Breakout Candidates for Field Hockey -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Breakout Candidates for Field Hockey

Chloe Plumb

The final of our 'Big Three' fall sports to look at breakout candidates is field hockey. Louisville had its worst season in ages last year mainly due to a large graduating class the year before and younger players being thrust into more impactful roles. They should be back on track this season.

As always, players who have already made large impacts or have preseason or postseason accolades are not eligible as they already have high expectations. This excludes players like Rylie Wollerton and Izzy Bianco from being on this list.

Emily Young

Chloe Plumb enters the back half of her collegiate career and is entering her first season without Aimee Plumb being on the team. While she hasn't exactly lived in her sister's shadow by scoring four goals herself last year, this is a prime opportunity for the younger Plumb to have a breakout year.

Emily Young split time in the cage last year and will have some competition for the starting goalkeeper spot again this fall. Having a good chunk of a season under her belt already including a nine-save performance against Cornell, Young is in a good space to command the cage again and be one of the best keepers in the ACC.

Emily Eaton

Emily Eaton had a decent showing as a freshman last year. Oddly enough, she was one of the top offensive players when she graduated high school, tallying 18 goals her senior year, but transitioned into a defensive role at UofL. With a year of Division I field hockey under her belt, I think she'll ease into the defensive role better and help strengthen a defensive unit that struggled greatly last year.

We will have plenty of coverage once the season begins.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

WNBA update -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good morning readers, 

Welcome back to a new week.  Hope you get to enjoy some of the lovely local temperatures in the coming days.  We've got the KY State Fair coming up in the next couple weeks to go along with a new calendar school year and athletics seasons.  

With not much whispers coming from the UofL athletics departments lets give a quick update on the WNBA season as we are under 40 days from the end of the regular season.

Starting in 2025, the WNBA Finals will be a best-of-seven game series, a change from the previous best-of-five format. This expansion to seven games means the Finals will follow a 2-2-1-1-1 format, where the higher seed hosts games 1, 2, 5, and 7 if necessary. The first round of the playoffs will also see a change, with a 1-1-1 format ensuring all teams in the first round have a home game.

#2 Myisha Hines-Allen -- Photo credit: John McClellan | The Next

As of Sunday evening, the Minnesota Lynx lead the league with an impressive 24-5 record.  They last lost to the Atlanta Dream (18-11) a week ago.  The closest behind them are the New York Liberty at 5.5 games back with a 18-10 record. 

#11 Dana Evans -- Photo Credit: Chris Poss | The Next

Of the former Cardinals currently on WNBA rosters, the Las Vegas Aces (Dana Evans) have the best record at 14-14.   The Mystics lost to the Dream 99-83 and Emily Engstler contributed 4 points and assist and a rebound in 10 minutes on the floor.  Shes averaging 2.7 ppg 3.2 rpg & 1.3 apg.  The Wings lost to the Fever on Friday 88-78 and MHA had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.  Shes averaging 6.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg and 2.7 apg.  The Aces beat the Valkyries 101-77 where Evans had 7 points, 4 assists and 1 rebound.  Shes averaging 6.4 ppg, 1.1 rpg and 2 apg on the season.  

As Always,
Go Cards

~Daryl 

Breakout Candidates for Soccer -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Breakout Candidates for Soccer

AG Gibson

Women's soccer looks to take another step in the right direction this fall. After a 7-6-2 season last year, UofL is hopeful to improve on that record. We saw a couple folks transfer out from last year but a good core remained.

No single player had eye-popping stats last year and none earned any All-American or All-ACC honors outside of academic accolades. Karsyn Cherry has proven to be the go-to player the last couple seasons so we will look at players outside of her with potential breakout seasons. Mackenzie Geigle was a scoring machine for the Cards last year so I am considering her ineligible for this list too.

Emersen Jennings

Fina Davy took no time earning a starting role as a freshman last year. Her scoring numbers of one goal and two assists weren't eye-popping, but she kept defenders on their toes when she had possession. She has a chance to make a big jump up this season.

AG Gibson is a local kid that was one of the best in the state during her high school career. She started most of the season her freshman year last year, leading all freshmen on the team in minutes. I don't expect her breakout season to be scoring related as much as helping Louisville establish a strong midfield and have better ball possession against other teams.

