Jeff and Jared Visit Pro VolleyCards in Indy -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Visiting the Pro VolleyCards in Indy

Fishers Event Center

Jeff and I ventured outside of Louisville following the Cards’ loss to Notre Dame on Sunday in women’s basketball. Our destination was the Fishers Event Center in Indiana to catch some professional volleyball as fans. Cardinal Couple has been denied media credentials multiple times this season for the Ignite since we are not local media and do not actively cover their team. Four former Cardinals were on the combined rosters for the match. Wilma Rivera and Tori Dilfer Stringer dressed for the Columbus Fury while Elena Scott and Anna DeBeer were on the other side with the Indy Ignite.

The host Ignite took the 3-0 sweep in front of approximately 5,000 fans. Members of the crowd included the DeBeer family, the Scott family, and the Rush (Ceci is a Louisville volleyball alum) family. The current Purdue head coach was sitting court side along the baseline to watch a couple former Boilermakers play.

Tori Dilfer Stringer

We had a chance to talk to Stringer, DeBeer, and Scott after the match. Rivera had some family in town visiting from presumably Puerto Rico and did not get to swing over to chit chat. Stringer showed some sign of frustration as she felt her team had an off night. DeBeer was not dressed in uniform, but was still on the bench with the rest of the team. Scott had an unfamiliar look as she did not wear the libero jersey for the first time since high school. Kylie Murr, who is in her second pro season, is the current libero on the team and has given Scott some competition.

While we did not conduct an official interview with the players, nor did we do any video, our former Cards were happy to talk with us and answer a few questions.

All of them seemed to be excited for both Dani Busboom Kelly on taking the Nebraska job and for Dan Meske being promoted to the Louisville job. Anna mentioned how she predicted this was going to happen this season while many of us thought this personnel change was still a few years away. We did learn that both the Louisville and Nebraska players were informed at the exact same time and found out less than an hour before the official announcement. This was to help limit the chances of information being leaked in advance.

Anna DeBeer

Tori, who has a few professional years under her belt now, has been adjusting to her new team and new roster. She and Wilma Rivera have split time at setter and both of them are playing more of a veteran and leadership role. She did mention the fun she had with helping run some of the volleyball podcasts and videos for Floyd Street Media and is hopeful to do so again next fall.

Anna is not quite healthy yet but assured us that things are trending in the right direction for her. A timeline of returning wasn’t given but she indicated that she plans to actively participate in the matches by the end of the season. We did not ask the extent of her injuries but Jeff and I both were under the impression that it was a bit worse than we thought back during the Final Four. Either way, she has a bright career ahead of her.

Elena Scott

Anna and Elena are currently roommates in an apartment not far from the arena. That’s not too bad seeing as both practice and workout together on the same team and have each other to lean on. Both players are Louisville natives and are playing outside of their hometown for the first time ever, albeit being just a couple hours away.

It was certainly good to catch up with some of our former Cards and to hear that each one is doing well. We hope to head back north for another match later this season.

Back in Louisville, Dan Meske was officially introduced as the next Louisville volleyball head coach. Jeff and I both hit this promotion over the last few days, but you can find his introductory presser below.

Dan Meske Introductory Press Conference

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Guess Who's Back - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Myisha Hines-Allen Returns

After an off-season knee procedure, Myisha Hines-Allen had been conspicuously absent from the active Washington Mystics roster, but yesterday marked her return to play.

The Mystics played the Minnesota Lynx in a close game, losing in the end 78-80.

Hines-Allen returned only in a limited form, playing only eight minutes, but in that time she did get a layup, a rebound at each end of the floor, and a steal.  Those numbers are expected to go up, of course, as she gets back into full game condition again.

Other UofL WNBA Action Today

Two other Cards in action today in the WNBA.

After yesterday's news that just snuck under the wire to get into Case's article that Liz Dixon joined the Connecticut Sun, they'll be in action today against Dallas at 1pm on NBA TV.  How much court time will Dixon get?  Obviously we all want to see her succeed, but one day after joining the franchise, I'm not sure I have my hopes up that she'll get too much time on the court.

Dana Evans has become a fixture in Chicago, being one of the most productive bench players in the league.  The Sky will have a 2pm game on CBS Sports Network.

Where's Emina?

If you've been following Racing Louisville FC, well first you've probably noticed a significant uptick in their quality of play over previous season, certainly a reason to rejoice.  The squad had their first ever 3-game win streak, for example.  They're still not burning up the pitch, but improvement is there at 4-3-5 on the overall season.

Emina Ekic has been distinctly absent from the active roster, however.  She is recovering from a fractured ankle (or leg?  Reports were not clear.) that she suffered in January playing in Melbourne Australia.  She did post a picture to social media from Derby with several other Racing players in which she was wearing wedge heals and no cast or brace or anything, so presumably recovery is proceeding well.

Claire Chaussee

Claire Chaussee joins the ranks of "Cards in the Pros", though you may not hear too much about her this summer.  Chaussee signed on with the Grand Rapids Rise, a team in a new professional volleyball league forming here in the states.  The PVF, or Pro Volleyball Federation, has been going through the beginning stages of putting the league together.  At this point we're seeing the announcements of initial franchise locations as ownership groups signing on, including Grand Rapids, San Diego, Atlanta, Columbus, and more.  We've seen some head coach announcements, and the Grand Rapids Rise seem to be ahead of the game as the first, that I've seen, announcement of player signings with Chaussee being one of three to join.

The PVF plans to start play in 2024.

Trent Dilfer, former Super Bowl Quarterback, but known more around here as father of Tori Dilfter Stringer, is a partner in the league, and Tori has been prominently features in much of the marketing materials for the league, though I haven't seen an actual signing of her with a team yet.  I would presume that will happen in due course.

