Volleyball Sweeps; Soccer Finale -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Manages Sweep in South Bend

It may not have been the prettiest sweep in history, but at the end of the evening, Louisville volleyball left the Purcell Pavilion with a 3-0 victory. The Cards finished with a final score of 25-21, 25-19, 25-23. For a sweep, the match took much longer than expected, since the two teams played a half dozen or so points in the second set twice. Louisville was found to be out of rotation in the set, but not until the Cards had gone on an extended run. However, the rules state that when the officials determine the rotation error, they can "rewind" the match as far as needed to rectify the issue. Louisville still went on to win the set, so no harm no foul; just weird. 

It wasn't a stellar hitting night for either team. Notre Dame struggled to a 0.183 percentage with 18 errors, but the Cards managed just 0.282 with 15 errors of their own. Both teams blocked decently, with the Irish actually edging the Cards by one block. The stat sheet credits Notre Dame with 8.5 blocks due to a triple block, but since that's not how the points work, they only had eight blocks compared to Louisville's seven. That means the Cards took advantage of Notre Dame hitting errors and their own relatively clean play to stay on top. 

The Cards also had fewer aces in the match, but they won the battle at the service line with a net +1. Louisville had two aces and six errors while Notre Dame had four and nine. The Irish also committed two setting errors, giving the Cards a couple of additional free points. 

Louisville was led offensively by Chloe Chicoine, who finished with 14 kills. Chicoine had the highest number of kills in the match and she was the only Cardinal to eclipse double-digits. She finished with a double-double, as well, adding 10 blocks to her stat line. She also assisted a block. Cara Cresse returned to form a bit, coming home second with nine kills. Kalyssa Blackshear had eight and Payton Petersen had seven. Cresse also led the team in hitting percentage at 0.467. 

Defensively, Hannah Sherman continued to show her strength in the middle with a solo block (Louisville's only solo block) and two assists. Cresse had four block assists and Blackshear had three. Kamden Schrand had 14 digs, and the team was able to stay mostly in system, as Nayelis Cabello was forced into only six digs. Notre Dame may have finally picked up on Cabello's offense, as she was limited to two kills and two errors on eight attempts. 

Escaping South Bend with a win is nice, and doing so with a sweep is even better. Louisville will get another crack and Notre Dame on Saturday, as the ACC volleyball travel partner quirk means a home-and-home week. That match will be Louisville's final volleyball match of the season in the KFC Yum! Center, as all of their remaining home matches will return to L&N Arena. Basketball makes scheduling in the Yum! a bit more of a hassle. The two teams will get underway at 3PM and plenty of tickets are still available. 

Women's Soccer Hosts SMU

Louisville women's soccer will host their regular season finale tonight against the SMU Mustangs. There is still all to play for on the final ACC matchday of the season. With eight games tonight, every team is in action, save Syracuse. As is typical on Decision Days, most games will take place at the same time. Two games (Wake/FSU and Stanford/Cal) will finish before the final game (NC State/UNC) kicks off, but all other matches will overlap. 

As Jared wrote on Tuesday, it's a pretty straightforward ask for the Cards to make the ACC Tournament. All they need to do is win tonight's game. With a victory, the Cards can finish no worse than sixth place. With a draw, they can still make the ACC tournament, but they will need a few results to fall their way. Jared wrote about those scenarios, so I won't belabor them too much. 

The best the Cards can finish is third, but that's a bit unlikely. Simply, Louisville would finish third if Wake, BC, and Clemson beat FSU, Virginia, and Duke, respectively. The BC win is the biggest hiccup there. Tiebreakers could play a major role in the seeding, but there are too many scenarios for a draw, so let's only look at a Louisville win. If the Cards are in a two-way tie, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head. Louisville loses a two-way tie with Florida State outright, but they drew Virginia, so they would move to the second tiebreaker, which is wins over common conference opponents. 

Coincidentally, Louisville and Virginia played very different schedules this season and have only four common opponents: FSU, Clemson, Virginia Tech, and Boston College. Both teams lost to FSU, and if we are assuming they are tied on 20 points, both teams will have beaten the remaining three teams. The next tiebreaker is conference goal difference. Louisville's season goal difference is a staggering +37, easily beating Virginia's +22, but the Cards' offensive production has fallen significantly in conference. Louisville is +4 in conference play, while Virginia is +9. The Cards would need to beat SMU by six more goals than however many Virginia beats BC by to win the tiebreaker outright and by five more to advance to the next tiebreaker. 

The fourth tiebreaker is goals scored in conference matches. Louisville has 11, while Virginia has 19. For Louisville to win the fourth tiebreaker without winning the third would be an incredible evening of soccer in Louisville and Charlottesville. Here's a funny quirk. The fifth tiebreaker is goals allowed in conference matches. Why? If the teams are tied on goal difference and on goals scored, they must, by definition, have given up the same number of goals. The next tiebreaker is head-to-head results against conference opponents highest rated in the standings, but we already mentioned that Louisville and Virginia have the same results against their four common opponents, so that one is moot. As a result, if Louisville manages to somehow match Virginia on goals scored and goal difference, the tiebreaker would be a coinflip. 

The three-way tie scenario, in which Louisville, Virginia, and FSU are all on 20 points is actually rather simple. Since FSU beat both teams, they win the first tiebreaker (total points in head-to-head conference game results) and then Louisville and Virginia are sorted out on the two-team tiebreaker described above. 

