Cardinal Couple - Weekly Women's Round-up

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

(It's the time of the week where Jeff McAdams catches everyone up on the current women's sports squads and their goings on over the past several days...plus a look at their upcoming endeavors. Jeff's weekly column will be moving to Tuesday next week...but he'll still provide a Thursday update at cardinalsports.com as well.)



Its time for another trip around the various results and events in UofL women's athletics of the past week and look ahead to the upcoming competitions.

Field Hockey

Field Hockey is off to one of the best starts the program has had, and, while playing well in general, did stumble slightly this weekend.  After a solid 7-2 win over UC Davis on Friday, Michigan was able to break the four game win streak with a 1-0 win on their home field in Ann Arbor Michigan.

This weekend starts conference play for the Justine Sowry coached Field Hockey squad.  Now, stick with me here, because The American Conference (AAC) doesn't play field hockey.  This means our team is still playing in The Big East this year.  Alas, the confusion grows with UofL's Big East conference opener being against Old Dominion, not a team that is typically thought of when you think Big East.  ODU is currently ranked 20th, compared to our 19th position, with both teams having dropped from last weeks ranking.  ODU only holds a 1-5 record this year, but they have played an absolutely brutal schedule so far, with all of their losses coming at the hands of Top-10 ranked teams at the time they played, with only Penn State having dropped out of the Top-10 since, with a current #12 ranking.  The game against ODU has been designated a black out, and starts at 6:30pm Friday evening at Trager Stadium on Floyd street.

Northeastern is the next visitor for Field Hockey with a game slated for Sunday at 1:30pm

Volleyball

The UofL Volleyball team finally gets to open home court play with two matches Saturday. 

The first match is against Rice at noon.  Of all the reasons why you might not make it to your seats for a Football kick-off on time, being at another UofL sporting event is probably the one that will get you in the least trouble with Head Football Coach Charlie Strong.  The second match of the day is at 7:30 against future conference opponent Virginia Tech.  The Volleyball matches this weekend are part of the Active Ankle challenge and are taking place at Cardinal Arena, just down the street from Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium, so when you're finished celebrating the football victory over FIU, you can easily make it down the street to cheer on the Volleyball squad.

Volleyball has been playing a very tough non-conference early-season schedule, and unfortunately their record is reflecting it.  At 2-6 on the season so far, the team is hoping to start climbing their way back to a winning season.  They've had a tough road, so far all on the road, falling in the past week to then #4 ranked Minnesota and to unranked Pepperdine.  Both matches were in Lexington and followed the tough loss last Tuesday to Kentucky, also at Memorial Coliseum.  Separately in Lexington, Big Blue Nation scored quite an upset with a 5-set victory over Minnesota, which largely accounts for Minnesota's drop to #9 in the most recent poll.

Women's Soccer

Karen Ferguson-Dayes is off to a good start with the Women's Soccer team with a 4-2-1 record.  The team recorded an easy win over Morehead State Friday evening beating them 7-2.  They followed that with a surprisingly difficult win over Texas San-Antonio with the only score of the game coming in the 80th minute with Christine Exeter getting the ball into the back of the net for the game winner.

The Women's Soccer team travels to Milwaukee to play a familiar foe in Marquette, Saturday evening.  Soccer is playing in The American Conference, so this is a non-conference matchup now.  With only a single game this week, the soccer team gets some extra time to get ready before they dive into their conference slate.

Cross Country

Kentucky hosted both the Men's and Women's Cross Country teams at the Bluegrass Cross Country Invitation in Lexington on Saturday.  The women came in second place overall behind Eastern Kentucky and ahead of host Kentucky.

The Women's Cross Country team will not compete this week, but will be preparing for their only home competition which is coming up on October 5th.

Golf

The Women's Golf team is off to a great start, taking the first and third place team finishes in the
Cardinal Cup at the Cardinal Club in Simpsonville, KY.  The Women's Golf team has taken first place in both events that it has participated so far.  The golf season runs all academic year, so they're in it for the long haul.  Unfortunately though, despite the long season, if you missed it Monday and Tuesday, you missed your only chance to see the UofL Women's Golf team play on their home course.

The team hopes to continue its winning ways in Knoxville, Tennessee this weekend on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Mercedes Benz Women's Collegiate.

Rowing

Last, but certainly not least, (seriously, have you seen the length of their roster?) the Rowing team warms up with a scrimmage against IU in Bloomington on Saturday.

Starting to get the word out early, your only chance to see the Rowing team at work here in Louisville will be a Red and Black day at the G. Garvin Brown III Rowing Center on the Ohio River on October 5th.  The Brown Rowing Center is UofL's fantastic boat house just upriver from Tumbleweed.  This, in addition to being the only event the Rowing Team holds in Louisville, is a great opportunity to see the great facilities that the team has to work with as well as providing a chance to mix and mingle with the many members of the Rowing Team.

Jeff McAdams


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