Volleyball wraps up season tonight...Football Saturday vs. Cats -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

BOSTON COLLEGE VISITS AS VB WRAPS UP SEASON

The end of the 2016 UofL Volleyball season comes tonight when Boston College visits the Cards in the KFC YUM! Center at 7 p.m. Louisville (11-18, 6-13) will not being going to post-season play and the Anne Kordes era ends as well as the Cards take on the Eagles (8-21, 3-16) in a match that has little more significance than both teams trying to end their season on a win and positive note and, in Louisville's case...sending off a beloved coach with a win. 

Kordes is 274-136 (66.8%) going into her final game. Her Louisville record is 132-61 (72.3%)...the Wide Net Cards won titles and she was coach of the year in three different leagues (Big East, AAC, ACC).

This probably wasn't the type of season that Anne would have picked to end her 20 year career in college volleyball. Even though the Cards only lost three to graduation from last year, a couple of key transfers and a relatively young and inexperienced squad struggled with in-state foe Kentucky and the majority of the ACC opponents this season. 

Kordes leaves behind some very good emerging talent that her successor (still unnamed) can build on...plus a noted recruiting class potentially arriving on campus. Defense and consistency are a couple of things that the new floor boss will need to work on...but with Melanie McHenry, Morgan Miller, Jasmine Bennett, Molly Sauer, Tess Clark, Maggie DeJong, Kali Eaken and others returning...the Cards do have a solid nucleus with game experience back in the fold...pending transfers, of course. Only Lyndsay Palmer and Janelle Jenkins graduate.

Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich is conducting a nationwide search for Kordes' successor...but more than just a few feel that the new skipper should be a guy who is already on the staff...associate coach Alex Wilharm. 

Kordes gives him high marks: 

"Alex has proven he can make an impact in the gym and with recruiting and building relationships within our team and the university. He is a phenomenal representative of the Louisville Volleyball team and the University. He is also one of the sharpest and youngest coaching minds out there. He is going to rise fast."

Sounds like a good fit to us. Jurich has rolled the dice many a time on candidates that, for whatever reason, weren't getting high profile attention. Consider the names Dan McDonnell, Ken Lolla, Charlie Strong and Jeff Walz...just to name a few. 

Neither age nor lack of head coaching experience should be a factor in the hiring, in my opinion...but a few have told me they think it eventually will be in this case. If that happens, Wilharm...who has been the subject already of inquiry from other programs...is probably gone. It would be a shame to lose him. The thing is...Jurich rarely replaces at the top from within the ranks. (See McDonnell, Lolla, Strong and Walz) 

A season ends, a new era begins and the future is full of questions for Louisville Volleyball fans. The program is vastly attractive as a "end destination" job to many...with high attendance, superb facilities, competitive conference and a large fan-base. We await the next chapter after tonight. 


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BATTLE OF THE BLUEGRASS SATURDAY

ESPN has determined that Louisville and Kentucky shall play at noon in the 29th meeting to see who wins the Governors Cup. The series is tied at 14-14. 

I've said it before and I'll mention it again that I'm not a fan of noon kickoffs. First, it means we either cancel or pre-record THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR that we do weekly...experiments with Jeff in the studio and me on game site for game day just didn't turn out as well as we wanted...and it also means we have to prepare for a show without any knowledge of late-breaking events that can sometimes occur Friday or early Saturday. 

It is what it is...though...and we carry on. 

The game. Can the Cards contain the potent Kentucky rushing game that features Stephen Johnson, Boom Williams and Benny Snell, Jr.? Will Louisville get a dysfunctional offensive line back together that was absolutely "el-stinko" against Houston last Thursday? Can the Cats run "The Wildcat" effectively against a fearsome Cardinal defense? Does Lamar Jackson have a field day in rushing and finding receivers against a Cats secondary that has improved immensely since the season began? Do the Cards take their sixth straight?  

I'll visit with THE MORNING JAM crew on WCHQ 100.9 FM this morning at 8:00 to preview the game and the women's sports schedule for the weekend with Kevin and Bryce. Case, Worldwide and I will gather later today to record the radio show and ponder these same questions. Then, it's off to Churchill Downs to record the final segment of HANDICAPPING HEROES for the year. If I have any energy left, a trip downtown to see the final Louisville kills and sets of the season. 

