Field Hockey Takes on Drexel -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Faces Drexel at 11AM

In a somewhat unusual scheduling set up, I'm left with a Saturday column with no games to recap. Volleyball had yesterday off, and field hockey's round robin event in Bloomington sees them play today and tomorrow instead of the traditional Friday and Sunday games. The Cards will take on the Dragons of Drexel University today before playing the hosting Hoosiers tomorrow. Today's game will be at 11AM, but no video is listed. 

Louisville and Drexel have met just one other time in history, with the Cards falling 2-1 at the hands of the Dragons in 2011. That one was a home match for Drexel, who were 8-4 at home that year. They struggled on the road, going just 1-4 and finished the season 10-9 overall. The Cards were a similar team that year, also going 10-9 and being much better at home (7-2) than they were on the road (2-6). Louisville's schedule back then was quite similar to this season. They also faced Michigan State, Indiana, Northwestern, Ohio State, California, Wake Forest, and Syracuse. Louisville will be looking for a better outcome against Drexel and on the season overall.

Drexel is coming off of a 3-0 loss to Indiana yesterday. The result moved the Dragons to 1-2 on the young season after they won their opener against Central Michigan and lost to Lafayette in game 2. Drexel has scored two goals and given up six so far this season. If Louisville's offense can do anything like what it did in the first two games, Drexel might see some problems. The start is not what Drexel had in mind. After a 14-5 season last year, a season in which they were undefeated in regular season Colonial Athletic Association play, Drexel would have been looking for a hot start to help avenge the sting of losing in the CAA tournament to Monmouth and missing the NCAA tournament. The Cards should try their best not to be the momentum starter for the Dragons this year. 

So far this season, Louisville's offense goes through Rylie Wollerton. The senior leads the team with five goals through two games and is one of just three players so far to record both a goal and an assist. Lauren Masters is second on the team in points by way of scoring two goals, and Izzy Bianco leads the team in assists with three. Gigi Edwards and Gracie Potter have each scored and assisted once. 

Defensively, the Cards have a full-time warrior in Annabel Sep. Other than Emily Young in the cage, the junior from The Netherlands is the only player to have recorded 120 minutes so far this season. Sep also has a goal on five shots. They must be very well conditioned in Holland, as Trijntje Herfkens has earned the second-highest minutes total among field players with 104. 

Louisville is looking to return to its winning ways. Prior to last season, Louisville had not failed to start the season at 3-0 since 2018. The Cards have had a lot of success under Justine Sowry, and everyone wants to be reassured that last season was a blip. Conference performance has been relatively steady at around .500 since joining the ACC, but last season's 1-7 mark was a black eye. While Drexel isn't the strongest opponent, this is Louisville's first test away from Trager Stadium, so a win today would help build their confidence for a tougher match against Indiana tomorrow. 

Best of luck to the Cards as they continue their season. We'll have results and an IU preview tomorrow. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

It's three on board again this week with Jared on the road. Paulie, Daryl, and I will recap exciting results for all three fall sports before looking ahead to tougher matches on the horizon. You can 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

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WSOC hosts Coastal Carolina -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 4-1 KICKIN' CARDS FACE CHANTICLEERS AT LYNN TONIGHT

It has been a good start for Karen Ferguson Dayes and the Louisville women's soccer team, and the "Kickin" Cards look to keep up the scoring frenzy tonight when they bring the Chanticleers from Conway, SC to Bourbon City for a 7:30 p.m. match. 

So, what is a Chanticleer? A rooster, whose name literally comes from the French term "sing clear". The Chanticleers are also a American male classic singing ensemble. Oh, yeah...it's also the nickname for Coastal Carolina sports .

Away in the Manger - The Chanticleers

I doubt this group of Chanticleers that assemble on Floyd Street tonight will do much singing, unless it is the blues, when facing the Cardinals. They are 1-2 on the season and have scored just two goals in three games, against the likes of Richmond, UNCW and Belmont. They are also 0-2 at home. 

Louisville, on the other hand is 4-1 and has only lost to 3-1 Vanderbilt at Vandy. The Cards have 25 goals amassed in their five games and are led by Mackenzie Geigle with four goals. 

Amelia Swinarski has nine assists and that happens to led the nation. 

