Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- Laundry and more Laundry

.

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

(Columnist Sandy Walker grabs the hamper and yells out "last call" as she descends the steps to do her weekly load of CARDINAL COUPLE laundry. She takes us through the spin, rinse and fluff cycles and reminds you to empty your pockets...anything left will either be cleaned, go into her pocket or fed to Bill the Goat) 

THE LONDON PARALYMPICS 2012!

The London Paralympics are nearing their end. Videos from members of the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Team are available on our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usparalympics. Note: Oksana Masters of Louisville, KY  and Rob Jones of Lovettsville, VA  took bronze in the first ever Paralympic medal in the trunk and arms mixed double sculls event for Team USA.   You can also check out http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bonnie-st-john/london-paralympics-2012_b_1866584.html? where a former medal winner, Bonnie St. John, has recapped some of the results. For more information and results visit www.usparalympics.org .

**************************************************************************************************

BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

Anyone who follows the Louisville Women’s basketball knows that the long anticipated 2012-2013 schedule is now published.   A quick scan made it immediately obvious that it will be much easier to be an actual attendee of home games.   Gone are the barrage of mid-day work week games and the weekend actually features some of the games which are more of a broad fan based interest. It is great to have a local team where nine of the games are of such interest that they will be nationally televised. 

**************************************************************************************************

HOW IT WAS

One reader is taking us back to Ursuline Academy in the 1950 's.  Girls play was conducted from a court which was marked on a room in a campus building basement with beams that hung down across the ceiling.  Those whose shots had arches found themselves ducking as the balls rebounding back at them.  One quickly learned to create a home court flat shot but game strategy primarily focused on shooting layups which worked great as long as you followed through by targeting the end of court walls open doorway instead of the water cooler which sat to the left of the basket.

Readers Submitted Comments of How It Was Stories

Anonymous wrote: We had a deal set up years ago with a popular drive-in restaurant where they would pay our referees with gift certificates to their restaurant. Not sure how "legal" this is/was, so I'm not naming the restaurant. It was a popular place, though and referees would always request to work our games at home in basketball because of the set up. And, we seldom got very many "bad" calls.  Somewhere in Wisconsin

And from Skinny Pete: I played my high school basketball in a small western Kentucky town where the gymnasium was not large enough to have a full length basketball court. We had no center court line, just two lines on the court that were the distance of what half court was on a regulation court. This was confusing to "big city opponents" and we used it to our advantage quite frequently for ten second calls and "over and back" with our press.

We also had a second floor bleacher area that hung over the sidelines out of bounds areas and our students would sit in this area and harass opposing players who would attempt shots from the corners of the court. Imagine 75-100 screaming kids directly over you when taking a corner jumper from the sidelines. Not too many went in.

Consolidation eventually closed our school, but we had a pretty good home record because of our gym and the smallness of it. The town really showed up for these games and I remember one time our mayor actually ran out onto the court to argue a call made by the refs. He got tossed from the gym! Those old brick walls could really magnify the sound and it was a tough place to play for visitors not used to it.

UL Football History Whose Contributor Shall Be Nameless Unless They Volunteer.

I remember the days of going through the northwest corner gate at Cardinal Stadium dragging coolers, buckets of chicken and anything else we could think of and getting in by just flashing our student ID. We would take the fraternity bell and ring it in the end zone after Cardinal scores and we'd just drive the pickup truck in, park a few yards behind the end zone and tailgate right there. We had a player from Memphis once score a touchdown in front of us, toss US the ball instead of to the referee and he asked us for a beer and piece of chicken.

(Sure...I'll volunteer it. Ol' Paulie himself and I remember some of those days still.) 

*************************************************************************************************** 

WEEKLY EVENTS

Overall  the women had a powerful week.   Total count shows field hockey with two wins and one loss, soccer balanced out at 1 win of 2 matches while volleyball hit the perfecta with not only two wins with no losses but were also the winners of the Big East/Big Ten Challenge.

Golf is participating yesterday and today in the Ptarmigan Ram Classic in Fort Collins, Colorado.

The VolleyCards have now beat No. 10 Kentucky, No. 11 Purdue and No. 20 Illinois.

Candice Wiley

This weekend is extremely busy with most of our women’s teams playing out of town.  Fortunately Volleyball is playing this weekend in the Louisville Tournament at the YUM center.   Play begins Friday against Middle Tennessee at 7:30, UNLV at 11:00 on Saturday then again that evening at 7:30 against Miami.  Also on Saturday there is all day Rowing at the G. Garvin Brown III Rowing Center.  It is Red/Black day so if you attend, dress for success.  All of these activities can be squeezed between the men’s 3:30 Cardinal Stadium football game against North Carolina.

