Louisville Volleyball predicted to finish third in ACC Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 STANFORD, PITT AND LOUISVILLE TOP THREE IN ACC PRESEASON VOLLEYBALL COACHES POLL

The votes are in and the coaches have spoken. The Stanford Cardinal were selected first in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll, followed by Pitt and Louisville

The Cardinal received 280 votes and 10 first place votes. The Panthers got 277 votes and three first place votes. The Cardinals got 257 votes and one first place vote. Rounding out the top five were SMU with 245 votes and North Carolina with 220 votes. 

The next five? Georgia Tech totalled 198 votes, Miami came in with 193 votes, Florida State received 180 votes, NC State came in ninth with 148 votes and Wake Forest rounded out the top ten with 131 votes. 

The other eight schools? Virginia (114), Notre Dame (104), California (93), Clemson (89), Boston College (87), Duke (70), Syracuse (37) and Virginia Tech (21).

Stanford was eliminated in the NCAA DI Austin Semifinals last year by Wisconsin in four sets . Pitt made it to the National Semifinals before Texas A&M knocked them out of the tournament. Louisville got knocked out by Marquette in the second round of the tournament. 

Four UofL student-athletes made the All-ACC Preseason Volleyball team: Nayelis Cabello, Kalyssa Blackshear, Chloe Chicoine and Payton Petersen.

paulie

United States defeats Canada in World Lacrose Championships -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 TEETER'S LAXERS TAKE SILVER IN WORLD LACROSSE

The United States LAX squad jumped early on the Scott Teeter coached Canadians and won the 2026 Nissan Foods World Lacrosse Championships, held in Tokyo, Japan at the Prince Chichubu Memorial Stadium....by a score of 16-4 . 

Israel claimed bronze, or third place with a win over the Haudenosaunee 7-4. The win was Israel's first ever bronze medal in the event. 

Canada reached the finals by knocking off the Haudenosaunee 18-5 and USA got to the finals by turning back Israel 19-7. The USA was coached by Acadia Walker-Weinstein, who is also the head coach at Boston College, won their 10th consecutive title.

I suppose you could say it was an All-ACC coaches final, too...with Teeter and Walker-Weinstein.

Boston College, as you might have expected, had a large presence of players on the USA roster with eight current or former collegiate Eagles players on the 22 player roster. North Carolina, a traditional ACC power house, had six current or former players.  No UofL laxer student athletes made the USA roster. Nicole Perroni, who played for UofL, was on the Canadians roster. Kokoro Nakazawa played for Japan. 

Congratulations to the USA for another gold and also to Teeter and associate coach Allison daley for their silver medal. 

paulie

What Does 5 for 5 mean for Cards WBB? -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 NCAA CAN'T MAKE UP THEIR MIND ON ELGIBILITY

Maybe you are asking what is "Five for five?" 

My brain went back to my childhood, when the DJ on the radio station would smoothly purr out..."Hey, we got another five hits in a row coming up for you here on W$#%...it's five for five , Louisville ." Or when we all started replacing handshakes with the words "Gimme five". high five and slapping hands. Which led to, "on the back side" and other such nonsense. like "high five or low five". 

If six were nine Watch the clip

It's also not like a sale on canned chili...you won't find five student-athletes available for five bucks available at your local Stop N Putt. 

What it is...is the current NCAA eligibility mode...which gives college athletes five years to play five seasons. It also give student-athlete a fifth year to transfer to another school if they choose. It used to be four years and you are done, but there were so many ways around that, like injuries and hardship and "Gee, I lost my homework on the way to Economics" excuse, "better grant me an extra year." The 5 for 5 replaced the 5 for 4. If six were nine...and it's 25 or 6 to 4.  

25 or 6 to 4  Watch the clip

For Cards WBB? It's means Carys Baker and Elif Istanbulluoglu could possibly return next year after this year. Both are probable high minute candidates for the squad this season...so that may not be a bad thing. After all...talent is going to play, while backups watch away. 

It took me five years to matriculate UofL , but I was working full time and could not take a full load some semesters. So, since college student-athletes could be considered "working" with all the time they put into practice, playing games, travel and such...the rule for five rule works. 

After the NCAA implemented the five for five rule, restricting athletes who had already exhausted eligibility from receiving another year of college sports...legal battles followed. A judge in the DIstrict Court of Colorado intervened and granted athletes a fifth year. 

As usual, when the NCAA is involved in something, it takes five people to light one match. One to hold the match, one to guide the hand to the striking surface, one to confirm the match is lit or unlit, one to review the previous action and one to yell when the match burns the fingers. 

Have a great Saturday. You have my permission to take five minutes to do something you might normally do in four. And listen to some Hendrix or Chicago.

paulie