Analyzing Fall Sports -- Louisville Volleyball -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Dani Busboom Kelly Begins Second Season as Louisville's Head Coach

To continue on with the "Analyzing Fall Sports" theme Paulie has kicked off this week we will continue onto Louisville Volleyball.  Worldwide has been following the program for much longer than I and is a volleyball guru so I am asking for his input on it either by edit or in the comments section.

First things first, the Cards are the reigning ACC Champs.  Their conference record was matched by Pittsburgh last season, but Louisville held the head-to-head tiebreaker.  They are the preseason Number Two pick for the 2018 season in the ACC this year, right behind Pitt.


There are several big name returners to the squad.  Molly Sauer has made herself a household name.  The libero from Assumption High School here in Louisville has been the Cards' best defender in all her years so far.  She is accompanied by two other seniors, McCracken County product Jasmine Bennett and Puerto Rico native Wilma Rivera.  Bennett has progressed into a powerful hitter and middle blocker.  Rivera transferred in as a junior and was the top setter all year.

Other key returners include Amanda Green, Alexis Hamilton, and Melanie McHenry.  Green transferred in as a red-shirt sophomore and is in her second season wearing the red and black uniform.  She was on the Collegiate National Team that took the European tour.  Hamilton is a rising sophomore that also hails from Assumption High School (this school has a good history of sending volleyball studs our way) and will play a big role on the back line.  McHenry is a well-rounded player entering her junior season.  You can put McHenry anywhere on the court and she can answer the call.


Coach Kelly's roster is stacked and is the size of a small army, totaling 19 active players.  Nine of those players are new to the team from last year.  Six of the new faces are freshmen.  Two of them transfer in as sophomores, with one returning to her hometown where she graduated from Mercy.  The final new face actually returns back to Louisville.  Brianna Lester was a red-shirt her freshman year in 2016, transferred to Pepperdine to play basketball, and comes home to UofL to get back into volleyball.


Schedule Breakdown

Volleyball plays many more games than soccer or field hockey, which means you have more chances to see them play.

The Cards kick off the regular season as host to the Cardinal Classic on August 24 and 25.  Their opponents include Tennessee-Martin, Southern Illinois, and IUPUI.  They should start the year 3-0.


Labor Day Weekend will be a trip to Florida.  No, the "Volley Cards" are not going to Orlando to watch the Louisville vs Alabama football game, but they will make a stop in the Theme Park Capital of the World.  Coincidentally, I'll be half an hour down the road at Walt Disney World.  Sadly, I won't be making the trip to see the Cards play.  They'll then hit the road to Gainesville to face Florida and Southern California.  Playing two of the best teams in the country away from home will be a challenge that Louisville might not be ready to face this early in the season.  I expect the weekend to be 1-2, sending the record to 4-2.

September 7-8 will be a short trip to West Lafayette to compete in the Purdue Tournament.  Besides facing the host Purdue, Louisville will also test their skills against Lipscomb and Xavier.  The Boilermakers are not a team to overlook, especially at home.  The Cards come out of the weekend winning two of three, improving their record to 6-3.

Before diving into conference play Louisville returns home to host Kentucky (Sept 14) and Chattanooga (Sept 15).  The Cards are looking for revenge following a 3-0 in Lexington last year.  They'll add two more to the wins column, moving up to 8-3.


A trip to Raleigh on September 21 to face NC State and Ms Wuf will be the Cards' first ACC test.  UofL swept the Wolfpack last year and will win again, improving to 9-3.

They'll make the hop, jump, and skip over to Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina on Setpember 23. These two teams battled it out to the death at Cardinal Arena in the home finale after falling at UNC 3-2 early in conference play.  UofL had to fight to come back in the fifth set to claim the win and secure their perfect home record in ACC play.  Louisville will win this one a little easier this year, hitting the 10-win mark, going 10-3.

Headed south on their road trip, the Cards will take on Georgia Tech on September 28 and Clemson on September 30.  Louisville swept both teams last year and will take the win in both again.  After improving to 12-3 the Cards will finally break the Top 25.

Following the road stint we will get to see the Cards at home in conference play for four straight games.  Duke will visit on October 5 and Wake Forest will follow on October 7.  UofL swept Wake Forest last year and used a second half comeback after trailing 2-0 to defeat the Blue Devils in a five-set nail biter.  Home court advantage will help the Cards add a pair of wins and move up to 14-3.


Instead of a weekend of games the schedule will alter slightly the next week.  Notre Dame will come in on Wednesday, October 10 and Virginia Tech will say hello to Cardinal Arena on Friday, October 12.  Louisville defeated the Hokies 6-1 in two matches last year and defeated Notre Dame twice 3-2.  UofL will enjoy playing at home to win two more, and improve to 16-3.

