FH/VB Split Close Matches -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Beats FSU in 5 Sets

Louisville volleyball hit the road to take on 21st-ranked Florida State last night and took down the Seminoles in a back-and-forth five set match. Louisville dropped the first before taking the next two and losing the fourth to lead to the tiebreaker. The Cards won the fifth set going away, 15-9. The victory was Louisville's fifth in ACC play, keeping them undefeated in conference, and it broke a 17-match home winning streak for FSU. The Cards take on FSU's travel partner Miami on Sunday at 1PM. 

FSU came out of the gates hot, hitting .417 in the first set en route to a 25-16 victory. Louisville hit just .200 with five errors, matching their high for the match, which they'd repeat in the third and fourth sets. Despite the higher error number in the third, Louisville still outhit the 'Noles .235-.207 in that third set. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Louisville responded to the opening punch from FSU with a .429 hitting percentage of their own in the second. They had just two errors compared to FSU's 8, which gave them a .182 for the set. Despite the hitting dominance, Louisville won just 25-21. They'd go on to win the third 25-21 as well. 

The match swung back in FSU's favor in the fourth, as the 'Noles outhit the Cards once more and inverted the score of the previous two sets, taking it 25-21 themselves. Neither team hit the ball out of the gym in the fourth, but FSU had enough juice. Part of what kept FSU so scrappy was the serving line. The Seminoles had nine aces compared to Louisville's four. They were also even at the line, matching the number of aces with the number of errors. Louisville was -11, as they had 15 service errors. Yikes. Those errors helped push the momentum squarely to FSU for the fifth set. After Louisville tied the fourth at 19, FSU had just one kill to score their last six points. Louisville had three attacking errors (including two of their nine blocks) and two service errors, including set point. 

FSU came out and won the first point of the fifth, but Louisville was about done playing games. At least, that's what they thought. The Cards won four of the next five points before FSU took three straight to regain a 5-4 lead. At the second time of asking, though, they were able to put it away. Louisville won the next four points to make the score 8-5 and alternated points until 11-9. All the past errors went by the wayside, then, and Louisville won the last four points of the match on four straight kills by Sofia Maldonado Diaz and Anna DeBeer. 

DeBeer led all hitters with 23 kills in the match (narrowly beating FSU's Audrey Koenig who had 22). DeBeer had six errors as well, but with 51 attempts, she finished with a solid .333 hitting percentage (outhitting the team's .295). Charitie Luper joined DeBeer in double figures with 12 and Sofi finished with nine. The Cards had two players finish with no errors, as PK and Reese Robins each had seven kills and hit over .500. 

Defensively, the Cards finished with one more block than FSU, picking up 10, all assisted. The Seminoles were keen to avoid Elena Scott, as Louisville's star libero had only 12 digs. DeBeer had a double-double with 11 digs and Luper narrowly missed it with nine. Elle Glock and Nayelis Cabello were each forced into five digs of their own. 

Louisville moves to 13-2 (5-0) on the season and they'll take a five-set road victory and run. That win is especially difficult in Tully Gymnasium, where FSU last lost on November 6th, 2023 to then 10th-ranked Georgia Tech. Louisville heads down to Coral Gables next, where they'll face the Hurricanes who are coming off of a five-set win themselves. Miami beat Notre Dame 3-2 last night to move to 11-5 (2-3). They've already played FSU twice and were shockingly swept by Virginia on the road last weekend. Tomorrow's match is at 1PM on ACCNX.

Field Hockey's Skid Continues with 2-1 Loss

Louisville field hockey brought in the top-ranked team in the land yesterday afternoon, and despite their best efforts, dropped their fifth straight match. Louisville was under immense pressure throughout the match but maintained a 1-1 tie until just under seven minutes remaining. UNC scored the game winner to move to 9-0 on the season and push Louisville down to 5-8. The Cards get no time to lick their wounds, as they hit the road for Winston-Salem to face Wake Forest tomorrow. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Emily Young has continued to split duties with Brandelynn Heinbaugh this season, and she has drawn difficult opponents. Young started the last two games and showed pretty well. Against UVA and UNC, Young played just under 60 minutes in each match as the Cards pulled the goalie, and she finished with a combined 11 saves and just three goals allowed. That's a combined save percentage of over 75%, which is pretty nice. Her season save percentage in 7.5 games is .694, which is still no slouch. 

As I mentioned last week, Louisville field hockey needs to find the offense. One or fewer goals per game isn't going to get it done against the quality competition they're facing. In addition to the lack of goals, Louisville isn't threatening much at all. The Cards were outshot 21-4 and 10-3 in on-target attempts. They gave up six penalty corner attempts and had just two. In the end, it was an incredible defensive effort that kept the match as close as it was. 

Louisville's lone goal in this one came as an equalizer in the middle of the second quarter. Chloe Plumb scored the unassisted effort, her fourth goal of the year. Other shots came from her sister Aimee, Chloe Cuzzupe, and Rylie Woolerton. 

UNC is very good, don't get me wrong. However, we've seen some real flashes from this Louisville team, and it seems like there should be more to them than what they've shown in conference play. The Cards have four games remaining and they'll have to win out to finish above .500. Three of those four matches are on the road, with the lone home match coming against a tough Duke team next Friday. They are back in action tomorrow against Wake at 1PM on ACCNX.

Other News and Notes

Louisville softball played two against Indiana last night as they continued their fall ball schedule. The Cards won the first game 5-4 on a walk-off single. Our correspondent had to leave midway through the second game so we've got no reporting on the final from Ulmer. Louisville athletics, as usual, are tight-lipped on the results of scrimmages, so let's just think positively and assume they won. Softball looks to be having fun and can hopefully break through once spring comes around. 