Numerous VolleyCards do play professional volleyball, although nearly all are overseas.  Anna Stevenson Hall, Claire Chaussee, and Raquel Lázaro all played in Italy this past season, and yes they all played against each other.  Tori Dilfer Stringer played in Puerto Rico along with Wilma Rivera, which is, of course, home for her.  And Tess Clark has played several years in Spain.  Unfortunately, news from overseas leagues is extremely difficult to find.  Erin Fairs is the only former Card to play professionally in the US, as part of Athletes Unlimited, but they have a very limited season.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Former Cards that went pro in other things did get together as usual for the CCRHP.  Case, Jared, and myself were on the call, and...well...it's getting to be summer, and news is thin on the ground, so expect some diversions and tangents.

We did cover some spring sport accolades, including some academic ones, most of the CC crew are keeping up with the rest of the Softball Tournament, even after Louisville's departure, so we chatted about that, some.  Mostly, we're cheering for "Not Oklahoma".  And we chatted a bit about WNBA and other "Cards in the Pros".

Check it out at it's Anchor/Spotify home:

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/The-Summer-Slump-Begins-e255mi0

-- JMcA

Summertime Volleyball News -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Summertime Volleyball News

(Not many better middle blockers than Anna Hall)

For a pair of Louisville volleyball alums, the volleyball life continues on. Anna Stevenson Hall and Tori Dilfer-Stringer were both recently named to the 30-player Women's National Team roster for the 2023 Volleyball Nations League USA Volleyball.

Most recently. both alums have spent time playing professionally overseas. This duo saw many matches together at Louisville, both transferring into Louisville for the final college years, and helped lead Louisville to the program's first ever Final Four.

From their time in Louisville, then Tori Dilfer and then Anna Stevenson, were both named All-Americans and have their names on the wall inside L&N FCU Arena.

(Set 'em up, Tori ! No one did it finer)

Volleyball Nations League is an annual international indoor volleyball tournament. The world's top 16 teams will compete against each other that features each team playing four matches per week for three weeks. Following the conclusion of the preliminary rounds, the top eight teams will advance to the finals.

This year, the VNA will be held at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas. Team USA will qualify for the finals by being the host.

Team USA will face Serbia, Italy, Korea, Turkey, Croatia, Thailand, Japan, Brazil, Poland, Bulgaria, Germany, and China.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Volleyball News — Almost Back to Basketball — TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball News

Louisville Volleyball’s Tori Dilfer has been named a Honda Sports Award Finalist. She is one of four finalists for volleyball. The Honda Sports Award is given to one female athlete for each women’s sport.

Dilfer was named the first ever ACVA First Team All-American for Louisville Volleyball (Anna Stevenson was also named a First Team All-American this season). She was also named ACC Setter of the Year and East Region Player of the Year. Dilfer was an integral part of the first ever #1 ranking for the Cards, an ACC Championship, and Louisville’s first ever Final Four appearance.

It’s a common saying “You live and die by your setter”, similar to what you see with a quarterback in football or point guard in basketball. .

It wasn’t too difficult for Dilfer to have a successful final year due to the loads of talent she was surrounded by. With fellow All-Americans Anna Stevenson (first team) and Anna DeBeer (third team). Claire Chaussee, Akko Jones, Amaya Tillman, and Elena Scott were all named to the All-ACC Second Team- the other three were named All-ACC First Team- so at any given time during the season, Louisville had enough award winners on the court to fill an entire 'starting seven’.

Speaking of Anna Stevenson, the middle blocker had some great news announced yesterday. Stevenson’s volleyball career will continue as she has signed a professional contract with the Turkish club Aydin Buyuksehir Belediyespor. My iPad doesn’t allow certain characters and said accents on those letters so what you’re reading is the American English keyboard spelling.

Stevenson will be eligible to compete in the second half of the current Turkish Women’s Volleyball League season. The team has already announced on their Instagram page @aydinbuyuksehirbelediyespor the news and how excited they are to have her on the team.

We have seen over the last few seasons just how excellent Stevie’s volleyball skills are and it comes as no surprise she will now being professional volleyball.

For those who don’t follow professional volleyball, it is quite an honor and a high recognition to a player’s skill set to be able to play overseas. Tess Clark and Erin Fairs are other former Cards currently playing overseas. There isn’t much opportunity to play volleyball professionally in the United States at this time, but hopefully as the sport continues to grow we will see a stronger presence here.

Almost Back to Basketball

The Christmas/Holiday break is almost over. For the Louisville Band, Cheerleaders, and Ladybirds, they all boarded a plane to Texas yesterday for the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. Surprisingly, Louisville Football is favored to win this one.

But back on campus, Louisville Women’s Basketball has reported back to campus for workouts and practices. The Cards open ACC play on Thursday at 7:00 p.m., against Boston College at the KFC Yum! Center.

For Louisville, a 10-1 record is a good start, especially after a disappointing season opener to Arizona. Since then, Louisville has taken down ranked opponents Michigan, Kentucky, and UConn. Paul gave you a good rundown (someone tell Jim Halpert what a rundown is) of ACC Women’s Basketball yesterday and just how good or not-so-good some of those teams have been doing.

The Cards have some stiff competition this year. Besides NC State, North Carolina, Duke, Georgia Tech, Norte Dame, and Wake Forest have all had hot starts. Similar to ACC Volleyball, ACC Women’s Basketball appears to have a strong number of teams this year. Boston College comes in at 8-3 and has Taylor Soule back, who is averaging almost 17 points a contest.

We’ll preview the UofL vs BC game more thoroughly later this week. Paulie and I both plan to be in attendance for that one as I should be back in town late tomorrow night.

