Cards Take Care of Business in Openers -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Sweeps Auburn

Louisville volleyball brought the Auburn Tigers in as part of the 2025 Cardinal Classic and opened the season with a close but convincing win. It was a great way to get the Dan Meske Era underway, as the Cards dazzled a capacity crowd (including Charitie Luper, Anna DeBeer, and Elena Scott) with a sweep of Auburn, winning all three sets with a matching 25-21 score. 

It was a... less than stellar hitting day for both teams, as Auburn managed to break .100 in just the third set and finished with an .084 hitting percentage for the match. While Louisville had nearly double that (.162), that's not saying a whole lot. The big problem for the Cards was one that Jared mentioned could be an issue for this team: they have a fairly low point of attack. Here's a statement we haven't said about Louisville volleyball after many matches in recent years: the Cards were outblocked. Auburn picked up 11 compared to Louisville's six. That mean's nearly half of Louisville's 23 errors came off the block, and they were very dependent on self inflicted wounds from Auburn, who finished with 22 errors. 

Don't get me wrong, the Cards still got the hammer down on offense. Louisville finished with 45 kills, and 43 of those were assisted. They also had a decent serving day, finishing with five aces and just five errors. Auburn finished with just one ace and three errors, giving the Cards a +2 day at the service line. 

Offensively, and this may shock you, Louisville was paced by Cara Cresse and Chloe Chicoine, who each finished with 11 kills. Where it might actually get surprising is that those two were joined on 11 kills by freshman Kalyssa Blackshear. We have mentioned Blackshear a few times as a player to watch out for on the opposite side. Blackshear's 11 kills came on 22 attempts, and she, like Cresse, had just two errors. Those two paced the team in hitting percentage with a .409 from Blackshear and a .474 from Cresse. 

It looks like Louisville is set to run with one setter, as Nayelis Cabello finished with 31 assists, but Cabello will need to be careful not to depend too much on Chicoine. Blackshear's 22 attack attempts were second on the team in yesterday's match, but it wasn't close: Chicoine took 42 swings. She finished with 11 kills and nine errors. The next highest outside hitter was Payton Petersen, who hit 5/5 on 20 attempts. Ava Utterback was 0/1 on one attempt. Not ideal. Interestingly, we didn't see Alanna Bankston or Reese Robins at the outside or opposite hitter positions, respectively. We also didn't see Molly Wilson spell Cabello in any rotations. 

Defensively, I've already mentioned the blocks, but everyone for Louisville had to hit the floor. The Cards had no solo blocks, so it was good team play at the net, but they finished with 70 digs, making up for those balls that got past the block. Petersen led the way, playing strong out of the back row in full rotation despite not having the best offensive day, as she had 16 digs. Kamden Schrand finished with 15, and Hannah Kenny, who also cycled through as a libero had ten. Cabello showed why she only had 31 of Louisville's 43 assists as she had three block assists and 13 digs. Chicoine wrapped up the high numbers with nine digs, narrowly missing the double-double. Cabello (2), Petersen (2), and Kenny also had the aces for the Cards. 

As you might suspect based on the final scores, Louisville never really ran away with a set, somewhat missing that "boom" we've gotten used to. At the same time, they never really had a scare outside of the second set when they faced a 17-12 deficit. Though they would go on to outscore Auburn 13-4 over the remainder of the set, they had to do it largely through consistent pressure, not seeing a run of more than three points until taking the score from 20-20 to 24-20. 

Meske will surely have plenty to cover with the team regarding the net play, but at the end of the day, it's a sweep of a Power 4 team. The Cards have today off while Auburn and Morehead State play, but they'll be back in action on Sunday against the Eagles. The Cards get St. John's on Labor Day. 

Field Hockey Thumps Michigan State

Louisville field hockey opened their season with a fairly tough matchup against a Big Ten opponent in the Michigan State Spartans. In the run-up to the season, we talked a fair amount about how similar these two teams were last season. This didn't look like it would be a straightforward season opener for the Cards, but Justine Sowry's 2025 squad showed that they have been working on a few things since last year. One of the major hiccups in 2024 was an inability to score. Louisville showed no signs of that being an issue, at least early in the season, as they scored early and often against MSU on their way to a 6-1 victory. 