The Volley Cards hit the road again to head north.  On October 19, they will take on Virginia and then visit the highly-anticipated game against Pittsburgh on October 21.  The Cards routed the Cavaliers twice last year and should be well-rested after a week-long break to take that win.  Pitt will have their revenge from last season as the Cards drop their first conference game.  UofL will come out of the weekend 17-4.

A four-game homestand will be nice around the time midterms hit.  Boston College comes to town October 26 and Syracuse will follow right behind on October 28.  UofL beat both of them last year and will do so again this year.  Their record goes up to 19-4.


The next two home games include Miami on November 2 and Florida State on November 4.  The Cards and Hurricanes each defended their home turf last year while the Cards stole both games from the Seminoles last year.  Late-season weariness will be enough to send both matches to five sets.  Either Miami or Florida State will walk away with a win, stunning the Cards at home.  Their record moves to 20-5.

November 9 will be a trip to Boston College with November 11 being a trip down the coast to Wake Forest.  Louisville will beat both teams again for the second time that season to go to 22-5.

Louisville's final road game will be November 16 at Notre Dame.  Despite a couple rough years lately the Irish have historically been good and will prove themselves to defeat UofL.  The loss will be the sixth on Louisville's record of 22-6.

2018's finale will be at home when the Cards host Georgia Tech on Black Friday, November 23.  The long break and final game of the season will result in victory for the Cards, who will win the ACC for a second straight year.  Their final record: 23-6, 15-3.


This record is pretty par to last season, as Coach Kelly continues to work her gameplay style and recruits into her system.  The 23-6 record and Top 25 ranking would be enough for an invitation to the NCAA Tournament, but winning the ACC will ultimately be how the Cards get in.

No first round exit this year for Louisville, who will make their fifth ever Sweet 16 appearance.  The 2018 season will also lead to Louisville's 27th NCAA appearance and 26th conference championship, including their third in the ACC.

Louisville has a skilled team and will continue their recent dominance in conference play.  They'e exciting to watch and undefeated with Case in attendance.  Look for the Cardinal Couple contingent covering the chaos and competition on the court.

Your thoughts on the team? Talk about it in the comments section!

What Day Is It?

Grab a lemon meringue pie and relax to celebrate two holidays at once.  A major Catholic holiday today is Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Day.  There are two big names celebrating birthdays today.  Internationally, Napoleon Bonaparte was born on this day in 1821.  More recently, Louisville-native and Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence celebrates her 28th birthday today.

Here in Louisville, it is the first official day of going back to school for the Jefferson County kids. Be watchful on the roads today for children and buses and those friendly school crossing guards that always seem to jump out in front of you when there are absolutely no kids waiting to cross the street...

Other Notes




On a personal note I officially released my photography website yesterday www.jdaphotos.com.  A few people knew about it in advance and I thank the rest of the Cardinal Couple crew for their input and advice in helping my construct the site.  For you technology geeks (we're looking at you, Worldwide) I used Wix as my website building platform.  Everything from format to layout to making sure everything linked properly was all done by hand, or mouse.  I will continue using Flickr as my photo storage site but JDA Photography will be the official site to go to for pictures, including pictures from all women's sports at UofL.  You can see UofL WBB from Senior Day, the Sweet 16, and the Elite 8 on there.

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EDITOR NOTE: REALLY PROUD OF JARED AND THE WONDERFUL THINGS HE HAS CREATED AT THE SITE. GO GIVE IT A LOOK AND DEFINITELY KEEP HIM IN KIND IF YOU WANT THAT SPECIAL OCCASION OF YOURS CAPTURED IN PHOTOS. YOU CAN FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW TO SEE JARED'S FANTASTIC ARTISTRY: 

https://www.jdaphotos.com/


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Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

Analyzing Fall Sports -- Louisville Field Hockey -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LOUISVILLE'S FIELD HOCKEY RETURNS MCFERRAN AND FIVE OTHER STARTERS

One majorly important thing you need to know about Louisville Field Hockey, if nothing else, is that the "Stick Girls" return keeper Ayesha McFerran...the best goalie in the USA. Bold words? Not really. She was named the MVP keeper in the recent World Cup, where she and Ireland finished a very unpredictable second to perennial power The Netherlands. She is the only three-time All American goalkeeper in Cardinal history. 