For those of you who are able to recover from the weekend games, there is always Women’s Golf being played at the Cardinal Club on Monday.

The golf team completed 36 holes Monday in the Ram Classic hosted by Colorado State. They are in third place...Emily Haas with a 144 and Katie Petrino with 146. Both are in the top ten. 

****************************************************************************************************
 

SOCCER

Women’s soccer ( 12^th ranked)against Notre Dame is set for Friday at 4:00 ET and is being shown on ESPNU with UL bringing in a 5-1 record to the match.  Last week Junior Angelika Uremovich scored twice to lead the 12th-ranked Louisville women's soccer team to a 3-1 victory over Toledo.

Angelika Uremovich

 Free clinic Saturday the 22nd at 10:30 to be held at Cardinal Park Soccer Stadium.  The clinic is open to the first 30 girls ages 14-16 with an RSVP required.  E-mail  Jing Hughley at j0hugh02@louisville.edu. 

****************************************************************************************************

FIELD HOCKEY

The field hockey team defeated Ohio University 2-1 Saturday afternoon at the IU Field Hockey Complex in Bloomington, Ind. Senior goalkeeper Erin Conrad

Erin Conrad

 posted nine saves in the win.   U of L takes their 4-2 record into East Lansing Michigan on Friday when they play Central Michigan with either Michigan State or American University on Sunday.

**************************************************************************************

                                                                     VOLLEYBALL

The Cards jumped to #12 in the polls after the weekend wins over Illinois and Purdue. Nice job, ladies! 

*************************************************************************************************

BASKETBALL PRACTICE START DATES

First date of practice guidelines for women has been adjusted which allow teams to start preseason practice 40 days ahead of their season opener. U of L’s first game is set for November 9 against Texas A & M at the YUM! Center so the first allowed date of practice counts back to around September 30. Teams are limited to 30 practices during the extended time frame.

****************************************************************************************************

BASKETBALL THIS AND THAT!

UL women are reported to be 3 deep at almost every position which will feed perfectly into Jeff’s upbeat and up tempo style of play.  As one gets slightly winded there is another to step into her place which makes for exciting and crowd inspiring entertainment.  As an old and broken down former player... there is nothing that provides an extra unknown internal spark than the opponents turnover which developed into a score from your teammates defensive pressure and extra effort.  While we read that others want to try again this year to play the “up pace pressure ball” which was discarded early during last season as ineffective – Louisville has been successfully playing this exciting style of ball for a few years now.  This team is already going to be terribly exciting and competitive this year but RECRUITS PLEASE TAKE NOTE: If next year we can continue our upbeat style of play while adding some additional height in the  front court with a great point/wing guard rotation in the back, we will be totally unstoppable.

Imani Wright and Brianna Ruiz were on campus last weekend.  Saniya Chong, Alexandria Harris, Emmonie Henderson and Mercedes Russell are reportedly still anticipated with                                                                             

Mercedes' visit scheduled for the weekend after her Tennessee visit.  Hopefully her saving us until last is a good sign as every UL fan is primed to hear the good news of her signing with a team and fan base that is already primed and ready for a championship.  I believe that she would be the key to a long list of additional signees which  we are prepared for as fortunately, the scholarships are available. 

Sara Hammond has tweeted that she has returned to her 00 high school playing number.

It’s a day late but it appears that yesterday was Angel’s birthday.  Better late than never on the shout-outs.   Happy Birthday Angel!

(Excellent work from Sandy today! The prospect of such talent hitting the Louisville campus and combining with the existing talent makes for a very exciting time for Cardinal basketball fans. One bit of sad news to report...softball pitcher Chelsea Leonard's injury to her knee in the Michigan game will keep her sidelined for the softball season...she'll continue to serve as possibly a student mgr. or assistant ) 

.
..
...

Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Volleyball downs Purdue, Field Hockey & Soccer fall

.
SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Volleyball sweeps Purdue in straight sets

-Field Hockey falls to IU in O.T.

-Soccer downed by UK

Volleyball beats Purdue 25-21, 25-17, 25-23.

Led by Lola Arslanbekova's 20 kills, Louisville Volleyball improved to 7-1 with a straight set sweep of #11 Purdue Friday in Cincinnati in the Fifth-Third Arena. 

