Tennis Advances in ACC Tournament -- Softball Falls to UK -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Women's Tennis Defeats Boston College in ACC First Round

It was a great day for Louisville women's tennis. The 12-seed Cards handled 13-seed Boston College 4-1 in the opening round of the ACC Tournament.

Louisville took the doubles point to start the match. The duo of Dina Chaika and Tatiana Simova took down Reagan Posorke and Loren Haukova 6-2. Rhea Verma and Andrea Di Palma had a tough battle against Yufei Long and Kylie Wilcox but prevailed 7-5.

The foes then proceeded to the singles portion where each team has six members compete. In this case, only four of those six finished before it was a guaranteed victory for Louisville.

Jelena Vujanic was first to finish as she defeated Maria Ross 6-3, 6-1.

The next singles court to finish was Raven Neely vs Kylie Wilcox. The Eagles got their only point here with a 6-3, 7-5 win. Rhea Verma checked in next as she downed Laura Lopez 6-1, 7-5. Dina Chaika took Reagan Posorke to three sets but claimed the win 6-0, 3-6, 6-0, securing the Louisville victory.

Chelsea Sawyer and Marice Aguiar were in the third set when the match ended. Andrea Di Palma was just about to defeat Yufei Long when the match ended.

Louisville advances to play 5-seed Duke today at 10:00 a.m. The entire tournament is taking place at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Ga.

Louisville Falls to Kentucky in Nine Innings

It may have been a bit chilly and the day may have started with snow on the ground, but Louisville and Kentucky were not going to cancel their only other scheduled game. The Cards traveled to Lexington for a 7:00 start time last night to face the #14-ranked Wildcats.

It was Louisville who was first to put a run on the board. Makayla Hurst drove a pitch over the right field wall for the 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Kentucky would respond immediately with a home run of their own to even the score.

The Cards did some damage with the bases loaded in the next inning. Taylor Roby hit into a fielder's choice with the out at third, but plated a run for the Cards. Rebecca Chung walked to reload the bases and Hurst hit a high fly ball to the outfield for a sacrifice fly for the 3-1 lead. Kentucky would play small ball before a sac fly brought the score to 3-2.

Celene Funke would make contact and send a fly ball to the outfield as her sac fly sent Charley Butler home and Louisville went up 4-2.

A leadoff double with the addition of a couple other hits and a defensive miscue allowed Kentucky to post two runs in the fifth inning to even the score at 4-4.

Rebecca Chung, the hero from two years ago, lined a ball to the right field gap in the seventh inning to score Carmyn Greenwood and give Louisville a 5-4 edge.

With one out and a runner on second base, Louisville made a pitching change. After 6 1/3 innings, Coach Holly Aprile retired Roby from the circle and called upon graduate transfer Jennifer Leonhardt. A blooper to left field that then spun and bounced away from all Louisville players allowed Kentucky to score a run and even the score at 5-5. Leonhardt would then strike out the next two batters to go into extra innings.

We would see the game go to nine innings. Kentucky would get their first two runners on. A sac fly advanced them to second and third before a sac fly to right field walked it off for Kentucky, 6-5.

Louisville falls to 16-21 on the year. They are 2-15 against ranked opponents this season.

The Cards return home this weekend for a four-game series against #7 Florida State. It will be Senior Weekend. Nine players are listed as grad students or seniors on the roster. A few players have confirmed with me that they will not be returning next year and at least one plans to return. I do not have an exact number on how many will be participating in the Senior Day festivities but an educated guess tells me seven.

With a rainy forecast for Saturday stay tuned for schedule changes. Oh yeah, they're back to selling alcohol at softball games if that entices you to head out to Ulmer Stadium this weekend!

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!
Jared

Alexia Mobley Interview -- Cards vs Cats Softball tonight -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 THE ALEXIA MOBLEY INTERVIEW

I had the great opportunity to interview 2022 Louisville WBB verbal Alexia Mobley this morning. 

The 6'2" forward/wing out of Reynoldsburg High School  (Reynoldsburg, OH) is an athletic performer with next-level impact. She plays for AAU powerhouse Cincinnati Angels. She has a great combination of length and athleticism and is a shot blocker. Can dunk. She's a strong rebounder and runs the floor well She can create for herself and others. Has both high and low offensive skills and is a proven defender in the low post. 

LINK to interview:  ALEXIA MOBLEY INTERVIEW 4/21/21

CARDS VS CATS SOFTBALL TONIGHT 

Yes, there is snow on the ground this morning in Louisville, KY -- very rare for April 21st, but the action will heat up in Lexington this evening when Louisville and Kentucky face off in a mid-week softball game.

