Louisville to Honor NCAA Runners-Up at Alumnae Match -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Hosts Alumnae All-Star Match Today

Louisville volleyball has been announcing the all-stars that are returning for this afternoon's alumnae match throughout the week, and many of the names are those that were rumored last week. In addition to today's match, UofL will be hosting a season-opening "Block Party" at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena, including a ring ceremony for the 2024 runner-up finishers, a team Q&A, an autograph session, and an opportunity for fans to take photos with the runner-up trophy on the court. 

The latest announcement for today's match were the coaching staff for the all-star team. One of those coaches will just be heading across the floor, as Sarah Drury Petkovic moves over from the current staff to take part in leading the group. The other is another one of the all-stars herself, though she is unable to play. Anna DeBeer will join Petkovic at the helm of a stellar alumnae team. 

Though they won't have DeBeer, the all-stars will still have a strong hitting contingent, as Aiko Jones, Claire Chaussee, and Charitie Luper join the team. Louisville's blocking and defense will be put to the test with those three on the attack. On the flip side, Louisville's offense will have to contend with a strong alumnae defense as well. The all-star team will roll with Elena Scott at libero and Emily Scott (no relation) at middle blocker. Emily, if you'll remember, was also a national champion for UofL in the high jump. She finished her volleyball career with 207 kills and 133 blocks, despite playing in just 138 total sets. Also joining the alumnae are Elle Glock at setter and Jamie Vasilou, who primarily served as a serving specialist in her time with the Cards.

Today's match won't be available for streaming, so you'll have to get into the arena to be a part of this one. First serve is scheduled for 2PM and the doors will open at 1PM. I suspect the line is already forming (which may or may not be a joke depending on what time you are reading this). It should be an exciting match and will be Louisville's final competitive tune-up before opening the season on Friday, August 29th against Auburn. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have three on board today as Jared takes in the final weekend of the fair. Paulie, Daryl, and I will still have plenty to discuss with the soccer season fully underway and the other two fall sports in their exhibition schedules. You can check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

FH and Volleyball Fall on the Road -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey Drops ACC Finale at Cal 2-1

Louisville field hockey's offensive woes continued Friday night, as a swing out to the west coast didn't jolt any life into the goal scoring sticks. Facing a Cal team that had not yet won an ACC game, Louisville needed a win to ensure they would make the ACC tournament. At 6-7 (0-5) entering yesterday, Cal had given up 26 goals and only scored 23 on the season. As we discussed on last week's CCRHP, that number in conference was markedly worse. Unfortunately, Louisville couldn't find the back of the cage consistently enough to get the win. 

Cal scored twice in the first ten minutes of the game, with both coming from Liz Klompmaker. Klompmaker is the leading scorer for Cal, and her second goal in this game was her thirteenth of the year. The first quarter saw Louisville give up 11 shots to Cal, with seven of those being on target. Those came with the help of five penalty corners. The Cards managed to earn zero shots in the first quarter. 

Louisville's offense and midfield did manage to turn it around throughout the rest of the game, but they just couldn't score. Despite the massive difference in the first quarter, Louisville and Cal finished the game tied with 14 total shots. Louisville managed to get one more shot on target, finishing with 10, and the Cards took a total of nine penalty corners, while Cal got just one more to finish with six. Louisville managed to cut the deficit to one goal with three minutes remaining in the first half, but they were unable to find an equalizer in the second. 

Rylie Wollerton scored the lone goal for the Cards, and she was assisted by Aimee Plumb. The box score doesn't say it outright, but the goal came four seconds after a penalty corner, so I'm counting it as a PC conversion. That still means Louisville only converted 11%, but it's better than 0. The goal was Wollerton's sixth of the year. 

In goal, Brandelynn Heinbaugh took the start this game and played 56 minutes. Louisville went empty net in the waning minutes to try to tie. Heinbaugh finished with seven saves, which should have been plenty for Louisville's offense to keep them in this game. 

The Cards have one more regular season match before they find out their fate about the ACC and NCAA tournaments. Louisville will take on UC Davis tomorrow at 2PM Eastern. The match will be available on America East TV and the link can be found on GoCards as well. As with pretty much every other match in the current skid, Louisville needs a win to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive. Unfortunately, their ACC tournament fate is out of their control. Last night saw both Cal and Stanford pick up their first ACC wins as Stanford beat Wake 1-0. Cal will play Wake tomorrow and the two California teams will face off on Halloween. Since one team is guaranteed to finish with two wins, it will come down to tiebreakers for the last spot. As best I can tell, Louisville needs Wake Forest to beat Cal and for Cal to beat Stanford. All four teams currently have one win and Louisville only holds the tiebreaker over Stanford. Wake also plays Virginia, so the wrong results for the Cards could potentially see them as the only ACC team to finish 1-7 and out of the conference tournament. 

Volleyball Loses 5-Set Thriller at Pitt

Two of the top teams in the country went head to head last night and the battle for the top of the ACC went down to the wire. Facing a team that had only dropped four sets all season entering the match, Louisville was able to add just two to that total. The Cards and Panthers went hammer and tongs for the entire match before the Cards ultimately fell 15-12 in the deciding fifth set. Given the pattern, Louisville may have very well won a sixth set if they played it, but they potentially would have lost a seventh. Louisville won the evens and lost the odds, with the final scoreline being 21-25, 28-26, 17-25 (eek), 25-22, 12-15. 