While a Louisville win guarantees they're in the ACC tournament, the seeding possibilities show how tight the points have been this season. A Louisville win could see the Cards finish in any position from 3rd to 6th. We'll see what happens at the end of the final whistle. Kickoff is at 7PM in Lynn Stadium. Dress warm and stay dry. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

#8 Volleyball gets Notre Dame back-to-back -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

VOLLEY CARDS PLAYING NOTRE DAME VOLLEYBALL BACK-TO-BACK

Scheduling for any of the sports in the ACC has got to be a tough chore anymore...especially with the recent addition of Cal, Stanford and SMU. And, in Volleyball...it's a longer season than other women's sports like soccer or field hockey...so interesting things can happen. But...what were the schedule gods thinking when they put the Cards in back-to-back matches against the Irish? 

One has to wonder...in a series that has seen these two since 1986, when the two have played.at Sacred Heart High School, the KICC, LNFCU, Freedom Hall and the KFC YUM! Center when Louisville has hosted. The 2018 Sacred Heart choice was an interesting one...necessitated by a horrible power outage in the city that knocked out Cardinal Arena's power and many other locations in our city.. I attended that one and remember they handed everyone a bottle of water when we walked into the Sacred Heart gym. 

The 2025 regular season between the two squads starts at South Bend, IN today at 7 p.m. and then back to Louisville for a 3 p.m Saturday match at the KFC YUM! Center. 

The Irish are 8-10 on the season and 5-5 in the ACC. They've played a very challenging schedule...with losses to Villanova, Illinois, LSU, twice to Michigan, Syracuse, Stanford, Pitt, SMU and North Carolina. They've also played three ranked teams in the four games and lost to all three...before breaking the losing streak when they went to unranked  Duke and finally won in straight sets. 

Morgan Gaerte

Morgan Gaerte leads the Irish in kills with 287 and she's a 6'5" sophomore outside hitter from Angola High School in Angola, Indiana. . Angola is in the northeast corner of Indiana...about 75 miles east of South Bend.

The Irish have two Kentuckians on their roster...Sydney Helmers is a 6'4" outside hitter who played at Assumption High School and started her college career at Texas before transferring to Notre Dame. Lucy Trump is a 6'0" outside hitter from Florence (Y'all) and played for Ryle High School.  ...Helmers was a first team All-State player in 2019,2020 and 2021 and Trump was Miss Kentucky Volleyball in 2021. 

As for the VolleyCards, they are 16-4 on the season and 8-2 in conference. The VolleyCards have lost to Texas, Kentucky, SMU and Pitt....all Top 20 ranked teams.  

It should be a fun one, and  will be shown on the ACC Network. 

paulie

WSoc Remains Top 6 in ACC — TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Sit in Tie for Fourth

With one match remaining in the regular season, Louisville women’s soccer is not only in prime position to make the 64-team NCAA Tournament, but they also sit in a good position to make the six-team ACC Tournament. Despite the recent expansion to 17 teams, the ACC continues to opt for a six team lineup.

The ACC Tournament is arguably the tougher tournament to make due to the limited number of spots. In the women’s soccer world, the ACC continues to be the premiere conference. Last year, the entire Final Four was made up of ACC teams. Currently, seven teams are ranked in the Coaches Poll with the top three positions across the country going to Notre Dame, Stanford, and Virginia. The RPI puts nine ACC teams in the top 25.

Erynn Floyd --ACC Defensive PLayer of the Week

Louisville is tied with Florida State and Virginia with 17 points. Notre Dame and Stanford are tied with 25 points and are a lock for the top two seeds. Duke sits in third with 18 points. Also in the running are Cal (16), Wake Forest (15), North Carolina (15), Clemson (14), and NC State (14). The last two should already be eliminated pending nothing crazy happening.

A win will guarantee Louisville a spot in the top six teams. A drew would give the Cards 18 points, which may be enough to still make it.

Here are some matches of note that can impact the final standings for Louisville:

Stanford (25 points) vs California (16 points)

Duke (18 points) vs Clemson (14 points)

Virginia (17 points) vs Boston College (5 points)

Florida State (17 points) vs Wake Forest (15 points)

North Carolina (15 points) vs NC State (14 points)

Again, if Louisville wins, then they are in. If they draw or lose, they will need to follow these five matches closely.

To make things simple on who to cheer for in the event of a Louisville loss or draw, the teams we want to win (or draw in most cases) are:

Stanford to win if Louisville loses, or Stanford to win/draw if Louisville draws

Boston College to win whether Louisville wins, draws, or loses

Clemson to win/draw if Louisville wins or draws, Duke to win if Louisville loses

Florida State to win or draw if Louisville loses, Wake Forest to win or draw if Louisville wins

North Carolina and NC State to draw would be best case scenario. If Louisville wins, then this outcome does not matter. If Louisville draws, then an NC State win or draw is best. If Louisville loses, then either team could possibly pass Louisville in points or tiebreaker

For now, we will look forward to Thursday and hope for a positive result and Lynn Stadium.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

FH Falls 2-1 at BC -- VB beats #21 UNC 3-1 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good Monday morning readers. 

Fall sports schedules are winding down and the WSoc squad is in the position to see some post season action.   The FH ladies stumbled in their final road matchup for the fall 2-1 vs BC and the VolleyCARDS won 3-1 on Tobacco Road.  