The Cards benefited from strong serving by Hannah Kvitle in the first game to go up 9-3 early and had Purdue on the ropes late at 21-15 before seeing a late Purdue surge made it 21-19. The Cards took three of the last five points to win by four. 

Game two saw Louisville jump out again with an early lead at 9-4 and led at 20-13 before Purdue rallied late again in the second game with four straight points. Kills by Lola and Gwen Rucker put the Boilermakers at bay, though and the Cards took the second contest 25-17. 

After the break, Purdue made Louisville work for the third win....leading 14-13 and 19-17. The Cards battled back to tie it at 23-23 and two straight kills from Lola gave Louisville a narrow two point win. 

"I am proud of them as a team. They're playing gutsy and playing with the belief that they can win. That's what you coach them up to do and you want them to play with confidence in each other and the coaching staff. Purdue's a great team, with a phenomenal coaching staff. There are times, though, when Lola just picks us up and carries us on her back." -- Louisville head Volleyball coach Anne Kordes.


Field Hockey falls to IU in overtime. 

The Cards lose a heartbreaker to IU in overtime when Morgan Fleetwood scores early in the overtime period to give IU the 3-2 win. 

The teams were tied 1-1 at the half. IU scoring first but Becca Maddock tying the contest on a penalty corner assist from Victoria Stratton. 

Louisville took a 2-1 lead midway through the second half when Erin Schneidtmiller put a missed shot back into the goal. IU rallied a couple of minutes later to tie it, though...and force the extra session. 

Erin Conrad had seven saves in the loss. The Cards go to 3-2 and will play Ohio U. tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Bloomington. 

Soccer falls to UK before record crowd at Cardinal Park. 

Cardinal and Cat fans line the fences at Cardinal Park
Friday night to watch the rivalry match-up

One of the hardest thing to do as a writer and a fan is to report on losses that the team you root for and cover suffers. The excitement and anticipation of marquee matchups....like the UofL vs. UK women's soccer game last night can get you worked up into a frenzy and heightened state of excitement as the event draws near. The deflation after a close loss is a hard feeling to shake...but you carry on, knowing that your team tried the best that they could and there will be reasons to celebrate down the road. 

Louisville played UK to a scoreless first half but surrendered two late goals to the Cats in front of a soccer record crowd of 3,520 Friday night. 

At the 59:21 mark in the second half, Natalie Horner drove a kick past Chloe Kiefer to give the Cats a 1-0  lead. Louisville missed a golden opportunity to tie the game with 11 1/2 minutes left when the Cards were awarded a penalty kick but Charlyn Corral's kick was deflected by UK goalie Kayla King. 

The Wildcats tacked on an insurance goal less than a minute later when Kelli Hubly scored on a pass near the Cardinal goal. 

UK goalie Kayla Price being treated for
collision with Christine Exeter early in the game
(Photo by Jenny O'Bryan)

The Cards with plenty of offense and attacks tonight but just unable to get the ball in the net. 

A festive crowd on hand for the match. Some of the many notables in attendance were Candyce Bingham, Jeff Walz, Cardinal WBB recruits Brianna Ruiz and Imani Wright with their parents and Becky Burke...recently returned from Poland. Seemed like the entire UofL men's basketball team was there as well. Nothing more fun than watching Gorgui Dieng bend over to talk to a 5 yr. old. I wonder if he suffers from vertigo. 

Got to watch the second half with CARDINAL COUPLE columnist Jenny O'Bryan and her friends. Always good to sit with Jenny and discuss sports. 

The contest was delayed for several minutes early in the first half when a collision occurred between Christine Exeter and goalie Kayla Price. Both left the contest, Price suffering a lost tooth. She didn't return. Exeter returned later with her head wrapped in a bandage. 

Louisville falls to 4-1 with the loss. They'll face Toledo Sunday in Cardinal Park. 
.
..
...

Basketball odds and ends

.
WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Jenny brings us hoops updates

- Get those Louisville WBB season tickets! 

- Women's Basketball tip-off luncheon close. 


(Staff Columnist Jenny O'Bryan checks in with her weekly report and basketball is the prime topic of discussion today. As usual, she does a wonderful job of keeping us up-to-date on the present and the future of the Cardinal WBB program!)  


As was reported here several weeks ago, Sydney Brackemyre is an elite prospect in the class of 2014, and was on campus on an unofficial visit the weekend of August 25.  She was seen at the volleyball game vs. Penn State that evening with some of the basketball players. 