It should be another Cardinals romp in this battle of birds tonight.

LOUISVILLE FIELD HOCKEY HOSTS OHIO BOBCATS

Justine Sowry has her Field Hockey squad in action early today with a match against the Ohio Bobcats.

The Bobcats come in after a 5-0 loss at Michigan State.

This one on ACCNX. at noon

While I am speaking of Cardinals...boos and hisses to the ACC announcer who called the Louisville squad the Cardinal all night long on the ACC broadcast. . We are not Stanford (The Cardinal).Where do they come up with these guys?...when there are plenty of good announcers locally who could do the broadcasts justice.

Tonight's game goes to the ACC Network Extra, which means online...and maybe we'll get some announcers who know who we are. 

OK, rant over. Enjoy tonight's game and most likely tomorrow off, if you are still in the working class. 

And have a great rest of the Labor Day Weekend. 

(Photos by Jared Anderson) 

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

Three of us (Paulie, Daryl and Case) participated in the weekly podcast yesterday. Jared was out taking selfies of himself at Louisville football. 

You can hear the re-broadcast of the podcast on You Tube and many other platforms at Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast. Give us a listen!

paulie

Volleyball defeats alumnae 3-1 -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 VOLLEYBALL VS. ALUMNAE

(photo from UofL)

Another 2025 UofL sports squad on the women's side has participated in a match against the alums, and in the volleyball version of the "current vs. old" the 2025-26 squad defeated the alums 3 sets to 1. 

The current squad took the first two sets, and the exact score for these...the report is that the currents defeated the alumnae in each... 25-12 in the first and 25-15 in the second match. The alumnae did rally, from reports, to win the third match 25-23. 

The squads requested to play a fourth set, and in was a shortened set that the team defeated the alumnae 15-8.

Reports we were able find indicate that Cara Cresse had a good match for the current squad with seven kills and six blocks. Ava Utterback also had a good match for the current squad with eight kills.

The exhibition was a sell out at the L&N Federal Credit Union facility with slightly over 1000 fans getting to watch the action. 

The alumnae All-Stars were led by Claire Chausee with 10 kills and Aiko Jones getting six kills. 

Anna DeBeer and Sarah Drury Petkovic coached the Alumni All Stars and the roster included Jones, Chausee, Elena Scott, Emily Scott, Charitie Luper, Elle Glock and Jamie Vasilou,  

The season officially starts for Volleyball when they face auburn on Aug. 29th.

Jared's Photos from Saturday below

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

There were three of us on the Saturday podcast (Case, Daryl and Paulie) as Jared was taking selfie of himself and eating corn dogs at the Ky. State Fair.

We had a good podcast and you can hear it at the link below:

8/23/25 CCRHP

paulie

Volleyball Hosts Red/Black Scrimmage -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Red Defeats Black 3-2

Though I'm not sure a final score truly matters, the Red Squad of the Louisville Cardinals volleyball team defeated the Black Squad in last night's intra-team scrimmage. The annual Red and Black Scrimmage represented the first time for most of CardNation to get their eyes on the 2025 edition of the Cards, their first season under Dan Meske. In addition to the end of the Dani Busboom Kelly era, the Anna DeBeer/Elena Scott reign came to an end at the close of last season as well, so there will be some new names for Louisville fans to become acquainted with. 

One of the players that rotated between the teams was a player that many fans are already well familiar with in Cara Cresse. According to reports from Jared on the floor, Cresse looks like she is already in All-American form, living up to much of the hype that has been thrown her way in the preseason. She had 11 kills and three blocks last night. Cresse will shore up a middle-blocking position that looks to anchor a blocking effort that could, if you believe it, be better than last season. Kalyssa Blackshear will play the second MB position, and she led the black team with 13 kills last night. 

Chloe Chicoine is the other player drawing a lot of attention in preseason, and she also came to play last night. Per Jared, she looked "phenomenal" playing the full rotation, and she amassed nine kills and 15 digs for the red team. Alanna Bankston led the red team with 14 kills and nine digs. Also hitting well for the black team was Payton Petersen, who finished with nine kills and led all players with 19 digs. 

Despite all of that, Jared mentioned that the hitting may be an aspect of Louisville's game that still needs some work. A lot of shots were coming out low, leading to unforced errors in the net and prime blocking material. Perhaps the best indication of that is setter Nayelis Cabello coming up with five blocks. 