You can listen to The Morning Jam, which starts at 7 AM at the link below:

KEVIN AND BRYCE BRING PAULIE IN FOR THE MORNING JAM

Black Friday? Nope, don't think so. More like a Cards and Churchill Friday. Not a bad combination at all...


paulie
xxxxx

Sunday Cardinal Couple - 2 losses and a win

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Field Hockey falls 1-0 to Michigan

-Volleyball goes down in 4 sets to Pepperdine

-Football handles Cats 27-13

-Soccer today at Cardinal Park


Louisville Field Hockey lost a close battle with the Michigan Wolverines Saturday 1-0 in Ann Arbor, MI. The Big 10 school got the only goal of the game 14:56 in...scoring on a penalty corner.

Justine Sowry comments:

"It was an OK game. In the first half, Michigan really had more possessions than us. We were chasing them around a lot. What we talked about at halftime was our defensive structure...the second half we made some adjustments defensively and we started to compete a little and made a game out of it. We had some opportunities.

Each team had nine shots in the contest, Louisville outshooting the Wolverines 7-4 in the second half.

The flock returns home for their BIG EAST (yes, Field Hockey IS still in the BIG EAST) opener against Old Dominion Friday...a 6:30 contest start.

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Louisville Volleyball fell to Pepperdine in four sets Saturday
 in Lexington 22-25, 25-19, 25-22, 26-24. Janelle Jenkins led the way for the Cards with 11 kills and Maya McClendon added 10.


I guess it is officially a rebuilding year for Anne Kordes' team now. At 2-6...it's evident how much they miss the foursome of Lola, Gwen, Kaitlynn and Tanya.

At least these losses looked a little closer than the Friday failure against Minnesota.

The VolleyCards probably are glad to be leaving Lexington and returning to the friendly confines of Cardinal Arena...where they'll face Rice Saturday at noon and Virginia Tech at 7:30 in the Active Ankle Challenge Presented by Marriott Downtown.

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A workmanlike win for Louisville Football in Lexington Saturday in Commonwealth Stadium. 27-13 was a lot lower score than most predicted for this one...but I actually figured 33 total points. My prediction was good enough to win the total points jackpot at the 80 Under 80.

Strange to see empty seats in Commonwealth for this one. Ever since I can remember, it's been a sell out every two years up there.

A nervous first half...the Cats containing the Cards offensively and wreaking havoc on the offensive line and running game.

I wouldn't have wanted to be in Charlie Strong's locker room at halftime. I doubt he was handing out cupcakes and kool aid.

The Cards needed to get Teddy Bridgewater "in the zone" and although the defense held UK to just three points...containing UK's scrambling QB looked to be a chore.

Teddy rose to the occasion in the second half. The running game started to work. Senorise Perry had a thrilling jaunt to the end zone. The "D" had their best outing of the young season.

Looks like a very long season for UK Football fans. All 12 of them. The Cats went 0 for 13 on third down. That isn't gonna get you to any bowl games. Coach Stoops has his work cut out for him. Florida is next.

I do have to comment on the choice of the TV crew for this one. Beth Mowins would be best served sticking with women's college basketball (she does that very well) and Joey Galloway (from THE Ohio State University) who served as color commentator may have played wide receiver for the Buckeyes...but seems to know nothing about the game of football. Nice suit, though...JG.

Someday, technology will be able to sync up radio and television feeds. Paul Rogers knew we scored seven seconds before the TV guys. He must have ESP (or ESPN).

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Karen Ferguson Dayes' Soccer squad looks to pick up their fourth win of the season in Cardinal Park today when they kick against UTSA at 1 p.m.

The Roadrunners are 1-6 and recently lost to UK 1-0 in Lexington.

Louisville (3-2-1) is led by "Company C" (Charlyn Corral, Christine Exeter and Casey Whitfield)...who have 13 of the Cards 17 scores this season.



-Paulie

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Battle in the Bluegrass -- Part Deux

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Kentucky, Louisville square off in Volleyball tonight.

- WBB announces Tip-Off Luncheon date.

These things come in threes each fall. Women's Soccer, Volleyball and Football for state supremacy. Cats vs. Cards.

The Cats don't play Field Hockey. The Cards don't have gymnastics. Neither is in equestrian...which is kinda weird, since we have the best horses in the world here.

This year, the venue for all three fall contests is Lexington. Louisville Women's Soccer fell to UK 2-0 last week. Football takes place Saturday. The next battle...part two of the fall rivalry takes place tonight in Memorial Coliseum on the UK campus. It's Volleyball and it should be a good one.

Lynyrd Skynyrd

The Cats come into the battle at 4-2 and on a four game win streak.

After early season losses to Florida State and Illinois, the Cats have conquered Long Beach State, VCU, Liberty and East Tennessee State. Coached by Lynyrd Skynyrd Craig Skinner...UK will be expected to contend for the SEC title this season.


The Cats are led in kills by 6'2" senior Whitney Billings with
84 in six games. 6'2" Alexander Morgan adds 43. The main setter is Morgan Bergan, a 6'1" sophomore. I wonder if they're Captain Morgan's?

UK is 14-8 in total sets this season. They've averaged about 1300 in three home matches at Memorial.

Louisville enters the contest 2-3 after going 1-2 in Fargo. The Cards wins have come at the expense of Syracuse and North Dakota State. Louisville has been defeated by #1 Penn State, Northern Iowa and Wisconsin.

Offensively, the Cards share the wealth when it comes to kills. Freshman Maya McClendon leads the way with 43. Emily Juhl has amassed 40, Brooke "Stomp" Mattingly adds 33, Randi "Double Stomp" numbers 31 and Janelle Jenkins contributes 30. Louisville has yet to play a home game either in Cardinal Arena or the KFC YUM! Center.

Setting falls to Katie George (76) and Hannah Kvitle (74). When it comes to digs...Caitlin Welch has 67 to her credit in five games.

The Cards will return to Lexington later this week for matchups against Minnesota on Friday and Pepperdine on Saturday. They finally get a home match on Saturday, Sept 21st...when they will cook Rice in Cardinal Arena. Across campus, football plays FIU. Both have noon starts.

The teams are tied in the lifetime series 25-25. UK won the 2010 and 2011 matches. Both were in Memorial.

Last year, the Cats came into the KFC YUM! Center and took a 3-1 loss from UofL.  The final set of that match was a thriller...Louisville winning 30-28.

It would be great to see a large contingent of "red" in Memorial Coliseum tonight. CARDINAL COUPLE will have double coverage at the event...with both Paulie and Jeff McAdams attending.

 

Louisville went 2-1 last year in the triad...winning football and volleyball but unfortunately falling to UK in Louisville in the other fall contest...losing in soccer. Let's go for 2-1 again this year...it's virtually assured the Cardinals will win the gridiron matchup...let's take the wide-net battle as well!

We'll have a full recap of the action in the Wednesday CARDINAL COUPLE edition...(and if I know Jeff...in Thursday's edition as well). Jenny will do the Friday edition.

WE have no idea who will handle the Saturday report. How about you? Always good to hear from the readers...send your submission to us at:

cardinalcouple@twc.com

If you'd like to try your hand at writing us a column, please send it to us by 6 a.m. Saturday morning.

Go CARDS!


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This is probably old news to most of you, but the date, location and time for the UofL WBB Luncheon has been set.

Louisville, Ky. - University of Louisville women's basketball coach Jeff Walz will be the featured speaker at the annual U of L Women's Basketball Tip-Off Luncheon, presented by Ellis and Badenhausen Orthopedics and PC Home Center, on Wednesday, Oct. 9, at noon at the Crowne Plaza Louisville Airport in the Crowne Ballroom. Doors for the event will open at 11:15 a.m.Tickets for the event are $30 each, or $300 for a table of 10. All Women's Basketball Season Ticket Holders will receive an email on Monday, September 9th with details to make reservations for the 2013 Women's Basketball Tip-Off Luncheon.

Speaking of Louisville WBB....this seven minutes in the clip below never gets old.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTtjcU4994E

-Paulie

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Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Volleyball, Field Hockey win

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Volleyball dispatches of Samford in evening session

-Field Hockey waits out rain delay, wins 3-2 over Davidson

-Annual gridiron clash may have to dodge a few puddles

Louisville Volleyball followed their morning win over Marshall win a Saturday evening triumph over Samford in the KFC YUM! Center in four games...winning 25-22, 25-16, 22-25, 25-15. 

A sluggish start for the Cards to open the match, falling behind 5-1 early and trailing by scores of 7-3, 12-7 and 14-10 in the first game before mounting a rally that tied it at 15-15 on a block from Tanya Lukyanenko. The Cards were still deadlocked with Samford at 20-20 and proceeded to lose two of the next three volleys before scoring the final four points of the game on a kill from Kaitlynn James and blocks from Gwen Rucker and Lukyanenko. 

Louisville came out much more aggressively in the second game and jumped out to a 4-1 lead after a kill from Lola Arslanbekova. A brief Samford rally pulled them to within one at 8-7, but after that...the Cards steadily pulled away and led 15-12 after a Samford service error. Louisville went on a 9-2 run after that to lead 24-14 following a kill from Carly Sahagian and ended the match with another kill from Sahagian to win 25-16.

After the halftime break, Samford showed they had some fight left in them by playing the Cards close throughout all of game three...neither team able to gain an advantage of more than three points and Louisville found itself holding a 22-21 late in the action. Samford got four straight points, though on two kills from Katie Murphy and then two from Elizabeth Neisler to win game three 25-22.  

The Cards got the wake-up call and jumped out early in the final game. Lukyanenko's kill made it 5-1 Louisville. Kaitlynn James made it 10-5 with a kill. Lola got in the action with a kill to make it 15-8 Cards. It was 20-13 after a Sahagian kill and another from Lukyanenko had Louisville ahead 24-14. Lola put the Bulldogs out of their misery with a kill that ended the game at 25-15. 

Lola led the Cards with 22 kills. She was also named MVP of the tournament and made the all-tournament team along with Gwen Rucker and Brooke Mattingly for the Cards. 


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Field Hockey beat Davidson 3-2 and also outlasted the weather that caused nearly a two-hour delay in the Saturday afternoon game at Trager Stadium. Lightning and heavy downpours stopped the match with the Cards up 3-2 with about 17 minutes left in the game. 

The Wildcats scored first but the Cards responded quickly with goals from Mallory Mason and Erin Schneidtmiller in a four-minute stretch to regain the lead at 2-1. That's the way the first half ended...the Cards holding an 8-4 shot advantage. 

Becca Maddock pushed the Cards ahead 3-1 when she scored about eight minutes into the second half. A couple of minutes after the Wildcats cut the lead to 3-2, the skies opened and the flash of lightning sent both team to the sidelines.

After play resumed, Davidson and the Cards battled scoreless the rest of the way. 

"It wasn't a pretty one, that's for sure. The delay in the game made for a very long day under difficult conditions. We got a win and that's a great thing, but a lot of lessons need to be taken away from this game. Davidson didn't allow us to play the game we wanted to. Some positives to take away were definitely our attack play - that was an area we really wanted to work on. We generated some pretty good scoring opportunities but overall we do need to take a lot of lessons from today and continue to grow and move forward." -- Louisville field hockey head coach Justine Sowry. 

The Cards (2-1) return to action Monday when they play Ball State at 2 p.m.

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Finally, the Battle for the Bluegrass takes place in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. when Louisville and Kentucky put on the helmets and duke it out in front of 57,000+ rabid fans in football. 

You've seen the staff picks. Our informal poll revealed that 70% of you think UofL will win by 10 points or more. Louisville picked preseason to win the BIG EAST, UK picked to secure the basement in the SEC East Division. The chance of stormy weather and soggy conditions for these young men as Red and Blue clash in front of a sold out stadium and national television audience. Ponchos as important as tailgate food today, it appears. 

CARDINAL COUPLE will be there, but not in reporting or game coverage mode. May the best team win. If you go, remember to be "good" Cardinal (or Cat) fans and act responsibly. Be gracious in victory and complimentary in defeat. The eyes of the nation are watching, don't act like idiots. Cheer heartily for your team but don't be an obnoxious loudmouth. Enjoy the game and allow others around you to do the same.  

And, GO CARDS!      
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Friday Cardinal Couple -- Busy weekend for UofL women's sports

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FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Volleyball hosts the Cardinal Classic

-Soccer heads to Lexington for UK Invitational

-Field Hockey faces Davidson & Ball State @ Trager

-Did someone say Football?

And you thought this weekend was just about the Louisville vs. Kentucky football game, Labor Day picnics and getting Monday off work. Although the annual clash on the gridiron is grabbing the majority of sports coverage...the Belknap Campus and KFC YUM! Center will be sites for women's sports from Friday to Monday. Pack your ponchos and grab your umbrellas...we're singing in the rain the next three days with Louie the Cardinal Bird. 

VOLLEYBALL HOSTS CARDINAL CLASSIC

Anne's Kordes' VolleyCards get ready for three games over the next two days at the KFC YUM! Center when Duke, Samford and Marshall invade the downtown arena for the Cardinal Classic.

