At 2-2, Louisville WBB has faced some early challenges -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 2-2 WBB Record...Is it what your expected so far? 

Each year, as women's basketball begins it's season, we look forward with anticpation to the tough squads that Jeff Walz rolls out to meet the ACC and the non-conference foes. Eatly in the 2024-25 season., Walz and company find themselves in a bit of a strange situation, a freshmen is leading the way for the #25 ranked Cards. 

Tajianna Roberts leads the Cards in scoring, minutes played ,made field goals, made threes and is the only Cardinals player in double figures. Roberts, who graduated from the basketball factory, the IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL. came to Louisville after considering Kentucky, Duke, California and Virginia Tech. 

Her high school accomplishments are noteworthy. She ws a 2024 Naismith Trophy Honorable Mention award winner. She played in the Jordan Brand Classic with fellow freshmen Mackenly Randolph and Izela Arenas. She was ranked 24th out of the top 25 2024 high school players in th ESPNW rankings. Also in the top 25 were Cardinals freshmen Imani Berry (19th) and Randolph (23rd) Berry sank four crucial three pointers in regulation in the Cards loss to Kentucky that basically kept them in the game in regulation in the overtime loss. 

So where are the returning supposed strengths of the Cards in comparison?  As far as Nyla Harris, Olivia Cochran and Merissah Russell go, they are a step behin the freshmen. Cochran averaes 9.8 poins a game, Harris 9.0 a game and Russell 6.0 points a game. Granted, Cochran has run into some pretty strong opposing centers in Lauren Betts and Clara Strack...and both are taller than Cochran. Harris has seen just 23 minutes a game and Russell 18. We can understand trying to get your freshmen as ready as soon as possible, but we'd also oke to the the supposed returnin strong poins shining early as well. UK and UCLA were tough early non-conference foes. UCLA is now #5. Kentucky #15.

 

This is a strong freshman class Walz has and if they can stay together four years they could be a national powerhouse. The problem is, tright now...hey are freshmen...and still getting used to DI NCAA women's basketball. They are going to make freshmen mistakes and have freshmen "moments".  But, they are playing a ton of minutes early, and that can only help as the season continues.  

Consider when Harris ( a junior) and Cochran and Russell (5th yr. players) are gone, the Cards will have only two players from this year's squad left on the roster besides the eight freshmen...Elif istanbulloglu and Eseosa Imafidon. Istanbulloglu had strong minutes against UK and has shown she can handle the power forward or center spot well for Walz. We just haven't seen enough of Imafidon yet to tell just how she will fit into the scheme of things. 

The Cards will face in state foe Morehead State next...on Thursday night in the KFC YUM! Center. it will hopefully be a game where Walz can continue to get all his freshmen court time..the Eagles are 1-3 and have suffered double digit losses to New Mexico, UTEP and Lipscomb in their last three. 

It is early in the season, so there is plenty of time for this Cards squad to grow and get better. They'll need to...right now there are five ACC squad in the top 25 and just seven non-donference games remain until ACC play gets underway. Out of the seven non-conference foes remaining, two schools are currently in the top 25...UConn at #2 and Oklahoma at #9. 

Buckle in and hold on Cardinals fans, it's going to be a potentially wild ride ahead. 

paulie

VolleyCards Remain #3 -- Cabello Named ACC Freshman of the Week -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Stays Put at #3 in AVCA Rankings

To no surprise, Louisville volleyball retained their #3 ranking in the latest AVCA poll, sitting behind Pitt and Nebraska. The Cards easily swept Duke and North Carolina at home over the weekend, the latter of whom has lost four of their last five matches as they have reached the tougher part of the ACC slate.

Louisville has improved their record to 23-3 on the season and 15-1 in conference play. The only loss for the Cards in the ACC came on the road against Pitt in five sets. The Cards have had six straight sweeps and 12 overall since the ACC portion of the schedule began.

Pitt swept Florida State and Miami to improve to 25-1 and 15-1. The Panthers have won 10 straight since falling to SMU. 

Nebraska is 26-1 on the year and 16-0 in Big 10 play following victories against Indiana and Minnesota. The Huskers were swept by SMU over Labor Day Weekend and have surrendered just seven sets since then.

