Lots of News for WBB/VB/WSoc -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

There are plenty of happenings going on around Louisville women's athletics and ACC women's sports. Basketball is the big one on everybody's minds, but we also have some volleyball and soccer to hit too.

Cards Travel to UT Martin

The big news today surrounds Louisville women's basketball. The Cards play their first true road game of the season when they visit UT Martin for a 7:00pm ET tip. This will only be streamed on ESPN+, but there is the always-reliable radio option too on 93.9 FM The Ville. Nick Curran and Cortnee Walton are back on the mics for this one...although in Cortnee's new duties as women's basketball director of operations...she's not always a sure bet for being on the broadcast. 

Louisville played #5 UCLA in Paris, France at a neutral site to open the season, a game where the Bruins were able to win down the stretch. The Cards then came home for the first time and cruised past Southern Indiana.

UT Martin is 0-2 to start the year. They fell at home to North Alabama 66-63 before going on the road to lose to Tennessee 90-50. The Skyhawks do have a Kentucky native on the team. Anaya Brown is a graduate of Lafayette High School in Lexington, KY. Brown is second on the team in scoring at 11.0 points per game, only behind Kenley McCarn, who is averaging 14.0 points per game. Kenley's younger sister Kaitlyn also plays for UT Martin.

The Skyhawks have shot well from the floor at .416 and have been fairly effective from three-point range at .306. They've struggled with rebounding and defense, but it's hard to gauge what to expect out of an opponent just two games in.

Taj Roberts Named ACC Rookie of the Week

Sticking with women's basketball, Taj Roberts earned ACC Rookie of the Week accolades in the first ACC awards of the season. She is the first Louisville freshman since the 2020-2021 season to earn the honor. 

Roberts kicked off her collegiate career with 21 points against UCLA, highlighted by four three-pointers. She is the first Louisville freshman since Hailey Van Lith to top 20 points in their debut. Roberts followed up the season opener with 11 points against Southern Indiana.

Volleyball Moves Up

Following a pair of sweeps on the road plus a key loss by Penn State, Louisville volleyball moved up to #3 in the latest AVCA rankings. While the AVCA rankings do not directly reflect the Selection Committee rankings, they are often very similar. The goal is to finish in the top four so the Cards can host the entire tournament at the KFC Yum! Center, provided they continue to win.

Louisville still has six more matches in the regular season. They return home this weekend to host Duke and RV North Carolina. They then hit the road for a weekend against Virginia and Virginia Tech. The final two matches are rematches against #1 Pittsburgh and #7 Stanford.

NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament

The NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament was announced recently. While Louisville did not make it in, which is what we expected, the ACC fared extremely well. The ACC set a conference record with nine teams in the 64-team tournament.

The ACC teams in the tournament are:

1-seed Duke (ACC Regular Season Champion)

1-seed Florida State (ACC Tournament Champion)

2-seed North Carolina

2-seed Wake Forest

3-seed Stanford

4-seed Notre Dame

4-seed Virginia

7-seed Virginia Tech

California

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared