An Afternoon in Lexington - Monday Cardinal Couple

Volleyball Starts Spring Play

Volleyball started their spring season yesterday, with a trip down I-64 to Kentucky.  Any time UofL plays UK, it ends up being a good game, and this was no exception. Spring play is always a little loosey-goosey, but it makes for a good time, as well.  UK did come away with the win in a 3-2 match, but don't put too much stock in the match outcome as it's more about practice and a chance to measure up the progress being made against outside, and typically fairly well known, competition.

Of course, spring play also always brings a surprise or two concerning the roster, and this year is no exception.  The graduates, Katie George, Roxanne McVey, and Erin Fairs are off to new phases of their life (WDRB, LSU Beach Volleyball, and Sweden pro play, respectively).  A new player, Nikki Koval, has joined the team after transferring from USF, but we had the opportunity to meet her at the Volleyball banquet a couple of months ago.  The real surprises come from Maya McClendon and Aniah Philo deciding not to return.  We have no word about what their plans are, but both McClendon and Philo are excellent players and will no doubt find a new home for their skills. 

UofL will be having three incoming freshmen that will arrive on campus sometime this summer, and other transfers remain a possibility.

So what is UofL working on that we saw on the court in Memorial Coliseum? 

Probably the biggest question for UofL is what will happen at setter, with four year starter Katie George gone.  There are still three players on the roster listed as setters, Lindsay Palmer, Kali Eaken, and Morgan Miller. Lindsay has been contributing as a DS and serving specialist, and will struggle as a primary setter because she's only 5'8". Kali Eaken and Morgan Miller are both freshman, and you can see their progress.  Kali is a pure setter, while Morgan also has experience as a right side hitter.  We saw all three in the role yesterday, as well as some game time where the team played a 6-2 offense, with the setter always being in the back row.  While the 6-2 is still very much a work in progress for this team, the potential is exciting and it's a lot of fun to watch.  At this point, though, if they decided to go with a 5-1 offense, I would expect it to be Eaken.

Due to a few minor injuries that limited some players, it's hard to draw much in the way of conclusions about what's going on in the hitting positions.

Maggie Dejong didn't play at middle, but did play some as a DS...and got a small handful of swings in at left side. Jasmine Bennett played middle in her place, which is to be expected.  While she had a few miscues and mistimed jumps, her progress is noticeable as well.

Gabbie Wiley continues to have a high risk-high reward serve, provides some extra oomph in the defense, but she also had the opportunity to do some hitting as well.  I don't expect she'll ever be a dominant hitter, due to her height, but she did get some good swings in.  Morgan Miller also played out of her typical positions as well, with some swings from the left side rather than her usual right side.  Post-game, she expressed some surprise at being asked to play that role, but she did a fine job of it.

Otherwise, players continue to play their typical roles, Tess Clark doing Tess-like things in the middle, Molly Sauer digging every shot in sight, and Janelle Jenkins...well, she played just about every position on the court, which is nothing new for her.

Spring play continues for Volleyball next week with a round-robin tournament at OVVC on Saturday.  I believe that event starts at 8 a.m. and admission is $5/person.  They follow that up with a match Sunday vs Lipscomb, but I don't believe this one is open to the public.

Softball Drops Two vs North Carolina

I have several times wondered if it would be possible to travel with a team to be able to understand and write about the experience of road trips.

Then I see days like Sunday for Softball and I'm really glad I wasn't on that bus.

After winning a rain-delayed opener Saturday against UNC, the Cards dropped both games of the double-header yesterday.  It wasn't really for a lack of offense, with UofL scoring 5 and 6 in the games, but that wasn't enough to keep up with the Tarheels as they took the games 5-6 and 6-8.

UNC got things started early, putting three up in the 1st inning of the first game, and led 5-1 after 2 innings.  The run from was small ball for the Cards with a fielder's choice for Brittany Sims, a Jordan McNary single, before Jordan Vorbrink took advantage of a UNC error to get on.  While Sims would be put out at home on a Sidney Melton fielder's choice, Maryssa Becker would then get a walk to bring McNary home.  A score in the 3rd when a Lillie Goetz hit, and a Jenna Jordan walk set up Sims for an RBI single to score Goetz.

Things went quiet until the top of the 6th when the Cards would tie the game up at 5.  Sidney Melton got a single and was followed by a Becker double to put runners on 2nd and 3rd.  Jessica Adell pinch ran for Becker and would advance to 3rd while Melton scored on a wild pitch.  Adell put the 2nd run on the board on a sacrifice fly from Megan Hensley. Lillie Goetz started the base running up again when she got hit by a pitch, but got put out at 2nd on a fielder's choice where Jenna Jordan reached.  Nicole Pufahl shot one down the left field line to bring Jordan home.

The Cards had a chance to score in the 7th but couldn't make it happen.  UNC loaded the bases in the bottom of the 7th with one out but a single ended the game.

In the 2nd game Megan Hensley said, "Climb aboard!", but it just wasn't enough.  She went 3 for 4, had two home runs and 4 RBIs, but the Cards just couldn't ever maintain a lead in the game.

UNC started with two runs on the board in the 1st, which was equalized in the top of the 2nd.  Lillie Goetz walked, Jenna Jordan singled, and Brittany Sims doubled to bring Goetz home.  Sidney Melton singled to bring Jordan home and the score was tied at two.  In the 3rd, Becker was walked, and Megan Hensley sent one to the far side of the fence to make it 4-2.  UNC came back with a vengeance with five straight hits in the 4th to take the lead.  No lead was safe in this game, though.  In the 5th, Jordan McNary reached and then Hensley parked another one on whatever equivalent UNC has to the Ulmer berm making the score 6-5. 

Of course, not even that lead was safe as UNC got the equalizer in the bottom half of the 5th frame.  A walk and four hits in the bottom of the 6th got UNC to the final tally of 8-6, and promises of a very somber bus and airplane ride on the way back home.  The Cards did load the bases twice in the top of the 7th, but couldn't get anyone home.

The Cards look to bounce back with a 5:30 game at Kentucky on Wednesday before coming back to Ulmer for a weekend series against Virginia Tech.

FINAL TWO

UConn and Syracuse will face Tuesday night for the NCAA women's basketball championship in Indy. Both looked impressive in their wins last night. 

Can Syracuse pull off the upset? If Peterson, Fondren and Butler are "on"...don't count them out. UConn will miss Samuelson but expect Geno to have an alternative solution.

We'll miss Washington's Chantel Osahor and her flat-footed three-ball...but it should be a test of wills tonight. Will the zone and defensive pressure Syracuse employs have any effect on the Huskies? Can UConn get the lead early and make the Orange play their game? 

We'll know in less than 48 hours. 

RADIO

IF you missed our Saturday broadcast on The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour...here's the link to the SoundCloud rebroadcast: 

LINK: https://soundcloud.com/chradio/cardinal-couple-20160402

A great show with Clay Barnes joining us in the studio and discussing his job as videographer for UofL athletics. 

JMcA