A rare black & white photo from Jared

Behind Louisville sits a Penn State team who defeated the Cards early in the season. The rest of the top 10 remained unchanged too- Creighton, Wisconsin, Stanford, Purdue, Arizona State, and SMU. Other Louisville opponents in the rankings include #12 Kentucky, #15 Georgia Tech, and #23 Florida State. North Carolina and Miami both received votes in the latest AVCA poll.

Next on the schedule is a trip to the Commonwealth of Virginia with matches against Virginia and Virginia Tech. They will follow that with a home match against Pitt Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving and a trip to Stanford on Black Friday.

Cabello Named ACC Freshman of the Week

For the fifth time this season, Nayelis Cabello was named ACC Freshman of the Week for Louisville volleyball. The freshman setter tallied 33 assists, eight digs, one ace, and one block over the weekend.

Cabello has placed herself as one of the frontrunners for ACC Freshman of the Year. Her case for ACC Setter of the Year is not as strong as Cabello has split time in that role with Elle Glock. Louisville has run a 6-2 offense this season, which affords a team to work with two setters in a rotation.

Women's Basketball Road Trip Thoughts

While we are now three days removed from Louisville women's basketball's trip down I-64 to Lexington, I haven't said much regarding the trip. Instead of digging into the game any more than we already have, I'll spend some time recapping our trip instead.

I met up with Paulie and Sonyain mid-afternoon to make the trip to Wildcat Country. Lexington traffic was heavier than normal due to their football team and women's basketball team both playing at home. While we normally park in the lot adjacent to Memorial Coliseum in past trips, we were declined a spot to park... despite being media and having a handicapped parking pass. 

Paulie, Sonya, and I ventured down the road to the true media parking lot, roughly 2.5 blocks from the arena. We were told that there was no transportation to the arena from the lot so I turned around and dropped our Cardinal Couple "OG's" off at the front door before driving back to the media lot.

Upon meeting back up with Paulie and Sonya, we were informed that the media entrance was in a different spot due to construction and had to walk to the far side of the arena. Once we checked in, we were informed that the elevator for us to use was then at the opposite side of the arena from us, which would take us down to the floor. We get down to the floor and... the media room is the far side of the court.

By now, we've certainly gotten our steps in. Poor Paulie and Sonya, though. While the KFC Yum! Center offers plenty of floor media seating, all media seating at Memorial Coliseum was up a flight of stairs. Talk about a workout with all of the walking back-and-forth and up-and-down. Paulie wryly commented that he hadn't done as much walking since there had been a Carter in the White House. A special "thank you" to UK WBB SID  Cami Moore Williams, who assigned a student to show Paulie and Sonya how to get from the media break room to their seats. in the confusing labyrinth that is the new Memorial Coliseum  All this, after a huge renovatuon...it was much easier to get from the media room to sideline press seats in the old facility. UK has basically snubbed their nose at the independent media who provide them coverage.  

I was a bit more fortunate as I was on the floor in the end zone with the rest of the Louisville photographers. It was nice to have some friendly faces around me. I still felt the effect of being on the road as the Kentucky fans sitting courtside behind us didn't understand that you wave pom-poms in the air and not in a spot that hits photographers in the back of the head. They also really didn't like the way Dee Kanter and her crew officiated the game. While the stripes may not have heard their yelling, my ringing ears caught every word and spit.

Oy vey. The things we do as media to cover the school we love... Rain or shine, red or blue, we will continue to cover our beloved Cardinals.

POST GAME

On a side note, don't try to bait an opposing team's coach into commenting on the officiating. Props to Jeff Walz on handling that situation with aplomb and deference concerning the reporter who tried to bait him over the weekend. Walz saw Cards' free throws woes as the deciding factor in the game, the Cards were 9-15 (60%), UK was 13-18 (72%). As Donovan Clingan's mom Stacy told hom years ago.."Make your free throws, win games.."  It's the easiest shot you'll get on the court....next to a uncontsted layup.  

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Louisville volleyball sweeps visiting UNC on Senior Day -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS GO TO 23-3 WITH 25-10, 25-18, 25-13 SWEEP OF UNC. 