The Cats cone into the Wednesday night contest with a overall record of 30-10 . In their last outing against Auburn, the visiting Wildcats went 1-2 against the Tigers. Then Cats have bats. They hit .345 as a team and are led by Kayla Kowalik, who has a pretty incredible .532 batting average. she's pounded 11 home runs and has 54 RBI's. 

Tatum Spangler is another UK power hitter and has made Mr. Spalding disappear 15 time this season. 

In the circle, Autumn Hines is the primary starter and has a 14-5 record. 

The Cards went 1-4 against Duke in their last outing. Louisville is 16-20 overall and was involved in two one-run losses against the Blue Devils in the final two games of the last series. 

With this being a non-conference, mid-week game, it's tough to predict just who will start in the circle for both teams. The Cards have an important ACC series against FSU this weekend, so, we might see one of the Cardinal reserve pitchers get a chance to see what they can do against the Cats. 

This one will be nationally televised on ESPNU and game time is se=t for 7 p.m. It will be a chilly one, with a high of just 46 degrees expected in Lexington for Wednesday and winds at 10-20 mph. 

Best of luck to our Cardinals softball squad tonight !! 

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

paulie   

Highlighting UofL Cheer Championships -- Charlie McAdams -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 UofL Cheer Takes Home Two Titles

As Paulie mentioned roughly a week ago on here, Louisville welcomed home two new titles recently. Louisville cheer took the crown with their All-Girl and Small Co-Ed squads. Due to the demanding schedule combined between fall and spring sports we did not get a true opportunity to highlight their accomplishments.

The Louisville spirit squads are well-known and can often be seen at football games, men's basketball games, women's basketball games, and various community outreach projects.

Louisville Cheer is broken into three groups: All-Girl, Small Co-Ed, and Large Co-Ed. The groups speak for themselves with All-Girl comprised of only women cheerleaders. Small Co-Ed and Large Co-Ed are a mixture of men and women cheerleaders with Large Co-Ed having more members. Each group can compete in a prelims and finals.

There is also the option for the cheerleaders to break into small four-person stunt groups, which is considered its own entity instead of an attachment directly to any of the cheer squads.

Louisville Ladybirds is the name of Louisville's dance team. They are not broken into groups like the cheerleaders. However, they compete in two different categories with Dance Team Performance and Dance Team Hip-Hop.

Earlier this month, all of the Louisville spirit squads traveled to Daytona for the NCA and NDA competitions. Like most years, the accolades came pouring in.

Louisville Large Co-Ed finished third in their division. The Ladybirds took second in both of their divisions. Louisville Cheer had a stunt group finish runner-up. Louisville All-Girl and Louisville Small Co-Ed each took home the title.

For Louisville All-Girl, this is their seventh straight national championship with a score of 95.5458. They beat out Oklahoma State by 1.5 points. They have won a total of 17 NCA Championships dating back to 1998.

Louisville Small Co-Ed saw their first national championship since 2017. After sitting in second after prelims, Small Co-Ed jumped ahead of Arkansas State to win with a score of 95.9709. Arkansas State finished well behind them by a margin of 6.1 points. This is their 11th NCA Championship dating back to 2005.

The routines performed by the groups is vastly different than what is seen at UofL games. At home games, UofL Cheer and Ladybirds are used more for entertainment and focused on energizing the crowd. During competitions, the groups focus on a much more strenuous and demanding routine with more tumbling and stunts.

Unlike most sports, these groups don't have a regular season or have multiple chances to qualify for the championships. What happens in prelims and finals at Daytona is all they get. These groups spend all year preparing for an event that happens over the span of a couple days.

Cardinal Couple had the opportunity to speak with Myah Rice, who recently won a national championship with Louisville All-Girl. Myah described the feeling of winning a title as well as the work they put in to get there.

As a site that prides itself on covering the Joy and Excitement of UofL Women's Sports we are thrilled to see these two UofL squads bring home the hardware to Louisville. Congratulations to both groups!

WITH OUR DEEPEST SYMPATHIES...

You all know our illustrious and Volleyball-loving writer Jeff McAdams here at CARDINAL COUPLE. 

It is with our deepet sympathies and sad regret that we bring you the new that Jeff

s father -- Charlie McAdams-- has passed away. 

Charlie was 77 and a retired school teacher/ administrator  with the Jefferson County School Systems. A military veteran and college graduate from Western Kentucky, Charlie was married to his wife Vivian and had two sons, two grand-children and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, family, friends and former students. 