This past weekend Brackemyre spent part of her Holiday weekend at a skills camp in Georgia.  I saw several tweets from those involved with the skills camp tweeting about her play.  Today, a very nice article was published regarding Brackemyre and her history with the game as well as how she is handling the recruiting process.  

It is a good read, and lists Louisville among her final 3 schools of choice (which we already knew). 

It is important for readers to realize that, as a junior, Brackemyre is still 14 months away from being able to sign her National Letter of Intent.  If she decided to sign in November of 2013 that would be the early signing period for her class.  All of that is to say, she still has a lot of time ahead of her in this process.  As things go in the recruiting world, things can and do change.  As it stands today, though, Louisville looks to be in very good shape with this very talented young recruit.    

Here is the link, courtesy of ESPN:

http://espn.go.com/high-school/girls-basketball/story/_/id/8337057/sydney-brackemyre-coming-own

*********************************************************************************

Bon-nay has hers. How about you? Go Lady Cards! 

Women’s basketball season ticket holders started receiving 2012-13 season ticket renewal forms in the mail last week.   Rest assured I have sent my form off and confirmed my seats for the upcoming season.  If you intend to be a new season ticket holder to women’s basketball you can call the Athletic Ticket Office at (502) 852-5151 to get on the list for tickets.  The helpful ticketing personnel are available to assist you and are just a phone call away.  So, pick up the phone and call and order those tickets, if you are not already a ticket holder. 

( Editor's note: Help Jeff Walz and the Louisville WBB squad reach their goal of 10,000 season tickets! People mention to us at times that would become season ticket holders...but can't attend all the games. Don't let that hold you back. There are plenty of agencies and organizations out there that would love your unusable tickets to bring lower income children to games. So, as Charlie Strong's guys say: Get on the train!)

************************************************************************

While I have enough excitement for this upcoming season than should be allowed for one person, I received yet another marketing flyer in the mail this past weekend announcing the Tip-Off Luncheon, which has elevated my excitement to a (hard to live with) whole new level! 

Have any readers been to the Tip-Off Luncheon before?  Last year was my first year and I vowed to make it an annual affair.  This year’s luncheon will be held on Tuesday, October 23.  The event is held on the court of YUM Center, with doors opening at 11:15 a.m. and lunch served at Noon.   Limited tickets are available and are on a first come first served basis.    You should contact Christine Krellwitz at 852-0706 or at Christine. Krellwitz@louisville.edu to reserve your tickets.   Tickets are $30 each. 

The event last year was a lovely affair.  In what I believe was a sold out affair, attendees were treated to a very good lunch, a bit of a Louisville “goodie bag” of sorts, and we were introduced to the incoming freshman, the team as a whole, and then new Coach Samantha Williams.  Coach Walz spoke a bit last year about the trip to Oregon and Canada that the team took last summer, as well as a bit of what we had to look forward to during the upcoming season.  During the lunch a video of the preceding season highlights played.  If one was not excited about the upcoming season prior to arriving that day, there was no doubting the excitement for the season by the time we left.  I would expect much of the same format this year.    If you have not attended in the past, I would encourage you to do so.  

For those of you unable to make the affair, I will be covering the event for Cardinal Couple.  If you are on the fence about attending, go ahead and make your reservation, you won’t regret it.

************************************************************************

Finally, the next couple of weekends are big recruiting weekends for the Cards.  As was mentioned previously here, 2013’s Imani Wright and Brianna Ruiz will be on official visits this upcoming weekend. Click the link below to see a video of Imani Wright.

Imani Wright

Finally, no word on when the schedule will be released.  I would expect that it should be forthcoming in the very near future.  We will post a copy of the schedule once it is made public.  

( Our thanks to Jenny for today's report!! WE hope the basketball visitors have a great weekend and get to also attend the events that will take place on campus this weekend. Louisville women's soccer battles Kentucky in Cardinal Park on Friday and Charlie Strong's football team looks to go 2-0 with a Saturday clash against Missouri State. With Volleyball and Field Hockey on the road this weekend, we hope to see you cheering on the undefeated SoccerCards against the BIG BLUE!) 
.
..
...

Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Volleyball tips and more basketball recruiting news

.
WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Jenny's Volleyball Quiz

-Two more recruits on the Louisville WBB list. 

-Happy Birthday Asia Taylor! 

( Cardinal Couple Columnist Jenny O' Bryan tests your volleyball knowledge today and introduces us to two more excellent women's basketball players that will be visiting the campus in early September. Your serve!)  