The #3 Louisville VolleyCards were in command all day Sunday on Senior Day in the LNFCU and rolled to a three game sweep over visiting UNC. One of the five seniors, Anna DeBeer, led Louisville with 14 kills.  

(Our photographer Jared Anderson gets his photo taken with Kong.) 

Seniors Sofia Maldonado Diaz and Charitie Luper had eight and seven kills respectively. The other Cards seniors are PK Kong and Elena Scott. 

SET ONE 

The Cards tallied the first three points of the match and rolled out to a 10-3 run behind the strong play of Luper, Kong and DeBeer.  The Cards had 12 kills in the first set, with just three errors and UNC had six kills and 10 errors. 

The Cards pushed the lead to 15-6 on a DeBeer kill and led 24-10 before a UNC attacking error gave the Cards the 15 point win. 

SET TWO

UNC did show a little fight in the second set and actually led Louisville early on at 7.3. The Cards fought back behind two DeBeer kills to tie things up at 11.  Another DeBeer kill put the Cards ahead to stay at 13-12. 

A Cara Cresse kill pushed the Cards lead to 19-12. UNC fought back to climb within four at 21-17, but would only score one more time the rest of the way, as a Maldonado-Diaz kill gave Louiville at 25-18 win. 

SET THREE

Things were tight early, with the TarHeels trailing 5-4  and tying things at 10-10.  UNC continuted to battle the VolleyCards and trailed just 12-11 before kills from Luper, DeBeer opened up the Cards lead to 15-11. 

A UNC attack error pushed the Cards edge to 19-12. Kamden Schrand had two service aces and a UNC attack error gave Louisville their final three points for the 25-13 win

Next up, the Cards head to Charlottesville, VA for Friday, Nov 22nd match against UVA. The Cavs are 10-6 in ACC play and 20-7 overall. They are in 7th place in the conferrence standings. 

paulie

The Cats Win One, the Tarheels Will Find Out - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Cards and Cats Battle

I take no pleasure in having the closest score prediction for the UofL vs UK WBB game at Memorial Coliseum on yesterday's Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast.  I picked the Cats winning by ten points, but was just a few points off on the point totals for each squad.  I predicted a 75-65 win for Kentucky, and the final score was 71-61 in overtime for the Cats.  I will defend myself and say that we were offering predictions, not how we wanted the game to go.

Alas, this shot probably didn't go in
for Olivia Cochran

The Cards just aren't a solid put-together team, yet.  By all accounts, including by Coach Walz, they're a fun team, they all get along great, and that's wonderful to hear and it is conducive to development and improvement as the season goes on, always an plan and expectation of Walz, but at this early season stage, they aren't there, yet.

It was some of the youngsters and otherwise newcomers to the squad that really led the way for UofL last night.  The scoring was led by two true freshmen, Imari Berry who scored 14, and Tajianna Roberts who scored 12.

Roberts also had a quartet of rebounds and a pair of steals in her broad contribution.  Ja'leah Williams also had balanced contributions across the stat sheet, accounting for nine points, five rebounds, and six assists.

The more familiar faces, well, they didn't have a great night, though they weren't completely bereft of contributions.  Olivia Cochran had six rebounds, four assists, and a trio of rebounds, but she only got two points in on the stat that ultimately matters the most.  Merissah Russell had seven points, three assists and two rebounds, and Nyla Harris had five points and four rebounds.

So, the returners didn't completely disappear, but they certainly didn't give the output needed to be a good team like Kentucky.  Fortunately, this is very early season and this team does look poised to really take some big steps during the season.  We'll see if that really happens, but I remain hopeful.

Sophomore Elif Istanbulluoglu
continues to develop and improve.

The game was close through most of the periods, the Cats got out to a 10-4 lead in the first before the Cards were able to close the gap, and even take a lead at 11-10, before finishing out the quarter one point behind the Cats 16-15.

The second quarter went the Cards way, 15-11 overall, taking the halftime lead 30-27.  UofL then cancelled out the first quarter lead with a 16-15 win of the third quarter, still carrying a four point lead into the final quarter.

The Cats would answer, however, getting the score back to a tie with under five minutes left, and then trading scores with the Cards coming to a 58-58 tie at the end of regulation.