The Cards scored first, nearly ten minutes into the game, with senior Chloe Cuzzupe picking up her first goal of the season. She was assisted by Gigi Edwards. Two minutes later, Lauren Masters doubled Louisville's advantage with an unassisted goal, which would stand as the final goal of the first quarter. The second was similarly uneventful early, but Louisville earned a penalty corner with six minutes remaining in the half. Gracie Potter took the honors and sent the ball to Annabel Sep, who became Louisville's third goal scorer of the half. The Cards went into the break with a 3-0 lead. 

At halftime, Louisville's returning goal leader, Rylie Wollerton, must have decided that she was disappointed to not have gotten in on the action. Wollerton scored four minutes into the second half on an assist by Luciana Carpenter, who had just entered the game 30 seconds earlier. A minute later, Louisville conceded their second penalty corner of the half. The Michigan State shot attempt was blocked but corners breed corners and the Spartans converted on their next attempt. The onslaught continued, as MSU earned another corner a couple of minutes later, but Emily Young picked up a save to end the threat. 

Louisville returned the favor with five minutes left in the half, as Potter took Louisville's fourth corner attempt of the match. An earlier corner had seen Izzy Bianco have her shot blocked, so she worked the play a little differently this time. Bianco received the corner and touched it off to Wollerton, who fired in her second goal of the quarter. A minute and a half later, she completed her first career collegiate hat trick on an assist by Emily Eaton. The quarter ended 6-1, which was the final score of the game. Michigan State threatened with a pair of shots in the fourth, both saved by Young, and Wollerton missed out on her chance for a fourth by firing a penalty corner shot high. By the end of 60 minutes, I think both teams were ready to close this one out. 

Louisville opens the season with a big win, and they largely dominated Michigan State in every facet. The Cards had more shots in every quarter but the fourth, and even that was only 2-1. Louisville had 13 shots to MSU's six and put nine on frame compared to just four for MSU. Both teams had three saves and five corners, but Louisville converted two of their five while MSU could convert just one. We'd like to see that corner conversion rate move north of 50%, but 40% is a good starting spot. 

JUSTINE SOWRY POSTGAME

RYLIE WOLLERTON POSTGAME

You can see interviews with both Justine Sowry and Rylie Wollerton at the links above. As you might expect, they were pretty excited with the win. Louisville is back in action tomorrow against Ohio University at 1PM. If you don't make it out to Trager, the match will be available on ACC Network Extra. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

With Louisville football getting their season underway today, we'll be without Jared for the show, but Paulie, Daryl, and I will have plenty of joy and excitement to cover with all the fall sports now in action and rolling. 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

Breakout Candidates for Volleyball -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Breakout Candidates for Volleyball

Jared checking back in this week as we played some musical chairs with coverage this week. All good for everyone here at Team Cardinal Couple. 

With things still pretty slow this summer, we continue to look forward to the upcoming fall seasons. Each season, we see players have breakout years and go well above and beyond what their expectations are. Star players and players that are preseason All-American or All-Conference do not qualify as they are already expected to have big years.

Payton Petersen

With the graduation of key players such as Anna DeBeer, Elena Scott, and Charitie Luper, there are plenty of key roles that need to be filled. Transfer Chloe Chicoine is already a top-tier player with high expectations and returners Cara Cresse and Nayelis Cabello already have preseason and postseason honors to their names, so we won't give them breakout contender marks.

Hannah Sherman has played a backseat role to Cresse and Phekran Kong in past years. PK has graduated so her biggest competition is Cresse. You often rotate a pair of middle blockers in a match so it is Sherman's time to step in and shine. She has shown glimpses of her raw strength in the past and she could be one of the top blockers in the ACC this year.

Hannah Kenny

Payton Petersen played a limited role last year as an outside hitter. She sat behind DeBeer, Luper, Sofia Maldonado Diaz, and Reese Robins, and often only played as a sub in blowout matches. When DeBeer went down, Petersen had a chance to show off what she is capable of and didn't let the fans down. She will see plenty of reps this year and can truly make a name for herself this year.

