WHO IS THE BEST OF THE BEST SO FAR?
With soccer, volleyball, field hockey, golf, rowing and cross country underway for the University of Louisville women's sports programs...the past few weeks have been non-stop fun and coverage for us here at CARDINAL COUPLE. Add in the recruiting pursuits of Jeff Walz and staff and we've been fortunate to have a full plate of items to cover, discuss and analyze .And there is plenty of action ahead!
I was thinking about the performances of the squads so far and who was making a huge impact on their teams' successes and have decided to present my top five performers...so far...for women's sports at UofL.(Please keep in mind these are Paulie observations and may not reflect the opinions of the rest of the Cardinal Couple staff and management.)
If not, I'm sure I'll hear about it...
HONORABLE MENTION
Field Hockey: Elisa "Chile" Garcia, Katherine "Woody" Gwynne-Wood, Victoria Stratton, Stephanie Byrne.
Volleyball: Janelle Jenkins, Maya McClendon, Molly Sauer, Tess Clark, Roxanne McVey.
Soccer: Inger "KB" Katrine Bjerke, Paige Brown, Hannah Konermann, Alison Price, Rachel Avant.
Cross Country: Clare Noser, Aurilla Wilson, Bernadate Cherulyot.
THE TOP FIVE:
5) Erin Fairs.
As good as promised after transferring to Louisville from USF. A force to be reckoned with as a outside hitter and showing her skills translate from the AAC to the ACC. Bringing "wow-power" and delivering. "Erin-go-kill" sounds great to us! 4) Casey Whitfield.
She leads Women's soccer in goals scored, points and shots...all while playing less than full-time while rehabbing on an Achilles injury. Plus, the girl can tap-dance and that rates high with Paulie. The best is yet to come with her...if the tendon can remain healthy. Her team leadership and enthusiasm for the program and her team-mates is something that can't be hobbled. 3) Katie Mitchell
She led from wire-to-wire in the Georgia event against some really great golfers from Georgia, Tennessee and Georgia State. Her 66 in the first round led her to a 13 stroke advantage over all her teammates. This senior is poised to do some great things for the drive-and-putt Cards and has gotten the season off "mas bueno". 2) Katie George
1) Ayeshia McFerran
Field Hockey is 5-1 and ranked #11 in the nation. "Mac" is allowing less than one goal per game and is arguably the best one-on-one goalie in the nation...as a freshman. Tough between the pipes...McFerran typifies the "all in", team first attitude that Justine Sowry advocates. She's #1 in our book and is the un-movable force on a powerful squad...our top performer so far for the UofL women's sports squads. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////
BITS AND PIECES
-- Lauren Benner has been named assistant coach for Louisville Lacrosse. She comes from the University of Denver...where she held a similar position.
-- How rare is this? Field Hockey, Volleyball and Soccer are all on the road this weekend. FH goes to Chapel Hill for two, Volleyball hits Cincinnati and Lexington and Soccer takes off to Boston College.
paulie
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When I think of impact players, I think of, perhaps unsung heroes, or players whose play has changed the trajectory of the program for the time period in question (in this case, this fall).
ReplyDeleteSo, I think I'm gonna have to take a probably unpopular stance and say I disagree with Katie George as #2.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm as much of a fan of our resident beauty queen as anyone else. She's awesome as a setter...but she's been amazing as a setter for the past three years for us. The program would be significantly worse off without her, but she hasn't really upped her game much from past years...I mean, it's hard to improve upon nigh-on perfect.
So, don't let it be said that I'm selling Katie short, but as far as impact of improving the performance of the team this year versus last, I would say Janelle Jenkins, who has stepped up her level of play again this year, or probably even moreso Molly Sauer, who has helped change the whole complexion of our defensive play with her digging and passing, are more deserving of that #2 spot.
Just one fan's opinion.
Some good points here....Worldwide Her winning the Active Ankle MVP award indicates to me that she's doing a lot of good things for the squad. But, you are the Volleyball guru for CC...so your observations probably are more accurate and spot-on. Sauer has had a tremendous impact on passing and Jenkins game has improved significantly from last year.
DeleteAnyone else want to weigh in?
Paulie