It was in overtime where the wheels really fell off for the Cards.  Kentucky would score the first four points of the period on free throws, before Harris would get one from the charity stripe.  The teams would trade another pair of free throws, and that would be it for the Cards, reaching their final score of 61.  Kentucky would finally score the first field goal of the overtime period with one minutes left and then the late game fouling started adding up, letting the Cats stretch out the lead, even if it didn't really reflect the overall competitiveness of the game.

As is tradition, we'll take a look at the FRED report, though I'm not enthusiastic about it today.

F - 9-15 from the free throw line calculates to a 60%, and that's a big ol' "NOPE" for the F.

R - The Cats outrebounded the Cards 40-28...that's essentially 12 extra possessions for Kentucky, and that pretty clearly doesn't earn an R.

E - In the hustle stats, Kentucky lead in assists and blocks, but Louisville did have the 5-2 edge in steals.  Two out of three ain't bad for the Cats, but combine that with our most experienced players mostly disappearing in the game, and I just can't bring myself to award a letter here either.

You've got some work to do Coach
Walz, but I suspect you know that.

D - holding Kentucky to 71 isn't terrible on the defensive side of things but it's not spectacular either.  Though getting whistled for 20 fouls to Kentucky's 15 does suggest the effort could've been a bit cleaner.  I'll award a lowercase "d" here.  There's still a lot of development for the Cards in this area, but Coach Walz is the coach to do it.

Overall _-_-_-d...oof, am I the hard grader here?  Or were there nuances and subtleties that I missed?  Full disclosure, I was at a social event at a friend's house, so could only watch a bit intermittently on my phone, so maybe the Cards' effort was better than what I'm giving them credit for, here.

Louisville continues the in-state competition this Thursday, welcoming Morehead State to the KFC Yum! Center.

Volleyball Senior Day

After a dominant performance, maybe even more than the score suggests, against Duke Friday, the Volleysquad continues the battle against blue hues of North Carolina.

UNC is just on the verge of entering the Top 25 rankings, sitting as the highest point getter in the "Receiving Votes" category.

Louisville won't be able to cruise through this one as easily as they did Friday, but they are definitely the favored team.  The Cards are celebrating Senior Day today with festivities after the match honoring Charitie Luper, Sofia Maldonado Diaz, Phekran "PK" Kong, and the pair of hometown heroes, Elena Scott, and Anna DeBeer.

With the Senior Day ceremonies being after the match, hopefully the emotions will remain in check during the match and not affect the quality of play.

The big offensive threat for UNC is Mabrey Shaffmaster, though none of the offensive producers hit with a huge efficiency.  UNC overall tends to get outblocked by their opponents, and with the high quality blocking game that the Cards sport, this could be a fun block party today.

The match is at 1pm in the L&N Arena and this will be the last match of the year for the Cards in the cozy confines.  The Cards hit the road next week, before returning downtown to the KFC Yum! Center for one of the most anticipated matches of the season against Pitt the day before Thanksgiving before finishing out the season in Palo Alto playing Stanford on their home floor.

Streaming is available on ACC Network Extra for today's match.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We almost got a full house, with Case, Jared, Paulie, and myself on the call for the CCRHP yesterday.  We had a good time talking quite a bit about volleyball, including some fun hypotheticals!  And then we talked about the WBB game against Kentucky, including giving our result predictions.

It was a great show, and you can hear it at your favorite podcast directory, or by following the link below:

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/Battle-of-the-Bluegrass-on-Deck-e2r2ucq

-- 

JMcA

Volleyball Sweeps; WBB Set for UK -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

#3 Cards Handle Duke in L&N FCU Arena

At 5-9 in conference and 9-16 overall, I don't think anyone was overly concerned about Duke coming into Louisville last night and sparking an upset. Even with that, though, the level of beatdown that Coach Dani Busboom-Kelly's squad put on the Blue Devils was a bit unexpectedly thorough. The Cards opened with a 25-13 win in the first, allowed slightly more for Duke with a 25-16 second, and then came out of the halftime break to end the match with a 25-10 thumping. If there was any worry that Louisville would be looking ahead to the more interesting matchup against UNC on Sunday, the Cards quashed it immediately. 