Hannah Kenny is a true freshman that could see valuable minutes. I think Kamden Schrand gets the nod at libero, but Kenny is similar to Scott in terms of size, versatility, and having a background as a setter in high school. If she cleans up her serve receive a little then she could be fighting for that libero spot by the end of the year.

Hannah Sherman

The Cards are two weeks away from their Red and Black Scrimmage at LN Arena on Friday 6:00pm ET.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball Falls; Volleyball Beats UK -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Can't Repeat Upset at UVA

After the big win on Thursday evening, Louisville looked to sneak the series from Virginia last night, but they'll have to wait until today if they want to finish the job. The Cavaliers scored first and poured it on late to break away and ultimately take an 8-2 victory. Louisville will get another chance at noon today. 

Louisville ran a bit of a different lineup yesterday, with Easton Lotus leading off but Char Lorenz following her instead of Chelsea Mack. Lotus bunted out before Lorenz had an infield single. Madison Pickens was next, and the box score gives her a single with Lorenz out at second, so I'm not quite sure what happened there. Sounds like a fielder's choice to me, but so it goes. Pickens stole second but Bri Despines ended the inning with another infield ground ball. Hey... at least the Cards were putting the bat on the ball. 

Brooke Gray got the start and UVA jumped on her quickly. A double down the left field line opened the inning and a sac bunt turned into a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. A steal put two in scoring position and a ground ball back to Gray allowed both runners to advance, scoring a run. The trail runner taking the base was what haunted, as the next ball was a sacrifice fly to center. A ground out ended the inning but the Cavs led 2-0. 

Louisville got those runs back in the third. Chelsea Mack, batting ninth, singled up the middle and advanced to second on a Lotus sacrifice bunt. Lorenz got her second infield single and Mack moved up to third. Lorenz then ran herself off the base paths with a caught stealing, which is an interesting choice in the situation. Either way, Pickens singled to score Mack and Despines singled to keep the two-out rally alive. Camryn Lookadoo then hit a sharp grounder to short, but the shortstop missed the throw to second, allowing Despines and Lookadoo to reach safely and allowing Pickens to score, unearned. The defense recovered, with the shortstop herself refielding the ball and throwing Despines out at third. Inning over, but the score was tied again. 

The tie remained to the bottom of the fourth when UVA again grabbed a leadoff double. Instead of a sac bunt turning into a single this time, it turned into an error when the ball wasn't caught cleanly at first. The unearned run was returned, and UVA regained the lead. A fielder's choice erased the lead runner (and the second potential unearned run), but a two-run homer made it 5-2. Gray recovered for a line out to make it two outs, but a single and a walk ended her day. Zabala came on in relief needing to just get one out, but a single to center was booted and two more unearned runs came in to score. A flyout ended the inning, but the lead had grown to 7-2. 

The Cards stranded six runners on base over the final three innings and were unable to cut into the lead. UVA added an insurance run they didn't need to set the final score at 8-2 in the bottom of the sixth. With two on and nobody out in the seventh, Louisville's chances ended on a strikeout, an infield fly, and a flyball to straightaway center. Ballgame. 

With Zabala having only thrown 1.1 innings yesterday and Sam Booe having come in to throw one of her own, it's anyone's guess who will take the start in the rubber match this afternoon. Louisville will need another strong offensive showing if they want to get a series upset. The game will air on ACC Network Extra. 

Meske Wins First Battle of the Bluegrass

Does a spring exhibition count as a true rivalry game? You bet it does. At least when we win. If we lose it doesn't count. Makes sense, right? Either way, the Cards took on the Cats in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena last night in their fourth and final spring match in the first season of the Dan Meske Era. Over 1,000 fans were on hand to watch the Cards take the 3-1 victory. We're still selling out the L&N FCU Arena in spring ball. I think the volleyball support is doing just fine. 