Lets recap the matches

Field Hockey

Louisville 1 vs Boston College 2

Photo: Jared Anderson

Louisville went into this one facing a winless in the ACC BC Eagles team and unfortunately let one slip through their fingers after losing on a shootout in 2OT. 

Aubreigh Uba earned her first goal of the season on the assist from Lauren Masters but BC was able to equalize the shot in the second quarter on a corner, their first of the match. The Eagles finished with 10 corners in the game.

With the score tied, Louisville held on to a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal and a 3-1 edge in penalty corners.

BC gained momentum in the 3rd quarter as the Eagles outshot Louisville 9-3 and owned a 6-0 advantage in penalty corners, but the Cardinals' defense weathered the attack. Neither team was able to register a shot or earn a corner in the fourth quarter with much of the action taking place in the midfield.

With the score still 1 all, the teams continued to battle through two 10-minute 7v7 overtime periods. Both teams generated scoring opportunities but were unable to net a goal.  

The contest entered a best-of-five shootout which saw the Eagles prevail 3-1.   Lauren Masters was the only Card who was able to score in the shoot off.  

Louisville is hosting the ACC tournament next week 11/4-11/7. 

Volleyball

Louisville 3 - UNC 1 

Photo: Jared Anderson

UofL moves to 16-4 and 8-2 in the ACC. UofL hit .144 with 54 kills, seven aces and 18 blocks.  Kalyssa Blackshear had 15 kills and seven blocks while Chloe Chicoine contributed 13 kills and a team-high 23 digs with two blocks.  Hannah Sherman lead for the Cards with 13 blocks and Kamden Schrand had 20 digs, adding a pair of aces to pace the defense.

from gocards.com

Set 1  - 25-11
Chloe Chicoine the began the match with an ace and then Hannah Kenny landed two more to take the Cards to a 7-2 start and force UNC to call a timeout early. Later in the set, Kenny put together a six-point serving run to go up 14-6 and UNC had to burn its last timeout to try and cool her hot hand. UNC managed to sideout but one point later, the Cards ran off a 9-2 run to go up 22-8. Kamden Schrand aced the Heels to get to set point at 24-9 and then a UNC hitting error gave UofL the 25-10 win.

Set 2  - 25-23
Louisville used a 5-0 run in the second set to go up 14-9, causing UNC to call timeout. The break benefited the Heels as they answered with a 4-1 run to pull within three at 17-14. The teams traded points before a Molly Wilson ace gave the Cards a 22-17 lead. A Tar Heel hitting error and a block by Kalyssa Blackshear put UofL at set point but UNC ran off four straight points to pull within one point at 24-23. Payton Petersen put an end to the late UNC rally with a kill from the left side to give the Cardinals a 25-23 win and a 2-0 set lead going into the break.

Set 3   22-25
The third set featured 14 ties and five lead changes. UNC took its first lead at 8-7 as part of a 4-0 run that took the Heels up 10-7. The teams traded points and UNC led 15-14 at the media timeout. Chloe Chicoine had three straight kills to tie at 19 before North Carolina called timeout. The break was effective as the Heels went on a 5-2 run to take a 23-21 lead and force a Cardinal timeout. UofL scored coming out of the huddle but UNC benefited from a UofL hitting error before a kill by Chelsea Thorpe gave UNC the 25-22 win.

Set 4   26-24
Tar Heel momentum carried over to the fourth set and Louisville had to call time out when the Cards fell behind 9-4. UofL battled back to tie at 14 and took the lead at 17-16 after two straight kills by Ava Utterback. UNC called timeout when UofL went up 19-18 and then went on to tie at 19 and retake the lead at 20-19. After UNC tied at 20 and then scored twice more to take a 22-20 and Meske had to call timeout. UNC scored once coming out of the break but a Cardinal block and a kill by Blackshear drew the Cards within one at 23-22. The Cards finished on a 4-0 run to win 26-24. A challenge on the final point was not upheld to give the Cards the set and match win.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COACH WALZ!!!! 

Make it a great week everyone! 

As Always, 
Go Cards
~Daryl 

VOLLEYBALL, FIELD HOCKEY IN SUNDAY ACTION. 

One of those days where we get two UofL women's sports taking to the pitch and court on the same day...when Cards Volleyball and Field Hockey take on foes. Yes, it's Stick Girls showcase and Indoor Net Cards looking for "net success"  

 Let's look at "what's happening".

FIELD HOCKEY

Justine Sowry's Cards (7-8, 1-5) travel to Beantown to face a foe that has a 5-10 record and hasn't won a conference game yet this season. 

The Eagles most recently hosted Syracuse for a match, but the Orange prevailed 3-1. Let's hope our stick girls have the same luck that Cardinal football had against BC. 

Boston is known as "college town". Just some of the ones located there are B.C., Boston University, Brandeis University, Harvard, M.I.T.,and Northeastern. 

B.C. knocked off the Cards 1-0 last year at Trager, but the Cards hold an 8-6 advantage since 2014. 

This one starts at noon and viewing will be available on ACCNX . It's Senior Day for the Eagles, so this one will be an exciting "battle of the birds" It is the "Battle for last place in the conference" so let's hope the Cards can avoid losing today. 

VOLLEYBALL

Cards Volleyball is travelling as well, paying a visit to Chapel Hill to face UNC. 