Louisville soccer is back in action at home tonight, but most of us will miss the rare Saturday evening event. The Cards are taking on Notre Dame, who is currently ranked 13th, and we'll hope to see an upset. Louisville has lost five of their last six but they've played pretty tough competition. After the brutal trip to Tobacco Road (losses to UNC and Duke by a combined 8-1 score), the friendly confines of Lynn Stadium will hopefully turn things around. Tonight's match is at 5PM and will be carried on ACCNX. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

There will be just three of us this week as Daryl and Jared are otherwise occupied. As has become a disappointing norm, we'll look forward to talking about volleyball and try not to spend too long commiserating about the others. 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

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Reflecting Back Over the Last Several Years -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

REFLECTIONS

Remember the Silos? 

Remember the question in job interviews: Where do you see yourself in five/ten years? How many times have we looked ahead to think about where we would be but never actually looked back to see where we came from over that same stretch? In just 10 short (or long) years, things at Louisville, especially with women's sports have changed drastically.

Before we look at how Louisville Athletics has changed over the last 10 years I'll do a quick reflection of myself involved with UofL over the last 10 years.

This time 10 years ago I was preparing to enter freshman year as a Cardinal. I was still a UK fan at that time. It's crazy to think my UofL fan blood has only been around for 10 years and my involvement with their sports even shorter!

(...cleans up pretty well...)

I was getting ready for band camp with the Cardinal Marching Band- my first ever Louisville game as a student or in band was a Louisville vs Kentucky football game. Oh, the irony. In that same stretch of few weeks, I had joined the Cardinal Pride Pep Band and my earliest memory of a women's sport was volleyball. What freshman boy wouldn't be in awe over Katie George?

In that span of 10 years, I quickly switched my allegiances to Louisville, spent many years in the band, attended hundreds of games, traveled the country to cheer on the Cards, worked as a student on campus, changed majors, graduated, changed "big boy" jobs, and somehow became deeply involved in Louisville Athletics media. I went from having my first camera and taking some pretty poor quality photos at games that you can find in really old posts on here to newer cameras (I just bought another new camera two days ago) and slightly better quality photos. Many of the action photos you see from recent games have my handprint on them.

But let's move onto Louisville Athletics in the last 10 years. Overall, the Cards were still one of the top schools in the Big East. The Big East days would come to a close before the Cards spent a year in the AAC and have since been a more notable name in the ACC for the last several years.

Tom Jurich was still Athletic Director. We have since seen Vince Tyra come in to replace him, followed by Josh Heird being named as the newest successor earlier this year.

No new sports have arrived to campus in the last 10 years, but many stadiums and facilities have had nice overhauls. Lacrosse got a press box. Field hockey just got a new turf. Volleyball moved from Cardinal Arena, to the KFC Yum! Center, back to Cardinal Arena, now known as L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. Soccer moved from Cardinal Park to Dr Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium. Basketball was just familiarizing itself with its new home at the KFC Yum! Center. Softball got a makeover with seating.

Women's basketball added three more Final Four appearances in the last decade. They have hoisted the ACC trophy four times through the regular season or conference tournament. They have had two ACC Player of the Year awards and have had numerous players go to the WNBA. Multiple assistant coaches have gone on to become head coaches or associate head coaches at schools such as Mississippi State, EKU, and USC.

Field Hockey earned its first ever trip to the Final Four. It has also won an ACC Championship and is one a few ACC schools to ever go undefeated in conference play in a single season. The wall of All-Americans grew significantly.

Golf has seen coaching changes. Whitney Young is in her third season at the helm. Her predecessor, Courtney Trimble, was brand new 10 years ago. The Cards became a near-lock for the NCAA Regional Championships each year including reaching the NCAA Championship final in 2018.

Lacrosse saw a transition from its first ever head coach to its current head coach in Scott Teeter. The Cards have spent plenty of time in the Top 25 over the last decade and has even grown enough to include primetime TV games at Cardinal Football Stadium. The presence of international players on the roster has grown a lot in that timespan.

Soccer saw a move from Cardinal Park to Dr Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium, lauded for being one of the premier collegiate soccer-only facilities in the country. The Cards have seen multiple NCAA Tournament appearances as well as a handful of players drafted to go pro. Two players were named to their respective conference Offensive Player of the Year with Emina Ekic in the ACC in 2020 and Christine Exeter in the AAC in 2013. There was also a beautiful 2-1 overtime victory over #1 North Carolina in 2015.

Softball saw its first ever coach Sandy Pearsall retire after having built the program from the ground up and being in charge for almost 20 years to seeing the hire of Holly Aprile. Ulmer Stadium had an overhaul with seating since that time and just revamped their lights to include nighttime UofL red lights recently. They have been to five NCAA Regionals in the last 10 years.

Swimming and Diving went from no women's championships to seeing two different women's athletes earn NCAA titles. Kelsi Worrell won back-to-back titles in the butterfly. She became the first woman in history to swim the 100-yard butterfly in under 50 seconds. Mallory Comerford raised the NCAA Championship trophy three times in her career at Louisville. She even tied with Katie Ledecky in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Arthur Albiero has continued to help Louisville Swimming and Diving became highly decorated. Louisville also saw a big jump in its diving program and even sent a diver to the World Championships this past summer.

Track and Field went from sharing Cardinal Park with soccer to having full rights to the venue. They also partnered with the City of Louisville to add an indoor track and field venue in downtown Louisville so the program would have the option to host both indoor and outdoor meets. The field program has become one of the top in the country and the Cards saw their first women's outdoor individual champion when Gabriela Leon won the pole vault this year.