Of course, any good defense is not about just one player and the Cards return backs Carter Ayars, Maria Gomez, Ann Marie Habelow, Isabella Leeker and, if needed back there...Taylor Stone, who head Field Hockey coach Justine Sowry would like to use a bit more at mid-field this year, if possible. Megan Schneider can also go defensive back or mid-field, which gives Sowry a ton of options back at the last line of defense. Talented goalie Hollyn Barr, a junior, also returns, in case McFerran needs a bit of time to adjust to the return from Ireland and promising freshman Sam Minrath (Louisville Christian Academy) has the unique opportunity to learn the keeper spot from two of the best in a probable red-shirt situation. 

The "middies" as their sometimes called, are deep and talented. Katie Walsh (Louisville Ballard H.S.)  is the standout there, and she was a member of the 2018 USA National Team. Mercedes Pastor comes back after a season where she was injured and red-shirted. She gets high marks from all who have seen her play. Bethany Russ saw valuable time in the mid-field role last year as well, as did Alli Biting. A group of talented freshmen will vie for remaining spots...Biz Allgeier, Mackenzie Karl, Taylor Orsi, Carmen Pichea, Caitlin Cunningham and Erica Cooper are also options in the midfield for UofL. 

Whena Munn is a returning forward for the Cards and she'll run at the attack spot with Madison Walsh (no relation to Katie), Kathryn Schneider (Megan's younger sister) has shown great promise in the spring also. You can probably expect Sowry to insert a few midfielders, as needed, into the "attack" or forward spots. 

The roster breakdown is four seniors, three juniors, eight sophomores and eight freshmen. Five of the student-athletes are from Kentucky and they're all from Louisville. Three from Assumption H.S and one each from Ballrd and Christian Academy. There are also five student-athletes from Pennsylvania, two each from Virginia, California and Missouri on the roster. One each from Delaware and Massachusetts. Internationally, UofL has a player each from Ireland, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Spain. 

We'll miss watching Minnie and
Jared's predictions about her...

Significant losses of players who has eligibility left would be Minout "Minnie" Mink (The Netherlands) and  Marisa Martin-Pelagrina (Germany) who returned to their home countries to pursue academic opportunities there. The Cards lost starters Marigrace Ragsdale, Nicole Woods and Abby Grimes to graduation. 

The Cards were 14-8 last year and fared 4-2 in ACC play, tied for second. They advanced to the ACC Tournament finals, narrowly losing to North Carolina 1-0 and were knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by Northwestern 3-2 in overtime. 

Preseason rankings in women's Field Hockey are as hard to come by. I had no success in locating them, so I'll base my predictions on last year's stats and Cardinal success against the foes.

This year's schedule has 18 games, plus the annual Alumni game and a scrimmage against Michigan. The Alumnae game kicks things off on Saturday, Aug 18th. and the Field Hockey team travels the next day to face #3 Michigan in a exhibition scrimmage. The regular season features two Big 10 opponents to kick things off.

August 24th sees Louisville with a Friday trip to Bloomington and Indiana. Louisville handled the Hoosiers 4-1 last year and I see the Cards winning again against them in 2018. 

Ohio State comes to Louisville on Sunday, August 26th. The Cards fell in Columbus last year 1-2 but I see Louisville turning the tables on the Buckeyes this year with a win at Trager Stadium. 

Louisville plays nine matches in September and will start things off against U-Mass Lowell in Richmond, VA. Cards should have no trouble here to improve to 3-0

UofL travels to Delaware on Sept 3rd and despite the Cards win last year against them in Trager, the Blue Hens finished 7th in the nations with a 15-4 record. I hate to do it, but I give the Cards a close loss against them. 

It doesn't get any easier on the 7th. with North Carolina coming to town. The Tar Heels finished 4th. in the nation in 2017 and the Cards split with them in matches. I'll go out on a limb here and say Louisville gets revenge for the ACC Finals loss with a win.

California is next on the 9th at Trager and Louisville should prevail over the Bears in this one. 

The home-stand continues when ACC foe Boston College visits for a Friday night contest.  Louisville won easily up in Chestnut Hill in 2017 and I'll take the Cards to do the same in 2018. 


A huge match on Sunday, Sept 16th. when Northwestern comes to town. They sent Louisville home from the NCAA in 2017 and downed the Cards earlier in the season as well. The motivation shouldn't be any problem for Sowry's squad in this one and I'll go with Louisville and a close win. 

Louisville ends September with three road contests. First stop is at Wake Forest for a September 21st, Friday night match. The Cards bested the Demon Deacons in Trager last year with a 3-2, shootout victory. Expect another tight one in Winston-Salem but I'll go with Louisville winning. 

Sunday the 23rd. finds UofL in scenic Boone, NC against Appalachian State. They did not meet last year and the Mountaineers were 8-11 in 2017, so I'm giving the Cards their second road victory in three days. 