The Cards slid to #8 in the AVCA ranking...even after a straight-set sweep of the Duke Blue Devils. Dan Meske's jumpers will face a little tougher competition in UNC...they are 15-2 overall and ranked #21 in the AVCA rankings. 

UNC most recently used a "reverse sweep" to knock off Notre Dame. The Tar Heels certainly aren't stuck in Volleyball...they are on a ten-game win streak and 9-0 in the ACC. 

This one will be on ESPN and is scheduled for a 3 p.m first serve. 

Since it is National Pumpkin Day, let's hope the Cards end up with a "smiley" one...instead of a spooky one. 

paulie

Volleyball Sweeps, FH Drops Home Match -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Sweeps Duke on the Road

Following a tough week at home last weekend, the Wide-Net Cards hit the road to take on a pair of teams in North Carolina. That started last night with a victory over the Duke Blue Devils, which Louisville took down in three sets despite some surprising fight from the home team. The hosts, who fell to just 5-15 (2-7) this season, pushed Louisville to the brink in sets one and three, though the Cards took care of business in a big way in the second. The final score was 25-23, 25-13, 25-22. 

The match was also not without its worrisome moments for Louisville. After taking a 16-15 lead in the first, Louisville gave up a five-point run to Duke to trail 20-16. The Cards worked back a 6-1 run of their own to make it 22-21, and the two teams traded a couple of points before the Cards used back-to-back kills to win the set. 

The third set also saw Louisville facing a moderate deficit, though this one came much earlier. Duke came out of the halftime break with a vengeance and jumped out to a 9-3 lead over the Cards. Louisville didn't respond with a major run right away, but instead methodically chunked down that lead to get back in touching distance. After a Duke kill made it 13-11, Louisville used a quick 7-2 burst to take an 18-15 lead. While three points doesn't seem like much, a lead like that late in a set against a very good team like Louisville would have been a bit demoralizing for Duke, especially after squandering a big advantage early. The Cards played with their food a bit, allowing the Blue Devils to stick around, but Duke never got closer than two en route to the final score. 

Louisville's offense spread the love last night, with no player finishing with more than ten kills. Chloe Chicoine and Payton Petersen had 10 apiece, while Kalyssa Blackshear and Nayelis Cabello each finished with seven. Apparently Duke learned nothing from Cabello's offensive performance against Pittsburgh on Sunday, leaving her mostly undefended. Cabello's seven kills came on 13 attempts and she had no errors. Cara Cresse continued to be in a bit of a slump, finishing with three kills and two errors on 12 attempts for an 0.083 hitting percentage. Not ideal for the star middle. 

Cresse did make up for the hitting woes a bit with a strong defensive presence, as she had a solo block and four assists. She was one of two Cardinals with a solo block, as Cabello had the other to go along with three assists. Louisville finished with ten total team blocks, heavily winning that battle as Duke had just three. Louisville hit only .327 in the match, but they held the Blue Devils to .142. 

Louisville also narrowly won the serving battle with two fewer service errors than Duke. Each team finished with six aces, and Kamden Schrand led the way for the Cards in that category with three. Louisville was even on the night from the line, as they also had six errors. Interestingly, the Cards' advantage at the service line was erased by a very whistle-happy referee on the set game. Four total bad sets were called in the match, and Louisville was on the wrong side of three of them. Cabello was called for just one of those. 

Louisville's win keeps them level with SMU at 7-2 in conference play. Both teams are also 15-4 overall and are tied for fourth in the league. The Cards will have a difficult test in their next match, facing the current conference leaders in Chapel Hill. UNC is 16-2 overall and have won ten straight matches to keep them undefeated in conference play. Like Louisville, all of UNC's losses have come in five sets. Unlike Louisville, UNC's were not to top-ten teams. UNC has losses to South Carolina and Kansas State this season, and they have played just one ranked team. The Tar Heels swept then-#11 Florida in Chapel Hill on September 9th. 

The Cards will be a bit fresher, as UNC went five sets with Notre Dame last night. The Heels pulled off a reverse sweep to beat the Irish 19-25, 15-25, 25-17, 25-20, 15-13. The win came in UNC's first match on their new Taraflex court. Unfortunately for Louisville, they won't get to spoil the new floor debut like they did at Creighton, but they can hand UNC their first loss on the new surface. Tomorrow's match between #8 Louisville and #21 UNC will be on ESPN at 3PM. 

FH Offense Falters vs #3 Virginia

Louisville field hockey brought in another ranked team to Trager Stadium yesterday afternoon, but they couldn't repeat the magic of last week's win over California. The Cards' offense wasn't able to break down the stout Cavalier defense and Virginia went on to beat Louisville 2-0. The loss pushed the Cards back below .500 (7-8) and ensured they will finish the conference season below .500 as well. Louisville is still ahead of Boston College in the ACC standings and will have a head-to-head opportunity to lock up their spot in the ACC tournament tomorrow. 

Make no mistake: Virginia is very good. The 12-1 Cavaliers have scored 29 goals this season and they have given up just six. Their defense allows only 7.85 shots per game and has given up just 55 shots on goal for the entire season. On the other side of the ball, the Cavs can create opportunities in a multitude of ways. They've got 82 shots on goal this season and they have only earned 62 corners. All that is to say that Louisville put up a pretty tough fight in this one, but moral victories only go so far. 