Cabello set for the victorious red team last night, and she is part of one of the two major position battles on the floor. Her primary competition for the setter position is transfer Molly Wilson, who led the black team. In addition to the blocks, Cabello finished with two kills, 10 digs, and 38 assists. Wilson had 33 assists and 16 digs. For his part, Jared noted that he believes the edge goes to Cabello due to her ability to chase down errant passes. With two strong options, though, don't be surprised to see a 6-2 employed by Dan Meske. It's not as if he's unfamiliar with it. 

The other position battle is for the newly vacant libero position. While two liberos can be dressed, and Meske may very well choose to do so, it sounds like Kamden Schrand is not particularly interested in sharing the position. The junior had 17 digs last night and Jared notes that her competition (junior Molly Urban and freshman Hannah Kenny) were pretty far back. Kenny is listed as a setter on the roster, so she's an interesting conversion candidate if the defensive skills continue to be a focus. 

All in all, it should be an exciting season regardless, especially as the new players continue to gel with the returners. The next chance to see the Cards in action will be the alumnae match next Saturday. We don't have any confirmed players just yet (rumored are Scott, Claire Chaussee, and Charitie Luper, at least), but we do know some players who won't be playing. DeBeer is continuing to bring her ankle all the way to full for the next professional season, so she's rehabbing in a more controlled environment. Anna Stevenson Hall and Tori Dilfer Stringer are both expecting to be unavailable. Amaya Tillman is an assistant coach at UK, so that would be a competitive advantage issue, and Alexa Hendricks is traveling. Similar to Tillman, Aiko Jones may be precluded from playing due to her role as the Bellarmine head coach, but we'll see on that one. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have four on board today, which is good since there is plenty to discuss. We'll talk actual game action, past and future, and any other news and notes from the week that was. 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

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

More Volleyball Updates -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Ranked 4th by AVCA

Last week I wrote about the love the Cards received from the ACC voters in the preseason polls, so this week I get to talk about the same recognition from the AVCA. The 2025 preseason poll was announced earlier this week, and the national runners up find themselves ranked 4th. Former head coach Dani Busboom Kelly returns to the top of the rankings with her new team as the Nebraska Cornhuskers narrowly edged out the defending NCAA Champions, Penn State. 

Nebraska received 40 first place votes compared to 21 for Penn State, but the Huskers only had 1,490 points
while Penn State had 1,459. Functionally, that means that almost everyone that picked Nebraska to be 1st picked PSU second, while voters who gave the Nittany Lions the nod saw teams like Pittsburgh as the potential second-best program. Pitt, by the way, was the top-ranked ACC program in a preseason poll that includes four ACC teams in the top 10. Pitt was the clear third choice, receiving 1,338 points. That put them on an island well behind PSU for second and almost 100 points ahead of the Cards (1,240) for third. The other ACC teams in the top ten were, unsurprisingly, Stanford (6) and SMU (10).

Texas came in fifth, just behind Louisville with 1,223 points, and led the way for the three-team SEC contingent in the top ten. Kentucky was seventh and Texas A&M ninth. The final spot in the top ten went to Wisconsin, adding a third Big Ten team and boxing the Big 12 out completely. Arizona State was the highest ranked Big 12 program in 13th. 

While the ACC had the largest number of teams in the top ten, the voters found the league to be very top-heavy. Only one other team made the top 25, with Georgia Tech coming in at 22. North Carolina was functionally 28th, as the third team receiving votes. The SEC matched the ACC's five teams, though they nearly had a sixth with Tennessee the first team out. The Big Ten swept with seven teams in the Top 25. 

Coaching Changes Announced

The preseason polls weren't the only big news of the week, as Dan Meske announced some late changes to his coaching staff with the season just around the corner. The first of those was titling Sarah Petkovic as the Chief of Staff. Petkovic has been the Director of Operations for the Cards for 14 years and is entering this season in that role with a third head coach. The title change appears to be more of a sign of respect for the value that Petkovic brings to the program than a general change in job duties. Her role will be to "focus on the development of current student-athletes, including personal and player development as well as leadership skills", to "strengthen the profile of of Cardinal volleyball by collaborating with [local] coaches, alumni, and the local and national volleyball community", and to "manage the program's revenue share, helm alumni and donor relations for the program, [and] assume the role of general manager."