You can read the obituary at the link below: 

CHARLIE MCADAMS OBITUARY

From all of us at Cardinal Couple, our deepest sympathies on his passing to the family. If you'd like to leave a message for Jeff and the family in our comments section, or in the Dignity Memorial section, I'm sure that they would appreciate it. 

A Thoughtful Tuesday to you and Go Cards!

Jared

Volleyball, Softball and Lacrosse -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 A busy Sunday for UofL women's athletics yesterday, with two programs active on Floyd Street (Softball and Lacrosse) and one in Omaha (Volleyball). 

Unfortunately, not the results we hoped for...as all three squads fell to their opponents. Exciting games, for sure, but Louisville falling short in the results. Let's look at the action. 

VOLLEYBALL FALLS IN FIVE SETS TO WASHINGTON

The VolleyCards looked to be on their way to the "Great Eight" last night against #6 Washington, but an almost unbelievable fifth set between the Huskies and Cards resulted in Washington advancing. They took the fifth set 15-13, after trailing Louisville 7-1 and 10-4 in the deciding set. 

In that final set, the Cards came out on fire, after falling 25-14 in the fourth set. Louisville is the #1 blocking team in the nation and blocks provided six of the first seven points in set five for the Cards, who held the 7-1 lead. 

Enter Maria Bogomolova for the Dawgs, .with Louisville up 11-4

She ran off seven straight serves against the Cards and the Huskies were suddenly, amazingly back in the contest with a 12-11 lead. She finally had a service error to knot the set at 12-12 and Louisville took their final lead at 13-12 on a Claire Chaussee kill...but Washington ran off the final three points of the match  to take game and match 15-13. 

Cardinal head coach Dani Busboom Kelly on the loss: 

"It was a disappointing way to end a season. To blow a great lead is one of the worst ways to go down at the end of the year, in my opinion. I don't know if it has sunk in yet, that we lost the game, because we were in it. It felt like we had all the momentum and that we were going to win it. ...Hopefully, it is a learning experience for the players who are going to be back next year. It comes down to little things like fundamentals. Washington is a team that is really good at those. We knew that going in, We just didn't execute at the end of the game." 

The evening started a bit late, because of the five-set thriller between Pitt and Minnesota -- which Pitt won, in upset fashion.

The first set between Louisville and Washington went to the Huskies 25-23. It was a set where UW led most of the way, with just two lead changes. The Cards drew within one point at 23-22, off a Anna Stevenson block, but the Huskies took two of the final three points for the "W". 

Louisville roared back in set two. The Cards used a 6-0 run to jump out to a 13-8 lead and increased that to 17-12. Washington battled back, forcing a Louisville timeout with the score 21-17 in the Cards favor. The teams split the final eight points of the set and UofL had tied the match at 1-1 with the 25-21 win. 

Louisville started set three strong again, jumping out to a 7-2 advantage, and survived a Washington run that tied the contest at 9-9. After that, though, Louisville gradually started to pull away, they held a 24-19 lead before taking the third seet 25-21. It seemed momentum was fully in the Cards favor after the first three sets and the Cards quickness was getting the best of the taller Washington front line. 

Set four saw a reversal of fortunes. The Cards offense struggled and disappeared and UW was the aggressor, taking a 13-5 early lead. Louisville never could get in sync and the Dawgs increased the lead, getting an impressive 25-14 set victory. 

So, a nine-month season ends. A split season that saw several matches cancelled and delayed because of COVID pauses. Still, the Cards went 15-3, were the ACC Champs and lose just one starter, in Alexis Hamilton and one reserve in Piper Roe to graduation. A lot to look foreward to in the fall for this Louisville squad. 

Maybe freshman Anna deBeer sums it up best: 

"In the fall, (tonight's match) is going to make me work harder and really not take a play off. In that final set, we were up 7-1....we know we had it right in our hands and we just didn't execute So, I really think we need to have a mentality that we are going to win the game we are in and finish every single point until the end...and we have a better outcome." 

Losing to a higher-ranked team is no disgrace, obviously. It's just the way that it happened that needs to serve as motivation for the 2021-22 squad. 

SOFTBALL DROPS ONE TO DUKE IN EXTRA INNINGS. 

The Softball Cards got four runs in two swings of the bats yesterday in their 5-4 loss to the Blue Devils. A two run homer by Taylor Roby in the bottom of the fourth inning pulled Louisville within two runs at 4-2 and then a two-run blast from Rebecca Chung in the bottom of the seventh sent the game to extra innings at 4-4. 