I'll spare you the recap of a play-by-play, as there wasn't any drama. Duke led for exactly one point in the match, after they won the first point of the third set. A bit ironic, you could say, that the only time they led came in the set they were beaten most badly. The Blue Devils actually managed to tie that set at 3, as well, before Louisville went on an 18-5 run. In seasons of late, Louisville Volleyball has been the most deserving UofL program of the Boom U nickname. 

In the match, Anna DeBeer led all hitters with 13 kills. She was on fire, hitting .550 for the match. She also added nine digs, which tied Elena Scott for most in the match. While she was one dig short of the double-double, DeBeer's nine kills pushed her over the 1,000 dig milestone. Anna is the fourth Cardinal all-time to eclipse 1,000 career kills and digs. 

As a team, Louisville hit .432, putting up 41 kills with only nine errors. It helped that Duke could only manage three blocks, but Louisville showed their dominance offensively. Charitie Luper finished with eight kills and no errors, while Sofia Maldonado Diaz had six and one. It was a bit of a quiet day for the middles, offensively, as Cara Cresse and Hannah Sherman combined for only nine kills and two errors. They only had sixteen total attempts, though. Defensively, both were stellar, as each had two solo and three assisted blocks. Louisville had ten blocks as a team. 

Louisville will now turn their attention to the Tar Heels of UNC. As expected, their glittering season turned out to be a bit of fool's gold once the schedule toughened up. UNC is no longer tied for the lead in the ACC, having dropped three straight to ranked opponents. In fairness to the Heels, they took GT to five sets in Chapel Hill, but they were swept in Pittsburgh and lost 3-1 in Dallas. UNC defeated Notre Dame 3-1 last night. All that said, Louisville still can't afford to take any opponents lightly. The Cards hold onto a buffer over Stanford, but they're still tied atop the league with Pitt. Tomorrow's match gets underway at 1PM and will stream on ACC Network Extra. 

WBB Battle of the Bluegrass Tonight

In what feels like a pretty early matchup, Louisville and Kentucky will renew their rivalry this evening with a new twist. No longer will the Cards have to worry about the big matchups against UK and Kenny Brooks separately; those now happen at the same time. Tonight's Battle of the Bluegrass will be the first with Kenny Brooks at the helm for the Wildcats, and he has the Cards' familiar foe Georgia Amoore suiting up in blue for good measure. 

This will be an incredibly interesting matchup, as both teams are ranked roughly the same. UK started the season ranked 20th, and dropped two spots to 22nd after a season opening win over USC Upstate 98-43. The Cats responded with a 29-point victory over NKU and beat Wofford 76-42 on Tuesday. Unlike Louisville, who has played three games in three different arenas, UK has not yet left the friendly confines of Memorial Coliseum. With another home game after tonight and then games against Arizona State and Illinois in Nashville, Kentucky does not play a true road game until December 5th against UNC. How's that for friendly scheduling? 

With this being a road game for Louisville, it certainly isn't a bad thing that they've played a neutral site game against a highly ranked opponent and a true road game against a scrappy UT Martin squad. While the Cards weren't necessarily dominant against the Skyhawks, they never appeared threatened, either. Tonight will be different, of course, with a tough opponent and all of what goes into the UofL/UK rivalry. 

While Georgia Amoore is the big name Louisville fans will be worried about, Clara Strack is the big player sure to be on Coach Jeff Walz's whiteboard. Strack is averaging a double-double so far this season, leading the team in both points per game (17.7) and rebounds per game (11.3) with a 27 minute average. Amoore has shot just 34.3% from the field and 17.6% from three so far this season, so I'm sure she'll pick tonight to find her rhythm. On the outside, Louisville will need to cling to Dazia Lawrence, as she is shooting 50% from the floor so far and is 7/12 on the season from deep. 

Tonight's game tips at 6PM and will air on SEC Network +. I believe that availability should be similar to ACC Network Extra, but I know that an ESPN+ subscription will get you the game. Tune in for what should be an exciting matchup in the first of a new era. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We should have four on the line today, with Daryl otherwise occupied. With volleyball in the thick of their season and basketball really getting off the ground, we'll have plenty to discuss. It should be an exciting show, so be sure to tune in. You can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

VolleyCARDS host DUKE -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Cheers to Friday !  My house/plumbing issue is still not resolved.  Its a bigger issue than we can anticipate tackling before the wedding so it's causing some backup issues in the basement near our storage and its just exhausting being an adult!!!   But its also FUN because you can go check out the CHEERS bar in Boston on your Bach party after you watch the series!!! Which you L O V E 

Anyways,  cheers to another weekend closer to the new year.  Basketball is back in the Ville and I got to see my friends Paulie and Jared (and Coach Walz) in person again :D  We shared a nice meal together before CHEERING the Cards to victory with the home crowd.  