Volleyball tips off the season this Friday against Western Kentucky at 7:30 p.m. at YUM Center in the Active Ankle Challenge.  Play continues on Saturday with play against Morehead State at 11:00 a.m. and Penn State in the evening at 7:30 p.m.

In an effort to get you ready for the tip, try your knowledge at this brief quiz.  Answers will follow at the bottom of the article.  No looking ahead!

1) The specialized defensive player in the back row wears a different colored uniform. What is her position called?

A) libero

B) the fashion challenged

C) the captain

2) When the receiving team wins the point it is called:

         A) volley

         B) rotation

         C) side out

        

3) When a player successfully passes a spiked or hard hit ball it is called

         A) self defense

         B) a dig

         C) a spike

Cardinal Sports Report's Howie Lindsey likes to
dress up for Volleyball matches. 

4) A successful hit by an attacker that results in a point usually executed by hitting the ball off of a block or down on to the opponents floor is called

         A) a dig

         B) a kill

         C) a rally

          

5) A dig in which the player gets the ball up by placing a flat hand on the ground (palm down) and letting the ball bounce off the back of her hand is called

      A) lucky

      B) flat

      C) pancake

6) A serve that hits the floor in bounds, is shanked or cannot be handled by the receiving team, immediately resulting in a point for the serving team is called

         A) an ace

         B) a kill

         C) a mulligan or do-over

7) A maneuver in which a player dives for the ball and in a tumbling, shoulder first motion quickly returns to her feet is called

      A) a sushi roll

      B) a roll

      C) stop, drop and roll

8) The act of changing position in volleyball in a clockwise motion is called

      A) substitution

      B) controlled chaos

      C) rotation

9) The player who is responsible for getting the second ball to the hitter is called

      A) blocker

      B) setter

      C) libero

10)  In college a match is won when a team has won

      A) one set

      B) two sets

      C) three sets 


*******************************************    

This is a busy time in recruiting for basketball.  Many players are making official and unofficial visits.  It has come to my attention that two more players in the class of 2013 have scheduled official visits.  Both of these names are new to me as players involved with Louisville.  Both are guards who are said to be scorers on the wing. 

Both players will be taking their official visit with Louisville Sept. 7-9. 

Imani Wright is currently ranked #31 with Hoopgurlz and is a 5-11 guard who hails from Texas.    Hoopgurlz states that Wright “can create her own offense, best at scoring off of the dribble but can take it to the rim as well and has a knack for scoring in big moments. “ 

Brianna Ruiz is currently ranked #65 with Hoopgurlz and is a 5-10 guard who hails from California.  Ruiz as described by Hoopgurlz as a “versatile perimeter player with a deep range and scorer on the wing,  she has length and quickness and can get by defenders and in to the lane.”  She is described as a player that has a “nose for the ball”. 

As visits begin we wish Coach Walz and the program well as they shape the future of the Louisville Women’s Basketball. 

Keep it tuned here...readers for up to date information.  As always, we will let you know what we know, when we know it. 

******************************************************

Quiz answers:

So, how did you do?

Here are the answers:

1) A- libero

2) C- side out

3) B- a dig

4) B- a kill

5) C- pancake

6) A- an ace

7) B- a roll

8) C- rotation

9) B- setter

10) C- 3 sets

Scoring:

0: you must have copied Bill the Goat or Coco's answers...Go to Coach Kordes and ask her how many laps you should run.
1-4: you could use some schooling in volleyball.  Go to the games this weekend at YUM Center, you will learn something.

5-8: not too bad.  Go to the volleyball games this weekend at YUM and hone your volleyball knowledge

9-10: you know your stuff!  Head down to YUM this weekend and take in a few matches of volleyball.  You may have a future on the sideline or in the lineup!

( Nice work today by Jenny in getting us prepared for Louisville Volleyball and filling us in on women's basketball recruits! As far as our actual scores on the quiz...Paul got 9 out of 10...missed #2. Sonja 7 out of 10...missed #1, #2 and #10. Timmy the Intern graded his own paper and said he got twelve questions right. Gotta watch him 24/7....)

******************************************************

Finally, a special Sonja birthday poem for Cardinal hoopster Asia Taylor.

Happy Birthday Asia!
Today's a special day
We're counting the days and hours
Till you get to play!

We hope you get lots of presents
And a birthday card or two
Maybe even a ham and pineapple pizza
Especially for you!

We all enjoy our birthday
(Even though I don't count mine anymore)
SO...HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 
And get out there and hit the floor! 
.
..
...