Unfortunately, Duke got a two-out single in the top of the eighth to take a 5-4 lead 

Louisville tried to even the score and win it in the eighth. Carmyn Greenwood singled with one out and Taylor Roby was walked by Duke pitcher Peyton St. George . The tying run was 180 feet away, but, St. George showed why she is one of the best pitchers in the ACC, getting the next two Cardinal batters out.  A called third strike to Cards' Charley Butler (the pitch was not a strike!) ended the Cards rally chance and Duke took the 5-4 win. 

Louisville goes to 16-20 on the season and 10-15 in the ACC. The stand in eight place in the ACC -- the top 10 teams make the ACC Tournament (that will be held in Louisville) but the next opponent that will visit Ulmer Stadium is Florida State next weekend and the Noles are 29-6 (17-2 ACC) and pounded a total of seven home runs yesterday in a double-header sweep at Syracuse yesterday. 

Taylor Roby started the game in the circle for Louisville, but the Blue Devils touched her for four runs in three innings. Gabby Holloway relieved Roby and held Duke scoreless until the fateful eighth inning. 

LAX LOSES ON SENIOR DAY TO SYRACUSE

ACC Lacrosse is a gauntlet that few would choose to run through, with five squads in the top six of the national rankings. It is the conference Louisville is a part of, though. The Orange squeezed out a work-man-like 19-7 win over Louisville in the Cards final home match of the season.

 #3 Syracuse was the Cards opponent Sunday and jumped on Louisville early, with three goals in the first eight minutes. It was  A Hannah Morris goal got Louisville on the board 11 minutes into the action, but it only served to fire Syracuse up to score seven straight times and build a 10-1 lead with ten minutes left in the first half. 

Syracuse went the mass substitution route to end the half...Scott Teeter also went deep into his reserves and the half ended with an encouraging 4-1 Louisville run. The Cards got scores from Kokoro Nakazawa, Ally Hall and two from freshman Kylea Dobson...to make it a somewhat more respectable 11-5 Syracuse lead at the intermission.  

Syracuse went back to the starters to start the second half and they increased the Orange lead to 14-5 before senior Caroline Blalock connected for the Cards first  score of the second half. 

The 'Cuse increased their lead to 19-6, as Teeter and Syracuse head coach Gary Gait went deep into the reserves again. Senior goalkeeper Jen Schaaf relieve Rachel Florek and picked up a career high six saves in her final appearance this season in the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. 

In a pre-game ceremony, student manager Trent Porter and former student-athlete Allie Arcidiacono were recognized along with seniors Maddie Birch, Alex McNicholas, Shayla Scanlan, Jen Schaaf, Ally Hall, Rachel Florek, Sarah Blalock and Caroline Blalock for Senior Day.

I caught up with Scott Teeter for a post-game recap and you can hear that below: 

Post game Teeter 4/18/21

(THANKS TO JARED ANDERSON FOR THE SOFTBALL AND LACROSSE PHOTOS!) 

Have a meaningful Monday...

paulie

Sunday Cardinal Couple

 It was another busy Saturday on Floyd Street and elsewhere for the Cardinals.  Let's dig in.

Softball

The Softball struggles continue.  A double-header with Duke didn't turn out in Cards favor.  Louisville dropped the first game 1-9, and the second game 4-5.

We've talked much of the season about stringing hits together, and that's what Duke did in the 3rd inning of the 1st game.  The biggest offensive play in the inning was a double, with the rest of the base advancement coming from singles, walks, steals, and errors and managed to score five in the inning.

Maddy Newman

Louisville would get their one run back in the bottom of the 3rd.  Maddy Newman doubled, advanced to 3rd on a Sydney Bickel sacrifice, then scored on Carmyn Greenwood's single.

After Duke's five in the 3rd inning, they added on another pair in the 4th, as well as in the 5th, reaching their score of nine, and crucially eight or more than the Cards had, triggering the run-rule at the end of the 5th inning after the Cards couldn't score to keep it going.

Sydney Bickel

In the second game, Duke got all of their scoring in, and then let UofL try to answer.  Duke got it going early in the 1st inning with 3 runs, then tacked on another pair in the 4th.

In the home half of the 4th, Makayla Hurst reached on an error, Jenna Servi came in to pinch run, advanced on a sacrifice, then stole 3rd.  Maddy Newman brought her home with a single.  Gabby Holloway then got her first career homerun to score Newman as well.

The Cards would tag on another in the 7th when Sydney Bickel tripled and came home on Carmyn Greenwood's single.

Gabby Holloway finishing her home run jog
around the bases.

The Cards were hoping to get some good play and momentum going this weekend, but are struggling to get consistent offense going.  Case mentioned during the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast yesterday that the Cards have only won three games this season without hitting a homerun.  While the long balls are great fun, a team really needs to get consistent offense in other ways to be really successful.