Louisville starts the weekend blitz against the Blue Devils Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The Dookies are 3-0 on the season...winning their own invitational tournament recently with wins over UW-Milwaukee, William & Mary and Fairfield. 

Will there be a slight letdown after the thrilling win over Kentucky on Wednesday?  We can't see that happening. Lola and company know that a strong showing could boost the Cards into a top 25 ranking and a win over an ACC opponent is always good for the RPI. 

Emilky Sklar one to watch for the Cameron Crazies...the 6'3" outside hitter is just a freshman but recorded 33 kills and hit for .333 last weekend in the Blue Devils' wins. 

Next for Louisville, on Saturday at 11 a.m. will be equally impressive Marshall, also 3-0 after winning the Thunder Invitational. They dispatched Wright State, IUPUI and Miami (OH). 

Picked to contend for the Conference USA title, the Thundering Herd has a top-notch setter in Sammie Bane and a tall front line capable of blocks and spikes.

Finally, the Cards will face Samford, who is 0-3 but faced tough competition in the Hurricane Classic in Miami (FL). Losses to Miami (FL), Rutgers and Ole Miss non-withstanding, the Bulldogs are still the pre-season favorite to win the Southern Conference. They return three starters in Elizabeth Neisler, Lauren Hutchinson and Katie Murphy who were All-Conference last season. 

SOCCER WELCOMES BACK EXETER, MELHADO & TRAVELS TO LEXINGTON

Back from their participation in the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup for Canada in Japan, Christine Exeter and Rachel Melhado will need to shake off the jet lag pretty quickly for the two games in Lexington this weekend. 

Louisville faces Southeast Missouri Friday at 5 p.m. on the UK campus. SEMO (1-2-1) split last weekend at home...downing Drake but losing to UMKC. It will be the first time the two have met in soccer.

The Cards take the field again Sunday @ noon against UNC-Greensboro (2-1-0). No lightweight here, the Spartans traveled to Wake Forest last weekend and won 1-0 before returning home and downing UNC-Asheville 7-0. Due to the format of the UK Tropical Smoothie Tournament, the hosting UK Wildcats and Louisville won't meet over the weekend. 

Louisville (2-0-0) comes off an exciting double-overtime 4-3 win over Purdue at Cardinal Park last Friday night. The Cards moved up four spots in the Soccer America Top 25 poll and are now #14. 

Junior Angelika Uremovich was named to the BIG EAST Honor roll on Monday for her two goal scoring performance against the Boilermakers. She leads Louisville with three on the season.

FIELD HOCKEY TAKES ON DAVIDSON & BALL STATE

Trager Stadium will be the place to be Saturday afternoon as the Louisville Field Hockey squad hosts Davidson (1-1) at 2 p.m. The #23 Cards (1-1) come off a 3-1 win against Miami (OH) after losing to #21 Northwestern.

Louisville is 1-7 lifetime against Wildcats, getting their lone win last year 5-3 on the Davidson campus.

Louisville will face Ball State (1-1) on Monday at 2 p.m. It's a Cardinal vs. Cardinal matchup...the Indiana  birds defeated Lehigh last time out after dropping their season opener to Lafayette. Ball State holds a 15-10 lifetime advantage over Louisville, UofL winning the last meeting in 2007 1-0. 

Haley Jurich leads the Louisville squad with two goals on the season and goalie Erin Conrad has produced six saves in the Cards' first two contests. 

Plenty of UofL women's sports to take in the next four days and CARDINAL COUPLE will have the highlights, results and coverage for you. 

BATTLE OF THE BLUEGRASS

We'll also break from the Louisville women's sports scene briefly Saturday and offer our columnist picks on the Sunday UofL vs. UK football game.

Feel free to join in the fun and leave your prediction in our comments section over the next couple of days. No prize or reward for closest to the final (Bread Boy has been sitting pretty tightly on PANERA Gift Cards these days) just the satisfaction of competition and the pride in your prognostication. 

These predictions should be Pulitzer Prize commentary. We thought of initializing the first annual Cardinal Couple Challenge and invited a UK website to travel to Louisville (more specifically...the Drunken Amish farm in Goshen) and play our staff in a game of touch football or volleyball...but they balked at the idea of our using the staff chimps and Bill the Goat. 

Whatever...we woulda (banana) creamed them in either...according to Jenny and Timmy the Intern.  
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