That's a mouthful of a job description, but it boils down to adding the general manager and financial sharing aspect, which is new to programs across the country in the changing college athletics landscape, to the existing duties of the Director of Ops. Petkovic's origin story is pretty fascinating. The Louisville native walked on for the Cards after graduating from PRP where she lettered in volleyball, basketball, and track. She was a defensive specialist for Louisville until shifting to the libero position when it was created. Petkovic earned a scholarship for her final two seasons for the Cards and set records for digs in a single season with 534 and digs in a single match with 39. In 2002, she was a member of the All-Midwest Region team and First Team All-C-USA. After graduating, she spent five years as a member of the United States National Team. So yeah... not bad for a local kid who walked on.

The other coaching announcement was the return of Tori Dilfer Stringer to Louisville. Dilfer Stringer will serve as the team's "offensive consultant" which I suppose is a way of saying "offensive coordinator" for a sport that doesn't necessarily "call plays". Tori brings quite the pedigree to the coaching staff herself, as she wraps up playing professionally after most recently playing for the Columbus Fury in the PVF. Tori also represented the USNT for two years. After transferring to Louisville from TCU as a junior, she immediately made an impact. She was twice named the ACC Setter of the Year and First Team All-ACC and she became the first Cardinal to be named to the All-American First Team. Yeah, that last one surprised me too. The honor in 2021 also came after she helped Louisville go undefeated in the regular season and reach its first ever national semifinal. 

Congratulations to both Sarah and Tori on the announcements of their new roles!

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're back this week with four in the (virtual) studio. We'll talk about all the recent news as well as games actually around the corner. It should be a lively show, so come and join us! 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

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

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

 

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

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Tom Jurich Ceremony Today -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Ceremony Celebrating Jurich on Campus Today

We talked last week about UofL's announcement of Tom Jurich Way coming on a random weekday and how there should be more pomp around it. I'm sure that it's not because of that conversation, but UofL is having a ceremony to honor Jurich today. It's not a curtain call at a football game, but it's still a great celebration. 

Today's ceremony will begin at 10am, so there's still time to get down to campus if you're reading this early. Tom Jurich will speak, and he'll be preceded by John Ramsey and Mayor Craig Greenberg. The event will be held at the Lenny Lyles Plaza between Cardinal Park and Ulmer Stadium. The event is open to the public and fans are encouraged to attend free of charge. 

I spoke last week on the show about how Jurich was Louisville athletics to me growing up. I'm thrilled to see that the relationship between him and the University appears to be on the mend, and I hope that he can act as a somewhat of an advisor to Josh Heird going forward to continue to propel the program in the right direction. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're back again this week with another threesome on the teebox. Jared, Paulie, and I will talk mostly about the schedules this week as we try to make our way through the summer slump. We'll be off next week for the July 4th holiday weekend, so tune in this week to stay up on the news before the break. 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

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Minor Departure from UofL Sports -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Texas Thumps TTU in Championship Rubber Match

Louisville softball missed out on the postseason this year, but we're in the midst of the summer doldrums here at Cardinal Couple and the Women's College World Series was quite the event this year. Plus, with Louisville baseball's upset in Nashville the super regional coming back to Jim Patterson Stadium, diamond sports are on the mind. Last night, in a winner-take-all game three of the WCWS Championship Series, Texas proved why having a single arm that you depend on solely to get you through the postseason may not be the answer. They jumped on NiJaree Canady for five runs in the first inning (with some help from the defense) before ultimately putting Texas Tech on run-rule watch at 10-0 and going on to win 10-4. 

The championship is Texas softball's first, but not for lack of trying. Since their first season in 1997, the Longhorns have made it to Oklahoma City eight times, and they were tied for the most visits without a championship before they won this season. They also had to watch their rivals in Oklahoma win it all four times in a row. To make matters worse, the team the Sooners beat for two of those four straight championships were the Texas Longhorns. That's just an almighty sting. The Longhorns got some payback as they beat OU in OKC for the first time last Saturday to help knock the Sooners out of contention. 