The Cards will finish the series against Duke at noon today, available on ACC Network Extra.

Field Hockey Senior Day

Field Hockey celebrated Senior Day with a 4-1 win over Wake Forest.  Maybe the biggest news was that Mercedes "Meche" Pastor did not participate in the festivities, suggesting perhaps she'll be taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility from Covid-19 to return next year?  We'll see and certainly be excited if she does.

It was a quiet first half, with only Wake Forest scoring in the second quarter.  Louisville wouldn't get their offense going until the second half.

The Cards did get on the board late in the third quarter, though.  Meche would sneak a shot in from a penalty corner with less than eight minutes left.

Then the fourth quarter happened.  Emilia Kaczmarczyk got the assist past three Wake defenders to Aimee Plumb for the score in the opening minutes.

With just over 10 minutes left, the Cards would get another penalty corner.  Plumb would have the insertion to Charlie van Oirschot who set up Julie Kouijzer for the goal.

The last score came with under four minutes on the clock.  Plumb fed Katie Schneider for the goal.

There is an ACC Championship Game set for next Saturday the 24th, but UofL will not be a part of that.  The ACC did hold their tournament in the fall, which makes this whole thing a bit odd ball.  In any case, UofL will await news of whether they get one of the very scarce at-large bids to the NCAA tournament this year.

Today's Events

In addition to Softball finishing their series against Duke, Lacrosse will be playing the 2nd game of the weekend against Syracuse at noon on ACC Network Extra.

Volleyball matches up against Washington at 3:30pm (2:30 for me out here in Omaha).  Washington is the 6th seed in the tournament, UofL is the 11th.  The Huskies took a full five set match, plus an extra point or two in one of the sets to get past an, I believe, under-rated Dayton team.  A win today would match up the Cards with either 3rd seed Minnesota, or unseeded Pitt.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Basketball, Volleyball, Lacrosse, Field Hockey, Softball, and more in the discussion yesterday during the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast.  You can check out the Youtube stream below, I was streaming it from the hotel in Omaha, which explains some of the audio challenges at the beginning.  It gets sorted out about six minutes in.  Or you can check out the podcast version at your favorite location for podcasts, it didn't


have suffered from the same audio glitch.

Spring Teams Split Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Struggles Against Syracuse

For 25 minutes against the top-five Syracuse Orange, Louisville lacrosse kept things close. After that, though, it appeared a bit as if the Cards forgot there were 35 minutes of game left. Ultimately, Louisville did not score for those final 35 minutes, while Syracuse scored a quite a few more times. At the end of the day, a close game turned into a 19-5 blowout. The Cards will get another chance at the Orange on Sunday, so here's hoping for a reversal of the double-header results from the weekend against Boston College.

The game, as I mentioned, did have its positives, as the first segment was fairly close. Syracuse jumped on Louisville's defense early, as the first goal came from Megan Carney just after the two-minute mark. Louisville managed to score just a minute later, with Caroline Blalock's first goal of the day. Meaghan Tyrell would be the next on the board, as she scored her 39th and 40th goals of the season to give Syracuse a 3-1 lead. Louisville was not deterred yet, though, as Caroline Blalock scored again to pull the Cards back within one. It was Blalock's 100th career goal, but it would be the last she would score on the day. 

Syracuse went on a mini 3-1 run over the next five minutes in a strange circumstance that saw all four goals scored by Me(a)g(h)ans. Carney and Tyrell scored for the Orange while Megan Dunn scored her first goal of the season for Louisville. Trailing 6-3, Louisville again showed life by getting a pair of quick goals from Nicole Perroni and Ally Hall. If you're scoring at home, you would know those goals put it at 6-5 with 6:39 remaining in the first half. Given what I mentioned to be the final score, you can probably guess how things went from there. 

Syracuse turned it on from there, with both offense and defense getting on board. The Orange scored four over the final four minutes of the first half and outscored the Cards 9-0 in the second half. Tyrell and Carney both finished with seven goals apiece, leaving just five to be spread between the rest of the team. Rachel Florek finished with seven saves for the Cards, indicating things could have gotten even worse. 

Paulie got with Coach Teeter after the game to discuss Louisville's performance and the look ahead at the next opportunity against the Orange. The two teams will take the field at Louisville Lacrosse Stadium on Sunday at noon on the ACCNX.

Check out Teeter's postgame comments here: Teeter on Syracuse 4.16.21

Softball Takes Game One Against Duke

Taylor Roby threw a gem and got just enough help from the offense as Louisville knocked off the 21st ranked Duke Blue Devils in game one of the four game weekend set. With still three games left in the series, there is plenty of work to do, but after the disappointing end to Louisville's series last weekend, the Cards are happy to get wins wherever they can. The win pulled the Cards to just one game under .500 and they'll need every win they can to improve their standing for a potential postseason run.