This match was everything you'd expect: even almost across the board. Louisville finished with more kills (70-68), but they were surprisingly outblocked (13-16). Statistically, the serving line was almost a non-factor. Louisville went 1-7 and Pitt went 3-12, giving the Cards a net +3. However, stats don't tell the whole story with serving, and when those plays happened could matter a lot. The big differentiator was the total errors and playing in system. Louisville had 70 assists on their 70 kills, so every kill was played through the offense. Pitt had only 65 assists, meaning they had three free points from Louisville over passes. Louisville also finished with 35 errors to Pitt's 20. Since blocks count as errors for the hitter, that means Louisville had 19 true hitting errors and Pitt had seven. That'll do it, folks. 

Pitt set the tone straight out of the gate by blocking Anna DeBeer for the match's first point. Charitie Luper tied it up, but Pitt went on an 8-2 run to take a 9-3 lead. The Panthers kept Louisville at arm's length for nearly the remainder of the set. As I mentioned, though, the timing of service line swing plays can be very important. With a 23-17 lead, Pitt had a service error, starting a three-point run that gave Louisville life at 20-23. Unfortunately, that knife cuts both ways. A service error from Louisville gave Pitt set point and the Cards could win just one more before the bell. 

The second set appeared to flip the script entirely, with Louisville taking the early 9-3 lead and looking to be in control. As the scores crept up, points were largely exchanged one-for-one and Louisville was flying high at 19-13. All good things must end, it is said, and so it was for the Cards as an 8-2 Pittsburgh run tied the second set at 21. With the Panthers at home and carrying all the momentum, Louisville was in danger. They won two quick points to go up 23-21 and could take a breath, but Pitt punched right back to take set point at 24-23. From there, it was do or die for both teams. Louisville won a pair for their own set point, and the teams traded to tie it at 26. In came another key service error, and Louisville finished the set with a big block to win 28-26.

The third set was nothing to write home about. It was Louisville's worst set from a hitting perspective and Pitt's best. The Cards hit 0.182 and Pitt put up a whopping 0.433. Surprisingly, Louisville's error number (8) was not their highest of the match (they had 10 in the second), but a hitting deficit of 25% is pretty tough to overcome. Unlike the first two sets, the third was close early, with Louisville keeping it within two points up to 13-15. Unforced errors and Pitt blocks came home to roost, though, and Louisville dropped the set out of the halftime break 25-17. 

Down 2-1 against the top team in the country in a very hostile environment, Louisville was on the ropes. The Cards continued to struggle offensively to start the fourth, but the Panthers very generously gifted them three service errors in the first 15 points. Those points were crucial for the Cards, as they were blocked twice and had two hitting errors over the same stretch. Trailing just 7-8, though, Louisville was able to put their heads down and get on track. The Cards committed just two more errors over the remainder of the fourth set and managed to stretch a lead over time to 20-17. They took a 23-20 lead, and it looked briefly similar to the second set. This time, though, they held strong, putting the brakes on a Pitt run after two points and holding on to the 23-22 lead. Louisville won the next two to set up the tiebreaking fifth. 

In retrospect, the start of the fifth may have been a sign that a win wasn't on the books last night. As the match started with a block of DeBeer, the fifth began with a DeBeer service error. Pitt won five of the first seven points, and the Cards looked like they could be in trouble. Louisville managed to bring it back to 6-7, but the ball just wouldn't fall their way. After a kill by Charitie Luper looked to keep the Cards alive with the score at 8-10, Elena Scott had a crucial service error, her only one of the night (DeBeer only committed two). Instead of a chance to make it 9-10, Louisville was down 8-11 and that quickly became 8-12. In a set to 25, that wouldn't be so bad. Unfortunately, the fifth set is a race to 15. Again, Louisville managed to chop out a point and, again, an untimely service error flipped the ball right back. This time, it was Nayelis Cabello committing her only service error of the night. The Cards had just seven service errors and three came in the fifth set. Brutal. Louisville managed to go on a short burst thanks to back-to-back blocks and drew to within 12-13, but Pitt took the last two points to secure the win. 

Obviously, Pitt is very good, but they've been proven to be beatable and this match looked very winnable for Louisville. It's a tough way to end, but the Cards will get another shot at the Panthers on Thanksgiving week in the Yum! Center. In last night's match, Louisville was led by Anna DeBeer and Charitie Luper. DeBeer tied the match high of 22 kills with Pitt's Olivia Babcock. Luper was third among all players with 19. Louisville also got double-digits from Reese Robins, who had 10. Cara Cresse finished with nine kills and Sofia Maldonado Diaz had seven.

Defensively, Elena Scott finished with 21 digs and was forced into seven assists. Both Luper and DeBeer completed double-doubles, finishing with 17 and 14 digs, respectively. Elle Glock also had a double-double (technically) as she picked up 11 digs to go along with her 38 assists. Phekran Kong led the team with six block assists, while DeBeer was close behind with three BA and the only solo block of the night for Louisville.