The road trip and the September schedule ends in Charlottesville, Va with a Saturday test against Virginia. The Wahoos finished 2017 as the #5 team in tha nation and knocked off the Cards in Trager 2-1. Unfortunately, they'll probably give Louisville their second loss of the season in another close one. 

October brings one more road game to start the month in Muncie, IN with a rare Wednesday game versus Ball State on the 3rd. The two did not meet in 2017 and with a 5-12 2017 record and a new head coach for 2018, these Cardinals are in a rebuilding phase. Louisville takes the contest. 

Michigan State visits Trager on Sunday Oct. 7th. They didn't face each other in 2017 and MSU struggled through a 8-11 season. The Cards continue their mastery over Big 10 opponents by sending Spartie back to East Lansing with an "L". 

Pam Bustin was the Louisville Field Hockey head
coach before Justine Sowry. 

Another huge match in Trager on Sunday, Oct 12th. when Pam Bustin brings her Duke Blue Devils to town.  Duke embarrassed the Cards 5-0 in Durham during the 2017 regular season but Louisville got revenge in the ACC Tournament semi-finals with a 3-2 shootout win. Duke finished 2017 as the #2 team in the nation with a 16-3 record and this one was a toss up game for me. Literally. Louisville was 'heads" and Duke was "tails". The coin landed on "heads"...so give the Cards the win. Good coin, good coin! 

The October home-stand ends when Miami (OH) comes to town on Sunday, Oct 14th. They did not meet in 2017 and the Red Hawks had a 12-9 season. The Cards keep the winning streak alive with a win. 

To the road to end October and UofL's first stop is Syracuse for a Friday, October 19 match. The Cards took a two-overtime, 2-1 win over the Orange last year in Trager. Another tough one to predict, but, I'll give the Cards another nail-biting win. 

Sunday October 21st finds Louisville in Albany playing the Great Danes and the Cards didn't play in 2017 and the New York State foe finished 12-7 on the year. Louisville avoids the bark and bite and gets off of the Alumni Turf pitch with a win. Fun fact: Albany's head coach is Phil Sykes. We're not related, that I know of...my Sykes' are mostly North Carolina rooted...but I'll be pulling for him and the Great Danes to have a great year. 



Another Sunday match ends the regular season. This one is in Kent, OH against Kent State on Oct 28th. The Golden Flashes were 9-10 last year but 6-1 in the MAC. They also played their first 11 games on the road in 2017, including a 5-1 loss to Louisville at Trager. The Cards end the regular season with a win and sweep October with a 7-0 record. I hope. 

So, let's recap. Maybe I'm a bit ambitious here, but I've got Louisville Field Hockey at 16-2 and 5-1 in the ACC. That ought to be good enough for at least a top five ranking when the Cards travel to Chapel Hill, NC for the ACC Tournament that starts Nov 1st. 

Remember, when you've got McFerran, you've got a lot. If the opponents can't score, their likelihood of winning drops dramatically. Not many will score on Ayeisha this year.

You know the routine. Sound off in the comments section with your thoughts. 


paulie
xxxxx

Analyzing Fall Sports -- Louisville women's soccer -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LOUISVILLE WSOC -- TALENT RETURING, TONS OF FRESHMEN

Over the next several days this week, we'll be looking at some of the Louisville women's fall sports and trying to provide a pre-season analysis of how they might do and who will be doing it in their contests.

We'll start with Louisville women's soccer, who actually have started their season with a 4-0 exhibition win over Morehead State Saturday night in Louisville at Lynn Stadium. 

Cardinal Couple's Case Hoskins will provide a lot of the breakdown and analysis of the WSOC games this year -- he'll be our "lead" when it comes to the sport --  and his thoughts may differ from mine (Paulie) or the other staffers...but I'll also be at all the home contests I can make and will offer today my "take" on the season and squad. Plus, I hope to have plenty of post-game interviews with Coach Ferguson-Dayes and players through-out the 2018 season.

30 student-athletes are listed on the 2018 Louisville WSOC roster and 13 are freshmen. When 43% of the roster are freshmen, it can be a bit of an uncertain...but exciting and maybe a little nervous time for a coach. Ask Karen Ferguson Dayes. Out of the freshmen, it's our best guess that we'll see significant playing time from defender Sarah Hernandez, forward Delaney Snyder, midfielder Anna Henderson, defender Morgan Jackson and forward Amari Hopkins. 

Out of the returning 17 Cardinals, Emina Ekic returns from a season-ending knee injury last year and should be very influential in the offense. Midfielder Mollie Rouse is still in England playing for the English U 20 World Cup squad and, depending on how they do (they've already qualified for the quarterfinals), she may not be back until the Michigan or Kentucky game in late August. "Gabby squared" -- Gabby Kouzelos at keeper and Gabrielle Vincent at middle defender, give the Cards a strong middle in the defensive set. Those two were a strong presence in last year's defense, which produced eight shutouts.  Lana Batson provides strong backup as a reserve keeper.