This season's WCWS brought all kinds of eyes to the sport, as OU went for history, Texas made a strong push, and TTU brought the first million-dollar softball player to Omaha. Tennessee and UCLA had their own fun as rules and reviews came into play across the event (including last night), and the NBA Finals coming to OKC during the championship series brought even more stars out to the games. 

Now is a great time to be a softball fan, and it would be an even greater time for Louisville to get over the hump and make some noise in the postseason. Louisville doesn't need to bring a million-dollar pitcher into the program to help them do that, but they can still put together an exciting roster and find a way to make it farther than anyone expects. Ole Miss was the only unseeded team to make it to OKC this season, but TTU was the 12-seed and Oregon was the 16. You just have to get into the postseason to give yourself a chance. Hopefully 2026 sees more for the Cards. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're finally back this week, but it'll be a two-man show. Paulie and I will bring you the latest in Louisville women's athletics, although that isn't much. We may not go the full hour, but we'll still do our best to find as much joy and excitement as we can in the summer slump. 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

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RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Golf Just Misses Cut in NCAAs -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Golf Finishes 7th in Lexington

Louisville women's golf gained ground in the third and final day of the NCAA Regional held at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, but they were only able to move up from ninth to seventh in the event. The top six teams qualified to advance in the tournament. Louisville shot a team best round with an 8-under on Wednesday, led by Bailey Burkett's career best round of 4-under. The Cards finished 8-over par on the tournament, just four strokes back of sixth-place TCU. 

Louisville managed to be the highest finishing team without a player shooting under par over the 54-hole tournament, with Carmen Griffiths and Thienna Huynh tying for the team lead with a T21 finish at 1-over. Bailey Burkett was close behind at +2, a T25 finish. Unfortunately for the Cards, they not only miss out on advancing as a team, but Miami's Olivia Grenborg will be the individual advancing from the Lexington Regional. Grenborg carded a 4-under score for the tournament, finishing tied for fifth. Kansas State's Carla Bernat paced the field with a final score of -12. FSU had the two players who tied for second, with Mirabel Ting and Lottie Woad shooting 10-under. Georgia Southern tied KSU for second in the tournament and finished with the most players under par (three). Also advancing were Southern California and Vanderbilt. 

Overall, Louisville had a decent season, but they'll surely be disappointed to miss out on advancing. It was a tough task, but golf's a tough game. We'll look ahead to the squad getting back out on the course in the fall as they turn their sights to the 2025-26 season. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We've reached the point in the season where it's hard to have wins to talk about. At this stage of tournament time, only so many teams can keep winning. But Paulie, Jared, and Daryl will still work to bring you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics this week. I'm out for other obligations, but we're getting creative to make sure we get the show back on track after last week's Derby absence. No promises on exactly when this week's episode will be posted, but be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Louisville Softball beats B.C. -- Lax loses to Duke -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Softball Survives a Slugfest and Lacrosse  Loses on Senior Day

Both the main Louisville women's Spring sports found themselves in action on Saturday -- even if it was in two different locations. We'll start today with the LAXCards. The Cards Lacrosse squad hosted #9 ranked Duke for their senior day at the L.L.S, but the Blue Devils left with the "W" a 17-7 handling of the Cards, who said "goodbye to their senior class. 

LAX

"I thought we battled for 60 minutes. Duke is a very good team, a balanced team and a very deep team. I thought we played a lot of defense today and took them deep into the shot clock, and we came close on a few possessions that Duke was able to cute...we had some really good moments but Duke was able to make us pay for out mistakes."  --  Louisville head coach Scott Teeter. 

Our Jared Anderson conducted the post game interviews...hear them HERE

Duke (12-3, 6-2) jumped ut to  2-0 lead in the first quarter, before the Cards got their first goal from Maggie McMahon. The Blue Devils responded with three straight goals and ended up taking the first quarter 5-2 after UofL's Lauren Figas scored with a minute remaining in the quarter.

McMahon scored again early in the second quarter, but it would be the final Cards scoring tally of the half, as Duke responded with five straight goals to go in to the half with a commanding 10-3 advantage. 

Duke added four more goals in the third quarter an the Cards were just able to respond with an Abby Scully goal, making the contest solidly in favor of the Blue Devils 14-4 going into the fourth.  