The Cards are back in action tomorrow as they head deep into the heart of Texas to take on SMU. The Mustangs have been giant killers this season, so Louisville needs to have maximum focus to avoid a losing streak. SMU is ranked 12th in the country and swept Notre Dame last night. Tomorrow's match will get underway at 1PM and will be on ESPN. I'm sure Jeff will have more to say tomorrow about both matches as he was in Pittsburgh last night.

No Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast This Week

With Cardinal Couplers scattered to the wind this week, the choice was down to me as to whether I'd like to monologue the hour. Had things gone a bit better for the Cards this week, perhaps I would have considered it. As it stands, though, we'll have no show this week. We should be back next week barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Fall Sports Media Day at UofL -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

 CARDS FALL COACHES AND PLAYERS SPEAK

(the "young" Karen Ferguson Dayes)

-- Joe Franklin...cross country and track and field:

JOE FRANKLIN

-- Karen Ferguson Dayes...women's soccer:

KAREN FERGUSON DAYES

-- Justine Sowry...Field Hockey

JUSTINE SOWRY

-- Dani Busboom Kelly...Volleyball

DANI BUSBOOM KELLY

-- Anna DeBeer, Elle Glock...Volleyball

Anna DeBeer and Elle Glock

A nice, "welcome back to campus" noon time for me and Sonja as roughly a dozen media and women's sports S.I.D.'s were in attendance at the press room in the Planet Fitness Kueber Center on Floyd Street on the UofL Belknap campus.  We also got Chick-Fil-A and water, plus chips...woo hoo! 

We got all of the pressers and Q&A except for men's soccer for you...(since we don't cover MSOC) and we already have almost an hour of interviews here already. Thanks to UofL for the feeds. Why volleyball was the only sport to send players is a question...but, hey, it's UofL's show and they did an otherwise wonderful jlob with it. We appreciate the yearly update. 

WSOC kicks off he fall sports season Thursday. Jared will look at the match tomorrow morning as the Cards face Bellarmine. A 7:30 pm match at Lynn Stadium, on campus. Admission is free. We'l have a large Cardinal Couple crew in attendance for this one. 

paulie 

Volleyball Advances to Sweet Sixteen -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Sweep WMU to Advance

Louisville hosted Western Michigan in the Yum! Center last night in the second round of the NCAA tournament. As Coach Dani Busboom Kelly noted in her postgame remarks, WMU was a good team that lost only two matches all season. Louisville certainly didn't have a walk in the park, despite the final score. While they finished with a sweep, they had to earn it, winning with scores of 26-24, 25-18, and 25-22. The Cards used a good hitting night to put WMU away, hitting .359 as a team with just 10 errors. Their lowest set percentage was still .300 and every hitter with an attempt hit at least .200.

The Cards jumped out to an early lead in the first, led by a 3-kill streak for Cara Cresse that was part of a 4-0 run to move Louisville ahead 7-3. The Cards had to weather a storm, as WMU brought it back to tie the set at 12 before carrying a two point lead 17-15. After Louisville held close, it looked as though they'd be in dire straights when WMU moved to Set Point 3 with a 24-21 lead. Louisville did no less than rattle off five straight points to win 26-24. 

The second set was closer for longer, but Louisville's brief runs were more frequent that WMU's. The Cards led 15-10 before a quick spurt of energy from the Broncos made it 15-14 again. The trades continued, but they were uneven, and Louisville ultimately took the set 25-18. The second was Louisville's best hitting set, as they were .387 in that one. Somewhat surprisingly, it wasn't WMU's worst set, as that came in the first with a .140 percentage. WMU hit .235 in the second, so Louisville was just more advantageous with their points and opportunities. 

Much like the second, the third set stayed close. Unlike the second, Louisville never had a big run to open the score up. As a result, WMU hung around, threatening to take a set off of the second-seeded hosts. After an error by Charitie Luper brought WMU to within one at 23-22, Luper followed it up with a kill to give the Cards a Match Point opportunity. Cara Cresse took advantage of said opportunity, and the Cards closed it out.

Luper was the leader for Louisville offensively in this one. She finished with 11 kills, which was behind only WMU's Anna Calcagno for the match lead. Calcagno had 13 kills. Luper was the only Card in double figures, but Cresse and Anna DeBeer finished with nine, while Reese Robins had eight, PK added seven, and Aiko Jones rounded out Louisville's kills with five. PK continued her strong tournament as she also had no errors. DeBeer nearly finished with a double-double, as she added nine digs to her kills.

At the net, Louisville was dominant. WMU finished with just three blocks. Louisville had ten. Louisville was even at the serving line, finishing with five aces and five service errors. They lost the category by the narrowest of margins, as WMU put up seven aces and just six errors. Elena Scott, Elle Glock, and Brigitta Petrenko were all busy. Petrenko had 12 assists and two digs, while Scott finished with seven assists to go along with her 22 digs. Glock finished with a double-double as both setters were targeted. Glock had 26 assists and 11 digs, trailing WMU's Logan Case in both categories. Case had 36 assists and 14 digs. That would be part of the reason that DBK said Case and the libero Andelyn Simkins (who also had 14 digs) could play anywhere.

