 8-seed Miami, and NC State.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky also saw a fair amount of love with four schools dancing: 1-seed Louisville, 3-seed Kentucky, Morehead State, and Western Kentucky. The three non-Louisville schools were placed in the Pitt Region, highlighted by top seeds Pitt and SMU. I don't see any of the three surviving to the Final Four.
Louisville played a lot of matches against teams in the NCAA Tournament this year. Those opponents include Wisconsin, Tennessee, Penn State, South Dakota, Missouri, Northern Iowa, Creighton, Kentucky, Nebraska, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami, NC State, SMU, North Carolina, Stanford (2x), and Pitt (2x). 19 matches out of 30 opponents this season in the NCAA Tournament shows that this Louisville team is battle tested. Are the Cards ready for the challenge? Playing at home the entire tournament plays in their favor, but the Cards did lose at home to both Nebraska and Pitt this season.
Keys to Winning the NCAA Tournament:
-Limit unforced errors. This includes service errors and attack errors. Louisville likes to serve aggressively, but taking a little off the serve to keep the ball in gives your defense a chance to make a stop. Attack errors seemed to be more plentiful than kills a few times this season. That's more of a mentality or lack of focus.
-Strong blocking. Louisville is one of the top blocking teams in the country. They averaged 3.0 blocks per set this season. The Cards have established their identity under Dani Busboom Kelly through their blocking.
-Feed the hot hand. This might be an underrated key point. Louisville is not short on playmakers by any means. Different players have stepped up in various matches. Whether it's Anna DeBeer, Charitie Luper, Sofia Maldonado Diaz, Payton Petersen, Reese Robins, Cara Cresse, Phekran Kong, or Hannah Sherman, find the hot hand and feed them. It's no different than feeding the hot shooter in basketball.
Cardinal Couple plans to have in person coverage for all Louisville matches in the NCAA Tournament.
Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!
Jared