Niamh Nelson, Nadege L'Esperance, Taylor Kerwin, Brooklyn Rivers, Allison Whitfield and Kennadi Carbin all provide excellent scoring potential for the Louisville offense...the state of Kentucky trio of Ekic, Rivers and Whitfield were the leading scores last year for the squad. Nine starters from last year return. 

A roster breakdown by state (and country) shows six players from Kentucky (five from Louisville), six from California (four from San Diego) and five from Ohio. Two players from Colorado and one each from New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Washington. Two Cardinals are from Canada and one is from England. By class the roster has 13 freshmen, seven sophomores, eight juniors and two seniors. 

The schedule features 17 games before the ACC Tournament. Nine will be played at Louisville's Lynn Stadium. There are ten conference matchups, Louisville playing each of the 10 schools once. There are actually 14 teams that play women's soccer in the ACC, the Cards will not face Boston College, Clemson or Florida State in regular season play. That might work out well for Louisville...FSU is ranked #10 in preseason polls and Clemson is in the "also receiving votes" column. 

In 2017, the Cards went 9-7-2 overall and 3-5-2 in conference. 

The Cards open the regular season with two home games... Wright State, from the Horizon League (12-8, 6-3 in 2017)  followed by A-10 school...Xavier (8-8-4, 4-3-2). I will predict the Cards put both in the win column.

Trips to another A-10 school in Dayton (9-9-2, 4-4-2) and the Big 10's Michigan (6-6-6, 3-5-3) follow. I'll predict a win over Dayton and let's go with a tie against the Wolverines. 

The Kentucky Wildcats (8-12, 3-7) visit Lynn Stadium on Aug. 31st. Louisville defeated the SEC school at Lexington last year 3-1 in a rain-soaked affair and I choose Louisville as the winner again this year.

Next the Kickin' Cards travel to Purdue (10-7-2, 5-4-2) on Sept 6th. The Boilermakers have looked pretty good in exhibition play, beating Indiana State and battling preseason #14 Notre Dame to a scoreless tie. I'll say Purdue in a low scoring affair up there.

Louisville ends the non-conference part of the schedule against Eastern Kentucky from the OVC (11-5-4, 6-1-3) at Lynn and I'll go with a UofL victory prediction here.  

ACC play begins Set 15th. at Pittsburgh. The Cards were predicted in the preseason poll to finish ninth out of the 14 schools. I think they'll do a little better than that and be one of the eight schools that make the ACC Tournament. Against Pitt (0-9-1, 3-12-3) I see Louisville winning their first conference game.

Thursday, Sept. 20th. features Notre Dame coming to town. The Irish were 9-8-5 overall in 2017 and 5-3-2 in conference. They finished the season ranked 18th. in the polls. The prediction here is a hard-fought battle that ends in a tie.

Louisville hosts Syracuse (7-8-2, 2-6-1) on Sept 23rd. and I'll go with the Cards getting their second conference win in this one.

A trip to North Carolina (17-3-2, 8-0-2) follows on Sept 29th. Last year, the Cards pulled off a major shocker against the #8 school in the nation with a scoreless tie. The TarHeels are preseason-ranked at #6 this year and I hate to say it, but I think they get the better of Louisville in 2018. 

October features six ACC matches. Virginia (13-7-4, 5-2-3)  comes to visit on Oct. 4th. The Cavaliers finished 2017 ranked #9 in the nation and took Louisville 1-0 last year in Charlottesville. I'll hope for a loud and rowdy Thursday night crowd that will help Louisville get a tie against Wahoo Nation this year.

Sunday, Oct 7th. brings Miami (1-9-1, 5-11-0) to "the Ville" and I think the Cards pick up their third conference win in this one over Bassy the Ibus and company. 

Louisville goes on a three game tour of the state of North Carolina next, beginning with a October 12th. stop at Wake Forest (13-7-4, 5-3-2). UofL tied the Demon Deacons last year in Lynn Stadium 0-0 and I'll call for another tie this year in Winston-Salem.

The road trip continues in Durham on Oct 21st. with a Sunday match against Duke (10-0-0, 23-2-1). The Blue Devils are placed #3 in the nation in preseason prognostications and I'm afraid they'll have a little more than the Cards can handle and defeat UofL. 