Volleyball has gone through quite a bit of change. Anne Kordes was early in her stint at Louisville as the Cards' sixth head coach in program history and was in the midst of winning four conference titles in six years before Dani Busboom Kelly came in behind her. Volleyball had gone from playing in Cardinal Arena on campus to transitioning to the KFC Yum! Center before a huge revamp and renaming of Cardinal Arena, now L&N FCU Arena, became the permanent home for Louisville volleyball. Under Coach DBK, Louisville has one multiple ACC championships and has made three Sweet Sixteen appearances, two Elite Eights, and a Final Four. The Cards became ranked #1 for the first time in program history en route to a 32-0 start to the season.

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

Here at Cardinal Couple, Jeff, Case, Daryl, and I have all joined Paulie's ranks as writers and contributors. Ten years ago, the writers were Sandy, Jenny, Paulie, Sonja, Phil and David Watson.  Our time on "live" radio transitioned from a basement on a hill in Crescent Hill, to a studio/house in the Mellwood area, seeing that radio station closing and us transitioning to the ever-popular podcast format. The ACC Pick Em and NCAA Pick Em have both grown into popular events that have become highly competitive. 

Things change over time and it seems like things have grown for the better over the last 10 years. With many bright moments ahead in Louisville Athletics, it's nice to take a moment just to look at how far things have come in the last 10 years and the insane amount of accolades and accomplishments have happened in that span.

Hopefully we can look back in another 10 years and see plenty more to brag about in that stretch.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cardinal Couple Countdown -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

We're in the heart of the countdown to fall sports here at Cardinal Couple.  It's only about 5 days (Friday) until the beginning of Fall sports, even if only in exhibition, with Men's Soccer kicking it off Friday evening at Lynn Stadium (the one on Floyd St, of course).  Women's Soccer and Volleyball start off the women on Saturday with the Volleyball Red and Black Scrimmage, and a Women's Soccer scrimmage against Butler.

To say that I'm excited for the season would be understatement that is beyond quantifiable.  And as much of a volleyball fan as I am, it's not just the wide net sport that I'm getting hyped for.  I don't tend to make it out to too many soccer games, and am thankful for the excellent coverage and analysis of Soccer by our resident soccer guru, Case Hoskins.  I am also getting excited for Field Hockey, though.

I've enjoyed watching field hockey for several years now, and this year doesn't look to be any exception.  We heard from Coach Justine Sowry the other day in one of Paulie's late summer interviews and I'm raring to go on this season.  Of course, we have a little longer wait for the first field hockey pass-back as they don't get their exhibition game against the FH alumnae underway until the 24th with a scrimmage against Michigan State on the 25th.

If you've followed Cardinal Couple over the past week or so, you probably know all of this, at least in broad strokes.  Here we come to a little bit of cruel irony about the run-up to fall sports, though.  All of the teams are heavy duty into the midst of pre-season practices, which means there is even less outward facing activity than there is over the bulk of the summer.  This is a case of "No news is good news", of course, as the only news I would expect to hear out of pre-season training would be injury reports, and I'll be quite a happy camper to not have any of those to report on.

Are you ready for the sports year to get underway?  I suspect many of you are just as excited as I am.  If you're not, I've got one more thing, if you haven't seen it yet, that might get you there.  Last week, the Louisville Athletics twitter account posted the video below.  Surprisingly, I haven't seen it made available anywhere since, but if this thing doesn't get you ready to run through a wall, I'm not sure what will.

Persevere.
Rally.
Overcome.
Triumph.
𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗲.#WeRiseAsOne | #EarnYourWings pic.twitter.com/JJ0jDFOebI

— Louisville Athletics (@GoCards) August 5, 2019

I'll see you Saturday at 6 o'clock in the L&N Federal Credit Union arena, formerly Cardinal Arena, on Floyd street.

--
JMcA

Wednesday Cardinal Couple

Returners to Keep an Eye on for the Fall

Schedules and tv announcements have all been made and falls rosters are just about set. The only thing separating us from fall sports is about two months. We’ll get to know plenty of new faces once the fall seasons start but we’re pretty familiar with returning players. There’s a few returners to keep an eye in each of those sports.

Soccer

Of the three big fall sports women’s soccer is in best position to improve from last year. A big part of that is the few seniors graduating and the minimal transfers. Nearly the entire starting roster is returning.

Emina Ekic is a rising junior and an All-American. She had a stellar freshman year and recovered from an ACL injury to have a strong sophomore year. Now back to 100% and a great crew around her Ekic will command the Cards on the pitch.

Brooklynn Rivers will be one of many seniors on the starting roster this year. She has been high on the scoring charts since she stepped foot on the pitch. Rivers is in the drivers seat to lead the Cards in scoring for the second straight year.

Maisie Whitsett was the new kid on the block last year and quickly earned her starting role. The forward matched well with Rivers on the offensive side of the ball and went toe-to-toe with the upperclassman in goals and will make a strong case for another great season.

Volleyball

The only fall indoor team lost a few key members but found replacements in transfers and freshmen. But the doesn’t mean that the returners are too be overlooked.

Melanie McHenry made an impact immediately her freshman year with her powerful outside hitting. She’s been one of the most effective outside hitters her entire career and should close her UofL career on a high note.

Alexis Hamilton complimented Molly Sauer on the back row two years ago but did not play last year due to a torn ACL. She’s back on the court and could see herself take the libero position with Sauer graduated. She comes from a long line of local talent from Assumption High School and could ride under the radar because of her injury.