Duke opened the game with a fly out but followed it with a one-out single. Kavel stole second to stand in scoring position with one out, but she would move no farther. Roby got the next batter to strike out looking and the third out came on a ground out to first base. In the bottom half, Louisville wasted no time giving Roby some run support. Carmyn Greenwood was first pitch swinging but grounded out to second base. Celene Funke showed a bit more patience and fired the third pitch she saw to straightaway center. It escaped the center fielder, and Funke put on the jets for a one-out triple. That brought Roby to the plate, and Duke chose to pitch to her. That turned out to be a mistake, as Roby shot the first pitch to short where it was mishandled. Roby reached on the error while Funke reached home easily. Duke would escape the first with no more damage, but the Cards led 1-0.

From there, Taylor Roby went to work. Including the first inning, she scattered four hits over seven innings. All four hits were singles, and none came in the same inning. She also gave up no other baserunners, walking and hitting none while Louisville played clean defense to commit no errors. Roby would also strike out five on her way to the complete game victory. She did it all on just 85 pitches. 

Louisville gave her a bit of insurance, which she ultimately wouldn't need, in the bottom of the fourth. Rebecca Chung and Cassady Greenwood opened the inning with a pair of strikeouts, but Louisville went to work with two outs. Charley Butler got started with a two-out triple. Maddy Newman stepped up and hit a ball on the ground but it was right to the third baseman. Butler was held at third, but on the play, Newman was able to reach first. The extra batter was all Louisville needed as Sydney Bickel singled to bring Butler home. Louisville led 2-0.

The two teams would score no more runs, with Duke getting two more singles and Louisville getting no more baserunners. As mentioned before, though, Roby was a stud and the two runs were all Louisville needed. The two teams will get back underway today with the first game at noon on ACCNX. Today's action will be a double header, so the Cards will have a pair of opportunities before wrapping up the series tomorrow. Jared was able to get with Coach Aprile after the win, and you can listen to her comments here: Aprile on Duke 4.16.21.

THANKS TO JARED FOR TODAY'S LAX AND SOFTBALL PHOTOS !! 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're back this week with plenty to talk about. We had an NCAA tournament win for volleyball and plenty of softball games, in addition to the WNBA Draft and lacrosse and field hockey. As always we'll do our best to bring you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel at 11AM for the live show, or check out the podcast or replay after the show. Be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel for more content as well, and subscribe to and rate the podcast to get the word out about Cardinal Couple.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Volleyball to Sweet 16 -- Dana Evans to Dallas -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Good morning!

Sometimes it feels like yesterday since I've checked in with you all, other times it feels like ages.  This time it feels like forever since I've checked in.  It could be that the softball Cards have been on the road for a while or had a game postponed.  Could be that I have started back at the Louisville Bats with button pushing duties.  I know I haven't been on radio for a while too and it could totally be why as well.  I am going to try my best to hop on from the studio Saturday morning.  

Into the news and notes and joys of Louisville women's athletics... 


Volleyball CARDS beat San Diego 3-1

The Cardinals opened the NCAA tournament Thursday afternoon against the San Diego Toreros in Omaha, NE.  After a very slow start for UofL and losing the first set 25-14, the Cards stormed back to win the following three sets and advance to the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season. Coach Dani Busboom Kelly referenced the bubble being a reason the team came out flat-footed.  UofL hit a frigid -.077 and had scored the first six points for the Toreros on hitting errors.

"For sure we had some nerves in the first set. I think one of the things about being in the bubble is it is tough," said Busboom Kelly. "We had 30 minutes to practice on that court at 7 a.m. yesterday and that is the only 30 minutes we got. At 7 a.m. in general you wouldn't get much out of it and when you are in a whole new arena on a new court with weird backdrop, it is just a lot of different things going on that are out of the norm. I wasn't surprised we started out slowly but it went poorly in a hurry. I didn't think necessarily that we would be bad for the whole set but I knew we couldn't play much worse than that after game one. That is kind of to be expected. San Diego got to play before. (they played Wednesday to beat Texas A&M-Corpus Cristi 3-0) While it is great to be seeded and get a bye and it is an advantage in some ways but I think it was a disadvantage as a set up because you didn't get the experience in the environment because it is so unique."