Each squad tallied three more goals in the fourth, the Cards goals coming from Negai Nakazawa, Izzy Seikel and Maggie McMahon's third goal of the afternoon. 

(LAX photos by Jared Anderson)

SOFTBALL

Meanwhile, up in Newton, Mass...the Cards Softball squad won a slug fest against the Boston college eagles 14-13.

Louisville jumped ut to an early 4-0  lead in the top of the first, and extended it to a 10-2 lead in the third inning when they got key his from Easton Lotus and Char Lorenz. 

Boston College decided to make a game of it , though, and touched the Cards for four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. 

Louisville exploded again in the top of the sixth inning with four runs, including a double from Carmyn Lookadoo and triple from Chelsea Mack to make it 14-7. 

Boston College still had life in the bats, though, ans went for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, creating a 12-12 contest. The Eagles put Louisville away in the top of the seventh and appeared to be on a rally in the bottom of the seventh when scored a run and had two on in their final at bats, but the Cards reied the next two BC batters to escape with the 14-13 victory.

Brooke Gray was credited with the Louisville win, one of four pitchers the Cards used in the slugfest, and Gray improves to 7-6 on the season.  

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

A small..but mighty crew on board for the CCRHP yesterday...as Case and Paulie took to the internet to catch up on Cardinal women's athletics. 

The lads covered LAX, softball, and other Cards Women's sports subjects in a podcast that ran well over the normal hour of podcasting..

You can catch up on all the fun and knowledge on the Cardinal Couple You Tube site, along  with a lot of other groovy stuff...check it out below !  

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast 4/12/25.

paulie

Softball Drops Two to Virginia Tech -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Fight Back in Game Two, but Lose 10-0, 5-2

In anticipation of today's weather, Louisville and Virginia Tech agreed earlier this week to move the game scheduled for today to Friday for a double header. In the end, the two teams ended up playing fewer innings yesterday in two games than the Cards did Sunday against Notre Dame in one. Louisville was run-ruled in the first game before keeping the score close but just out of reach in the second. The two teams will play again tomorrow at noon in the series finale. 

Alyssa Zabala got the start in Game 1 against the VT ace, Sophie Kleiman. Kleiman ended up with a very nice day, which doesn't bode well for Cardinal hitters. She threw five full (a complete game) and gave up just two runs and three walks. She struck out two and had one wild pitch. One of Louisville's hits was a double (Taylor Monroe), but Kleiman threw just 71 pitches, meaning the Cards faced an average of 3.7 pitches. That's not going to put a pitcher under too much pressure. 

Zabala got out to a great start, striking out the first two batters she faced and getting a fly out for a one-two-three first inning. Unfortunately, the second inning went quite a bit worse. Zabala walked the first two batters and gave up a single to load the bases with nobody out. Here's where things got weird, and the big inning wasn't all on Alyssa. The next batter singled to center field, which would have scored one, maybe two no matter what. Chelsea Mack booted it in center, though, being charged with a fielding error and allowing a third run to score and the batter to make it all the way to third. Earned vs unearned runs are weird, and ultimately it probably wouldn't have mattered, but all three runs were charged to Zabala, despite the fact that one probably scored as a result of the error. Whatever. Louisville trailed 3-0. 

But wait, there still weren't any outs. Zabala rectified that with another pair of back-to-back strikeouts, and it looked like the Cards might escape a bad situation (bases loaded, nobody out) with less damage than previously anticipated. Not so lucky. Having struck out in her first at bat, the Hokies' leadoff batter stepped up and hit a first-pitch homer to score two runs and stretch the lead to 5-0. Zabala induced a ground out to end the inning, but her day was done. Final line: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO. She threw an average of 4 pitches per batter faced. Tough days happen.

Louisville got their first baserunner on a Bri Despines walk, and a fielder's choice and wild pitch saw Taylor Monroe standing at second with one out. Nothing came of it, though, as a pair of infield ground balls ended the inning. Lindsey Mullen stepped into the circle for Zabala, but Virginia Tech wasn't done scoring yet. Mullen got two quick strikes on the first batter she faced, but plate discipline and quick hands saw the at bat extend to a full count after nine pitches (four fouls). On the tenth pitch, Mullen kept it in the zone, but her defense rewarded her with a throwing error that allowed the batter to reach. That proved costly when, after a fly out for the first out was followed by another two-run homer. A double put a runner in scoring position, and she advanced to third on a dropped third strike. Louisville got the out at first for the strikeout and then stranded the runner at third with a grounder. 