Emersen Jennings

Emersen Jennings is entering her final season with the Cards. She's had a couple injuries that prevented her from maximizing minutes on the pitch and usually came in as a reserve player. She appears to be healthy entering this season and can use her speed to stretch the offense and keep defenders on the run.

Louisville starts on the road for the first two games of the year but they will play at Lynn Stadium for the first time in 2025 on August 21.

Happy Sunday and Go Cards!

Jared

Volleyball Preseason Poll -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Receive Preseason Love in ACC 

Earlier this week, Jared wrote about the potential breakout candidates for the Louisville volleyball team. Coincidentally, the ACC preseason polls were announced a few hours later, and the coaches have their own opinions on Louisville's potential stars. 

Three Cardinals were named to the Preseason All-ACC Team: Cara Cresse, Chloe Chicoine, and Nayelis Cabello. None of these players should come as a major shock. Cresse was one of four Cardinals to be named to an AVCA All-American team last season (honorable mention) and Chicoine was on an All-Region First Team. Chicoine was also on the All-Big Ten second team last year. Cabello was named as the ACC Freshman of the Year, so her inclusion on the list is also fairly straightforward. 

What the Cards will be looking for is more players to work their way onto the list. Louisville is second in players named, behind Pittsburgh with four. SMU and Stanford are also tied with Louisville at three. Miami has two, while Georgia Tech, UNC, and Notre Dame have one player each to round out the list. 

The preseason team also fairly well aligns with the Preseason Coaches Poll. Louisville finds themselves in second in the league with 271 points. Louisville trails Pitt, who had 279 points, and narrowly beat out Stanford (264) and SMU (243). Notre Dame is the lowest team with a player named to the preseason team, as the Irish were picked to finish just 12th. At the top, Louisville gathered four of the first-place votes, with Pitt picking up 10. Stanford had the two outstanding votes. 

It's sure to be a tight race in the ACC. Louisville may have hoped that the recent lack of form from Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, and FSU meant that they could focus on the Panthers, but Stanford and SMU have kept it a multi-horse race at the top of the league. With no conference tournament, every match will be critical to determine a champion. We'll see what Dan Meske can do in his first season at the helm. 

No CCRHP This Week

Hosts are scattered this week for various reasons, so we'll have the week off from the show. Next week will mark the last season before competition, so we'll work to bring you an episode looking at the specific upcoming games. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WTennis adds freshman -- New school year -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Gooooood morning readers and welcome back weekend.   

Its also a officially a new school year now that we are in the month of August.   We have the new faculty hire orientation today and I'm looking forward to meeting a large group of them and welcoming them to campus.  

There was a very large tree that fell down behind the president's office, Grawemeyer Hall, Thursday morning during one of those strong summer storms so the grounds crew is probably working tirelessly to get that cleaned up last night before the new staff and students start arriving.   They should probably just take the whole tree down as it looks to be very old and not very aesthetically pleasing. 

Photo: Karen Johnson 

Women's Tennis

from gocards.com

-- Anshika Jaswal of Toronto, Canada has been added to the University of Louisville women's tennis roster. She will enter the school year as a freshman for the Cardinals.

In 2024, she was the Bramalea Open Champion and a 2024 Caledon Open Finalist. She was also a finalist in the 2024 Harold Green City of Toronto Championship Open and in the 2024 Caledon Fall Colours.

She was a 2023 and 2024 Under 18 Fischer Outdoor National Championships competitor as well as a 2023 Yonex U16 Ontario Junior Outdoor Closed Provincial Championships Quarter-finalist. In 2021, she was a Yonex Junior Doubles Championships Finalist

She was ranked in the top 60 in Canada G16 and in the top 80 in Canada's G18. She was also ranked in the top 40 Women's Open Ranking in Canada.

"I am excited to welcome Anshika to Louisville Women's Tennis," said UofL head coach Mark Beckham. "She was recommended to me by one of my former players because of her character, work ethic and potential. We need a certain type of person in the program and she is a really good fit. Anshika is joining an experienced team, so she will have time to develop with her teammates and the strong coaching staff I have now. She is definitely going to impact the team in a positive way because she is ready to work and earn everything she gets."

As always
Go Cards, 
~Daryl 

Breakout Candidates for Volleyball -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Breakout Candidates for Volleyball

Jared checking back in this week as we played some musical chairs with coverage this week. All good for everyone here at Team Cardinal Couple. 