Overall, UofL hit .227 with 15 blocks and five aces, surviving 12 service errors. ACC and AVCA East Region Freshman of the Year Anna DeBeer had 11 kills and five blocks. Amaya Tillman rejected USD nine times, adding four kills. Tori Dilfer ran the offense with 41 assists and an ace, helping out with four blocks. Chaussee filled up the stat box notching a career-high in kills as she threw down 21, adding two aces and a team-high 10 digs.

In the second set, San Diego maintained momentum early, using a 6-0 run to go up 14-10 early. Busboom Kelly inserted Chausee into the lineup and she responded with seven kills, hitting .875 and scored five of the final 10 points of the set. UofL did not regain the lead until 22-21 on a miss by Fayad. A kill by Chaussee gave the Cards set point at 24-23 and a ball-handling error charged to the Toreros gave the Cards the 25-23 win and evened the set score going into the break.

In the third set, a deflated San Diego squad let the Cardinals jump out to an 8-5 lead early but tied at ten on a UofL miscue. UofL responded immediately with a 5-0 run to go up 15-10 at the media timeout. The Cards commanded the lead down the stretch to a 25-17 win. Chaussee paced the Cards with five kills and two aces in the set. 

The fourth set was a thriller. Louisville went through eight ties and four lead changes and we got bonus Volleyball, before Louisville got a block by Amaya Tillman and Aiko Jones to win set and match 29-27.  

The Cards advance to play the Washington Huskies on Sunday.  Time is TBD.  The Huskies are 18-3 after beating Dayton Thursday afternoon 3-2.

Cardinal Couple writer Jeff McAdams is in Tulsa and we hope he'll chime in via the comments section with his observations on the win. He will join us for a recap on the Saturday Cardinal Couole Radio Hour Podcast. 

Dana Evans on WNBA Draft night

Dana Evans heard her name called Thursday night by the Dallas Wings. She was the first pick in the second round -- 13th overall in the WNBA draft.. Dana fell in the selection process from what many expected, going in the second round, on draft night, but she kept her head held high.. going 13th overall, Dallas had 3 of the first 5 picks. 

Evans is the 14th Louisville player selected in the history of the WNBA Draft. Of the 14 WNBA Draft picks, 12 have played under head coach Jeff Walz.

"It's a blessing, I'm just really excited to finally hear my name," said Evans to Holly Rowe during ESPN's coverage of the WNBA Draft. "But, I'll use it as motivation because I didn't expect to be this far (down...in the draft). I'm ready to take on whatever I have to do and I'm excited."

It marks the third straight season that Louisville has had at least one player selected in the WNBA Draft.

Last season, Jazmine Jones and Kylee Shook went 12th and 13th overall to the New York Liberty. In 2019, three Cardinals were selected as Asia Durr went second overall to the New York Liberty, Arica Carter went 32nd to the Phoenix Mercury and Sam Fuehring went 34th to the Washington Mystics.

It was a shock to us all here at CC to see Dana on the board so long.  But we wish her nothing but the best as she embarks on the next step in her basketball journey.   I know Louisville fans will continue to follow the career of Dana Evans.   A heads up... The Dallas Wings visit the Indiana Fever on June 24th.  Mark your calendars. 

Louisville Softball opens series with #21 Duke

Friday at 7 p.m.  

Saturday (DH) at 12 p.m.

Sunday at 12 p.m.

Watch on ACCNX

The Cards are back at Ulmer for a four game series with the Blue Devils (27-9, 15-9 ACC).   Its the first trip to Louisville for Duke.  Friday's game will be the first of 9 games against top 25 ranked foes. 

Louisville leads the all time series 2-1.  This weekend's series will be the first meeting between the two programs since 2018 when Louisville claimed the series, 2-1. Duke picked up a 1-0 victory in game three to avoid the sweep. Duke is currently on a 3-game losing streak as well as a cancellation falling to league leader and #9 Florida State last weekend.

UofL is led by junior Camryn Greenwood with a .447 clip (2nd in ACC) on an ACC-leading 46 hits and a team-high eight stolen bases. Taylor Roby holds the team’s second highest batting average at .409 and leads the pitching staff with eight victories. At the plate, she’s registered 36 hits, including a team-high 11 home runs, and racked up 32 RBIs. In the circle, she’s put together a 2.79 ERA through 95.1 innings in 24 appearances. 

The Blue Devils are led by Deja Davis who averages a .400 batting percentage and tallies 23 runs, 42 hits, five homeruns, 21 RBIs and is 8-11 with stolen bases. Kristina Foreman adds 28 runs, 24 hits, five homeruns, 22 RBIs and is 10-for-11 in stolen bases.The Blue Devils lead the league with 56 doubles, Duke ranks ninth nationally and 40th with 1.56 doubles per game. 