The Cats are 3-0 on the season, with substanial wins over USC Upstate,Wofford and Northern Kentucky..all in Lexington at the newly renovated Memorial Coliseum. They are in their first year with head coach Kenny Brooks, who is 520-204, wth previous stops at James Madison and Virginia Tech.

 

Volleyball

Louisville vs Duke 

7:00 p.m. 

ACCNX

Photo: Jared Anderson

The 3rd-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team will return home to L&N Federal Credit Union Arena this weekend to face Duke and RV North Carolina. The Cardinals will face the Blue Devils Friday at 7 p.m.

Louisville finished last weekend 2-0 following sweeps of Syracuse and Boston College on the road. These wins marked the Cards' ninth and 10th conference sweeps of the season. The Blue Devils are coming off a 3-0 loss to #1 Pitt on Nov. 10th and #10 SMU prior. 

Duke is currently 9-16 overall and 5-9 in the ACC. They sit at 13th in the ACC standings.

Breonna Gross, the freshman middle blocker has 127 kills and 54 blocks with a .290 hitting percentage on the season. She was named ACC Freshman of the Week on Sept. 9 and Sept. 30.

The Cardinals are 13-6 all time vs the Blue Devils and 6-4 at home.  UofL swept Duke in the last meeting 11/10/23 and have beat the Blue Devils the last 10 times dating back to 2017.    

As Always,
Go Cards!

~Daryl

Scott Named Player of the Year Semifinalist -- Signing Day -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Elena Scott POTY Semifinalist

Elena Scott was named one of the 14 National Player of the Year semifinalists. Scott is one of the first seven players named with the other seven semifinalists to be announced tomorrow.

The senior libero has moved into the top-10 in career digs and services aces in program history. Her 4.57 digs per set this season is on pace to be a career high. Scott currently has 1,727 career digs to go along with 131 service aces and 84 assists.

The other six semifinalists that have been announced include Jess Mruzik (Penn State, outside hitter), Olivia Babcock (Pitt, opposite side hitter), Rachel Fairbanks (Pitt, setter), Torrey Stafford (Pitt, outside hitter), Melanie Parra (TCU, outside hitter), and Sarah Franklin (Wisconsin, outside hitter).

Louisville is back in action this weekend with home matches against Duke and North Carolina. The UNC match will be treated as Senior Day. The Cards will also play at home against Pitt on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Signing Day

Yesterday was the first of multiple signing days and many Louisville women's teams saw players sign their letter of intent.

Softball

Jayden Gohs, RHP, Goodrich, Michigan

Addy O'Dell, INF/C, Newton, Illinois

Volleyball

Kalyssa Blackshear, middle hitter

Hannah Kenny, setter

Addison Makun, middle bocker

Chloe Meester, outside hitter

Golf

Emree Cameron, Nevada, Missouri (Nevada the city, not the state)

Madison Moman, Palm Beach Springs, Florida

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards WBB flies past Skyhawks 86-64 -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

 NYLA HARRIS WITH 16 TO LEAD CARDS TO WIN 

The Louisville Cardinals WBB squad started sharp and easily rolled to a 22-point win over OVC member UTM Tuesday night in Martin, TN. Several Cards joined Harris, who shot 6 for 8 from the floor,  in double figures. Olivia Cochran put in 14 points, Taj Roberts contributed 13, and Imari Berry ended up with 10 points. 

The Cards were never seriously challenged in the one, except at the very beginning of the contest , when UTM took a 3-2 lead. Louiville rallied, though, to go up 10-5 and closed the quarter on a 12-2 run, for a commanding 25-11 first quarter advantage. 