There may have been a couple of spots for improvement, but Louisville will need performances more like last night's than the one on display against Wright State if they want to make a deep run in this year's tournament. As it is, they can only take one match at a time.

Louisville played the only Friday match in their region, so they await tonight's results to determine a location and opponent. The Cards will get either Minnesota or Creighton and they'll plan in either Pittsburgh or Louisville. The match to determine Louisville's opponent is at 7:30 and the one that determines the location (Pitt vs USC) is at 7:00 PM.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll be without Jared this week as some big game is happening in Charlotte or something. We'll have plenty to cover with the knuckleheads on hand, though. We'll talk volleyball, basketball, and whatever else strikes Paulie's fancy. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

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Overcast (free account required): Link

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

ACC Volleyball Awards -- Looking Deeper at the Volleyball Bracket -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Several Cards with ACC Volleyball Awards

The final week of the ACC Volleyball weekly awards were released yesterday, which happened to be the same day the 2023 ACC Volleyball awards were announced.

ACC Weekly Honors

Anna DeBeer, Elena Scott, and Elle Glock were named to ACC Offensive Player of the Week, Defensive Player of the Week, and Setter of the Week, respectively. All three have earned several weekly honors this season so seeing them close out the season with more accolades comes as no surprise.

DeBeer closed out the season with another double-double. She recorded 18 kills and 15 digs and even added a trio of aces and a block in the mix. This is the third time this season DeBeer received the award.

Scott split the defensive accolade with Pitt's Emma Monks. The duo shared the award back in September too. Scott logged 15 digs against Georgia Tech while adding on a pair of aces and three assists. This is Scott's fourth time this season earning the award.

Glock averaged 10.25 assists in the four-set match against the Yellow Jackets, totaling 41 on the match. She snuck in a kill and added a couple of aces. 

ACC Season Awards

Anna DeBeer was named ACC Player of the Year and Elena Scott was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year to power six Cardinals being named to All-ACC teams.

DeBeer shares the POTY award with Florida State's Audrey Koenig. The senior outside hitter finished the season with 216 kills in ACC play (343 on the season), surpassing the 1,000 career kills mark this season.

In conference play, Scott had 288 digs (443 on the season) for a 4.43 digs per set mark. If Louisville wouldn't block opponents attacks so much then she would've had more... good problem to have, though. The junior libero reached the 1,000 career digs earlier this season.

Rachel Fairbanks of Pitt was named ACC Setter of the Year. Olivia Babcock of Pitt was named ACC Freshman of the Year. Chris Poole of FSU was named ACC Coach of the Year.

DeBeer and Scott were named to the All-ACC First Team, where they were joined fellow Cardinal Charitie Luper.

Glock was named to the All-ACC Second Team alonside Aiko Jones and Cara Cresse.

Looking Into the NCAA Volleyball Bracket

Now that we have the 2023 NCAA Volleyball bracket, we have time to look at match-ups, favorites, dark horses, and matches to look out for.

*All predictions below are the opinions of Jared and may not reflect the views of the rest of Cardinal Couple*

Favorite to win the championship: Nebraska. There's little room for debate as the Huskers went 28-1 this season. Their only loss came at the hands of Wisconsin on the road on the Badger's senior day. Wisconsin is another 1-seed so that's not a bad loss at all. They swept 16 of their opponents and went to five sets just three times. Nebraska doesn't lose at home and they'll play their first four matches at home.

Dark horses: 5-seed Dayton went 31-2 this season with their only losses come to Marquette and Louisville, both in five sets. They did sweep Western Kentucky. The Flyers won 3-0 23 times this season and lost just two sets in the A10 regular season.

6-seed Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers are riding a 24 match win streak. They fell to Dayton, Penn State, Arkansas, and James Madison, all of whom are in the NCAA Tournament and are seeded. They cruised through Conference USA again without a blemish in the loss column.

4-seed Washington State: A 24-7 team making a deep run? Uh, yeah. The Pac-12 has some tough competition in Stanford, Oregon, Arizona State, and USC. The Cougars held their own in the conference. Don't forget that one of their losses came at the hands of Louisville at the beginning of the season. Washington State was ranked as high as #4 at one point before they lost five of seven in a three-week span. They've now won five straight and have wins over Texas, BYU, Oregon, Arizona State, and USC this year.

Potential Exciting Match-Ups: Louisville vs Pittsburgh, Elite Eight. The two ACC rivals weren't put in the same region by accident. The ACC's top two teams on a regular basis split the series in the regular season the last two years. The Cards defeated the Panthers in the Final Four last year to go to the championship.

Wisconsin vs Penn State, Sweet Sixteen. The Nittany Lions get overshadowed by Big Ten teams Wisconsin and Purdue. Penn State is historically good. They beat the Badgers in the lone match-up this season. Wisconsin is only a couple years removed from a championship and they're the only team to beat Nebraska this year.

Florida vs Georgia Tech, Second Round. Of all of the host schools in the opening weekend, Florida got one of the toughest draws against a Georgia Tech team that arguably deserved a 4-seed. The Yellow Jackets regularly get overshadowed by Louisville and Pittsburgh, plus Florida State this year. Florida has been inconsistent most of the season and haven't won more than three games in a row since early September.

BYU vs Arizona State, Second Round. BYU held their own well in the Big 12 with five of their six losses coming in conference play (two to Texas) and the sixth loss coming against Washington State. The Cougars swept six of their final seven opponents and lost the only match that wasn't a sweep. Arizona State was dominant out of conference, losing just three sets in 12 matches. They hold wins over Stanford, Oregon, and USC and were two points short of defeating Washington State in five. This is a battle of two underrated teams.

Jared's Upset Picks (by seeding):

2-seed Louisville over 1-seed Pittsburgh, Elite Eight

5-seed Georgia Tech over 4-seed Florida, Second Round

5-seed Penn State over 4-seed Kansas, Second Round

6-seed Western Kentucky over 3-seed Tennessee, Second Round

2-seed Oregon over 1-seed Wisconsin, Elite Eight

Unseeded Delaware over 8-seed Missouri, First Round

Unseeded UC Santa Barbara over 8-seed Houston, First Round

Unseeded Minnesota over 6-seed Utah State, First Round

Unseeded Miami over 8-seed UNI, First Round

Who knows what will actually happen in the tournament. If I have time, I'll fill out a full bracket for kicks and giggles and post that here on the site before the tournament starts on Thursday.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Enter Melee Atop ACC -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Falls in 4 at GT

Louisville entered Friday's match with the goal of staying tied atop the ACC. Since it was a big night among the major players, Louisville's stakes rose to getting the chance to lead outright as their match progressed. FSU took down Pitt in five sets, giving the Cards a golden opportunity to take control of their own destiny and effectively clinch at least a tie of the ACC title with a match still to play against Pitt. In the end, Louisville stayed atop the ACC, but they've now got plenty of company. FSU's win moved Pitt into a tie with the Seminoles and Yellow Jackets with two losses. Rather than bump GT down to a lonely fourth, the Cards joined the fray as four teams now sit at 11-2.

Georgia Tech is now on a five-match win streak and they are tied with Louisville at 20-3 overall. Pitt is at 20-4 overall and FSU is the outlier with a 17-8 overall record. Of the top four, only GT has lost a conference match at home. The Cards still have a fair handle on their own path to a championship. Louisville has Pitt on the road on November 18th and the return match against GT to close out the season on November 22nd. Pitt and GT will play again next week, but the big wild card is Florida State. The rest of the schedule isn't too threatening for the Seminoles. They play four of their remaining six conference matches at home, including their biggest remaining challenge against rival Miami. 

As for last night's match, it was a clear indication that Louisville volleyball gets everyone's best shot each time out. Perhaps a harbinger of what was to come, GT started the match with an ace and won the first three points. Louisville methodically worked the first set, keeping the Techsters close before going on a 7-2 run to take a 17-15 lead and force a GT timeout. Out of the break, Louisville gave up a point before winning six of the next seven to hold what you might consider a comfortable 23-17 lead in the first set. Needing just two points, Louisville dropped three straight before moving to set point at 24-20. With set point three, Louisville completely fell apart. From 23-17, Louisville went on to lose the set 26-24. They gave up a six-point run after taking set point and lost 9 of 10 points to end the first. Three of the last four points were GT aces.

The second was tight all the way through, but Louisville was never able to seize control. After winning the first point, the Cards could do no more than tie the score for the remainder of the set. As a result, they lost 25-22 and entered the locker room at halftime staring down the potential of a sweep. The first half saw Louisville hit just .167 and .222 while GT was .267 and .351 to open the match. Despite GT holding four key aces in the first (the first point and three of the last four), those four were their only four of the set. Louisville actually scored more aces in the first, but the Cards also added two service errors. In the second, Louisville won the serving battle with no aces. They committed just one error while GT committed four and could only find one ace.

Out of the break, it seemed as though the teams were in for another tight battle. Louisville was the team that showed more mettle, though, calmly extending the lead one point at a time. The Cards forced a GT timeout after a three-point run took the set from tied to 11-8. After the timeout, Louisville traded two for one as they pushed their lead to 17-11. The Cards were able to make it 21-14 before GT threatened another run. This time, Louisville weathered it, and the score once more landed on 23-17 after an Elena Scott handling error. Bianca Bertolino, who had dominated the match and led the service charge to end the first set, promptly erred on her serve to give Louisville set point seven. The Cards didn't mess around, taking the set 25-17.

Though it looked like Louisville may have won some momentum, the result of the third may have come down to GT slipping a bit rather than Louisville turning it on. Louisville only hit .270 in the third while GT hit an abysmal -.037. That didn't last. The Cards opened the fourth with an ace and took a 3-1 lead after a GT error and a service error. The lead quickly evaporated, though, and they saw the Yellow Jackets move to an 8-10 advantage. The Cards fought back to a 10-10 tie before another massive run by Georgia Tech effectively sealed the set and the match. A service error gave the ball to GT, who used two kills, two aces, and a setting error by Elle Glock to take a 16-10 lead. Louisville managed to get it as close as 18-14, but they ultimately fell 25-19. 