The Cards got another leadoff walk in the fourth, but it came to nothing, and Izzy Harrison replaced Mullen in the bottom half. Harrison's day was short-lived, as she threw nine pitches and saw runners standing on first and second after a pair of walks. Ryann Sanders came in to relieve her and got a ground out to short, but it was too slow to turn a double play, with both runners advancing. That set up a sac fly for VT and the second runner came home on a single before Sanders got a ground out to end the inning. 

Char Lorenz got Louisville's first hit in the bottom of the fourth, but she was erased immediately on a caught stealing attempt. Monroe had her double in the same inning, but no one was on base to take advantage, and a ground out ended the inning with no damage done by the Cards. VT hit their third homer of the day in the top of the fifth to make it 10-0 and set up Louisville's last stand. Ally Alexander coaxed a two-out walk, but the game ended on a fly out. Yuck. 

Sam Booe got the start in game two and Virginia Tech picked up where they left off. Booe was rocked immediately, giving up a lead-off home run, a single to follow, and a two-run homer to end her day. She threw 0+ IP, 16 pitches, and that was that. Brooke Gray came on in relief, and pitched the remainder of the game, finishing with a pretty strong showing. Gray ultimately threw 104 pitches and gave up 6 hits, 2 walks, 2 ER, and had 6 strikeouts. Gray gave up a walk to the first batter she faced, but she and Despines combined for a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double-play. A single preceded a double, but it was a hard liner into right so the run couldn't score. Gray got a strikeout to end the threat. 

Louisville's offense started much better than in game one, with Easton Lotus singling to lead off for the Cards. She, of course, stole second, but Chelsea Mack's bunt attempt was popped up to the catcher. Lotus advanced to third on a passed ball, but it didn't really matter since Char Lorenz sent a 3-1 pitch over the left field fence to score them both. Despines was hit by a bitch to keep the rally going, but the inning ended on a 4-6-3 double play. 

Gray got a quick 1-2-3 inning in the second to bring Louisville to the plate with a chance to tie or take the lead, but it proved to only be the start of a long scoreless run by both teams. The Cards and Hokies played the next five innings with no runs. Gray was nails in that time, giving up just a walk in the third and a pair of singles in the fifth, begging her offense to get one back to reset the game. Her opposite in the circle, Emma Lemley, was just as efficient, though. Louisville had a walk in the second and another in the fourth, but didn't have a real chance to score until the fifth. 

In the bottom of the fifth, still trailing 3-2, Maddi Grant opened with a ground out, but Jordan Williams followed with a single. Ally Alexander put a grounder in play, but it was right back to the pitcher, who turned and fired to second to get the lead runner. Needing a two-out rally, Easton Lotus choked up on the bat with two strikes and fired a single straight back up the gut. Alexander advanced from first to third on the hit, and Lotus followed her by stealing second. With the tying and go ahead runs in scoring position, Mack worked a full-count before striking out swinging. 

Gray had another 1-2-3 inning in the sixth, but Louisville's offensive magic had run out. Another two-out rally may have been on the books, but Monroe was called out for leaving first base early after walking to end the inning. VT broke their stupor against Gray the old fashioned way in the seventh, leading off with a bunt single. Gray responded with a strikeout, seeming to stay on track, but a homer to left (I wonder which way the wind was blowing yesterday.) made it 5-2. The Cards had no answer in the seventh so that was that. 

Virginia Tech is a very good team, and Louisville had a much better showing in the second game of yesterday's double header. After the rest day, the Cards are likely to see another outing from Kleiman or Lemley tomorrow, so the offense will need to find an answer. First pitch is at noon, and the game will be on ACC Network Extra.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have three on this week's show, with Paulie, Daryl, and me holding down the fort. We'll have some exciting softball to chat about and some less exciting softball and lacrosse to cover. We'll also look ahead to Selection Monday for the NCAA tournament, so be prepared to get your brackets in for the NCAA Pick 'Em challenge. Going forward, we'll be without the live show, but we'll still have the podcast available in the normal places when the show posts around 1PM. 

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case