Thankfully, Katy’s family and I have limited our contact with the outside world minus a couple things here and there. Sadly, my family back home has not been as fortunate as many of them have come in contact with my cousin’s partner, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Christmas Day (days after I had already left Louisville). So Katy and I will avoid them for a while when we get back in town, but thankfully everyone has been symptom-free or had symptoms similar to that of a minor cold.

As the holiday season wraps up we encourage everyone to monitor potential symptoms as the CDC has stated they expect a big increase in positive cases over the next couple of weeks. Masks and vaccines can save lives, folks.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Extinguish Flames -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Sweeps into Second Round of NCAA Tournament   

Despite my hyperactive and pessimistic brain running through the potential sad headlines or leads I was going to have to come up with if Louisville somehow completely crashed and burned last night, none were necessary. Louisville brought in the Flames of the University of Illinois at Chicago and, other than a hiccup in the second set, had no real trouble snuffing them out to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament. As the number one overall seed, Louisville was presumably matched against the lowest ranked team to make the tournament, so it would have been quite the surprise if this match had ended in anything other than a sweep. In the first round, the 16 seeded teams won their matches by a combined 48-0. Impressive stuff, when you think about it.

As for the Louisville match last night, the Cards--having just watched another Cardinals team win on their floor--jumped on the Flames early. Louisville won the first four points on two kills, an ace, and an attack error from UIC, and it was all downhill for the Flames from there. They finally grabbed their first two points to make it 4-2 before Louisville went on a 17-6 run to put the set away. At 21-8, the teams traded a few points before an error by UIC gave the Cards the 25-11 victory. Louisville finished the set with 15 kills and no errors for a whopping 0.577 hitting percentage while UIC struggled to just 0.086. Despite the lopsided hitting percentages, only two of Louisville's 11 blocks came in this set. It looked like the Cards would breeze through this opening match.

Unfortunately, the error bug hit Louisville in the second set. The first point of the set went to UIC on a handling error by Aiko Jones, and that set the tone. UIC grabbed three of their four blocks in this set and Louisville added five of their own attack errors along with that handling error and their only service error of the match to basically give away ten points. Wait, did I read that right? Yep. Louisville committed just one service error throughout all three sets, compared to four aces. As a team with ball control for most of the match, that few errors is fantastic, and you'll take the lower number of aces when playing against a team you expect to have outmatched. On the flip side, UIC had just one ace and five errors, giving the Cards a nine-point advantage in the service game. 

Back to that second set, though. After the blistering hitting start in the first, Louisville muddled through the second. They finished with a 0.200 mark in the set, brought up by a streak of six kills interrupted by just one block in crunch time of the set. The two teams traded points for the first half of the set or so before back-to-back blocks gave Louisville a 16-11. That seemed like it would swing the momentum to the heavily favored team, but the lone service error came at an incredibly inopportune time. The Flames used Anna DeBeer's errant serve as a catalyst to rattle off a 7-1 run and take an 18-17 lead. The run included hitting errors on three of four points in a row and was capped off by a block. However, Louisville was able to refocus in that crunch time I mentioned. Louisville won eight of the final ten points of the set to take it 25-20. Over that time, UIC's only two points came from a single kill and a block, and Louisville only earned one point from a UIC error. The Louisville offense turned their hats around backwards in the way someone does in a cliche sports movie when things get serious and they went to work.

After the halftime break, where Coach Dani Busboom Kelly told Tori Dilfer to keep the offense balanced, Louisville left no doubt about why they were undefeated and the top seed. After UIC took the first point, Dilfer received her instruction about balance as "Aiko Jones needs more touches." Louisville won the next seven points with three kills by Jones. After giving up another point, they won four more. Over the course of the third set, UIC never won two points in a row. Since Louisville opened the set with the serve when UIC took the first point, that means that the Flames didn't win a single point on serve for the entire set. To me, that's insane. To Louisville volleyball, that's taking care of business. After their huge runs put them up 17-5, the teams more-or-less traded points until Louisville closed the door with a Claire Chaussee kill to win 25-11. It was a perfect bookend to a match that opened 116 points prior with a Chaussee kill.

I've posted Coach Busboom Kelly's comments in full at the bottom of this column because they're a good read. I appreciate the UofL SID staff for getting and posting them. One thing that stood out was the balance she mentioned. We've waxed poetic this season about the hitting out of the middle, and Anna Stevenson and Amaya Tillman have deserved it. However, last night made it seem as though the only film UIC had seen indicated that they just needed to cover off the middle. Boy, was that wrong. Louisville's outside hitters feasted, as Aiko Jones, Anna DeBeer, and Claire Chaussee had the three highest hitting percentages in the match. All five hitters that took a swing had double digit attempts, and, while Tillman and Stevenson contributed with ten kills, they also added five combined errors. Jones, DeBeer, and Chaussee combined for six errors, but they put in 32 kills. Perhaps it's unfair to include Jones in that combined errors number, since she finished with ZERO on her way to a 0.643 hitting percentage. She nearly had a double-double, adding nine digs to her nine kills, and she also added four block assists. Jeff mentioned in our text group last week that Notre Dame may have woken up Aiko, which would put the whole country on notice. Let's hope this performance was an indication of what is to come.

As stellar and as balanced as Louisville's offense was, they were nearly as balanced defensively. No one was able to be called out as a weak link defensively as the Cards had just the one handling error and one receiving error while gathering 47 digs. 47 digs!! In just three sets!! I mean, jeez, UIC only had 28 kills. In addition to Jones' nine, Tori Dilfer had eight, DeBeer five, Bartlett six, and Elena Scott led the way with 17. She also picked up the slack when Dilfer was out of system with three assists. Dilfer had 35 of the team's 39 (on 42 kills, phew). Blocks were also well distributed, with every hitter and Dilfer getting at least one block assist. Tillman led the way there with five assists and a solo block.