Louisville was never quite able to get going in this one, third set aside. The Cards ultimately hit just .186 in the match. While they had the top two kill leaders in Charitie Luper and Phekran Kong and scored more kills than GT, the timing of the errors was what did Louisville in. Looking at total errors (attack, service, block, miscellaneous) Louisville only committed five more (37-32) than Georgia Tech. If you include receiving errors (inverse of aces) just one more is added. The difference, like I said, was the timing. When Louisville led 23-17 in the first, six of GT's nine points came on Louisville errors in some fashion (two outright attack errors, one GT block, and three receiving errors on aces). Turn a couple of those around, or insert a GT error here instead of the third, and we're probably talking about a completely different match.

At the end of the day, the Cards are in, relatively, the same position they were in before Friday. They're still not alone atop the league and they still get another chance to beat (most) of their competition for the title. Louisville can only control what they can control. If they can end the season on a strong run and beat both Pitt and GT to close the year, they have only to hope that FSU slips up. It wouldn't be too out of character for this FSU team to do so. We'll just have to wait and see. The quest for an 11-match win streak to close the year begins tomorrow at 1PM on ACC Network Extra when the Cards face Clemson.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have at least three (with a wildcard) on for the show today. We'll talk Louisville volleyball, obviously, the exciting but unfortunate end to the Louisville field hockey conference tournament, and hit the highlights from Paulie's media sessions with the Louisville women's basketball team. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

ACC Awards -- Looking at Fall Sports Regular Seasons -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Halloween! Today, we look at plenty of tricks and treats going on in the realm of Louisville women's sports.

ACC Awards

Field Hockey Places Three on All-ACC Teams

Louisville field hockey had three players named to the All-ACC Teams. Mia Duchars was named to the All-ACC First Team while Mia Emilia Kaczmarczyk and Julie Kouijzer were named to the All-ACC Second Team. You mean to tell me that players like Aimee Plumb and Merlijn van der Vegt didn't place? Get Out. That seems like a bunch of Hocus Pocus to me.

This is the first all-conference honor for Duchars, who was a crucial part of the defense while also playing a role with transitional offense. Duchars logged four assists and scored the game-winning goal in overtime at Boston College to close out the regular season.

Kaczmarczyk is having her best season of her five-year career with the Cards. The English native also earned her first all-conference honors while recording five goals and having two assists. Opposing defenses would get Goosebumps when Kazzy lined up for a shot.

Kouijzer has been the last line of defense for the Cards for several years, and has helped captain and direct the defense from her position. The defense allowed less than one goal per game this season. The Dutch native was also a force to be reckoned with on penalty corners, with three goals and three assists.

Louisville enters the ACC Tournament as the 3-seed and will face 6-seed Boston College today at 6:00 pm ET in Charlottesville. You can catch it on tv on ACC Network. Louisville has reached the ACC Finals before but has never won the title before. Will this year be The Shining moment for them?

Volleyball with Two Weekly Award Winners

Elle Glock was named ACC Setter of the Week. The redshirt sophomore tallied 64 assists over the weekend for an average of just over 10 assists per set. Her 34 assists and 10 digs against Florida State led to her first double-double of the season.

Elena Scott was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week. The junior libero 20 digs in the sweep over Florida State, her first 20+ dig match of the season. She had 13 more assists in the sweep over Miami. She added 10 assists and a pair of aces over the weekend. Scott is a Hellraiser for opposing offenses, who think they have an easy kill before she comes diving in at the last season with the dig.

The Cards have six regular season games left this season. They visit Georgia Tech this Friday. Ready or Not, the Cards are coming for you, Georgia Tech.

Louisville has advanced to two straight Final Fours and finished last season as National Runner-Up. Will this season be the season that UofL earns The Ring they have been chasing after?

Looking Back on Fall Sports Regular Seasons

Women's Soccer

For Louisville women's soccer, this season was certainly one to make you Scream. The Cards finished 4-9-5 this year with a 3-5-2 mark in conference play. It seemed like it was all a part of a Scary Movie. While it doesn't compare to Louisville men's basketball going 4-28 last season and starting the season on a nine-game losing a streak, a true Nightmare Before Christmas, this season's results don't bode well for a team full of talent.

UofL WSOC lost four games by one goal each. Turn those into draws or turn some of the five draws into wins and this season has a much better result. 9-4-5 looks world's better than 4-9-5. They did record a couple good wins over Pitt and Duke. Perhaps the Cards were in the hands of Malignant after battling several injuries.

We will be Conjuring up good vibes for next season. We do not know of any players that might be transferring out or in for the 2024 season.

After several years of failing to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, the Lynn Stadium offices probably feel like The Little Shop of Horrors as they figure out how to fix that for next year. 

Field Hockey

For the most part, Louisville field hockey had a strong season, going 13-5 on the year. However, a loss to Duke on Friday the 13th sparked a four-game losing streak towards the end of the season that turned a definite NCAA Tournament appearance into one that is a little bit more questionable. I still think their overall record and rpi should be enough to get in regardless of the results from the conference tournament.

So, who did the Cards call during their losing streak? Well, it wasn't the Ghostbusters. Justine Sowry got her team back to focusing on the basics and trying to loosen back up. It definitely felt like there was something Sinister afoot but Louisville bounced back with a win at Boston College to close out the regular season.