The Cards won 25-17, 20-25, 25-16, and 25-14 and were led by Payton Petersen and Reese Robins who each had eight kills. Defensively, the Cards were on fire. Kamden Schrand, officially wearing the libero jersey full time, finished with 22 digs, and Nayelis Cabello was close behind with 18. Cabello also contributed three blocks and six kills to go with her 24 assists. Petersen added four blocks and Robins had two. Those four will certainly be names we'll get used to hearing throughout the season. 

Other players that earned shoutouts from the official gocards writeup were Cara Cresse, Chloe Chicoine, Hannah Sherman, Kalyssa Blackshear, Ava Utterback, Hannah Kenny, and Alanna Bankston. There will be a lot of new names to get acquainted with after a fair amount of turnover from last season, but things appear to be just fine after Louisville went 4-0 during their spring season. Last night, the Cards also honored Elle Glock with a special senior day ceremony of her own after Glock decided to forego her final season of eligibility to graduate and depart UofL in May. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have three on hand today, as house projects keep Daryl away. Given the updates from last time she was on the show, we'll definitely let that slide. Join us as we talk softball, lacrosse, volleyball, and a little WBB. 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 

Volleyball Sweeps Chicago State in NCAA Opener -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Maldonado Diaz Leads in Louisville Romp

Louisville opened the NCAA Tournament last night in the KFC Yum! Center and welcomed Chicago State into what was likely the largest crowd the Cougars faced all season. It was Chicago State's first ever NCAA tournament appearance, and Louisville didn't welcome them to the party very gently. The Cards didn't necessarily play their cleanest match, but when all was said and done, Louisville outhit CSU .290 to .009 and won the match 25-10, 25-18, 25-13. 

Dani Busboom-Kelly got plenty of players tournament experience yesterday, with 13 Cardinals seeing the floor. Those players included Payton Peterson, who got the opportunity to play with her mom Bobbi scouting in the stands. Bobbi is the head coach of the Northern Iowa squad that Louisville will face today. Peterson played in one set and got two kills on four attempts while also picking up a dig. The 8th-seeded Panthers of UNI defeated Illinois 3-1. 

Louisville set the tone very early, winning the first seven points of the match. From there, it was pretty straightforward. Although the second set score is a lot closer, Louisville and CSU tied at 3-3 and the deficit was never smaller than one after that. CSU won three points in a row to bring the score to 12-11 at one point in the set, but Louisville won the next five to put the set fairly well in hand. Like the first, the Cards were all over the Cougars in the third, with Louisville jumping out to 10-1 lead. There is not a lot to dig into with the play-by-play, as there wasn't very much drama. 

Louisville was led offensively by Sofia Maldonado Diaz, although the usual suspects of Charitie Luper and Anna DeBeer were hot on her tail. Maldonado Diaz had nine kills and hit .368, while also adding a solo block and four block assists. She picked up an assist and two digs to go along with the offense. Luper also finished with nine kills, but hit just .273. Luper added an ace, a block assist, and five digs. DeBeer was relatively quiet outside of her hitting (seven kills; .235) as she registered no other stats except for five digs. 

Defensively, Louisville was stout, allowing just the .009 hitting I mentioned earlier. The Cards finished with ten blocks, compared to just four for CSU. Hannah Sherman was the blocking leader, as she finished with seven block assists. The Cards had just two solo blocks (PK had the second), so the defense was reading CSU very well. Louisville also allowed no aces, while the Cougars committed five serving errors. The serving game benefited Louisville decently, as they were net +6 in that category. Louisville had five aces and just four errors. 

Louisville will face a familiar foe this evening when they take on UNI. The Cards swept the Panthers earlier this season, but that win was actually their first in the historical series. The two teams have played in early season events on four occasions, but their last meeting prior to this season was in the 2017 NCAA tournament. You may remember that upset loss, a sweep at the hands of UNI in Minneapolis. All five matches in the series have been sweeps, coincidentally, with UNI taking wins in 1987, 1989, 2013, and 2017. Louisville will be looking to add to their list of victories in the head-to-head tonight. As DBK mentioned in her postgame comments, this Louisville team is nothing new to UNI. In addition to having played earlier this year, UNI's head coach has had plenty of reason to watch every Louisville match to this point. 