Louisville will look to carry their momentum into this evening's match against Ball State. The Cardinals from Muncie took down the Wolverines in five sets yesterday, so they played quite a bit more ball than Louisville. Fortunately for them, they will have had about 24 full hours of rest to prepare, with tonight's match getting underway at 6PM. Daryl wishes to pass along her apologies for the 8PM time she posted yesterday, as the bracket led her astray. Again, that's Louisville and Ball State at 6PM in the sold out L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. The match is available on ESPN+.

Let's take a quick look at the bracket as a whole, which I'm sure Jeff will dig into more tomorrow once the entire second round has wrapped up. As I noted previously, the first round was mostly chalk. The bracket doesn't show the 2/3 seed for each tournament site, but there weren't any outstanding upsets. The ACC advanced five of their six teams to the second round, which isn't terribly surprising given that three of them were hosts. UNC was the first ACC team to fall, but not the last. Five second round matchups have already been played, and Florida knocked off Miami to clarify who awaits the winner of tonight's match. Florida would need all three of the remaining seeded teams in the region to be upset in order to take the matches to Gainesville, while Louisville just needs to take care of business tonight to make Freedom Hall their home next weekend. 

While Texas, Baylor, and Purdue joined Florida in the Sweet Sixteen as expected, the second round also saw the first major upset. The first seeded team to fall became the fourteenth-ranked Blue Jays out of Creighton. They should have known their fate was sealed, as they were matched up against the Jayhawks of Kansas. A mascot disadvantage there, to be sure. While a Jayhawk isn't an actual bird, the sparrowhawk from which it originated (along with the blue jay) is a known killer of birds. KU took down Creighton 3-1, and they await the winner of the Pennsylvania rivalry between Penn State and Pittsburgh. Oddly, that rivalry doesn't have an official name. 

Jeff will have the write tomorrow, when he'll (hopefully) bring you the sights and sounds from a Louisville victory inside LNFCU. Once more: 6PM on ESPN+.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

With an exciting week for basketball and the volleyball tournament underway, we've should have a fun show lined up. Fortunately, the evening match gives Jeff the opportunity to join us for the podcast before heading over to Floyd Street for the Battle of the Birds. It'll be a throwback to the days on the Hill, as Jared leaves Paulie, Jeff, and I to our own devices while he plays in an ensemble. Daryl, as she noted yesterday, is still out, but we're looking forward to having her expertise rejoin the show as basketball season continues through the winter. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Breaker: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

DBK Post-Game Interview

(Opening Statement) 

“I thought it was a really fun atmosphere tonight, you could just tell it was a little different, which is a good thing for the NCAA tournament. I thought UIC was really good and impressive. They’re one of the best passing teams that we’ve played, so I was just impressed with the way they competed and how they played. I know we did a great job of just staying balanced and sticking to what we do best and that's been our motto this week to figure out what our brand is and make sure we stay true to that … no matter what game it is, what time in the match it is and it was an excellent job by our team tonight.”

(How the team has handled being undefeated going into tournament play) 

“I'm really lucky this year, our team has great leadership and great maturity. They knew what they wanted from the beginning of the year. There was never a time of year where I had to motivate them. Our staff never felt like we had to do something special or do something different. I think having fifth-year seniors and the COVID year has helped teams be really composed and mature and we are certainly benefiting from that. It just comes down to knowing what they wanted and understanding that this is a really great opportunity. We knew from day one that this can potentially be one of the best teams that Louisville has ever had and that we have the opportunity to capitalize on that.” 

(Importance of not letting the opponent get momentum) 

“It's always important but in a tournament, you've already seen upsets and some big names go down in volleyball and momentum swings are huge game changers. That's why I was saying I would love to play this first and second round in a bigger arena but it's very comforting to be home and at L&N Arena where we're comfortable and we can use the crowd and that helps with momentum changes for sure.” 

(On being satisfied with the team’s overall performance) 

“I was satisfied with our performance; I think we had that spot in the second set where we made three or four hitting errors in a row on the first ball and that's pretty uncharacteristic for us. It was okay to have some of that in this first game and to get some of that out of our system. We've been balanced all year, so I really challenged Tori (Dilfer) at the break in between games two and three to balance out our offense. She did a great job of getting everyone involved and in double digits in attempts.”

ACC Volleyball Awards -- Lax News -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 ACC Volleyball Awards

The ACC announced their postseason awards for volleyball yesterday, and to no surprise, Louisville Volleyball's presence was felt. Dani Busboom Kelly was named ACC Coach of the Year, Tori Dilfer was named ACC Setter of the Year, and seven Cardinals were named to the All-ACC Teams.

Going undefeated in the regular season and winning the ACC by a whopping three matches (!!!) should make the ACC Coach of the Year decision unanimous. Coach Dani Busboom Kelly was given the award for the second straight year. DBK is the second Louisville coach to win ACC Coach of the Year after Anne Kordes received the honor in 2015.

Tori Dilfer also retained her award from last season, ACC Setter of the Year. Similar to a football team running their offense through their quarterback, the setter is crucial in order to run your offense efficiently. Wilma Rivera won the award back-to-back seasons in 2017 and 2018, meaning a Louisville player has held the ACC Setter of the Year title in four of the last five seasons. Katie George won the award in 2015, extended the Cardinals' streak to five of the last seven years.

Anna Stevenson and Anna DeBeer join Dilfer on the All-ACC First Team. All three repeated the honors from last season.

Claire Chaussee, Aiko Jones, Amaya Tillman, and Elena Scott were named to the All-ACC Second Team. Jones and Tillman were All-ACC honorees last year while Chaussee and Scott join the ranks for the first time. Scott was also named to the All-ACC Freshman Team.

Mabrey Shaffmaster (North Carolina) was named ACC Freshman of the Year, Mackenzie Cole (Duke) was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and Julia Bergmann (Georgia Tech) was named ACC Player of the Year.