As good  as that first quarter was, UofL did even better over the next ten minutes. The Cards couldn't miss from the floor and UTM couldn't by a bucket against the Louisville stiff defense. Jeff Walz's squad had a 44-18 lead  over the home squad with 90 second left in the half after a Harris layup and went into the halftime break with a 44-20 lead. UTM shot less tha 20% from the floor in the first half....Louisville was 14 for 30, just under 50%.

UTM did show some signs of life to begin the third quarter,and actually scored mpre points (21) in those ten minutes than they did in the entire first half. Louisville led 50-29 halfway thru the third quarter and pushed their lead to 67-41 with a spectacular three-pointer from Roberts with just three seconds left in the quarter. 

The Cards were substiuting pretty liberally in the final tem minutes, and it showed, as UTM outscored UofL 23-19 in the fourth quarter. The Cards were still up by 29 with 5:15 to play, at 79-50, and eventualy played 13 players in the contest...Anaya Hardy scored the Cards last basket with 1:37 left in the game, and Louisville ended up winning by 22 points. 

The Cards won the point-in the-paint battle 52-18, but did commit 21 turnovers. 

THE FRED REPORT 

(The late Freddy Mercury singing  "Another One Bites The Dust" 

                              

Free Throws -- The Cards couldn't quite get to the 70% we like to see them acheive, going 20-29 for 69% Olivia Cochran went 5-6, and Merissah Russell and Harris were 4-4. NO LETTER. 

Rebounds -- 46 grabs for the Cards, with Imari Berry leading the way. with nine  That easiy outshone the 33 grabbed by UTM.  We'll  award a CAPITAL "R" for cleaning the glass better than the home squad. UTM shooting 29% no doubt helped the Cards maintain a board superiority. 

Effort/Execution -- You gotta like the nineteen assists on 31 made baskets, and the 57.4% shooting % for UofL get a big "thumbs up", too. 19 second chance points is impressive as well, compared to UTM's 11. 21 turnovers though is an eyebrow raiser, especially when UTM had just 13. We'll award a small case "e", considering no Card played more than 22 minutes, and had a lot of combinations out there on an away court, early in the season. 

Defense -- For the first half, Louisville played shut down defense on UTM, allowing a mere 20 points and less than 20% shooting. They then allowed 21 pointw in the third quarter and 23 in the fourth...sure, they were playing a lot of combinations...and no one ever got in serious foul trouble, so it was a tale of two halves. Cp=onsequently, I'll award a small case "d". 

FINAL FRED TALLY:   -_R-e-d

 The Cards head to Lexington next for the annual tussle with UK. I'm anxious to see what the revamped Memorial Coliseum looks like Saturday. Jared, Sonya and I will be there to cover it.

pauiie 

Lots of News for WBB/VB/WSoc -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

There are plenty of happenings going on around Louisville women's athletics and ACC women's sports. Basketball is the big one on everybody's minds, but we also have some volleyball and soccer to hit too.

Cards Travel to UT Martin

The big news today surrounds Louisville women's basketball. The Cards play their first true road game of the season when they visit UT Martin for a 7:00pm ET tip. This will only be streamed on ESPN+, but there is the always-reliable radio option too on 93.9 FM The Ville. Nick Curran and Cortnee Walton are back on the mics for this one...although in Cortnee's new duties as women's basketball director of operations...she's not always a sure bet for being on the broadcast. 

Louisville played #5 UCLA in Paris, France at a neutral site to open the season, a game where the Bruins were able to win down the stretch. The Cards then came home for the first time and cruised past Southern Indiana.

UT Martin is 0-2 to start the year. They fell at home to North Alabama 66-63 before going on the road to lose to Tennessee 90-50. The Skyhawks do have a Kentucky native on the team. Anaya Brown is a graduate of Lafayette High School in Lexington, KY. Brown is second on the team in scoring at 11.0 points per game, only behind Kenley McCarn, who is averaging 14.0 points per game. Kenley's younger sister Kaitlyn also plays for UT Martin.

The Skyhawks have shot well from the floor at .416 and have been fairly effective from three-point range at .306. They've struggled with rebounding and defense, but it's hard to gauge what to expect out of an opponent just two games in.

Taj Roberts Named ACC Rookie of the Week

Sticking with women's basketball, Taj Roberts earned ACC Rookie of the Week accolades in the first ACC awards of the season. She is the first Louisville freshman since the 2020-2021 season to earn the honor. 