Claire Chaussee was a name not talked about the first half of last year. The then-freshman rose to the spotlight when injuries plagued the team late season. She leapt her way into the starting roster and should have secured a spot this year too.

Field Hockey

Mercedes Pastor wasn’t high on the scoring list last year but showed tremendous ball control and captained the midfield. Her scoring she see an increase as she winds her way through defenders.

Bethany Russ led the team in game-winners and goals scored last season. The Australian has a high-powered strike that has contributed to her success around the cage. A rising junior, Russ can easily make an impact for the next two years.

Carter Ayers is one of the few rising seniors on the team and the best defensive specialist on the team. Ayers played a crucial role in limiting shots on goal last season even though she had a nice cushion to fall back on with Ayeisha McFerran.  With McFerran gone it’ll be up to Ayers to lead the defense and rally the Cards.

The fall sports season cannot come soon enough but will be here before we know it.



Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!

A Look into the Weekend -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

With the weekend here again that leaves plenty of sports happening for UofL.  We now see a mixture of fall and winter sports clashing.  Here's what's going on:

Friday, Nov. 16

Swimming and diving continues their event up at the Indiana Invite.  Both the women and men are ranked in the Top 10 currently.

Men's basketball will play their third game this season when the host Vermont for a 7:00 p.m., tip-off.  Chris Mack has won his first two games at the reins.

Volleyball hits the road for the final time when the face Notre Dame at 7:00 p.m.  The Cards beat the Irish in five sets earlier this season at Sacred Heart following a power outage on UofL's campus.

Not exactly Louisville related but being played on the Cards FH Trager Field are the NCAA DI Field Hockey semifinals today. North Carolina vs. Wake Forest at 1 p.m. then Maryland and Princeton at roughly 3:30 p.m. The senior All-Star game will be played at 6 p.m. with Louisville's Ayeshia McFerran and Taylor Stone participating.


Saturday, Nov. 17

Swimming and diving will conclude their final day in Bloomington at the Indiana Invite starting in the morning.

Cross Country will be in Madison, Wis., in the NCAA Championships.  Dorcas Wasike won her NCAA Regional event and is hoping to make a statement as a junior.

Football hosts ranked NC State with kickoff set for 12:20 p.m.  With Bobby Petrino and three other members of the coaching staff gone this is the game the team can make a statement that the change is for the better.

Sunday, Nov. 18

Men's Soccer is the only UofL sport playing as they host the second round of the NCAA Tournament after having a first round bye.  They are listed as the 4-seed but converts into one of the four 1-seeds in terms of basketball tournaments.

NCAA Field Hockey Finals at Trager. Our Jared Anderson has been asked to perform the National Anthem on his euphonium. A great honot for our friend, photographer and writer here at Cardinal Couple.

Womens's Basketball

It feels like it's been quite some time since the women's basketball team has played a game.  Their last game was a week ago today when they won at Chattanooga.  Their next pit stop is at Boise State this coming Monday night.

Recently, Sam Purcell and Steph Norman were named to the Top 30 Up-and-Coming Coaches list.  Norman has been with Jeff Walz all 12 years and Purcell joined in 2013.  Louisville is the only school to have two coaches named.  Both coaches have been phenomenal with the Cards and Walz has stated several times how fortunate he is to have both of them on his staff.

Paulie Update

Hi, we finally got our power restored about 6 a.m. Friday morning. Temperature was 43 degrees in the house when the heat kicked back on. You can bet we had the blankets piled high last night.

Thank you for the calls (until my cell died) and offers we got to "hangout" with you where it was warm. I just reminded Sonya it was like when we camped out in a tent at Yellowstone a few years ago. Except there were no buffalo randomly wandering through the campsite, no roaring campfire and no coyotes howling in the background. 

Paulie
xxxxx

Donation Month

We appreciate everything that you all do as readers, supporters, and donors.  As Paulie always says,

"You are Cardinal Couple." and we never forget that.

We will graciously accept anything that you send our way.  Preferred payments are checks but feel free to use PayPal.  Donations can be sent to:

CARDINAL COUPLE
P.O. BOX 91521
LOUISVILLE, KY 40291

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

An outsider looks at Tyra -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

DAVID WATSON WEIGHS IN ON LOUISVILLE A.D.

Hey-Ho and Good Morning! Dave O with you today while Paulie and the Miss Sonya take a few days away from the fray to vacation. When I talked with "the big guy" on Tuesday to discuss the article, one thing we kept coming back to were "coaches". Louisville has brought in some very good ones. They've sweetened the pot for a few more. 

When I refer to "Louisville" and "they", I am alluding to the job that Vince Tyra has done in the eight months since Tom Jurich was let go. October 18, 2017.

These are views from someone (namely me) who does not live in Louisville but has relatives in the area and has been fascinated with Louisville Athletics since the days of Darrell Griffith and the Doctors of Dunk. I'll admit it, my first love was Notre Dame. It's tough being a Cardinal supporter in South Bend. Much easier in Bradenton, my current locale. It's possible I may have been the only Cardinal fan in Medford, N.J., where I spent those "formative years" and where I met my wife. 

I have seen the good and the bad associated with the Cards. My oldest daughter dreamed of playing field hockey at UofL but the Cards didn't show the same interest, her skill sets weren't quite ACC proficient and she went to, and prospered, at a northeastern United States university. When I lived in Muncie, we'd drive down to watch women's and men's basketball and the occasional football game. I met Paulie at WBB, random circumstances where I just happened to end up sitting next to him in those magical Freedom Hall days. Those days before he eventually descended to his current spot in the YUM! where he keeps Jerry Abramson and Al Benninger awake and informed.