All 15 coaches in the ACC participate in voting for the awards.

Louisville is one of six teams from the ACC represented in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Pitt (2-seed), Georgia Tech (8-seed), Miami, North Carolina, and Florida State are the other five teams.

The top-seeded Cards will open the tournament on Friday night at 7:00 p.m., against the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC). Their match will follow the conclusion of Michigan vs Ball State (4:00 p.m.). The winners will face each other on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.

Season ticket holders have had an opportunity to put a request in for tickets already. The remaining availability for tickets will go on sale on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m., ET. We do not know how many tickets, if any, will still be available. We've had some issues with hyperlinks not working on the mobile browser recently, but the link to purchase those tickets Wednesday morning is listed below.

https://am.ticketmaster.com/uofl/ncaavb

Although the NCAA does not require masks to be worn at their events, the University of Louisville requires masks to be worn indoors on campus, including sporting events. Please don't make the mistake of showing up without one as they will turn you away at the door.

Allison Daley to be Named to Canisius Hall of Fame

Louisville Lacrosse assistant coach Allison Daley has been selected to be a part of the next class to be inducted into the Canisius Hall of Fame. Daley is currently in her first season as a part of the Louisville coaching staff.

Daley was a four-year letter winner as a goalkeeper and holds the record at Canisius with 662 career saves. In 2011, she was named the MAAC Championship MVP. She was also named the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2010.

Following her playing career, Daley played for Team Canada before becoming the associate head coach for them. When Coach Scott Teeter took the head coaching position at Louisville, Daley took over the head coaching duties at Canisius.

The Hall of Fame induction will be held Feb. 6, 2022.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

VBall Downs Pitt -- Happy Thanksgiving -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Thanksgiving, Cards fans! Normally we take today off from posting any articles... buuut we have a good reason to post a story today.

Louisville Volleyball Remains Unbeaten, Downs Pittsburgh

#1 Louisville Volleyball had the attention of the entire volleyball world last night when they traveled up north for a match with #3 Pittsburgh. The match was a rematch from a five-set thriller when the two ACC rivals were ranked second and fourth, respectively, at LNFCU Arena.

This match certainly lived up to the hype as the Cards took down the Panthers 3-1 (25-19, 25-19, 17-25, 25-21) at Fitzgerald Field House.

The two powerhouse programs through haymakers at each other all night, never giving the other a chance to get comfortable on the court.

Set One: 25-19

The Cards and Panthers traded points back-and-forth for the first half of the opening set all the way up to 14-14. Louisville managed to break through with a 5-0 run highlighted by the 'Anna Show' with Anna Stevenson logging a pair of kills and Anna DeBeer earning a kill and an ace in the run. A mini run of three straight Claire Chaussee kills gave the Cards a 23-16 cushion before a DeBeer kill claimed the first set victory.

Set Two: 25-19

Pitt found themselves ahead 5-2 following a 4-0 run early on. Louisville used their own small run to tie the score at five apiece after Stevenson earned her first two kills of the set. Louisville and Pitt would continue to fight back-and-forth up to a 13-13 tie. Similar to the first set, a mid-set run helped the Cards pull ahead. Two straight Chaussee kills, a Pitt error, and a kill by Amaya Tillman allowed Louisville to take a moment to breathe. Ready to extend their lead, another 4-0 run late in the set pushed the Louisville lead to 22-15. Pitt never got closer than within five the rest of the set as the Cards took a 2-0 lead into halftime.

Set Three: 17-25

When playing the #3 team in the country on their Senior Night, you expect them to battle back. And that's what Pitt did. Much of the set involved Pitt building a one-to-two-point lead and Louisville having to play from behind. Up 18-16, the Panthers were ready to close the door on the third set, using a 6-0 run to go up 24-16. The run was disrupted by an Amaya Tillman kill, but the Cards could not muster up a rally and surrendered the set to the Panthers.

Set Four: 25-21

Allowing a home team to build momentum is never good, and Pittsburgh was ready to run with their momentum. Louisville held an early 4-1 lead, but things seemed to crash and burn right after. Pittsburgh got hot and went on a 9-0 run to build a commanding 10-4 lead. Anna Stevenson was able to put an end to their run with a kill. The two teams would traded points until Louisville went on a mini 3-0 run started by a Pitt service error and ending with an Ayden Bartlett service ace. Not ready to relinquish their lead Pittsburgh scored a quick point and went up 14-10. However, Louisville didn't become #1 by sitting down and quitting. A 5-0 Louisville run that featured a little help on some poor Pitt attacking, gave Louisville a one-point lead.

 Once again, UofL and Pitt traded points until they came to an 18-18 tie. A service error sparked a mini 3-0 Louisville run that ended in controversy. Pitt challenged a kill by Jones, stating that the kill was long. Replay appeared to agree with the Panthers, but the officiating crew stuck with their initial call before awarding an arguable make-up call the next point. Following the theme, it was another series of trading points until Louisville found themselves at match point and a 24-21 lead. It was only fitting that one of the best blocking teams in the country win the match on a block by Stevenson.

The sold out crowd of 3052 was silenced... well, there was a fairly decent Louisville fan base present celebrating, as the Louisville squad rushed to the middle of the court celebrating the big victory. The win secured the sole ACC title for Louisville as well as extended their undefeated season to 27-0.

Three Cardinals were in the double-digits in kills- Claire Chaussee (16), Anna DeBeer (15), and Anna Stevenson (12), with all three hitting north of .380. Nearly all of those kills were credited to Tori Dilfer's game-high 45 assists.

On the serving side, Louisville committed nine service errors as opposed to 10 from Pitt, but Louisville did come up with six aces. Aiko Jones and Ayden Bartlett each had two aces while Elena Scott and Anna DeBeer contributed one apiece.

Louisville's blocking wasn't the difference maker in this match per se (11-10 advantage), but the blocks came at opportune moments. Anna Stevenson was apart of seven blocks (five solo blocks). Aiko Jones was a part of five blocks and Amaya Tillman got in on four.

Louisville will wrap up their regular season at home against Notre Dame this Friday at 5:00 p.m., ET. The match is sold out.

Louisville is also guaranteed to host the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament a LNFCU Arena (sold out, but that could change based on the number of tickets each team receives) and they're in good position to host the NCAA Regionals at Freedom Hall. The Final Four will be held in Columbus, Ohio.

Happy Thanksgiving

We normally like to take today off to celebrate and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. A day off from work and Louisville women's sports is needed every once in a while. Don't forget that we cover 12 UofL women's teams throughout the year as well as try to stay up-to-date with Louisville Alums around the world in their various professional teams.

I think Jeff gave a wonderful Thanksgiving article back on Nov. 14 (it may be on the second page for most devices) and there's no way I can top that. But I do want to go ahead and give thanks.

First, I want to thank everyone that is a part of our Cardinal Couple Crew that allows us to continue to run smoothly (usually) and to stay up-to-date with so many Louisville happenings. Seriously, have you tried knowing everything about every Louisville women's team at the same time? It's definitely not a one-person job. Between our daily coverage, recent photos, personalized player and coach interviews, and a unique and one-of-a-kind podcast, it feels like we have a full army keeping this ship upright.

Secondly, I want to thank YOU. Whether you check out Cardinal Couple to see how one specific sport or player is doing, or you like to get caught up on all the happenings, or you want a unique perspective on many sports, or you enjoy a judgement-free zone to post your thoughts, we would not be able to function without our readers/fans/engagers.

Third, I would be remiss if I did not thank Louisville Athletics. Without Louisville Athletics we have no teams to cover and no purpose here. They bring us great joy (and the occasional frustration) and allows us to do what we love. Included in this would be the terrific Sports Information Directors who provide us with media credentials and all of the resources we need to do our job efficiently.

I am also thankful for the opportunity to continue to grow and share my photo abilities here. Cardinal Couple was the first place to bring me on for photos. Looking back at my early work, I appreciate that Paulie ttook a chance on me when he agreed to bring me on. Over time, my work has improved and I've been able to provide better quality work to share here.

On a non-UofL note, I am also thankful for my family. My parents and brother live no more than a couple minutes from me so I am able to see them regularly. Much of the rest of my family is nearby as well, including aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents, so I get to see them too. Of course, I am absolutely blessed to have such a fantastic and amazing fiancé in Katy. She has been my biggest cheerleader and supporter and I have no idea where I would be without her.

From our Cardinal Couple family to You, have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

Go Cards!

Jared

Vball Sweeps Notre Dame -- WBB Home Opener -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Sweeps Notre Dame

In a rare Monday night match, #1 Louisville Volleyball made the trip up to South Bend to square off against Notre Dame. Despite their success in recent years, the Irish entered the match 11-13 on the year and are more than likely not NCAA Tournament bound this year.

Louisville made semi-quick work of the Irish with a 3-0 sweep with all three sets ending with a 25-18 score.

Notre Dame held an early 8-6 lead in the first set and kept the set tight until about midway through the set. Then, the Cards kicked on the gears with a block party and some pretty kills by Claire Chaussee and Anna DeBeer to take the opening set 25-18.

Similar to the first set, Notre Dame had a small 10-9 lead early in the second set. Many thanks to Anna Stevenson for being a part of four straight blocks and earning a kill, the Cards would win seven straight points. The remaining portion of the set was the Anna Stevenson and Claire Chaussee show.

Despite what the score in the third set said, it wasn't all that close. The Irish jumped out to early 3-0 and 5-2 leads as Coach Dani Busboom Kelly started rotating different players in. Then, the Cards settled in and won a remarkable 16 straight points. It was a combined effort from everyone on the floor during that run, which also featured three service aces from Elena Scott. Notre Dame dug their heels in and tried to come up with an answer and did come within six late in the set, but the Cards stood firm and silenced the rally. 25-18 again and the Irish were swept. 

Eight Cardinals recorded a kill with Anna DeBeer logging 12. Anna Stevenson and Claire Chaussee each had eight. Tori Dilfer took the major load with 34 assists, but Rachael DeMarcus did get some playing time and logged an assist as did Elena Scott. A total of 11 players logged a dig in the box score with Scott on top with 12. Louisville didn't need to rely on digs on the defensive side much due to a strong presence at the net. Stevenson was all over the Notre Dame attack game with eight blocks. DeBeer and Tillman each finished with five.

For a team in the final stretch of the regular season with eyes on an ACC title and an undefeated season, Louisville was rolling on all cylinders. The Cards improved to 25-0 on the year and 15-0 in the ACC with three matches remaining.

Pittsburgh remains two games behind the Cards and Georgia Tech is three games back. Louisville can clinch at least a share of the conference title with a win against Duke on Friday night. Meanwhile, Pitt travels to Georgia Tech in a Top 25 match-up and a battle for the second spot in the conference. Louisville fans will want to pull for the Yellow Jackets (the Cards own the series tiebreaker against Georgia Tech this year) as a Pitt loss and a Louisville win would solidify the conference title.

The following Wednesday, Louisville will travel to Pitt for a 5:00 start time and then wrap up the season at home on Black Friday against Georgia Tech. If my math is correct, seven seniors will be recognized that evening.

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

While we're on the subject of volleyball, there's been a big question asked lately: Where will the Cards host their NCAA Tournament matches? Well.... we can't answer that just yet. There's some tricky obstacles in the way.

LNFCU Arena is too small to host all the way up through the Regional Finals so you can scratch that one off the list. The KFC Yum! Center seems like the obvious choice, but between two Louisville basketball teams' schedules and a Pentatonix concert, that's a no-go. You could ask the KFC Yum! Center operations team to reschedule the Pentatonix concert, but they'll laugh in your face. One of the sad truths to Olympic sports is that they don't bring in much revenue, if any, even in the post-season. Pentatonix being one of the biggest names in music still is guaranteed to bring a pretty penny to the facility.

So the next guess would be Freedom Hall or Knights Hall. Freedom Hall houses more and is the better venue between those two, but Bellarmine women's and men's basketball use the facility for home games. Some of you may remember the old Louisville basketball days at Freedom Hall. I have on good word that Louisville is trying to host NCAA Volleyball Tournament matches at Freedom Hall and have entered negotiations with Bellarmine for the Knights to relocate or reschedule their scheduled games. Please note, entering negotiations doesn't mean that it will happen.

Let's also remember Louisville provides Trager Field for Bellarmine Field Hockey and the Cards could play the "since we did that for you, we expect this" card. 

As long as Louisville keeps winning then it's a good problem to have. I'd much rather be able to have the Cards play in town for the first four matches of the tournament than have to travel somewhere else. For now, we'll wait and see.

Women's Basketball Opens Home Season with Bellarmine

After a not-so-perfect start to the season, Louisville Women's Basketball gears up for their home opener when Bellarmine visits the KFC Yum! Center tonight. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m., and can be viewed on ACC Network Extra (online).

The game against Bellarmine is actually part of a back-to-back home game series for the Cards, who then host UT Martin on Wednesday. The UT Martin game will be a homecoming game for former Cardinal Seygan Robins. Robins is one of three players on their roster from Kentucky.

But back to tonight's opponent: Bellarmine. The Knights are in their second year in Division I play, and their women's basketball team has had a bit more difficult time adjusting than their men counterparts. There are eight players on Bellarmine's roster from Kentucky, including some local high schools such as Manual, Sacred Heart, Bullitt East, and North Bullitt.

The Knights went 5-17 last year, including 5-11 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. They started this year with a 72-59 loss to Cincinnati.

In their season opener, Bellarmine was led by Claire Knies' 21 points. The sophomore went 5-7 from three-point range. Senior forward Lauren Deel added 10 points and eight rebounds. Deel was one of three Bellarmine players to record at least five rebounds. Bellarmine committed 25 turnovers but did force the Bearcats into 23 turnovers.

Bellarmine's biggest positive this season is bringing back a lot of experience. They have seven players that are considered a junior or higher, including the COVID-19 season.

As much as I want to say that this will be a close game, I just don't see it happening. After watching the Cards romp Bellarmine last year 97-46 and Louisville coming off a loss to open up the year, this one has the making of another blowout. Louisville's offense was not in rhythm against Arizona, and after seeing what they did against Union in the preseason exhibition, the Cards could easily drop 85-90 points tonight. 

Chancellor Dugan is the head WBB coach for the Knights and will eventually, in our eyes, build a strong WBB program. If it can be done at tiny Wake Forest, it can be done at Bellarmine.

However, you can't ever count a team out until the final buzzer, so make sure to tune into this game (or go if you can) to see how the Cards respond from Friday. Paulie and I will be on the court for this one and Jeff will be up in the stands.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Beat the Cats -- WBB ACC Schedule -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Take Down Cats in Five

Everyone good? Heart rates back to normal? Recovery mode is much easier following a win!

#5 Louisville Volleyball defeated rival and #8 Kentucky in five sets (17-25, 25-20, 25-22, 20-25, 15-9) last night at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena in front of 1258 fans.

Louisville broke a seven match losing streak dating back to 2013. The Cards last won at the KFC Yum! Center in 2012, 3-1. Prior to last night's match, Louisville last won a set in 2015.

The first set started anything but great for the Cards. It appeared that nerves got to the Cards early with attack errors and service errors coming in from left and right. UK doubled up the Cards 16-8 about midway through the set before Louisville went on a 3-0 run to help close the gap some. The Cats responded with a 4-1 run to push their lead back to eight. Louisville never got closer than five points the rest of the set as Kentucky cruised to an opening set victory, 25-17.

Louisville seemed to have calmed down and focused better in the second set. The teams played a game of seesaw for much of the set, often trading points as we got midway through the set at 13 apiece. Led down the stretch by Team Anna and assisted with a pair of UK errors down the stretch, Louisville would pull away for a 25-20 second set win.

A freshly energized crowd welcomed the Cards out for the second half, and Louisville wasted no time riding on their momentum to push ahead to an 8-2 lead. UofL spread the wealth with four different Cards earning a kill for the first four points. Louisville held a 16-10 lead and was feeling good, but the reigning national champions weren't ready to go down in the third set without a fight. Kentucky won the next four points and seven of the next nine to pull within one. A quick pair of points for the Cards gave them a 21-18 edge, but Kentucky fought back to even the score at 21 all. A kill and a little help on an attack error gave Louisville a two-point cushion before the Cats cut it back to one. A timely service error for the Cats put Louisville at a set point and the Cards capitalized to take the 25-22 win.

UK pulled a reverse card (in UNO terminology) out with the fourth set, pulling out to an early 10-5 lead. Five of Kentucky's points came from Louisville attack errors as it appeared the first set might repeat itself. A few mini runs helped UofL pull within one at 17-16. However, a 4-0 Kentucky run featuring an ace and a pair of UofL errors gave the Cats room to work with down the stretch. Louisville would not get within more than three the remainder of the set as the fast-paced Kentucky offense sent in a volley of attacks to win the set 25-20.