The tour of Carolina ends with a Oct 21st. visit to Raleigh and the North Carolina State WolfPack (15-5-2, 6-3-1). The Cards visited there in 2017 and left a 2-1 loser. N.C.State  finished 21st. in the nation in 2017 and they'll give Ms. Wuf a reason to dance and they'll probably best the Cards again this year.

Louisville ends the regular season on Oct. 25th. when they host Virginia Tech (1-5-3, 7-6-5) on a Thursday night. These two did not meet in 2017. I'm predicting a Cardinal win to end the regular season. 

So, let's recap. I'm calling for a 10-3-4 overall finish and 4-3-3 ACC mark. That would equal out to 15 "points" in conference standings. That's also four more points than Louisville amassed in 2017. Boston College was the final qualifier for the ACC Tournament with 13 points in 2017.

Feel differently about the season? Agree with me? Let me know in the comments section. 

Injuries, weather conditions and players who shine in reserve roles can obviously affect a season...as any coach will verify. Here's hoping for a minimum of "dings and dents", bearable temperatures with clear skies and lots of Cards contributing on the pitch. 

Join in the fun at Lynn this season, won't you? 




paulie
xxxxx

Soccer Shutout - SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Women Get Underway

The UofL women's soccer team got their competition underway yesterday with a scrimmage against Morehead State.

I wasn't able to make it to the game due to previous engagements, but Paulie, and Jared were in attendance.  Perhaps we can get their impressions added in the comments.

Information is scarce on this one as stat sheets and post-game recaps don't get put out by sports information for women's soccer exhibitions.  We do know that Louisville came away victorious with 4 goals and a clean sheet against the Eagles.

Odds are that "Gabby Squared", Gabby Vincent, and Gabby Kouzelos, were instrumental on defense,
Vincent as center back, and Kouzelos in goal.

No word on how much time on the turf Emina Ekic got as she continue to recover from a knee injury last year.

The season (and stats sheets!) officially gets underway Thursday at 7:30 with the Wright State Wolves come to play in Lynn.

( A great job last night on the photos by Jared Anderson! Thank you! )

England U-20 World Cup Advances

Louisville is still down a high impact mid-fielder, with Mollie Rouse still off in France playing for the English U-20 team in the U-20 World Cup.

Late breaking news on this one as England routed Mexico 6-1 to secure the top spot in the group with 7 points for the quarter-finals.  North Korea finished out the group stage with 6.

Rouse and the Brits will play next on the 17th in the first round of the knockout stage, which means that Rouse will certainly miss the UofL match against Wright State.  If England advances, the next game will be on the 20th, meaning UofL would be without her services for the Xavier match on the 19th.  Winning that would put England into the finals which will be contested on August 24th.  That would prevent Mollie from playing in the Dayton match on the 23rd, and could jeopardize her appearance for the Michigan match on the 26th.

We wish the best to Rouse and the English side in the World Cup, but we'll also be glad to have her back in "The 'Ville" playing for the Red and Black, instead of the Red and White of England.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Worldwide and Case try to get some sense out of
Paulie

The knuckleheads were a man down yesterday as well, Jared off turning 20s into 2 dollar bills.  Most of the show was a recap of the Fall Sports Media Day from Thursday.  We didn't get to hear all of the audio from the event, check out Friday's article for links to all of it, and we didn't get to hear from Taylor Stone, and Katie Walsh at all (my apologies to the two of them) due to me not having sufficient knowledge on how to pause and resume clips.  It's a learning process, folks.

In any case, we interspersed a bit of commentary and analysis with Paulie, Case, and I with the bulk of the audio.  We heard from the three major women's team sports of the fall, with Field Hockey (Coach Justine Sowry, Taylor Stone, and Katie Walsh), Volleyball (Coach Dani Busboom Kelly, Wilma Rivera, Jasmine Bennett, and Molly Sauer), and Soccer (Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes, Emina Ekic, Gabrielle Vincent, and Gabby Kouzelos).

Check out the replay at:

https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/2158687654154506/

I did spend a few minutes after the show to learn how to pause and resume clips, so we'll be able to better break up and comment on audio in future episodes.

-- 

JMcA

The Season Opening -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Soccer Takes on Morehead State in Exhibition

Tonight will mark the first event of the fall sports season for UofL as the women's soccer team kicks off against Morehead State in an exhibition game at Lynn Stadium. Tonight will be the first time that Karen Ferguson-Dayes' team plays in an organized game together since their last spring exhibition against Northern Kentucky in mid-April. The roster for tonight's game will look a bit different than that one, with freshmen having been added and Mollie Rouse still in France with the English National Team. Tonight's game will be the only tune-up for the Cards, as the season will get underway on Thursday at 7:30 against Wright State, a team which Louisville did not take on last season.