Roberts kicked off her collegiate career with 21 points against UCLA, highlighted by four three-pointers. She is the first Louisville freshman since Hailey Van Lith to top 20 points in their debut. Roberts followed up the season opener with 11 points against Southern Indiana.

Volleyball Moves Up

Following a pair of sweeps on the road plus a key loss by Penn State, Louisville volleyball moved up to #3 in the latest AVCA rankings. While the AVCA rankings do not directly reflect the Selection Committee rankings, they are often very similar. The goal is to finish in the top four so the Cards can host the entire tournament at the KFC Yum! Center, provided they continue to win.

Louisville still has six more matches in the regular season. They return home this weekend to host Duke and RV North Carolina. They then hit the road for a weekend against Virginia and Virginia Tech. The final two matches are rematches against #1 Pittsburgh and #7 Stanford.

NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament

The NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament was announced recently. While Louisville did not make it in, which is what we expected, the ACC fared extremely well. The ACC set a conference record with nine teams in the 64-team tournament.

The ACC teams in the tournament are:

1-seed Duke (ACC Regular Season Champion)

1-seed Florida State (ACC Tournament Champion)

2-seed North Carolina

2-seed Wake Forest

3-seed Stanford

4-seed Notre Dame

4-seed Virginia

7-seed Virginia Tech

California

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

VolleyCards ground Eagles in a sweep -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 LOUSVILLE VOLLEYBALL GOES TO 21-3 WITH WIN IN BOSTON

To steal a phrase from the 1965 rockin' classic by the Yardbirds, the train kept a rollin' all night long for Louisville Volleyball Sunday afternoon, getting their fifth win in a row over Boston College 25-21, 25-18 and 25-8. (Here's a link to the hit from the band that had Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton all in it at one time or another): 

"Train Kept A Rollin'"

These Cards didnt have screaming guitars, frantic harmonica or a solid, driving bass/drum rhythm section, but they did have the power of Charitie Luper serves, Anna DeBeer kills and Reese Robins power at the net. Reese supplied the power in Power Gym, ironically.  B.C., playing in tiny Power Gym, just may have inadvertantly reminded Louisville of games at the LNFCU on the UofL campus...a small cozy environment that also hads a lot of red in it. 

Here's the details: 

SET ONE

It was actually BC early in the first set, scoring the first three points and grabbing a 6-2 lead on the visitors from Derby City, but UofL battled back behind Anna DeBeer, Luper and Hannah Sherman to grab a 13-11 lead. The Cards stay pretty much on the three-point lead, going up 23-20 on a block..then kills from DeBeer and Sofia Maldonado closed the door on set one. B.C, had fought the good fight but ended up on the short side of the score. 

SET TWO

Louisville did not make the same mistake of letting BC get up early in set two like they did in set one,...the Cards flew out to a 6-2 lead, with a DeBeer ace and kills from DeBeer, Luper and Robins. Louisville had no interntions of slowing down, and built that lead to 15-8,  but Boston College rallied behind the home crowd and cut the Cardinals lead to 17-15.  When the score reached 21-18, the Cards said "enough of this nonsense" and put on the final four points behind kills from Luper, Maldonado-Diaz, Robins and a service ace from Kamden Schrand, A Luper kill brought the final point in win by seven for the Cards. 

SET 3 

(Dare we say it? Charitie may begin at home, but she does pretty well on the road,too)

The Cards toyed with the Eagles early in the final set..leading just 4-2, but Luper delivered three straight service aces and a couple of kills pushed this set to a 9-3 Louisville lead. The Cards kept rolling, and put together a five-point run to take a commanding 16-5. Boston College had effectively tossed in the towel, and Louisville went on a 9-3 game ending run to close out the set at 25-8 and get the sweep of the match. 

Next up....Louisville brings in Duke for a Friday, 7 p.m. contest. The Blue Devils lost in straight sets Sunday at Pitt and they have not fared so well this season...going 5-9 in ACC play and 9-16 overall. The two will meet in the Cards on campus arena...the LNFCU (Louisville & Nashville Federal Credit Union Arena) Let's hope the train keeps rolling on the home tracks, too.

paulie