I sat through Cooper and Crum. Strong and Krags. Bustin and Sowry. I've said words while listening to Cardinal radio broadcasts that would make a drunken sailor on shore leave blush. I've yelled so loud from my garage about good things that the neighbors have come over to see if I was OK. Your typical Cards fan, right? 

I'll start here on Vince. It has got to be one of the toughest things in the world to "come in" after a legend departs. 

Especially under the circumstances that existed at the time. There was a strong "pro-Tom" movement from what I heard, a strong "anti-board" movement as well. Vince accepted a job where he was, basically, tossed into a red-hot skillet and expected not to scorch or burn. 

He was also faced with decisions and speculation. As Bob Valvano and others have said, when A.D.'s leave, coaches do too. It was not a smooth and controversy-free transition. I liken it to pulling in to restaurant for a small snack and getting a plate of food a foot high. A basketball coach was needed. The NCAA and FBI were monitoring Louisville Athletics. Something had to be done about a lacrosse coach out-of-control. 

Welcome to college athletics, Vince. 

Step by step, deliberately and with care, he moved forward. Padgett and Teeter joined the fold. Lolla and Ferguson-Dayes were given assurances and enhancements. A university President was hired. Walz and McDonnell received the type of extensions and support needed to keep them on campus. A surprise but totally understandable retirement in softball. Working with a board that most consider a detriment to Louisville Athletics. A governor that is solidly in UK's camp. Vince was climbing Mt. Everest in a speedo and swimming trunks. But, he's still smiling and making progress.   

One-by-one, the mountains were turned into molehills. And, Vince's long-term love and support for the program became obvious. Standing in the snow at lacrosse, watching softball, basketball, volleyball and all other sports...being there, being seen and finding out what was needed and how he could help. The doomsayers and naysayers were hushed. The University was starting to crawl out of the abyss and striding toward daylight. 

I watched this with intrigue and interest 900 miles and 14 hours away from the Belknap campus. One by one, Vince "got a grip" on an issue and carried it to completion. 

Paulie and I had a few conversations along the way. At times, the Cardinal Couple co-owner was disillusioned and almost apathetic. I think he mirrored a lot of Cardinal fans' feelings. Today, on this first day of summer, Paulie is now optimistic and confident about the 2018-19 season and Cardinal Athletics. In this "myoptic" void...or "summer doldrums" as he calls it, there is faith and pride. Confidence in his voice. Interviews ahead with coaches and players. He shows excitement. 

As there is with me. 

Would I feel this way if it had been another choice for A.D? That, of course, is very hard to say -- but, despite my undying admiration for what Tom Jurich did in 20 years at UofL -- I think the UofL Athletics program is standing on solid ground now. 

I fully hope, believe and pray that it remains that way. 

It's Thursday. The sun is out here and shining shortly before 9 a.m. The golf course is calling in the distance, I can hear it, and it's asking me to come out and play, to lose balls in the woods, to three-putt greens, to completely duff fairway irons. So -- I'm off.

Thanks for letting me share these pages today. Have a great Thursday and, following Jared's lead, I'll remind you that today is the first day of Summer, National Selfie Day and National Seashell Day. Why not send Cardinal Couple a selfie of yourself holding a seashell? 

All comments appreciated on my article.  




Your friend, 

Dave O.

McFerran on Irish National Team -- Leon Finishes Fifth -- Men's Soccer Hosts Special Event -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

McFerran on Irish National Team

Our favorite field hockey goalkeeper will be headed to Germany for a few days.  Ayeisha McFerran was named to the Irish National Field Hockey Team.

The 22-player roster will compete in a tournament consisting of three countries.  Between June 21-23 the Irish will face Germany and Canadian preparation for the World Cup.

McFerran has played a crucial part for Louisville the past three years and is a shoo-in to be a team captain for her senior year.  She is a three-time All-American selection and also holds All-ACC and All-West Region honors.

A recent memory we at Cardinal Couple have of McFerran is her standout performance against Duke in the ACC semifinals.  She held her own in the shootout en route to the upset victory, sending the Cards to their first ACC Championship game appearance.

Make all of us proud and bring back some wins while enjoying your European Tour!




Leon Takes Fifth in USATF Junior Outdoor Championships

Gabriela Leon had a strong outing in the pole fault at the USATF Junior Outdoor Championships, placing fifth.  She cleared 4,10m/13-5 1/4.

Leon just concluded her freshman year for Louisville.  The ever-growing-star just turned 19 a few days ago (Happy belated Birthday) and has a bright future at Louisville.

What's that overhead in the sky? It's a bird...no, it's a plane....WAIT! It's Gabriela Leon!



Men's Soccer Hosts Kickin' It with JT and Friends

I just reported on something special the men's soccer team, but they're already back at it again.  The date for Kickin' It with JT and Friends was announced yesterday and is set for Saturday, July 21 at Mockingbird Valley Sports Complex.

JT is Coach Lolla's nephew and is an avid soccer fan.  This event celebrates the gifts of participants with special needs and promotes physical, mental, and social development through the game of soccer.

Howie Lindsey will be this year's guest emcee.  He will announce the name of each participant as they race down the celebration tunnel, surrounded by the men's soccer team.  The special guests will participate in soccer matches among other activities and games.

One of the reasons UofL is one of the top schools in the country in volunteer hours is all of the time and commitment our student-athletes and squads give to helping those with different talents.  Thank you for representing the university so well.

What Day Is It?


Sport your patriotism through National Bald Eagle Day while enjoying an ice cream soda or vanilla milkshake.  It is also World Refugee Day and New Identity Day.

It is also National OODT Day. That stands for Outfit Of The Day. Express yourself! We all know we feel a little better and a little more confident (especially our women readers) when it all clicks and you're out there looking absolutely fabulous!