They now prepare for the ACC Tournament and hopefully the NCAA Tournament. IT is time to get the postseason started at 6:00 pm today. UofL is coming off a visit to Boston College where they snatched a win from the Jaws of defeat and now will Duel it out again tonight.

Volleyball

The volleyball regular season isn't over quite yet. With six games remaining, the Cards are 20-2 on the year and hold an 11-1 mark in conference play. You can't help but Smile at the 14 sweeps this year for Louisville, including those over rivals Kentucky and Pitt.

Even though Louisville's home arena isn't much bigger than The Cabin in the Woods or The Last House on the Left...the arena is regularly pushing capacity. They did break 12,000 at the KFC Yum! Center earlier this season and have had great numbers in all three appearances downtown. A rocking KFC Yum! Center crowd is enough to Haunt any opposing team's dreams. It is definitely the opposite of A Quiet Place.

Don't Look Now, but the Cards moved up to #3 in the latest AVCA rankings, sitting just behind Nebraska and Wisconsin. Pitt and Georgia Tech also sit in the top 10. The ACC has been Conjuring up strong volleyball programs for the last several years, with much of that credit going to when Louisville and Pitt joined the conference.

This year's Final Four is a bit of a distance for the Cards. No it's not all the way to Halloweentown, but Tampa still takes some time to get to. There is a good chance we see UofL there again this year.

We hope today's Halloween themed Cardinal Couple post wasn't so Sinister that you turned as pale as Casper like you Saw a Poltergeist. You Better Watch Out, as Trick 'r Treat-ers will be battling the cold and knocking on your door looking for the Candyman tonight.

Happy Halloween and Go Cards!

Jared

Volleyball Rankings and Awards -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cresse and Glock Earn ACC Honors

Louisville volleyball brought in more ACC honors following a successful weekend. Cara Cresse was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week and Elle Glock was named ACC Setter of the Week.

Cresse had a strong showing as a middle blocker, hitting .643 against Pitt and .538 against Virginia. On the weekend, she logged 19 kills (3.17 kills per set), six blocks, two digs, and two aces.

Glock and Cresse celebrate their honors early.

Glock earned her second straight ACC honor following 66 assists in two matches for an 11.00 assists per set average. She also added 10 digs, three blocks, and two kills.

Cresse earned her first ACC honors while Glock earned her third of the season. Anna DeBeer and Elena Scott have each earned ACC honors twice.

The Cards swept then-#8 Pitt on Friday at the KFC Yum! Center and followed it up by cruising past Virginia in a sweep on Sunday. Louisville improved to 16-2 on the season and a 7-1 conference record following the win. They visit Wake Forest and Virginia Tech this coming weekend.

Volleyball Climbs the Rankings

Continuing on with the good Louisville volleyball news, the Cards moved up to #5 in the latest AVCA poll. Wisconsin, Nebraska, Stanford, and Washington State all remained in the top four positions, respectively. The Cards fell to Stanford in five sets but defeated Washington State earlier this season.

Coach DBK challenges Wazzu's spot above UofL in the rankings.

Pitt, whom the Cards just beat, moved up to #7. Penn State, another UofL win, sits at #11. Georgia Tech dropped a couple spots to #13. The Cards and Yellow Jackets still have to play twice. Dayton is #16 and Kentucky is #20, both Louisville wins.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Glock ACC Setter of the Week -- Vball Stays #6 -- FH Travels to Indiana -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Elle Glock Named ACC Setter of the Week

Louisville volleyball setter Elle Glock was named ACC Setter of the Week. The redshirt sophomore earns her second ACC honors this season after receiving the same award the third week of the season.

Glock recorded 71 assists over the weekend in Louisville's two wins. 43 of her assists came in the win over North Carolina. Against Duke, Glock tallied 31 assists, 10 digs, three kills, two aces, and a block.

Anna DeBeer and Elena Scott join Glock as the other Cardinals to earn various ACC honors this season.

Volleyball Remains #6

In the latest AVCA rankings, Louisville retained the #6 spot. The Cards won two matches on the road, a 3-1 victory against North Carolina and a 3-0 sweep over Duke.

The top six spots all stayed put: Wisconsin, Nebraska, Stanford, Washington State, Oregon, and Louisville. Pitt and Texas flip flopped with the Longhorns moving to #7 and the Panthers down to #8. BYU and Tennessee round out the top 10. Georgia Tech is the only other ACC school in the rankings, coming in at #11.

Louisville also has wins over #13 Penn State, #18 Dayton, and #23 Kentucky.

The Cards are back in action this Friday against Pitt at 7:00pm ET. This one is being held at the KFC Yum! Center and Louisville hopes to break its own record, set previously this season against Kentucky. There were still plenty of lower level end zone seats as of last night.

Field Hockey Visits Indiana

Playing their third game in five days, Louisville field hockey is back in action today against Indiana. The Battle of the Border is set for a noon start in Bloomington. The only streaming is a paid platform at Big Ten Plus.

The Cards are 11-1 on the season after a pair of wins on the weekend. UofL took down Wake Forest in a shootout Friday night before cruising past Central Michigan on Sunday.