We've talked a bit about this women's soccer team multiple times on the site, so I'll save you another season preview today. Jared did write a pretty nice preview piece for River City Cards yesterday, though, that you may be interested in checking out. Despite our differences in opinion on the potential of this year's team, I think we would agree that the Cards should not have much trouble with Morehead State today. Coach KFD will look to test out her new defensive leaders and see what lineups work now that some of the key players that missed time last year are back and ready to contribute. Though the team is without Rouse, who figures to be an important player in the midfield, they should be able to see how the formation will stack up against future opponents.

Morehead State will come into tonight already warm. The Eagles took on the Thundering Herd of Marshall on Thursday and chased the stampede straight off of a cliff. MSU won that game 5-0 in Huntington. Louisville will need to watch out for freshman, Abby VanHoeve, who scored two goals in the rout. MSU also deployed two goalkeepers, both obviously holding Marshall to a shut out in their respective halves. If MSU's offense is truly as good as they looked against Marshall, it will be a great night to test the new look Louisville defense.

If the Eagles are to be as good as they looked against Marshall, it would be a massive turnaround from last season. Morehead State finished 2017 in second to last in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 2-7-1 conference record and an abysmal 3-13-1 overall record. Earlier this week, the Eagles were again picked to finish second to last in the conference, ahead of only Eastern Illinois, the team that finished in the bottom spot last season. All that said, there is room for improvement for Morehead State, though, as they graduated only one senior last season and added seven freshmen this year.

We'll know much more about this Louisville team and how they might stack up for the rest of the season after tonight's game. The match gets underway at 6PM at Lynn Stadium. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

As we are nearly every Saturday, we're back in the studio today to take on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. The season is nearly upon us and we can just about declare the summer slump over. We'll see if we have one more quiz to wrap up the year before there is more to talk about next week or if Jeff will finish this quiz season as the defending champ. Tune into WCHQ FM at 11AM using any way you can imagine to listen to the station. We're also streaming on Facebook Live if you feel you need to see if we look as ridiculous as we sound (the answer is usually yes).

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Fall Sports Media Day -- Angel out -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FALL SPORTS PREVIEW DAY

A chance to interchange with four of the fall sports at UofL. Field Hockey, Volleyball, Women's Soccer and Cross Country met with the media Thursday afternoon at the Lynn Stadium office complex and training facility to preview their seasons. 

A bit of difference in the format from previous years, with each squad -- complete with coach and selected players going to the interview room and fielding questions after opening statements. No breakout session with they individuals afterward. Part of that change because of a delay in the proceeding since a football media opportunity went long and a lot of the media were covering that. 

Field Hockey went first with head coach Justine Sowry and student-athletes Katie Walsh and Taylor Stone. You can hear them in their entirety at the link below: 

https://soundcloud.com/user-748907999/dr0000_1446mp3




Next up was Louisville Volleyball. Coach Dani Busboom Kelly took the stage with players Molly Sauer, Jasmine Bennett and Wilma Rivera. That session linked up below: 

https://soundcloud.com/user-748907999/dr0000_1447mp3

Coach Karen Ferguson Dayes and her Louisville women's soccer contingent were next. Emina Ekic, Gabrille Vincent and Gabby Kouzelos fielded media questions. Their session is available below: 

https://soundcloud.com/user-748907999/dr0000_1448mp3



Closing the session was Cross Country with head coach Dale Cowper and runners Dorcas Wasike and Daniel Fleace. Our audio quality isn't the greatest there, so I did not include ours here....but Cross Country's words and a UofL recap of the entire event can be found at: 

https://gocards.com/news/2018/8/9/field-hockey-cards-host-fall-sports-media-day.aspx

Fall sports. They're right around the corner...starting with a WSOC exhibition Saturday at 6 p.m. against Morehead at Lynn Stadium. 

We're excited! How about you? 

ANGEL FALLS

Atlanta Dream all-star forward Angel McCoughtry will miss the rest of the season and the playoffs with torn ligaments in her knee, the team announced Thursday. McCoughtry suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of the team’s win over the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday.

Here's a vid of the injury and a good read on what it means to the Dream at the link below:

https://www.sbnation.com/wnba/2018/8/9/17672720/angel-mccoughtry-knee-injury-wnba-dream

A tough break, no doubt, for the Dream...so close to playoff time. We, at Cardinal Couple, wish her a speedy and complete recovery. 


paulie
xxxxx

Amanda Green and Molly Sauer Interviews -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cardinal Couple Sits Down With Amanda Green and Molly Sauer

Have you ever wondered what candy players prefer: M&Ms or Skittles?  What about either Beyonce or Rihanna for musical favorites?  Yesterday, Paulie and I took some time to ask these questions to UofL volleyball stars Amanda Green and Molly Sauer. It was the VolleyCards first day of practice and we wanted to talk to these two and discuss their overseas adventures and competition over the summer, review the past season and look ahead to the 2018 season.