With things still pretty slow this summer, we continue to look forward to the upcoming fall seasons. Each season, we see players have breakout years and go well above and beyond what their expectations are. Star players and players that are preseason All-American or All-Conference do not qualify as they are already expected to have big years.

Payton Petersen

With the graduation of key players such as Anna DeBeer, Elena Scott, and Charitie Luper, there are plenty of key roles that need to be filled. Transfer Chloe Chicoine is already a top-tier player with high expectations and returners Cara Cresse and Nayelis Cabello already have preseason and postseason honors to their names, so we won't give them breakout contender marks.

Hannah Sherman has played a backseat role to Cresse and Phekran Kong in past years. PK has graduated so her biggest competition is Cresse. You often rotate a pair of middle blockers in a match so it is Sherman's time to step in and shine. She has shown glimpses of her raw strength in the past and she could be one of the top blockers in the ACC this year.

Hannah Kenny

Payton Petersen played a limited role last year as an outside hitter. She sat behind DeBeer, Luper, Sofia Maldonado Diaz, and Reese Robins, and often only played as a sub in blowout matches. When DeBeer went down, Petersen had a chance to show off what she is capable of and didn't let the fans down. She will see plenty of reps this year and can truly make a name for herself this year.

Hannah Kenny is a true freshman that could see valuable minutes. I think Kamden Schrand gets the nod at libero, but Kenny is similar to Scott in terms of size, versatility, and having a background as a setter in high school. If she cleans up her serve receive a little then she could be fighting for that libero spot by the end of the year.

Hannah Sherman

The Cards are two weeks away from their Red and Black Scrimmage at LN Arena on Friday 6:00pm ET.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Partner for Kids Running Program -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Track and Field Athletes Give Back

Today's column is a little off the beaten path, but it's inspired by a story I heard on Louisville Public Media's daily morning news podcast. If you aren't familiar with Louisville Public Media, it's the organization that operates WFPL, WFPK, the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, and more. It's a great source for local news and they have a neat app. Ok, random pitch over. 

Anyway, the point of this is to talk about the new program being brought to Louisville called Run Your City. Run Your City is a national nonprofit that, according to the website (runyourcity.org) is "dedicated to building an inclusive running community, giving every child - regardless of ability, gender, or background - the chance to grow [into] healthy, confident, and inspired individuals." The purpose of the program is to provide free access to youth athletics by way of a child-centered coached running program. The organization was founded in 2018 in Charlottesville by UVA athletes and has grown significantly since then, including a chapter in Rwanda.

image from Julia Schmitt via LPM

Three Cardinals have come together to bring a chapter to Louisville. Run Your City Louisville will be a free running program for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The current plan is to hold weekly sessions on Sundays for six weeks. The Louisville teammates bringing this program together as co-presidents are Riley Griffith, Julia Schmitt, and Layla Roebke. Griffith and Schmitt are redshirt freshman while Roebke recently graduated. All three are cross country and distance track runners. Their goals for the program are to teach about proper running techniques, how to work as a team, and balancing nutrition and exercise. The co-presidents are also joined by UofL students (and teammates) Emma Heckel, Madeleine Seaby, Brooke Lahee, and Lauren Bettencourt. 

Here is a link to the full LPM article, which is absolutely worth reading. One of the main things that stood out from it was the discussion on the inequity of youth sports. Having nieces and nephews currently in the youth sports scene, I definitely understand all that comes with it. Outside of the outright equipment and team costs, there is also time and travel for numerous events and practices. Even having been bombarded with fundraising for various teams, I was struck by the statistic shared from a 2022 Aspen Institute study which says that the average American family spends nearly $900 per year per child for a single season. The wording of that was a little tricky, so I went to the study source and broke it down some. The reported cost in fall 2022 was an average of $883 spent in a year for a single season of a single child's primary sport. That's a lot of money!

Even just looking at that figure, it seems obvious that it would be inequitable across children of different backgrounds, but the study breaks it down further. As the family income rises, so do the costs for travel. Extrapolating, that would imply that affluent families are taking talent even farther away from families with fewer resources, somewhat diluting the talent and experience of others. Families making $150,000 or more spent 65% more on travel than families making between $50,000 and $149,999, while they spent 83% more on travel than families making less than $50,000. The study (linked in the article and here) breaks the numbers down even more across different demographics, but the point is clear: Run Your City can offer an extremely valuable opportunity.