Indiana has struggled this season, starting 5-7. They've struggled against ranked teams, going 0-5 against the top 25 so far. Most recently, the Hoosiers defeated Bellarmine 1-0.

Indiana has been outscored 23-15 on the season but are nearly even on penalty corners. Sarah Charley leads the offense with four goals and three assists. She is one of nine IU players to score. Arabella Loveridge and Shannon McNally have split time evenly in the cage. The former has 33 saves on a .750 save percentage while the latter has 24 saves and a .686 save percentage.

Women's Soccer Seniors Interview

Case and I had the pleasure of interviewing all of the seniors at women's soccer following their win against Syracuse on Sunday. YouTube switched the video over to private but we were able to correct that issue. You can catch that video here.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Sweep Irish -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

VolleyCards Sweep Notre Dame

A shortened week had no ill effect on the Louisville volleyball as the Cards went on the road to sweep Notre Dame 3-0 (25-12, -18, -16).

While Louisville appears to have completed dominated based on the final score, Notre Dame had some bright spots including keeping the second set close until the Cards closed the set on a 7-0 run.

The Cards handed Notre Dame their third loss of the season and their first in ACC play. Only four teams remain undefeated in conference play.

On the night, the Irish were limited to 17 kills on -0.115 attack percentage. They did end up with more aces (five) than service errors (three). Meanwhile, Louisville doubled up their service errors (eight) over aces (four). The Cards more than doubled up Notre Dame in kills with 39 for the match. Louisville hit .250.

It's not often a middle blocker racks up the most kills, but Phekran "PK" Kong did so with 12 kills on .500 hitting. Aiko Jones (eight kills) and Anna DeBeer (seven kills) also had strong attack nights. Elena Scott and Elle Glock each had eight digs with the latter also recording 30 assists.

Set One: Louisville 25, Notre Dame 12

Louisville looked like one of the best teams in the country after racing out of the gate to a 9-0 lead. Their lead extended to 15-4 before Notre Dame burned their final timeout. The Irish pieced together a 4-0 spurt but Louisville never allowed things to get any closer.

Set Two: Louisville 25, Notre Dame 18

ACC play is rarely easy and Notre Dame reminded Louisville of that in the second set. After the Cards went up 3-0, the Irish battled back to a 7-7 tie. Neither team was able to piece together any type of run for much of the set and Notre Dame a 15-17 lead. After the Cards and Irish came even at 18 apiece, UofL then rallied for a 7-0 spurt to claim the set.

Set Three: Louisville 25, Notre Dame 16

The only good thing for Notre Dame this set was being able to string together three straight points and four straight points. Louisville went on cruise control for a good chunk of the set including building a seven-point lead late in the set. After the Irish cut the Louisville lead to 20-15, the Cards scored five of the final six points to claim the win.

Louisville improves to 12-1 on the season and reaches 3-0 in ACC play for the fifth straight season, COVID-19 season excluded. The Cards have won five straight in the series against Notre Dame and now lead the all-time series 24-23.

Next on the schedule for UofL is NC State. The Cards and Wolfpack will meet in Raleigh on Sunday at 4:00pm. This one will be on ACCN linear.

Exciting Personal News

In what has been an exciting and eventful 2023 year for me highlighted by a wedding and honeymoon, the next big thing to happen this year is becoming a homeowner! Katy and I closed on our first house here in town on Monday. Here's to many years of homeownership!

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Player of the Week -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 ELLE GLOCK C.C. PLAYER OF THE WEEK

(presenting...the lovely Elle Glock)

Elle Glock is a setter on the Louisville Volleyball team and is my choice for Cardinal Couple Player of the week. 

She had 35 assists in Louisville's win over Penn State Sunday, which was a top 15 matchup. The role of setter goes underappreciated sometimes in volleyball, but Glock stepped in for graduated Rachel Lazaro this season and has done a remarkable job. She transferred to the Cards after sitting out a season at USC and then playing sparingly last year at Louisville, so she's a redshirt sophomore. 

She was on three high school state championship teams in Nebraska before heading to USC. After a freshman year at USC in 2021 (where she redshirted) she and Lazaro both came to Louisville in 2022. Glock was a backup to Lazaro most of the season, but has been essential in the Cards in 2023 as a starter.

Glock has 235 assists on the season and the Cards VB squad is #2 in the nation. 

Congratulations to Elle and keep up the wonderful work on the overhand passes!  I guess you could say Glock "loads up" the Cards kill artists. 

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CATS VS CARDS

A big night Wednesday night ahead for Louisville Volleyball, as they bring in intrastate rival Kentucky for a match at the KFC YUM! Center at 8 pm. 

This one will be on ESPN, so there are undoubtedly a lot Spectrum/Charter subscribers happy that the media carrier and Walt Disney Group solved their little tiff and programming has returned to normal. 

The Cats are 2-4 on the season, yet ranked #24 in the polls. Their losses have come at Colorado State, to Pitt (twice) in Rupp, and at Purdue. They did beat Houston and Northern Colorado.  It's interesting that they would play Pitt in Rupp this year, but brought Louisville to Memorial Barnyard last year. 

Anyway, tickets are still available, so head downtown for looks like it could be an interesting one. 

paulie