Virginia scored early in both the first and second quarters, with a goal in the fifth minute of the match and another in the third minute of the second quarter. Each goal was the scorer's second of the season, which isn't super surprising as the 29 goals scored by the Cavaliers this season have come from 14 different players. The Cards were held fairly quiet in the first half, earning just one shot in each quarter, with both forcing a Virginia save. 

Louisville was able to put the pressure on in the second half, but Virginia's goalie was too much for the Cards to handle. Louisville came out with a clear intent to cut the deficit and try to equalize, as they put up eight shots in the second half. None of their three shots in the third quarter found the target, but they were stymied on four shots on goal in the final stanza. Louisville made use of five penalty corners in the second half but were unable to find the back of the cage. Meanwhile, Virginia kept the Cards honest by taking three second half shots and forcing an Emily Young save on each one. 

The Cards get a very quick turnaround this weekend as they follow a Friday afternoon home match with a Sunday afternoon clash in Chestnut Hill. Louisville will face Boston College tomorrow at noon. If Louisville wins, they'll be guaranteed a spot in the ACC tournament. A loss means they'd need a win over Syracuse or they'd be out on head-to-head tiebreaker. With Trager hosting the event, being left out would be extremely unfortunate. Tomorrow's match will be on ACC Network Extra. 

No Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're out this week due to various hosts being unavailable. We should return with the show next week. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WSoc pours it on NC State 3-0 -- FH and VB preview -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Good morning readers, 

Glad to have you back.  Its Daryl checking in with you for homecoming weekend as we are somehow already at that point.  

I made a goob out of myself a couple times this week when I ran into some athletics squads on campus so if youre here today because of those moments, hello and sorry for the awkwardness! But so glad youre here! 

So many major activities to get to today so lets go. 

WSoc recap

Louisville 3 - NC State 0

Photo: Jared Anderson

I got to watch this one in full last night and it was quite the performance.  Louisville got the win 3-0 but it was 0-0 majority of the way.  It was a solid offensive attack from the Cards throughout they...were just not able to convert on their many attempts... until AG Gibson, Betsy Huckaby and Amelia Swinarski all managed to net a goal with less than 20 minutes left in the match.  In total the squad managed 17 shots, 8 of them on goal.

To start, both squads battled to establish any dominance in the first 15 minutes.  Birthday girl and visiting her hometown, Raleigh NC, Mackenzie Geigle had a couple shot attempts in the first 17 minutes of play.  She had 4 shots on the evening but wasn't able to convert but that's okay because the Kicking Cards got the win at NC State!

With less than 6 minutes left in the first half, Taylor Morris managed to fire off 3 shots to close out the half.  Head Coach Karen Ferguson Dayes said she wished there for 10 more minutes left in the half because she felt like the Cardinals were gaining offensive momentum.   

A floater from Gibson at the top of the box off the corner kick clear in the 70th minute was her 4th goal of the season and first in ACC play.  With 10 minutes left to play, the exhaustion started to kick in for former UofL and current Wolfpack goalkeeper Olivia Pratapas who had 4 saves on the evening.  

Erynn Floyd also had 4 saves on the evening, maybe add one rejection by the crossbar and she had herself a solid night in the net!    

UP NEXT

Louisville vs SMU 

10/30 at 7PM 

FH preview

Photo: Jared Anderson

Louisville vs #3 Virginia

Friday 10/24 3:00pm

ACCNX

Louisville is 7-7 and 1-4 in the ACC while the #3 Cavaliers are 11-1 and 5-1 ACC and have not left the Top 10 rankings this season.

Junior goalkeeper Nilou Lempers earned ACC Defensive Player of the Week (9/9) after recording two shutouts in route to 1-0 victories against #12 Ohio State and No.18 Rutgers

Junior Mia Abello leads the team with 5 goals on 26 shot attempts totally 12 points and is tied for 2 game-winning goals.

Last time out in 2024, Virginia beat Louisville 1-0 at Turf Field after losing to the Cardinals 2-0 on the road in 2023.  UVA leads the overall series 12-9.


I will probably try to pop over to this one Friday afternoon!  




Vball preview

Photo: Jared Anderson

Louisville at Duke

Friday 10/24 6:30pm

The Blue Devils are currently 5-14 on the season and 2-6 in the ACC getting swept on the road this past weekend at Syracuse and Boston College.  

Against the Orange, redshirt senior Ngozi Iloh matched a career-high 14 kills on 23 swings for a .478 hitting percentage to lead the Blue Devil offense. Redshirt junior Millie Muir paced the attack with 14 assists, while sophomore Mailinh Godschall anchored the defense with 10 digs. Iloh also led the team with 1.5 total blocks. 

At BC, Iloh, sophomore Taylor Williams and freshman Ashby Zubchevich each registered six kills, while freshman Charlotte Glass dished out a team-best 10 assists. Defensively, Godschall collected a match-high 19 digs, and sophomore Breonna Goss and Iloh added two blocks apiece.

Louisville leads in the all-time series against Duke, 14-6, including the Cardinals leading the conference series, 11-3. Louisville has won the last 11 times out, and Duke's last win over the Cardinals came during the 2016 season, when the Blue Devils posted a sweep inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.