Walk up to someone today and tell them "You look marvelous!"

Enjoy your Wednesday, cold dessert, stylish threads and change your name for the day. Go Cards!

- Jared -

Tess Clark Goes Pro -- Men's Soccer has Class -- WNBA Update -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Tess Clark Signs Pro Contract in France

Wednesday afternoon former volleyball player Tess Clark announced that she was going pro.  Clark has signed a contract with Les Louves du SRD volleyball in France.

Clark was a four-year starter at Louisville.  During her time she became the 18th player in program history to reach the 1000 kill mark.  She was part of two ACC Championship teams (one with Anne Kordes and one with Dani Busboom Kelly) and was 76-47 (0.618) in her career.

The awards for Clark pile high including awards such as being named to the Academic All-ACC squad, All-ACC teams every year, All-ACC Freshman team, and several AVCA Regional honors.  She was second on the team in kills and attack percentage and fourth in blocks her senior year.

I quickly became friends with Tess during her first year on the team.  There weren't many students attending games at that time so I was a rarity.  The team hosts autograph sessions following most home games so I made my way to talk players such as Tess, Maggie DeJong, and Katie George, among others.  As I transitioned to the media realm some of my best pictures at volleyball featured her.

Cardinal alum Erin Fairs is also playing overseas currently and can play a role in mentoring Clark.  We wish Tess the best in France!

Men's Soccer Plays with Class

UofL men's soccer photo

I know, I know, we're a site that covers women sports at UofL.  However, I like to give credit where credit is due even if it is a men's sport.  Under Ken Lolla's guidance, the Louisville men's soccer team has become a familiar face in regards to community service and other special events.

Yesterday, the soccer team hosted six-year-old David Turner for a special day at Lynn Stadium.  Turner suffers from Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Giloma (DIPG), an inoperable brain tumor on the brain.  Turner and his family have been big time soccer supporters since I have been attending matches.

UofL men's soccer photo

Turner's day was filled with memorable moments including a pregame talk in the locker room, a penalty kick shootout (he helped Red defeat White 3-2), a photo op with the team, and a press conference following the shootout.  At the press conference, Turner accepted an offer from Coach Lolla and signed a letter of intent as a future Cardinal.

As a member of the Louligans, the UofL soccer supporter section, it always brings a smile to my face when the team holds events such as this.  Thank you for representing this university with great class.

WNBA Update

Angel McCoughtry is averaging 15.8 points. 6.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.8 steals per game.  She's played in 10 games this year with the Atlanta Dream (6-4).  Our very own Jeff McAdams was in attendance at their most recent game so we'll see what Mr. Worldwide has to say about that on the show tomorrow and his write-up on Sunday.

The Dream defeated winless Indiana last night 72-67 in Atlanta. Angel had a strong game with 16 points in 30 minutes. Tiffany Hayes has been another "go-to" for Atlanta this seaason and she responded in fine fashion with 23 points to lead all scores.

Myisha Hines-Allen is further down on the WNBA stats list with 5.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.8 assists, and 0.5 steals per game in her 10 games with the Washington Mystics (6-4).  She hasn't seen as much playing time as the veteran McCoughtry has, but has earned herself solid playing time and a role with the Mystics.  At this rate she will be a star in Washington in a matter of years.

What Day is it?

Back by popular demand I bring back the events of today's date.  First, yesterday was flag day and the 243rd birthday of the U.S. Army.

There are a lot of good "holidays" today including National Day of Prayer for Law Enforcement, National Flip Flop Day, Native American Citizenship Day (we love you, Schimmel sisters!), Nature Photography Day, Elder Abuse Awareness Day, and Worldwide Day of Giving.

There's no Case or myself in the studio tomorrow, but Paulie, Worldwide, and a random special guest or two will attempt to hold down the fort called the Magnificent Media Mansion on Mellwood for another rendition of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour.  You can tune into 100.9 WCHQ fm radio or on Facebook live on the WCHQ Facebook page.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

2 Types of Football and Volleyball Selection - SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

We have two types of football to talk about today.  We'll start with the more popular one, first.

Sweet Sixteen

The Men's Soccer team (playing the most popular sport in the world) takes to the pitch tonight against
Colgate.  Louisville advanced over San Francisco 3-2 last week in 2nd round action.  UofL, as the 4 seed in the tournament, received a bye in the first round.  Colgate advanced in the NCAA tournament with a bit of surprise over Michigan on Blue's home field in a stunning 3-2 comeback win.  Before that, they advanced in the first round with a 2-0 win over UMass.  Colgate was the automatic qualifier from the Patriot league.

If the Cards win this one, they'll play Akron after they defeated Wisconsin 3-2 in the 92nd minute in Overtime.  Akron was the team that defeated UofL in the College Cup Finals in 2010, so the Cards could be looking for some revenge, there.

The match gets started at 5pm at Lynn Stadium on Floyd Street.  If you can't make it out, you can catch it on ESPN3 streaming.

Governor's Cup

In other football, The Cards have come home from a chippy game in Lexington with the Governor's Cup.  The 44-17 over Kentucky was marred by a significant fight next to the UK sideline.  Offsetting penalties were issued, so, essentially no repercussions were felt to either team.  Regardless of which side of this one you're on, no matter which teams/players you think may have instigated this, to have essentially no repercussions for the extra-curricular activity is repugnant.