A special thanks goes out to Dani Busboom Kelly, head coach of the UofL Volleyball team and Nancy Worely, associate sports information director of Volleyball for setting the interviews up.

2017 has not yet been added

The questions about snacks and music were not the only reasons we went down to Cardinal Arena, of course. Both Green and Sauer spent time this summer on Collegiate National teams. Sauer visited China about two months ago while Green was part of the CNT (Collegiate National Team) coached by Dani Busboom Kelly that visited Europe recently.


Molly Sauer has spent her entire career wearing a red and black uniform.  The Louisville native is a graduate of Assumption High School where such players as Katie George and Alexis Hamilton also hail.  Our libero in the #1 jersey has played a key role every year.



Amanda Green transferred in from Marquette and enters her redshirt junior year.  Hailing from Skokie, Ill., Green joined the Cardinals when Coach Kelly took the reigns as head coach.  She immediately made an impact on the court and wears #18, a popular number in the NFL among Colts fans.

When asked about what they got most of their time across the oceans,  the two teammates had different answers.  Molly and the CNT in China spent some time working with elementary and middle school volleyball players, having the chance to interact and communicate with them despite the language barrier.  In Europe, Green enjoyed the opportunity to continue playing volleyball with some of the best players around the country and improve her skills.




There are nine players on this year's roster that were not part of the 2017 team.  Both seniors gave us some input on the new faces and each listed two incoming players to keep an eye out for this year.  Three are incoming freshman while one is a sophomore transferring returning to her hometown where she attended Mercy High School.

These dual interviews are something you do not want to miss.  The interviews contain a healthy mix of fun with the CNT recap and 2018 preview.



You can check out the Amanda Green interview here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxA8X540YzQ

You can check out the Molly Sauer interview here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3BPWsW5Kn8





Fall Sports Media Day

Big doings today down on the Belknap Campus. Representatives of four squads-- plus lots of media will swarm the Lynn Stadium offices for the Fall Sports Media Day.  Field hockey, volleyball, women's soccer and cross-country will all be present for the event.  Due to its size the football media day is its own event this coming Saturday.

Have you seen this man?

Paulie and Worldwide Jeff McAdams will be in attendance to hear from  coaches Sowry, Kelly, Ferguson-Dayes and Dale Cowper -- plus selected players from each squad.  Besides interviews with the trio of coaches you can expect to hear from a few players from each team as well.

These media days (they hold one also for spring sports and women's basketball conducts one also prior to the start of their season) are a great opportunity to catch up what's been going on with the programs since their seasons ended, things the players and coaches will be working on for upcoming season and any additions to staff or roster.

We've also built a little fun into the player segment. In past interviews, we found out that Molly Sauer loves a particular type of bread stick with her pasta, we learned that Jordan McNary was considering a run for Kentucky Governor, discovered that Arica Carter has a future as Paulie's assistant interview specialist, it was revealed what shampoo Worldwide uses and we've been a part of many other humorous and delightful tales and revelations.

Yeah. We're a little goofy at times. But...we have fun with it and the players seem to enjoy it. We hope you do, too.

What Day Is It?

Grab a seat, pick up a book, and enjoy Book Lovers Day!  If reading isn't your style I'm not sure why you're reading this. Other "National Days of" include the chance to turn some polka on the radio or snack on rice pudding.  If none of those suit your style grab a buddy or significant other for National Hand Holding Day.

I won't be in the studio Saturday for The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour on WCHQ 100.9 FM but you can experience the other three knuckleheads back at the Magnificent Majestic Media Mansion on Mellwood (or whatever this week's name is). Be sure to listen at 11 a.m. or watch them live on Facebook Live.

Since I won't be able to put my sly joke on the white board I will leave one here for you- "What do you call a cow that cannot produce milk?"

"A milk dud."


And then there's...

"whoa...what a concept....pizza, man!" 

Don Mueller, a New York physicist, has composed a song about the decline of "Papa John" Schnatter. The musical section is the old "Popeye The SailorMan" tune. The vocals quite interesting. 

Check it out at the link below at your own risk and make your own conclusion. No dirty words, just some rhymes. 

Maybe it's time just to put the Schnatter ordeal on the shelf and move on to UofL fall sports and positive-type things. A lot of potentially great things ahead for Cardinal Athletics. From the words of another song:
  

You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Send gloom and doom to the minimum

Papa The Pizza Man



Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

- Jared -