WBB News

Photo: Jared Anderson

The Huskies and Cardinals will still tipoff on 11/4 

at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN

but now its in Annapolis, MD per the Courier Journal 

 

As Always, 
Go Cards
~Daryl 

Soccer Faces Tough Test at NC State -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards and Wolfpack Battle for ACC Berth

Louisville women's soccer is almost guaranteed a spot in the NCAA tournament at this point. Taking a point off of a top-15 opponent on the road against Wake Forest and then doing the same at home against a top-5 Virginia team speaks volumes. Louisville moved to 11-3-2 on Saturday night and is 4-2-2 in conference play with two games to go. One of those games is tonight, when Louisville will take on NC State in Raleigh. The game will see two teams with 14 ACC points face off in a match where they fight for one of the six spots in the ACC tournament. 

The Cards and Wolfpack are two of four teams with 14 points, tied also with Virginia and Florida State. Virginia and NC State both have a game in hand on the Cards, with three games remaining on the schedule, but Florida State is truly tied. The four teams are currently tied for fourth, so one of them is out of the tournament at the moment. Which of those teams it is, though, is a little difficult to tell. Tiebreakers will have a large part to play, but there isn't a whole lot of reason to pay attention to those until everyone is facing their final match day. One thing that is important to note is that Louisville is tied with three teams but just one win (or less) ahead of four other teams, three of those with one more game to play than Louisville. 

The top-line takeaway from all of that is that Louisville should focus on beating NC State and SMU to close the season and let the chips fall where they may. If the Cards finish with 20 points in conference and get left out of the conference tournament, so be it. In that case, they will have lost two matches to top-10 opponents on the road and taken two difficult draws from quality opponents while winning six games. It would be hard to argue against that being a great season in the ACC.

First up is tonight's match. Louisville will be without Ella Bard, as the freshman defender is in Portugal with the USYNT. Bard has played in 13 matches, starting seven, and has played 849 minutes. She played the entire second half against Virginia, so it's not as if Louisville won't miss her this week. The show must go on, though, so Hadley Snyder will be forced to carry even more load in the middle of the defense, and we may see some other players shift around if she can't go the full 90. 

Defense will be important, as something changed for NC State starting with the Campbell game on September 7th. The Wolfpack started the season 0-5-2 against questionable competition other than #20 (at the time) Michigan State. In that early non-conference slate, they scored just three goals and gave up 14. Then, suddenly, they turned their season around after a 0-0 draw against Elon. Three days later, they scored their highest goal total of the season with a 4-0 win over Campbell and have lost just one conference game since. That loss was a 2-1 defeat on the road at Notre Dame. They drew FSU at home 1-1 and VT on the road 4-4, and they beat Wake Forest 2-1 in Raleigh, just before Louisville drew them in Winston-Salem. They've scored 11 conference goals and given up eight. 

NC State will be a tough customer. I'm not sure what to attribute their sudden renaissance to, but Louisville would dearly love to shut down their magical conference season. The Cards have played well, but a draw against NC State might not be enough. With just two games to go, it would be nice to finally find some of those goals they scored in the non-conference season. NC State has obviously shown their propensity to allow scoring, having had four games with three or more goals given up. 

NC State has elected to make tonight's match Senior Night, instead of their final home game on Sunday against Duke. That's probably saying something about their opinion of Louisville, so it might be good bulletin board material for the Cards. With an ACC tournament berth on the line and NCAA tournament seeding to play for, Louisville needs to show up and show out tonight against the Wolfpack. Tonight's match will be on ACC Network Extra at 7PM. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Field Hockey needs to win to ensure ACC Tournament Berth -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 THREE GAMES BEFORE ACC FH TOURNAMENT AT TRAGER

The good news is...that the ACC Field Hockey Tournament will be held at the Cards Field Hockey (Trager Stadium) facility this year. November 4th is Tournament opening day

The worrisome news is... that eight of the nine teams in ACC Field Hockey participate in it and Louisville is clinging to eighth place at 1-4 in conference play. Even there, they are still in, but can't risk losing anymore and letting ninth place Boston College catch up with them. BC is 0-6 and has Syracuse on 10/24 and Louisville on 10/26 left on the schedule.  

That regular season ending match against the Cards...in Newton, Massachusetts could very well decide which school gets left out of the ACC Tournament -- since the ACC only has 9 schools that participate in Field Hockey. 

Not that eighth place is a bonus, because you'll end up facing (as of now) #1...Wake Forest...which is now 6-0 in conference and has Duke , App State and Virginia left. The two conference games are away games for Wake Forest. 

Trager is a showcase, for sure, for Field Hockey and got new turf in 2022 and a new video board. 

ACC FIELD HOCKEY STANDINGS: (In conference)

Wake Forest         6-0                                                                                                                  UNC                     6-1                                                                                                                    Virginia                 5-1                                                                                                                    Duke                     4-2                                                                                                                    Syracuse              2-4                                                                                                                    California              2-5                                                                                                                    Stanford               2-5                                                                                                                    Louisville              1-4                                                                                                                    Boston College    0-6

The Cards have three matches left in regular season...hosting Virginia, at Boston College and hosting Syracuse.

If the Cards could manage two wins in these final three matches , it's possible they could climb out of eight place. Knocking off Syracuse and B.C. isn't far fetched at all. They haven't won an ACC game on the road yet, though...so a bit of lady luck will need to be on their side at B.C. 

We all knew that ACC Field Hockey wasn't going to be a walk in the park...ever since the Cards got in back in 2014...but they were able to amass winning records from 2014 through 2023. They also made NCAA Tournament appearances in nine of those 10 years. 

So...what happened in 2024 and this year? There isn't really one key thing you can point at and determine it as the cause for the drop-off in the W-L record...yes, Big 10 Field Hockey got better and Harvard, Princeton and Liberty all popped into the top 10 last year. This trends with the "hot" eight states for Field Hockey recruiting: (in alphabetical order) Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Someone will get upset that I left their state out...that's life I suppose.

A look at the Louisville roster shows 11 of their 23 players from those eight states. Our Commonwealth of Kentucky has three players on the 2025 roster (from Christian Academy, Sacred Heart and Assumption) and foreign players number five. 

Just two years ago, the UofL roster had 11 foreign players and only two from Kentucky (Manual and Assumption). 

UNC, who is currently #1 in the polls...has three foreign players (all from the Netherlands) and three players from North Carolina...but five players from New Jersey. Their head coach (Erin Matson) is from Pennsylvania and she has three Pennsylvanians on her squad. she also played at UNC and is the most decorated player in UNC Field Hockey history. 

So, how do the Cards get to be as good as a UNC or Wake Forest?

One idea would be to play better against ranked teams. Last year they were 0-9 against ranked opponents and had a 6-11 record overall. This year they are 7-7 so far and wins have come against Mich. St, Ohio University, Indiana, Ohio St., St. Joseph, Bellarmine and California...but only IU and OSU are in the top 20 (20th and 18th in the latest poll) . 

The "get better players and win more games" phrase is largely attributed to Pat Riley and holds forth for the Cards FH squad as well. You have the facility, you are in a top flight league and have a solid coaching staff. Maybe it's time to start winning the recruiting battles against the other ACC schools. 

Time will tell

paulie

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

WSoc in Position for NCAA Tournament Bid -- VB Missing Piece -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Tuesday, UofL fans! With so many women's sports over the weekend, I was hoping to publish mini-photo galleries but there has been some issues with major IT outages across the country thanks to AWS. I backup and store all of my work through one of the apps supported by AWS so I currently do not have access to those photos. We'll do some photo galleries at a later date.

Women's Soccer in Position for NCAA Tournament Bid

With two regular season matches remaining, Louisville women's soccer should be a lock for the NCAA Tournament. The Cards now sit at 11-3-2 this season following their 1-1 draw against #3 Virginia over the weekend.

The most recent RPI rankings puts Louisville at #12. Their three losses have come against RPI #1/Coaches Poll #1 Notre Dame, #8/21 Vanderbilt, and #14/7 Florida State. They have draws against RPI #2/Coaches Poll #3 Virginia and #24/17 Wake Forest.

In the ACC standings, the Cards sit tied for sixth with Florida State, but the Seminoles hold the head-to-head tiebreak. Since the ACC only takes six teams for the ACC Tournament, I am not concerned about if the Cards make the ACC's.

Whether or not Louisville wins, draws, or loses against NC State and SMU, they should still be a lock for postseason play. With a win or two in those final two matches, the Cards may even sneak into the top 16.

Volleyball Missing Piece Has Been Costly in Big Matches

Louisville volleyball suffered a pair of five-set losses over the weekend to highly ranked foes SMU and Pitt. All four of Louisville's losses have come to top-1o teams in five sets.

Fans have expressed concerns that Louisville doesn't have "it" this year. Well, maybe yes and no to that. None of the losses are bad losses on the resume. Broken down, some of the losses aren't great as the Cards had 3+ point leads in the fifth set multiple times.

So, where is the problem? The missing piece is actually more obvious than it seems- they don't have a player that can take over a game in a moment's notice. Last season, the Cards had Anna DeBeer and Charitie Luper, both of whom had that killer instinct to take over when needed most. Whether a more aggressive offensive attack was needed or Louisville just needed a few key blocks to build momentum, the DeBeer - Luper duo was ready to be called upon when needed. Look back at how Pitt utilized Olivia Babcock with her 41 kills, six of those coming in the shortened fifth set.

Louisville doesn't have that player or players this year. There is plenty of talent at every position and we will see postseason awards for multiple players, but the Cards still lack the player who can takeover and dominate in a moment's notice. Perhaps this is a role we see Payton Petersen or Chloe Chicoine move into as middle-classmen or maybe the true freshman Kalyssa Blackshear will assume that responsibility later this season. Either way, this missing key piece is the biggest issue holding the Cards back from being a Final Four contender this year.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

#4 Vball falls to #6 Pitt in 5 sets -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good morning readers and hellllooo fall weather 🍂🍁

It was an interesting weekend among the sports programs as the Cardinals took some big wins and losses.  The VolleyCARDS got swept at home (yikes) and the WSOC Cards managed to pull off a draw with #3 UVA and the Field Hockey gals took down a ranked squad as well as the football program got a huge win Friday evening so its been a roller coaster of a weekend!

Volleyball


The #4 ranked Cards fell in battle number one on Sunday afternoon to the visiting #6 Pitt Panthers. Louisville gets a rematch at the top ranked Panthers' house on 11/26.  Its the night before Thanksgiving and it'll be on ESPN.

Photo: Jared Anderson

• Chloe Chicoine led the Louisville offense with 16 kills, 9digs, two assists and a block.
• Kalyssa Blackshear hit a .375 clip with 14 kills on 32 attempts, while also tabbing five blocks, one dig and one assist.
• Nayelis Cabello logged a career-high nine kills on the match and posted 41 assists, six digs, four blocks and two service aces.
• Payton Petersen, Kamden Schrand and Molly Wilson served one ace each. Schrand also dug 18 balls and recorded seven assists.