To take the UofL side of this just a bit, the vibe, at least amongst UK fans that I know, is that the
Kentucky players were disrespectful towards UofL players, and to the game in general.  I sense a real disappointment, even embarrassment, among a fan-base that is already losing faith in their football team.  I've gone on the record numerous times, saying that I want UK Football to be good, because I want this rivalry to mean something.  I am also, perhaps, a bit naive, in thinking that a great rivalry can be pursued by the teams and fan-bases in a respectful and fun manner, while still be serious about wanting "your" team to win.  I look to an example that has gotten some media play in the past few days with Myisha Hines-Allen, and her brother Josh Allen.  Josh, who wears number 41 for the Cats, comes to some of Myisha's basketball games, and when he does, he wears red to support his sister.  When Myisha goes to Lexington for UK Football games, she wears blue to support her brother.  That's respect and compassion.

 I also look no further than the comments section here on Cardinal Couple, where the likes of "Matthew Mitchell For Governor" and our Clemson friend, Arthur, graces the entries.  These are real rivalry fans, but they come with respect. (OK, MMFG comments pretty heavily tongue-in-cheek at times, but that's where the fun, while being respectful, comes into play).  In my mind, if your rivalry fandom crosses over into wishing actual malice onto the other fan base or teams, it's time for you to take a step back, a step away from sports, and regain some perspective.  (A brief aside on Josh Allen...he can apparently be seen during the scuffle, but to his credit, his actions were to restrain his own teammate and de-escalate the fight.  Apparently they raise them right in the (Hines-)Allen household.)

To circle back around to a sideline fight in football, we have to remember that it takes two to tango.  I
wasn't watching the game closely, so I don't have strong opinions about how the fight came about, who instigated it, who was more at fault, and ultimately, I don't really care.  I presume there were probably transgressions on both sides, so I don't want to blame this completely on Kentucky Football players, and ultimately the coaching staff, but I do believe there is a problem, there, and it needs to be addressed beyond just some anemic post-game-interview comments.

Rant about needing more respect for sport aside, this game just wasn't all that entertaining to watch, in my opinion.  Lamar did his usual Lamar-as-an-EA-Sports-cheatcode things, but the Cards had this game well in hand from the opening drive.  The Governor's Cup comes back to Louisville, where it has spent most of the past decade, and we the conversation moves, on both sides, to basketball, where it looks likely that Kentucky will again have the upper hand on the men's side, and UofL is likely favored on the women's side.  It will make for an interesting winter, and I look forward to respectful rivalry'ing.  If you can't be respectful, though?  Don't expect me to engage with you on the matter.

Volleyball Selection

Tonight also brings the Volleyball Selection Show at 9pm on ESPNU.  UofL is guaranteed a bid as the automatic qualifier for the ACC Conference.  The Cards did end up being co-champions of the league with Pitt's defeat of UVA yesterday evening.  With the head-to-head win over Pitt, UofL gets the AQ.

As is my wont, I'll take a moment to engage in a brief bit of bracketology.

Volleyball uses non-pre-determined sites for all but the Final Four, which will be in Kansas City, this year.  16 teams will host 1st and 2nd rounds, and 4 teams will host Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight rounds.  Looking at rankings, both coach's poll and RPI, it looks like UofL will be a very long shot to host any rounds.  We're currently sitting 21st in the RPI, and "Receiving Votes" in the coach's poll.  There will be a new coach's poll tomorrow, but that will be after the tourney selection, of course.  Presumably the selection committee will have up-to-date RPI results which we won't get to see until tomorrow afternoon.

The general wisdom is that the selection committee heavily leans on RPI for their decisions, and atop
the RPI are our friends down in Lexington.  Beyond host teams, volleyball selection is very regional.  This means that there is a pretty good chance that Louisville will just be going down the road for 1st and 2nd round games to Memorial Coliseum.  Otherwise, looking in coach's poll and RPI, there's a small chance of Purdue (where UofL has played numerous tournament matches in the past), and then beyond to...Michigan State, perhaps Kansas, or Minnesota?

Wherever they may end up going, I'll be moving heaven and earth to try to make the trip as I haven't missed a UofL NCAA tournament match since prior to 2009.


Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Two of the four "A" team knuckleheads (Paulie and Jeff) stumbled into the basement of WCHQ to provide you with our weekly look at the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports and Cardinal Athletics. Julie Sullivan joined us at the table and we called River City Cards main man Mike Gilpatrick with a live pre-game look-in from Kroger Field in Lexington.

There were brownies, a clip from Bionca Dunham and Kylee Shook and we went over WBB, Volleyball, Punkin and Monk in the control room and we had a fun hour of discussion and predictions.

Louisville 44 - Kentucky 17. Here's how we did in our guesses. All picked UofL to win

Touchdown Squirrel    21-7
Jeff                              38-28
Paulie                          42-21
Monk                           42-38
Julie                             42-31
Mike Gilpatrick           42-35

We declare Paulie the winner but what a bunch of stinking geniuses, right?

You can hear the rebroadcast HERE
    

Waning Days of November

WHO AM I? First correct
respondent in the comments
section gets entered for the
Panera Card drawing! 

We're honored to have a great community on this site, and are occasionally reminded of it by our
rivalry fan visitors such as MMFG and Clemson Arthur.  It's not uncommon for us to receive comments from people along the lines of, "I'm a fan of xxxx team, and we don't have any sites like this.  I wish we did."  It's comments like that which remind us that what we're doing is nigh on unique among sports media coverage.  It's encouraging to us that we're doing something a bit out-of-the-box and getting such great support doing it.  It's also, however, a bit daunting to look out there, and not be able to find any roadmaps on how to do this stuff.

We joke a lot about Paulie marching to the beat of his own drummer, and that is shown in...well, the audacity...to think something like this could work, and the drive to make it happen, largely through sheer force of will.

I want to thank Paulie for giving me the opportunity to bore you with an overwhelming amounts of Volleyball talk, but I also want to thank you, our readers and listeners for supporting our work.  It truly is appreciated, and today is the last article write I will have to get a chance to say that in November donation month.

So.  Thank you.  So very much, thank you.

-- 

JMcA

Louisville Women's Basketball, Volleyball Featured Today! -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

Sunday Schedule

Well, at least the events today are spread out nicely, although it would be nice if they were in a bit closer geographical proximity.

Let's run them down in order.

Volleyball

Volleyball kicks off the afternoon at 1 at Cardinal Arena.  The Cards are looking for revenge for an early conference season loss to UNC today.  If you'll remember, in the first matchup, the Cards went into the set break at Chapel Hill up two sets to none with 25-19 and 25-18 wins.  The Tarheels regrouped, though, and came out for the 3rd and 4th sets and flipped the script, winning 25-18 and 25-19, setting up the decisive 5th set.  The Tarheels got that one 15-12 for the match, and the Cardinals came back home smarting from what should have been a solid win that turned into a loss.  I suspect Florida State and Miami were none too thrilled, either, as they were the next guests into Cardinal Arena the next weekend who went down to defeat...the first matches to really show the mettle that this UofL squad really had, (and started to show that FSU really wasn't as great as expected pre-season).

Today, UofL is coming off of a very large victory against NC State in Cardinal Arena Friday night.  That match may very well have been the deciding match of the ACC conference season championship.  The Cardinals need to win the rest of the way, including today, and next weekend vs Boston College and Syracuse, to ensure they hang onto the share of the conference championship and that automatic qualifier bid to the NCAA tournament.  A loss in any of the three matches would mean that we would need Pitt to take another loss as well, and with the rest of their schedule consisting of Georgia Tech (today), and then Virginia and Virginia Tech next week, the likelihood of that happening is rather low.

If you can't make it to campus, this one is available, as normal, on ACC Network Extra

Basketball

The women go into battle at 3pm for the WNIT championship at the KFC Yum! Center.  10th ranked Oregon has advanced through the other side of the WNIT bracket.  Louisville sits in the #5 spot, of course, in early season like this, rankings are particularly impermanent.

The Cards will be looking out for scorers Ruthy Hebard (6'4" F), and Sabrina Ionescu (5'10" G) who had 24 and 16 against Texas A&M.  Ionescu had a triple-double with 11 assists and 10 rebounds.  Other scorers to be wary of are Lexi Bando (5'9" G), and Maiti Cazorla (5'10" G) who both put up 10 against Texas A&M.  Cazorla almost reached double-double territory with 8 assists.  First off the bench vs A&M was Oti Gildon (6'1" F) who scored 12 and pulled down 9 rebounds.

Not coming downtown?  Get the call on CBS Sports Network.

Men's Soccer

Things move back to Floyd Street at 5 p.m. with the Men's Soccer team kicking off their NCAA tournament run against San Francisco.  The Cards bring a 4th seed into the tournament, and a win today will likely bring 13th seed Michigan into Lynn for the next round game.  The Blue have to get past Colgate to do it, that match also starts at 5 p.m..

Still not on Floyd Street?  ESPN3, has this one, still on the ESPN streaming platform like ACC Network Extra, albeit a little more prominently displayed.

Can you complete the Cardinal sports marathon today? Also, be advised that the NCAA Field Hockey championship game is being played at Trager Stadium today as well so parking could be a tough ticket today on the Belknap Campus.


I won't go into a lot of detail here, plenty of sites out there to cover it, but Louisville Football splashed away in absolutely horrible, wet and cold conditions in Papa John's Oven yesterday 56-10 over Syracuse, I stuck in out until the end, dressed like Ralphie's brother Randy in A CHRISTMAS STORY. Lamar Jackson is from another planet or something. Amazing. 381 total yards and four touchdowns. Cards with seven wins now and at UK next week to close the regular season.   -- Paulie -- 

Radio

MYSTERY PICTURE. What classic comedy movie is
this photo from? First correct response gets entered for
a $20 Panera Card! (No, it's not Paulie and Jeff's
 excellent Adventure...) 

We were down a knucklehead yesterday in the basement on a hill.  Jared was off being a big fancy.banker, but Julie JC Sullivan classed up the joint in his place, and even brought Paulie his very own stuffed plush Touchdown Squirrel.  You should be able to find the replay at 

https://soundcloud.com/chradio/cardinal-couple-20171118 when it goes live.

We've gotten some wonderful support from our readers and listeners, and I can't say enough how much that is appreciated.  We know we have amazing readers and listeners and we never take that for granted, and we're thrilled that you like what we do enough to help defray some of the costs of doing it.  November is the one month of the year that we actually ask for that support.

Thank you again, and we'll see you at whatever next game you go to.

-- 

JMcA


A PAULIE NOTE: 

Since I have been asked a few times and I don't mind at all sharing with you, we've budgeted and planned that it will take a little over $3000 to cover expected and fixed costs at CARDINAL COUPLE LLC for 2018. This year, so far, it has been a tad less than that, with a month and change to go in the year and I have gone into my pocket a bit for stuff. I keep a small balance in the checking account to avoid overdrafts and services charges.

So far, this year, with donations and sponsor support, we are slightly over 1/3rd of the way there in reaching that goal. We have received $1250 in donations. Won't you consider helping get us to our goal?

NOVEMBER is donation month. Help us.

Thank you if you have donated!
Thank you if you are considering donation and I hope you follow through with it.
We ARE a non-profit LLC that keeps our costs and expenditures as low as possible.

Paulie