The Cards should be prepared for a major test. There haven't been many upsets in this year's tournament so far, but Missouri proved last night that the top-two seeds are not invincible. SMU fought off a sweep by winning the third set in their match, but the 7th-seeded Tigers ultimately won 3-1. The winner of tonight's match between Louisville and UNI will face Purdue in the next round. Purdue was the beneficiary of one of the few upsets that have happened. Loyola Chicago swept the 5th-seeded BYU Cougars before becoming the second team to be swept by the Boilermakers in the tournament. Should Louisville win, next week's match will be in Freedom Hall. 

Tonight's match gets underway at 6PM eastern time and will likely be available to watch on ESPN+. No official broadcast is listed yet. 

WBB Looks to Bounce Back in Big Matchup

After the shocking fourth quarter collapse against Oklahoma earlier this week, there's no rest for the weary when it comes to Louisville women's basketball. The Cards face another huge test tonight, this time on a neutral floor. Louisville will take on UConn in the Women's Champions Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Tonight's game is part of the first ever edition of the Women's Champions Classic, so I imagine there will be plenty of eyes on the game. 

UConn is currently ranked #2 in the country, taking seven first-place votes in last week's AP Poll. The Huskies have two ranked wins so far this season, having beaten UNC 69-58 on the road and Ole Miss 73-60 in the Bahamas. Apparently they've decided to do the thing where they're good no matter where they play again. 

Louisville will be looking for their first major win of the season, having come close in a number of big matchups. Tonight's game will air on FOX and is scheduled for 9PM. With the event styled the way it is, tipoff will be dependent on the first game, which features Tennessee and Iowa. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Daryl and I are out this week, but the three stooges remaining hosts will have plenty to talk about. Jeff will be buzzing to talk about exciting volleyball, and I'm sure Jared and Paulie will be thrilled to give him the floor and ignore the WBB midweek game. 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!

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Lots of Volleyball News -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville volleyball seemed to have good news after good news pour in yesterday. Between climbing to #2 in the rankings, Claire Chaussee being named ACC Player of the Week, and a new commit to the program, Louisville spent much of the day smiling.

Cards Climb to #2 in AVCA Poll

Following a week highlighted by two ranked wins on the road, Louisville volleyball moved up a spot to #2 in the latest AVCA poll. The Cards traveled to Kentucky Wednesday night to win a five-set thriller on ESPN that lasted three hours. They followed that by traveling to Stanford Saturday night to take the win in four sets.

The pair of wins helped the Cards improve to 9-1 on the year as they prepare for their 18-match ACC schedule.

They'll start the ACC slate by traveling to Miami and Florida State this weekend before returning home to close out September and open up October to host Clemson and Georgia Tech.

Claire Chaussee Named ACC Player of the Week

Super senior Claire Chaussee was named the ACC Player of the Week following a strong showing against Kentucky and Stanford. Chaussee is the first Cardinal to earn the honor this season.

Against UK, Chaussee had 16 kills while hitting .371. She also logged six digs and two blocks. Then against Stanford, she 19 kills and four digs while hitting .310. She now has 113 kills on the season while hitting .310.

Payton Petersen Verbals to Louisville Volleyball

(Petersen sends a missile across the net) 

She's an outside hitter in the Class of 2024 and players her high school volleyball at Dike-New Hartford High School in Dike, Iowa. The Cards beat out Creighton and Kansas State for the 6'0" star

She has a twin sister (Baylee) who is headed to Northern Iowa to play for their mom -- Bobbi, who is the head volleyball coach for the UNI Panthers.  

Payton was named to the all-state team as a freshman and sophomore and has amassed 1227 kills, 200 blocks and 905 digs in her playing time, with still a couple of months left for her in her junior season. Her Wolverines have won back-to-back Iowa 2A state titles and Payton was named all-tournament captain both years. 

She also has a set of older, twin sisters who played in college. 

Dike-New Hartford is 22-1 on the season so far and ranked #1 in Iowa 2A Volleyball. 

Have a great Tuesday!

Jared