 

stats from Run Your City

Children with access to youth sports don't just experience improved physical health, but improvements to mental health, sociability, and future successful outcomes. Louisville is not alone as a city with an issue in this area, but it is stark. According to Southwest YMCA regional sports director David Oliver, who oversees all YMCA sports programs in west and south Louisville, cost is a significant driver for those programs being much smaller than in other YMCA regions. Even the registration costs can be a deterrent. 

Riley Griffith said it best when quoted by LPM: "We really just want to give  opportunity to get out there and be a part of something and have a fun, low-pressure experience with sports, so that even if they don't stick with running, even if they don't stick with sports, they get to have that opportunity.” 

I can't think of a better statement that I'd rather see from an ambassador for my alma mater. I wish the very best to Griffith, Schmitt, and Roebke as they get the program off the ground and hope for continued success for the program in future years. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Days Until Each Sport -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Days Until...

As we wind down the days of July, we quickly approach August, which will put UofL sports on the composite calendar. All three of the major women's sports for the fall are on the schedule for August.

Soccer

16 days until the first regulation match against Auburn on the road

23 days until the first home match against Detroit Mercy

Volleyball

17 days until the first scrimmage, Red vs Black

32 days until the first regulation match against Auburn

Field Hockey

24 days until the first scrimmage against Bellarmine

31 days until the first regulation match against Michigan State

We hope to have as much in-person coverage as possible  at the home events for each of the 'Big Three'. We are aware of some changes with media credentialing this season, but do not believe this should impact us as we do not cover football or men's basketball.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Campus update -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

Good morning 

Its remains a sports news desert so playing off of Paulie's venue post from Sunday's Cardinal Couple,  here are some pics I snapped over the last few weeks when walking around campus... most likely on my way to get coffee or lunch.  There was no way I wasn't braving walking around in the heat for no reason. 

Ulmer Stadium

L&N Arena 

Jared and I think this is some newbie vball players heading to class

Outside Ekstrom Library facing the quad

Move in days is scheduled for August 13-17th with classes beginning Monday, August 19th.   I will be elbows deep onboarding faculty this week.   Make it a great week! 

As Always, 
Go Cards 

~Daryl 

The Louisville women's Fall Sport that you'll follow the most? --SUNDAY CARDINAAL COUPLE

 SIX WOMEN'S FALL SPORTS MAKE UP THE UOFL LINEUP

Louisville women's sports is getting closer for the fall season. By this time next month, we'll be actively following Cards Women's Soccer, Field Hockey, Cross Country, Golf, Swimming and Track and Field.

The Cards have had a lot of outstanding players grace these fields (and bodies of water) over the years. And...Louisville has some excellent venues where the Cards compete. I challenged a friend the other day to match up the sport with the facility. She did well, getting four out  of six right. How would you do? 

--Lynn Stadium

--UofL Club

--Ralph Wright

--Trager Field

--Cardinal Park

--Tom Sawyer

(answers at end of column)

How many of these places have you been to follow UofL women's sports? And. how many are on campus? See if you can correctly match the sport up with the location and your attendance. 

I have been fortunate to watch Cardinal women's sports at all six. If you are still having trouble with the alignment, I'll make it easier for you by naming a player that has performed for the Cards at a venue.

--Lynn Stadium...Charlyn Corral

--UofL Club...Lauren Hartlage

--Tom Saywer ...Lauren Bettencourt

--Cardinal Park...Synclair Savage

--Ralph Wright...Gabi Albiero

--Trager Field...Jessica Javalet

The Cards participate in the ACC in all six sports. A trip down Floyd Street on the UofL campus will take you by Lynn, Trager, Cardinal Park and Ralph Wright. Three of the facilities are outdoors and have press boxes, one is an indoor participation venue. 

The Cardinal Couple crew has actively covered events at these venues and you fund plenty of articles and photos of the Cards in action at them. We hope to see you out there in 2025. A poll of our Cardinal Couple columnist indicated that volleyball was their favorite of the UofL fall women's sports. 

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

Our old banner from the days of WCHQ

Daryl, Case and myself were on yesterday's podcast of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast. We had a lively discussion on quite a few different subjecst as we draw closer to fall sports. Check it out at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CviS6U8K-XA&list=PL1b1cLmDIkuqdZZ6JxJjQnvKVWnHWVOIy&index

Answers: 

Lynn Stadium -- women's soccer

UofL club -- golf

Ralph Wright -- swimming

Trager Field -- Field Hockey

Cardinal Park -- Track and Field

Tom Sawyer -- Cross Country

paulie

 

One Month to Go -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

All Fall Sports in Action Soon

As the calendar gets ready to turn to August next week (which feels incredibly soon), that means that all of the primary fall sports that we cover here at Cardinal Couple will be in action within a month. While we are still a few days out of that being true for actual "competition," every team has a scheduled event by August 23rd.