In the circle, Peyton St. George posts a 2.01 ERA for the Blue Devils with four shutouts, 119 strikeouts and 11 win on the season. Shelby Walters carries a 1.08 ERA with two shutouts, 47 strikeouts and 11 wins.

 DID YOU KNOW? 

Fun fact: Blue Devils' Josh Bloomer joined the Duke softball staff as an assistant coach in July 2019. Bloomer comes to Durham from Louisville, Ky., where he served as the head coach at Louisville Male High School for seven seasons.  Bloomer joined after a successful campaign at Louisville Male High School, guiding his squad to NFCA and Kentucky state titles this past spring. 

His 2019 team put together a 39-0 ledger for only the second unbeaten season in program history and became the first team from the state of Kentucky to finish first in the country.  

As a Louisville Male HS Softball Alum ('09 & Pre-Bloomer) I am very excited to welcome Coach Bloomer back to town.  He has been spotted at Ulmer before supporting local players/teams and I had the opportunity to have him on my previous radio show.  He is a very talented coach! 

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

It's a very busy weekend, #15 Louisville Lacrosse is also in action, bringing in Syracuse for two games, the first today at 3:00 p.m. at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium.  ACC Network Extra will have this match for you if you can't make it out. 

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Have a great start to your weekend Louisville fans! I made the trip over to Cardinal Stadium this week to get the first vaccine and you should too! Lets get back to big GAMEDAYS! Be sure to catch us on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast Saturday Morning at 11 a.m. ! 

Go Cards! 

~Daryl 

Vball Faces San Diego -- WNBA Draft -- HVL -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Volleyball Faces San Diego in NCAA Tournament

11th-seed Louisville gears up to face #21 ranked San Diego tonight in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cards earned a first round bye after being named one of the top 16 teams so a win will guarantee their sixth Sweet 16 appearance in program history.

The Toreros swept A&M-Corpus Christi 25-13, 25-15, 25-18 yesterday. It was San Diego's 13th win of the year after they went 12-4 in the regular season, all matches being played within the West Coast Conference.

San Diego went 1-3 against ranked opponents this year with the lone win coming against Pepperdine on Senior Day. It was enough to earn them an 11th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Averaging 13.1 kills per set, 12.2 assists per set, and a .268 kill percentage, San Diego ranked near the top in nearly every offensive category in the WCC. With 10 players at 6'0 or taller, the Toreros had a strong showing with 2.3 blocks per set.

First serve is set for noon ET, which would be 11:00 local time in Omaha. UofL did provide a link to watch this game live. Our very own Worldwide will be in attendance cheering on the Cards so look for him and his hair. We're sure to hear from him during our Cardinal Couple Radio Hour.

Link to watch UofL Volleyball: https://uofl.me/3wTeV3S

WNBA Draft

Tonight's primetime show on tv is the WNBA Draft. This year's draft, which will be held virtually, will air at 7:00 p.m., and will be shown on ESPN.

Dana Evans is one of the top prospects in the draft and some expertsbelieve she will be taken sixth overall to the New York Liberty, joining Asia Durr, Jazmine Jones, and Kylee Shook. Evans is without a doubt one of the best players in Louisville history. There is some speculation she might be headed to Chicago, as well, which would put her closer to her hometown of Gary, IN. 

Charli Collier from Texas is the heavy favorite to go first to the Dallas Wings. After that, there is debate on how the next few picks will go.

Van Lith Invited to 2021 USA Women's AmeriCup Team Trials

Rising sophomore Hailey Van Lith was invited to the 2021 USA Women's AmeriCup Team Trials. The event will be held at the University of South Carolina from April 18-21. Dawn Staley will be the head coach for the team.

Van Lith is joined by 19 other notable women's basketball players listed below:

-Grace Berger (Indiana University, Sacred Heart Academy of Louisville)

-Aaliyah Boston (South Carolina)

-Jakia Brown-Turner (NC State)

-Rae Burrell (Tennessee)

-Veronica Burton (Northwestern)

-Zia Cooke (South Carolina)

-Elissa Cunane (NC State)

-Destanni Henderson (South Carolina)

-Naz Hillmon (Michigan)

-Rhyne Howard (Kentucky)

-Ashley Joens (Iowa State)

-Haley Jones (Stanford)

-Elizabeth Kitley (Virginia Tech)

-Diamond Miller (Maryland)

-Ashley Owusu (Maryland)

-Khayla Pointer (LSU)

-Sedona Prince (Oregon)

-NaLyssa Smith (Baylor)

-Jenna Staiti (Georgia)

We send best wishes to Hailey and hope that she makes the final cut. 

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared