Basketball Adds to the Non-Conference Schedule -- Mechi Pastor Interview -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Basketball Beefs Up Non-Conference Schedule

As COVID-19 cases continue to surge as the Delta Variant makes its way to our area, Louisville decided to give us back-to-back days of nice additions to the Louisville women's basketball schedule.

The big name back on the schedule after a one-year hiatus is Kentucky. The rivalry is back! Fans were disappointed when the SEC announced no non-conference games last year as a Dana Evans led UofL team vs. a Rhyne Howard UK team would've been a fun one to watch.

Louisville vs Kentucky will be part of this year's Jimmy V Classic, with the Cards hosting at the KFC Yum! Center on Sunday, Dec. 12 at 1:00 p.m.

Louisville has won four straight against the Wildcats, most recently a nail-biting thriller at Rupp Arena on Dec. 15, 2019. UK missed a last second shot as the Cards held on to win 67-66. Paulie, Sonya, and myself were all in attendance for this one, and we needed some oxygen at the end.

Michigan will also be on the schedule for this season. The Cards and Wolverines got the draw for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. This game will also be at the KFC Yum! Center with a Thursday evening primetime game on Dec. 2.

Michigan was a 6-seed last season in the NCAA Tournament and fell in overtime to Baylor in the Sweet Sixteen. Louisville is 4-1 all-time against the Wolverines.

Both Kentucky and Michigan are expected to be ranked when they visit town so Louisville has a good chance at improving their NCAA Tournament seeding with wins against both. And, don't forget the Cards start the season against another quality opponent in Arizona in South Dakota! 

As of right now, Louisville is at 100% attendance for fans, so we hope to see large crowds at both. However, I would not be surprised to see that attendance policy drop down between now and then.

Mechi Interview

M

ercedes Pastor has concluded her time with UofL field hockey, but she was gracious enough to give us an interview before she heads overseas in a couple weeks. Unfortunately, Paulie was not able to make it last minute so I had Katy join me with the promise of buying her dinner.

Mechi, arguably the best field hockey player in the NCAA last season, will be playing professionally in Belgium while pursuing her master's degree at Louisville's Speed School of Engineering.

We got a chance to ask her about how she got started in field hockey, what brought her to UofL, her experiences in her time here, and her future plans.

I don't want to spoil all the fun from the interview so you'll want to check it out here!

We thank Mechi for her time at UofL and could praise her accolades and accomplishments over the next week, but we do wish her the best playing professionally!

Cardinal Couple Radio Podcast

We are back on air, well, not AM or FM radio, but through our various outlets for the Cardinal Couple Radio Podcast. YouTube is one of the more popular methods of listening in, but Worldwide did provide eight other locations you can listen in his Sunday article.

We are working on a way to add photos and videos to future episodes to add visuals as we talk over them. Photos are a bit easier to get away with, but videos often have a copyright on them from the NCAA, ACC, or UofL. We'll let our mastermind engineering crew work on all of that for us.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

FIBA 3x3 -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Engstler and Van Lith at FIBA 3x3

Photo from GoCards.com

Yesterday kicked off the three-day FIBA 3x3 U23 Nations League. The Cardinal duo joined forces with Oregon's Kylee Watson and NC State's Madison Hayes.

Team USA was part of Group A, which included Spain and Israel. The USA swept Group A, defeating Spain 16-9 to open the event and then taking down Israel 21-10. By winning Group A, Team USA faced the winner of Group B, France.

France looked scary good after winning their opening game over Great Britain 21-3. France then defeated the Netherlands 18-11. France cruised to a 21-10 team win over the USA in the final.

Today's event, Stop Five, regroups the teams with France and Great Britain joining the USA in Group B. Stop Six is Wednesday where the US will be in Group A with Great Britain and Israel. The format remains the same with all teams playing a round robin tournament in their group with the two group winners facing off in the final.

Due to the focus on the 3x3 Olympics, USA Basketball's website did not provide stats for the games. However, we know that HVL and Engstler each had three points in the final, tied for leading the USA.

The FIBA 3x3 Twitter account (@FIBA3x3) shared a video of an interview with HVL. She talked about some of her favorite things such as her favorite basketball move, music, tv show, and sport outside of basketball. Did you know she considered being a dual sport athlete with the second sport being softball? Van Lith loves to say "and one" as her most common trash talk line. Dana Evans was often heard using the same line on the court.

We will have a rundown of today's events in tomorrow's article.

Other News

Although it is not joyful or exciting, and it certainly isn't directly related to UofL women's athletics, we would be remised if we didn't address Coach Quentin Hillsman resigning for Syracuse. The now-former Syracuse women's basketball coach was the winningest coach in program history and even made it to the national championship game in 2016.

Coach Q was under fire due to several accusations regarding abuse and mistreatment of players as well as unwelcome advances. The findings of the investigation have not been released, but all signs point to the accusations being true. Any type of inappropriate behavior or abuse of players should not be permitted despite the successes of the coach.

We will continue to follow this story as more news develops.

On a much lighter note and actually pertaining to UofL, Paulie and I are trying to work our magic with Mechi Pastor before she heads overseas to play professional field hockey. She will remain a student at UofL, as she completes her master's degree at the JB Speed School of Engineering. English is not Pastor's first language, which is why she was absent from Cardinal Couple interviews in the past, but she is confident enough in herself and her English skills to try her hand at one now and we are excited at the chance to talk with her!

Our illustrious writer Case Hoskins is a Speed School graduate and Worldwide spent a couple semesters over there so they can tell you how challenging the program is and how impressive it is that Pastor will complete her master's while playing professionally. I had a world cultures class held in one of the Speed School buildings, but engineering was not my strong suit. I'd probably derail the train.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

CARDINAL STUDENT-ATHLETE FIELD HOCKEY NFHCA AWARDS -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 PASTOR, BITTING, SCHNEIDER HONORED AGAIN

When I exchanged conversation and pleasantries with Louisville Field Hockey asst. SID Lori Korte Harmon earlier this month about the awards being bestowed on Louisville Field Hockey student-athletes, she assured me that there were more on the way. 

And, she was right ! 

We found out yesterday that Mercedes Pastor, Alli Bitting and Meghan Schneider earned 2020 National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFCHA) All-American honors and that Pastor made the first team. Schneider received an additional honor -- being named the 2020-21 NFCHA National Scholar-Athlete of the Year. 

This makes the fourth straight year that the Cardinals have had three NFCHA All-America selections and that matches a program record set in 2017. 

As you might well surmise and guess, the head coach of Louisville Field Hockey Justine Sowry was pleased: 

"Meghan garnering Scholar Athlete of the Year honors represents the first time this prestigious award has been received by a Louisville Cardinal. I am incredible proud of thse three young women and to have been a part of this truly unforgettable season." 

Sowry went on to discuss the program's season: 

This year, our program continued to build on last year's historic season. Despite the challenges of COVID and navigating both a fall and spring campaign, Louisville Field Hockey achieved unprecedented success both on the field and in the classroom. In a year that demanded so much, Mechi, Alli and Meghan anchored our team and demonstrated the resiliency that was instrumental in helping our program continue to reach new heights." 

Yes, incredible things are happening at the facility that's sandwiched in between a McDonald's and a Speedway. Even with several seniors "opting out" for the spring, the Cards still made the Field Hockey Final Four and were runner-ups to powerhouse UNC in the fall's ACC Tournament. And, of course, a fall victory in conference play over the Tar Heels that snapped their 47 game win streak. 

The obvious next questions are -- What can the Field Hockey squad do to top what has already been accomplished? And...who will be on the Trager turf to do it? The Cards return nine freshmen and seven sophomores from last season (that we know of) this fall --plus a couple of junior and maybe even a couple of senors. And, we have yet to hear about Sowry's incoming freshmen class in any great detail.

The obvious goals for the Cards FH contingent would appear to be winning the ACC  regular season and conference tournament outright and then going to the NCAA Tournament and winning it.. It's not something that is a mere pipe dream or unattainable. The Cards have performed well in the toughest Field Hockey conference in DI. They return a multitude of starters, and backups who are poised to try and become starters.  

I can remember looking at the the incoming freshmen last year and wondering what potential help could come from that class. As it turned out...plenty.  The Cards got significant contributions from Sofia Pendolino, Charlie van Oirschot, Aimee Plumb and Paulina Mayer. 

And, in the words of the late basketball coach Al McGuire -- the best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores. We saw last season the impact sophomores Sam Minrath, Julie Kouijzer, Katie Schneider and Mattie Tabor had on the squad. 

The Cards could use a little depth at goalkeeper -- sensational sophomore Sam Minrath was the lone goalie on the roster this spring -- and a higher rate of success on penalty corners is every coach's dream -- and something Sowry would applaud, as long as it is her team putting up the improved numbers and not the squad trying penalty corners on the Cards. . 

It'd be good to see the schedule return (hopefully) back to an elongated fall season with plenty of non-conference opponents as well as a full ACC slate participating.

Before you know it, it'll be time for me to trudge the steps leading to the Louisville Field Hockey offices and sit down with Coach Sowry to discuss the 2021 season. 

I can't wait !!!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

paulie.