Photo: Jared Anderson

from gocards.com

Set 1: Pittsburgh 25, Louisville 20
Pitt climbed out to a quick 6-1 lead as Louisville took its first timeout. Kills from Cabello and Chicoine got the Cards back within one at 10-9, before the Panthers went on a 4-0 run to extend their lead, 17-12. UofL grabbed two straight points, including a solo block by Cresse, to end the run and force Pitt to use its first timeout of the set. Out of the break, a pair of kills from Chicoine and a pair of attacking errors by the Panthers gave Louisville its first lead of the set at 18-17. The teams traded points until Pitt eventually went on a 6-0 run to win the set 25-20.

Set 2: Pittsburgh 19, Louisville 25
The Cards started the second set out on a 3-0 run and transformed it into a 9-4 lead after a kill from Chicoine and a block connection between Sherman and Blackshear. After the Panthers' first timeout, Chicoine knocked down two more kills to extend the lead 11-4 and force Pitt's last timeout of the set. UofL continued its scoring, pulling out to a 20-13 lead after kills from Sherman and Blackshear and another block from the pair. The Panthers answered with a quick 3-0 run to get within four and cause Louisville to burn its first timeout. The Cards got to set point after an error by Pitt, but the Panthers grabbed three straight points to put the score at 24-19. Cresse clinched the set 25-19 with a kill on the fourth set point. UofL's defense posted 16 of its 28 total digs in the set to go along with three blocks.

Set 3: Pittsburgh 20, Louisville 25
Blackshear, Sherman, Cresse and Schrand all recorded points for Louisville as the Cards went ahead 7-3 and Pitt took its first timeout. Points went back and forth, but UofL knocked down kills on big rallies to lead 16-11 and force another Pitt timeout. After trading blows, Cabello gave Louisville set point with a kill and an ace at 24-18. The Panthers held off the end of the set for two more points, but Sherman finished the set 25-20 with a kill.

Set 4: Pittsburgh 25, Louisville 17
The Cards used their first timeout down 9-5 and with Pitt on a 3-0 run to slow momentum. UofL used a kill and an attacking error to get back within two at 9-7, but the Panthers continued their scoring, going ahead 15-9 and forcing Louisville's second timeout. Pitt got to set point with a kill, and clinched the set 25-17 on another kill.

Set 5: Pittsburgh 15, Louisville 11
Despite grabbing the first two points of the set, Louisville went down 5-3 before burning its first timeout. Pitt extended its lead, pulling ahead 8-4 at the changeover. Cabello dropped in her ninth kill of the match and Wilson served an ace to pull the Cards to just a two point deficit at 10-8 and force the Panthers to use a timeout. Cabello and Sherman teamed up for a block, and the teams continued trading points until Pitt used a kill and a block to lead 13-10 at UofL's final timeout. Babcock's 41st kill got the Panthers to match point and a kill by Bre Kelley won the match 15-11.

UP NEXT

Photo: Jared Anderson

Louisville at Duke

Friday 6pm 

WGolf

Images courtesy of UNC Athletics

The WGolf team finished the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational at North Carolina in 12th place following the 3rd round on Sunday. The Cardinals were 56-over-par 897 for the tournament after a final round 30-over-par 310 on Sunday.

Bailey Burkett was the top individual finisher for the Cardinals on the weekend. She finished tied for 35th overall with an 11-over-par 221 for the tournament. In the final round on Sunday, she was 7-over-par 77.

This was the final tournament of the fall season for the Cardinals. They will be back in action in February when the spring season begins in Florida. 


INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD
T35. Bailey Burkett (70-74-77=221) +11
T43. Veronika Exposito (73-73-77=223) +13
T47. Emree Cameron (71-78-75=224) +14
T63. Millie Cottrell (75-73-81=229) +19

As Always, 
Go Cards! 
~Daryl 

WSOC Ties #3 Virginia -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

 

KICKIN' CARDS DRAW AGAINST HOOS

Better late than never...

Louisville WSOC got a goal from Amelia Swinarski in the final four minutes in the soccer match against the Cavs at Lynn Stadium on campus Saturday. 

The squads went through a scoreless first half in a defense-dominated match...Louisville actually outshot the Cavs 8 to 3 in the contest but seven saves from UVA goalkeeper Victoria Safradin thwarted the Cards scoring efforts.  

The #3 ranked Virginia squad got their goal in the 48th minute of play when Maggie Cagel took a feed from Olivia Rademaker and pushed one by Cards goalie Erin Floyd

With the tie, the cards remain tied form sixth place in the ACC Conference standings with Florida State. 

The Cards (11-3-2, 4-2-2) gave Virginia (10-1-3) their first loss of the season but lost the corner kicks awarding to Virginia 6-5

The Cards head to Raleigh next for a Thursday match at NC State. 

(photos by Jared Anderson)

VOLLEYCARDS HOSTS PITT

It'll be a classic later today in the LNFCU when Pitt Volleyball comes to town to faace the VolleyCards. 

Pitt is #6 in the latest I women's volleyball rankings and brings a 13-3 record to town. The Panthers have lost to Nebraska . Florida and Miami. 

It's a ESPN match and scheduled for 1 p.m. 

We'll have the result in the Monday Cardinal Couple

paulie