What's a rivalry without a close game, right? The two foes geared up for a fifth set in front of a rocking L&N FCU Arena crowd. If there were ever time to see ping pong scoring the fifth set would be it. UofL and UK would trade points up to a 6-6 score. Back-to-back attack errors by the Cards gave Kentucky a two-point edge. The Cards and Cats traded the next two points, and with Kentucky holding a 9-7 lead, things seemed to be slipping away for the Cards. Cue the Disney movie script. Down to the wire with their backs against the wall, everything seemed to go right for the Cards. A solid attack with several blocks helped Louisville to an 8-0 run to claim the set, 15-9.

Game, set, match! The Cards bench ran onto to court to celebrate with the active rotation, hugging each other and jumping into each others' arms, the crowd went wild, the lights flashing on and off, and the Louisville fight song played over the speakers. This is the point in the Disney movie where you see the credits start rolling. What we're hoping for here is one of the feel-good sports movies where you see a freeze frame with "Louisville would go on to win the national championship in an undefeated season" moments happen.

Louisville put up some impressive numbers on the night. Amaya Tillman, the block queen, recorded nine blocks. Many of Tillman's blocks came down the stretch in the fifth set in crunch time. Claire Chaussee led the Cards with 18 kills. Chaussee came alive in the third set to help power Louisville to a win that set and then she played a crucial role in the fifth set. Team Anna (DeBeer and Stevenson) recorded 14 and 12 kills, respectively. Kentucky actually had three more kills the Cards on the match.

Despite being a five set match, aces seemed to be far and few between. Louisville had four aces (three by Aiko Jones and one by DeBeer) while Kentucky finished with three.

The big difference of the match was blocks. Kentucky recorded eight blocks, but were no match for one of the best blocking teams in the country. Louisville tallied 15 blocks on the night, nearly doubling up UK, mainly from the big night by Tillman, Jones and Stevenson each having strong nights on the blocking end.

Tori Dilfer powered the Cards in the middle with 44 assists as well as recording nine digs and a pair of kills. ACC Freshman of the Week Elena Scott led the back row with 18 digs. DeBeer added 10 digs.

Improving to 9-0 on the year, I think we can thank the blazer for the win. Coach Dani Busboom Kelly pulled out the red blazer for the match.

Louisville now travels to #6 Nebraska for a match on Saturday, Sept. 18. It's the second straight Top 10 match-up for Louisville and their third in the last four matches.

WBB ACC Schedule Announced

This dynamic duo has been everywhere lately

Louisville Women's Basketball announced their ACC schedule yesterday. The 15-game schedule features two games against Boston College, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse.

ACC play begins Dec. 30 when Boston College comes to the KFC Yum! Center. The conference schedule runs all the way through Feb. 27, with the season finale coming at Notre Dame. Senior Day is set for Feb. 20 against Virginia Tech. 

Louisville had two conference losses last year- at Florida State and at home against NC State. The Cards travel to Raleigh on Jan. 20 and host the Seminoles on Jan. 27.

We will go over the the schedule more on Saturday on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podast and in the weeks to come.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Volleyball and Field Hockey Continue Preseasons -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Heads to Dayton for Exhibition

UofL Volleyball is set to continue their preseason today with an exhibition match against Dayton. The Cards opened the preseason with the Red and Black game earlier this week. During that game, Tori Dilfer went down with an injury and was held out for the rest of the match, though she returned to the sideline after a brief stint in the locker room. Thursday's soccer match saw some Cardinal Couplers have conversations with both her and Aiko Jones and we're assured that the injury was nothing major. That said, we'll keep an eye on whether Tori gets much playing time in today's exhibition or if she is held out precautionarily. 

The Cards and Flyers have played in each of the last three years, as they met in the 2018 NCAA tournament before playing early in the regular season in 2019. The tournament matchup saw Louisville take a 3-0 victory on Illinois' home floor before falling to the Illini the next night. In 2019, Louisville hosted Dayton in the Cardinal Classic, again winning in straight sets. Last season, the two came together in a pre-spring season exhibition. The Atlantic-10 did not play a fall schedule, so the February 2021 matchup was their first action of the year. Stats aren't available for that match. 

After Dayton stumbled in their opener against St. Louis, falling 2-3, they went on to win their remaining matches in the regular season. The team dropped just five sets in those eleven matches. They received a bye in the A10 Tournament and swept both Fordham and VCU for the championship. The Flyers then beat Towson in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Washington in five sets. 

Louisville will have their work cut out for them against Dayton, as the Flyers return the 2020 Midwest Region and A10 Player of the Year in Jamie Peterson. Louisville will have strength of their own, though, as they landed four players on the All-ACC Preseason First Team, the most in the league. The Cards will be led this season by those players, who are Anna Stevenson, Tori Dilfer, Anna DeBeer, and Aiko Jones. All four were lauded players last season, and the Cards' success will depend on their continued development and coordination. 

Today's match is free and open to the public if you feel like heading up to Dayton, but no video is listed. The match is scheduled for 4PM, and Jeff will surely give us all we need to know about it in tomorrow's writeup.

Field Hockey Hosts Alumnae Game

Field Hockey is the last fall team to open their preseason, as they return from a lake trip doing some team bonding to try to gang up on former players in today's Alumnae Game. As Paulie mentioned in last week's podcast episode, this can usually turn into a romp as one side is made up of players in peak college athletic condition and the other is not, but it's a fun event nonetheless. Today's match is at 1PM, so head on down to Trager Stadium to enjoy what should be a beautiful day. Louisville will open their official season tomorrow with an exhibition match against Bellarmine at Trager Stadium, also at 1PM. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

I'm out this week, as I'm headed to watch another group of vehicles turn left, but the show should be otherwise handled by the crew. This week, there's an actual game to recap, as well as plenty of preseason news. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Breaker: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-