Women's soccer will be the first to get underway, with matches on the road at Auburn and Vandy. As is typical, Louisville is likely to play a couple of closed scrimmages before those matches against SEC teams, but we're very unlikely to learn anything other than the fact that they happened. Karen Ferguson-Dayes's squad will actually return to Lynn Stadium for their first home game before the other two sports play their first scheduled matches, as the Cards take on Detroit Mercy on August 21st. 

That will be a busy weekend, as volleyball and field hockey will get started then as well. Field hockey will host their first scrimmage against Bellarmine on the 22nd and we'll get our first taste of fall volleyball under Dan Meske on August 23rd for the Alumni Match. 

So far I've held off on giving my full prediction of the Louisville women's soccer season in writing, even though I've discussed it at length on the show. I'll keep milling on it for another week, but you can expect my thoughts about the upcoming campaign as we turn the calendar. 

As the summer slump finally winds down, we'll be keeping our eye out for the Louisville Fall Sports Media Day, where we'll get to hear from all of the coaches about their thoughts on their teams entering the season. Once we hear it, we'll be sure to share those thoughts with you here at Cardinal Couple. All three teams have some reasons to be optimistic, so we'll see just how chipper the coaches are at the event. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have three this week (really, this time), as Paulie, Daryl, and I will bring you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics. We'll talk about the news that was over the past week, as there is only so much prognostication we can do about the upcoming fall sports seasons. Check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

VB preseason watchlist -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Goooood morning readers and welcome back to the weekend.  Finally.  

Some small tidbits coming out of the sports world regarding the Cardinals.  Pre-season watchlists sure to come rolling in as we got a pair to keep our eyes on this season for the Volleyball program.  

VolleyCARDS

UofL middle blocker Cara Cresse and new outside hitter Chloe Chicoine have been named to the AVCA D1 PotY Watch List, presented by Nike Volleyball.  

Cresse and Chicoine are two of 30 standout athletes selected from 20 institutions to appear on the watch list. UofL is one of just nine programs to boast multiple honorees.

Chicoine is a transfer from Purdue who joined the Cardinals last January. This summer she was named by USA Volleyball to the 2025 Women's U23 National Team for the NORCECA U23 Pan American Cup, July 25-August 2 in Leon, Mexico. Last year, Chloe started in all 34 matches as a sophomore at Purdue, tallying 363 kills, good for second on the team, while hitting 0.220. She averaged 3.08 kills per set, which was second on the team as well. She was second on the team in digs with 348, averaging 2.95 per set. She aced 19 times, third best on Purdue last season, while adding 42 assists and 33 total blocks, four of those being solos. Chloe notched a career-high 22 kills in a loss against Nebraska on Oct. 11th, 2024. Chloe notched eight games with 15+ kills. Chloe was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team, AVCA All-Region First Team – Midwest and All-Big Ten Preseason Honors.

Cresse was also named to the U23 National Team and joined Chicoine for the Pan American Cup. Last year Chloe Chicoine was named by USA Volleyball to the the 2025 Women's U23 National Team for the NORCECA U23 Pan American Cup, July 25-August 2 in Leon, Mexico. As one of the best blockers in the country, Cara finished ranked seventh nationally in blocks per set with 1.50 last year. Cresse took home awards as an AVCA All-American Honorable Mention, and AVCA All-South Region Team member, and an All-ACC Second Team member. She was also named ACC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 14. Cara played in 118 sets and recorded 6+ blocks in 18 different matches. She hit .323 on the season with a team leading 177.0 blocks, 192 kills, and three service aces. Cara recorded 6+ blocks in 18 different matches, including 10 at Miami, 11 at SMU and 14 against Northern Iowa in the NCAA Tournament. Another great year academically for Cara landed her once again on the Academic All-ACC team.

Cheers to the weekend!!! 

In the spirit of Friday, the program announced another partnership with a neighboring local brewery, Goodwood announced its version of a blonde ale.

I definitely plan on trying it!  Blondes are my favorite beers at the moment.  It is supposed to come out right before football season so it should hit shelves in the next coming weeks.

    The program announced another blonde ale a few years back and its been available at games and liquor stores around town.  

As Always, 

Go Cards

~Daryl 

More Academic Honors for Lacrosse -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Lax Recognized by IWLCA

A couple of weeks ago, I talked about the stellar academic season the Louisville lacrosse program had as it pertained to All-ACC Academic honors. The Cards had 23 honorees, if you'll remember, which was a program record. That recognition has moved beyond the ACC to the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association. The IWLCA announced their Division I Academic Honor Roll yesterday and Louisville placed 12 student-athletes on the list. 

The IWLCA Honor Roll is for upper classmen (juniors, seniors, and graduate students) that have maintained a 3.5 cumulative GPA or higher. Including the 12 Louisville players, the list includes 1,163 student-athletes from 124 different institutions, which is a testament to the academic accomplishments of lacrosse programs across the country. 

Louisville was also named as an IWLCA Academic Honor Squad, which recognized the team's 3.65 GPA for the 2024-25 academic year. Louisville's individual honorees and their majors are below:

Aubrey Bagenstose (psychology/history)

Ava Coyle (marketing/finance)

Maggie McMahon (business administration/sport administration)

Negai Nakazawa (sport administration)

Tiffany Natoli (biology)

Erin Nicholson (accounting/finance)

Ashley Osborne (nursing)

Cece Reilly (communications)

Marley Scott (business administration)

Abby Scully (communications/management)

Izzy Seikel (marketing)

Izzy Szejk (communications/strategic communications and social media)

Congratulations, again, to these Cardinals on their accomplishments!

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

How will transfer guards strengthen Louisville WBB? -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 SCOTT, JONES BRING EXPERIENCE AND SKILL TO CARDS BACK COURT.

We've seen a lot of good guards on the University of Louisville Women's basketball team over the years. In looking at the upcoming squad...the current guard contingent consists of Reyna Scott, Imari Berry, Rebecca Graves, Peyton Bradley, Reagan Bender, Taj Roberts and Skylar Jones. 

Reyna Scott

Today we look at Scott and Jones. Both come to the Cards from other programs where they had success...Jones from Arizona and Scott from Oklahoma. Scott is a New York City native and Jones out of Chicago.  

Both should be key factors in the Cards 2025-26 season. Jones averaged almost 11 points a game for the Wildcats and also led the team with 52 steals. Scott averaged 5.3 a game with the Sooners.

Skylar Jones

The two come into a situation where their skills and experience will be quite useful in complementing the play of Taj Roberts, Imani Berry and Mac Randolph. 

Scott was a 2022 McDonalds All-American nominee and Jones led Arizona in steals last season. 

Peyton Bradley

It'll also be interesting to see how Peyton Bradley mixes in with this group. A 2025 Courier-Journal First Team All-State selection, she averaged 28.2 points a game her senior year at Meade County High School. She also shoots 42% from three-point range, which will keep defenses honest anytime she enters a game. Bradley will add depth to the backcourt, and contribute to the up-tempo, aggressive style of play. 

The Cards should be a key contender for ACC WBB title, along with Notre Dame. The things they can learn in the summer months about their teammates will be essential toward the overall success of the squad.

paulie

Jared Looks at Volleyball Schedule -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Take Court in One Month

The last of the 'Big Three' women's sports that take place in the fall that we cover at Cardinal Couple is Louisville volleyball. The VolleyCards are typically the last of the women's sports to kick off their season as is the case this year. UofL has a scrimmage in a month on August 23 but won't truly start until August 29.

Louisville hosts the Cardinal Classic by welcoming Auburn, Morehead State, and St Johns to LNFCU Arena. While the Eagles won their conference last year and made the NCAA Tournament, they were quickly disposed of by Pitt. The other two did not make it. Louisville should open the season 3-0.

A road trip to Fort Worth for a primetime match-up against Texas will be next. Most likely, ESPN or ABC will take this one. The Longhorns are a powerhouse program and the Cards have traded off wins in the past. Playing on the road this early in the season while still adjusting to the departure of players like Anna DeBeer, Charitie Luper, and Elena Scott, this will be a battle with the Cards falling on the wrong side.

The road trip continues with a three-match stint in Omaha against Creighton, Northern Iowa, and Rice. This will be the continuation of a brutal stretch for the Cards, especially three matches in three days, that I think Louisville will take a loss, possibly two. I'm giving the Cards the benefit of the doubt and give them two wins on the weekend to improve to 5-2.

Returning home, Louisville gets to play at the KFC Yum! Center for the first when they host rival Kentucky. The Cards have had the Cats' number the last few seasons and they should continue that this season with a crowd of 10,000+. Western Kentucky makes a visit to the Yum shortly after. The Hilltoppers have had a history of being a strong program, but Louisville owned the all-time series 19-0 and I see that streak continuing. Wins against in-state foes propels the Cards to 7-2.

ACC play begins after that with the Cards hosting Boston College and Syracuse. Louisville goes back to LNFCU Arena for these matches and I see the Cards cruising along to two wins.

A trip out west comes next with Louisville visiting California and Stanford. The Cards should be able to handle Cal but Stanford will be another tough match and a possible top-10 match-up. Louisville traded wins with the Cardinal, each taking a win at home in the regular season. UofL took another win at Freedom Hall to advance to the Final Four. Playing out west, this is a time we will see Stanford get some revenge. Louisville will return home 10-3.

A four match homestand comes next with Virginia Tech, Virginia, SMU, and Pitt visiting. Surprisingly, all four will be held on campus. SMU was a 2-seed last year and Pitt was a 1-seed, showcasing the strength of the ACC. Louisville should handle the Hokies and Cavaliers fairly easily unless their eyes are looking too far into the future. While SMU will be a challenge, playing at home will help playing in the favor of the Cards for a win. Pitt will be the toughest test. The Panthers swept the regular season over the Cards before UofL claimed the most important match in the Final Four... the one where DeBeer went down... and advanced to their second ever championship appearance. Without DeBeer and Scott on this squad this year, I think Pitt comes in and steals a win. Louisville will come out of this stretch 13-4.

Louisville hits the road against Duke, North Carolina, and Notre Dame next. UofL swept all of them last year and they should have no problem cruising along to easy wins again and improve their record to 16-4. Louisville turns around for a quick home match for Notre Dame, another should-be-easy-win.

The Cards quickly hit the road again to visit NC State and Wake Forest. These are a couple middle of the pack ACC teams that the Cards should be able to handle, improving their record to 16-4. 

Louisville comes home to host Florida State and Miami. The Seminoles and Hurricanes are both teams that regular sit right behind Louisville, Pitt, Georgia Tech, and Stanford. I see the Cards getting challenged some but pulling off victories in both.

One final road trip on the season sees the Cards visiting Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Pitt. The Yellow Jackets are a tough team and one of the best in the ACC. This will be a difficult road test that I think the Cards grind out. Clemson has been one of the bottom teams in the ACC in volleyball that UofL should handle well. Playing at Pitt for their Senior Day is a tall task. Pitt defends their home court well and I think the Panthers win that one.

UofL closes out the regular season at home against Stanford at the KFC Yum! Center. I think UofL rides the energy of the crowd downtown on Senior Day to get the win. The Cards will close out the regular season 21-5 and ranked in the top five in the country.

At worst, I see UofL being a 2-seed with the ceiling being a 1-seed. This should be another Elite Eight visit at the minimum with a good chance to go further.

We plan to continue coverage of them this fall.

Many of the regular photographers that cover UofL games

(Photos by Jared)

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

WNBA at a glimpse -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Goooood morning readers 

A big HAPPY BDAY to my husband 😍  Who has accumulated a nice little collection of former Cardinals' WNBA jerseys over the last few years.   

This year, he was gifted the great Myisha Hines Allen new gear.  Jerseys are definitely a regular in his wardrobe rotation and I've said before that the WNBA product is really of great quality.  I really like the bright neon lines of the Wing's  jersey.    

The WNBA All-Star break was this weekend in Indianapolis.  It was Team Clark vs Team Collier with the Collier squad hailing victorious 151-131.   Napheesha Collier lead all scorers with 36 points and 9 rebounds in 19 min on the floor.

No Cardinals on the rosters this year, unfortunately.  

The league will get back to its regular season schedule on Tuesday. 

As Always, 
Go Cards

~Daryl 

 

COULD WBB HOLD A SUCCESSFUL THE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT? --SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 HOW ABOUT  A WOMEN'S THE BASKEBALL TOURNAMENT?

Angel McCoungtry would have been fun to watch in a women's The Basketball Tournament

Always great to get a chance to watch basketball in the middle of July, even if it is on the men's side of the ledger and the single-elimination The Basketball Tournament. 

If you've watch any of the games, Louisville has a team called The Villians. THE VILLE TBT squad is a men's team, based on University of Louisville men's basketball team players trying to take down the $1 million dollar prize for winning the event against 60 other teams based on schools or cities. The Ville knocked off their first opponent...Boston vs. Cancer on Saturday. Always great to see games in Freedom Hall. Some of my best basketball memories were in Freedom Hall, men and women's games. 

Could The Basketball Tournament work on the women's side? 

Imagine Asia Durr on a Louisville women's The Basketball Tournament team!

The idea is an intriguing one. One would think Louisville, Kentucky and/or IU could definitely field women's teams for such an event...but could the event raise a 32 team or larger tournament , single elimination and could the find a sponsor to get close to the $1 million grand prize for the eventual winner...which the winning men's team receives. ? 

Could the get network television coverage for such an event, and, most importantly, would they be able to get sizable crowds to attend games, like the men  have been able to do for the men's games in Freedom Hall? 

Imagine a UConn WBB The basketball Tournament team. 

One would think the women might be able to get a competitive field of schools for send an alumni team. Certainly names like UConn, Stanford, Texas, Oklahoma, Memphis, Mississippi St, and many other school-based teams would be willing to hire a coach and enter a team. 

The Louisville team would be an interesting nucleus. what players would you like to see on it?

And, would WNBA plyers be willing to take a few games off their WNBA team game to participate in it? 

There is the premise, Feel free to leave a comment on whether you would like to see and watch and attend a women's The Basketball Tournament.

CARDINAL COUPLE Radio HOUR PODCAST

Case joined me...on the weekly Cardinal Couple Radio Hour podcast Saturday. It was a lively show and we covered a lot of topics. Check it out at the link below: 

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

paulie

Cardinals Suit Up for Team USA -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey Cards at Senior Nexus Championship

As we've become accustomed to, the University of Louisville is well represented at the USA Field Hockey Senior Nexus Championship. The event which brings together the athletes who trained at seven Senior Nexus Training Sites takes place this weekend in Virginia Beach. The event is part of the Team USA camp program to develop talent for the USA Field Hockey program for World Cup and Olympic competitions. 

This year, nine Cards are on site for the event, including two newcomers to the program. Returning players are Izzy Bianco, Emily Eaton, Lauren Masters, Sophia Parker, and Rylie Wollerton. A few of those names will be familiar to Cardinal Couple readers who have heard of this event before. Bianco, masters, and Parker have been part of the Team USA pipeline for a number of years. Also joining that group are two redshirt freshmen: Alessia Cicuto and Mary Wordelmann. Cicuto's inclusion is likely good news for Cardinal fans who weren't sure what the goalkeeper situation would look like for the Cards this season. Finally, the two newcomers are incoming freshman Jaelen Perez and transfer Addy Jay (who will come to the Cards from Boston University). 

Best of luck to all those participating!

Cardinal Swimmers at World University Games

Louisville swimming is also represented on the national stage, with this event taking place a bit farther away than Virginia Beach. The World University Games are underway in Berlin, Germany, and Cardinals are already doing quite well. Caroline Larsen, Ella Welch, and Julia Dennis are among the swimmers turning in their collegiate colors for the red, white, and blue. Louisville also has two men competing, with Denis Petrashov and Guy Brooks representing their home countries of Kyrgyzstan and South Africa, respectively. 

Larsen and Welch each got off to a hot start in the 50-meter butterfly, with Larsen finishing fifth and Welch sixth in the prelims, moving them to the semifinals. Both then qualified for the finals, as well, with Larsen posting the fastest time and Welch coming in .42 seconds later for fifth. 

Larsen also already has a gold medal, which she and Julia Dennis helped win in the 400 Free Relay. Team USA crushed the competition in the prelims, posting a fastest time nearly four full seconds ahead of second place. To assert their dominance further, the relay crew beat the prelim time by 1.5 seconds with a 3:36.21 in the finals on their way to gold. 

Congratulations and good luck as the event continues! 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

After a couple of weeks away, the show returns this week. We'll have three on board as Jared snaps photos at Freedom Hall for The Basketball Tournament. Paulie, Daryl, and I will bring you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics with competition just around the corner. Check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case