Cards WBB reloads on the coaching front too -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 BRADBURY, BERNABEI-MCNAMEE JOIN WALZ STAFF

Joanna Bernabei-McNamee

Jeff Walz has had a multitude of assistant coaches in his 20 years at Louisville. Beginning with Steph Norman and other notables such as Sam Purcell, Adrienne Johnson, Cam Newbauer, Beth Burns and recently adding two former head coaches to join "J.P." and Brittany Morris on staff, Walz seems to always have a smart, basketball savvy and experienced crew joining him on the Cardinals bench and in practice. 

Joanna Bernabei-McNamee was named to the staff a couple days ago. A lot of you will remember her being a head coach at ACC foe Boston College, but her association with Walz goes back way further than that. She and Walz were on Brenda Frese's staff at Maryland when they won the NCAA. 

Jeff Walz recently spoke about the newest assistant...Mike Bradbury:

"Adding Mike Bradbury to our staff is about bringing in a coach with a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of the game. He's been a head coach, he's navigated the challenges of building programs and he understand what it takes to compete at a high level." 

Bradbury has been the head coach at Morehead, Wright State and the past ten years at New Mexico.

One has to wonder if the hires also might be Walz auditioning them for a possible head job replacing him at Louisville when he retires. Walz current contract has him at $1 million dollars a year and runs through March 2029. He's accomplished quite a bit in his time at Louisville...the only glaring thing off his resume is a national championship title. 

Not saying Walz is out the door here after two more seasons, you did not hear that from me. One of his mentors...Geno at UConn continues to rule of the dynasty that is in Storrs, CT.  Of course, Geno has Chris Dailey on his staff...Walz has never given an assistant the equal coaching platform and duties Geno and Chris share. Steph Norman would probably be the closest. 

With three new players transferring in, who knows how many freshmen and two new coaches, one could almost call them a "new look" UofL women's team....sure...established stars Roberts, Randolph, Elif and Berry will be on every opposing coaches coaches "mut contain" list... but three established players coming in via transfer and the promise of Bender, Mbugna and Putra make the Cards a top contender for 2026-27.

Is it WBB season yet? 

Oh, btw...in case you have forgotten. your taxes are due today. 

paulie

More Cardinal Callups -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

VolleyCards to Represent Team USA

Last week I wrote about callups to the US National Team on the soccer side, but this week that trend continues with a pair of volleyball players set to represent the Stars and Stripes. Kalyssa Blackshear and Payton Petersen were announced yesterday to be joining the Team USA U21 squad in late June. The two Cardinals will camp with 25 other athletes in Columbus, Ohio, where they will compete for an opportunity to represent Team USA at the NORCECA U21 Pan American Cup. 

Of the 27 athletes invited to the training camp, just half (14) will be selected for the event roster. The camp will be a shade under two weeks long from June 26 to July 5th, and the Pan American Cup will be hosted in Columbus July 7-12. This opportunity marks the second chance with the national team for Blackshear. Kalyssa was an alternate on the U19 team that took silver at the 2025 World Championship in Croatia. Payton Petersen is receiving a callup for the first time. 

image via gocards.com

While the training camp roster is quite varied from an athlete standpoint, the coaches all come from the professional ranks. The head coach is Tama Miyashiro, currently on staff with LOVB Salt Lake. The native of Hawai'i was a libero at Washington from 2006-2009, and she was twice named National Defensive Player of the Year. Miyashiro represented Team USA on the court from 2010-2012. She's assisted by Alfee Reft, who is currently the head coach of LOVB San Francisco, and Alisha Childress (Glass), who is a setter for MLV Las Vegas. Reft played for the USMNT after graduating from the University of Hawai'i and has been in the coaching realm since 2010. Glass was a standout at Penn State and was part of the team that won 102 straight games and won the titles in 2007, 2008, and 2009. 

On the player side, Louisville is one of five universities with multiple representatives, joined by Minnesota, Nebraska, SMU, and Texas. Texas leads the way with four selections, while Nebraska has three. Minnesota and SMU match Louisville's two. Surprisingly, Stanford and Pitt were both limited to one selection, making the ACC representation just six. Also sending one representative are Creighton, Florida, Iowa State, USC and Utah, along with seven high schools from six states. 

It would be wonderful for one or both of the Louisville players to make the team, but as I mentioned last week, the experience itself is invaluable. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

SOFTBALL SLUGS PAST NOTRE DAME 13-5 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 LOOKADOO'S BIG DAY HELPS CARDS DOWN IRISH

A huge day at the plate for Cards junior Camryn Lookadoo against UND.

Three for four at the plate with two home runs, a double and seven RBI's for the Georgetown, KY native. Yes, she alone drove in more runs than the Notre Dame squad and the first baseman improved her season batting average to .405 for the season. 

The Cards were "right for the fight" today (sorry, UK) with seven runs in the first two innings. Alyssa Zabala surely loved that offense barrage to make thing less stressful for her in the circle.  Now 10-4 on the season, Zabala's stats for the game were allowing two runs on six hits in three innings of pitching.

UofL jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two innings and the only Notre Dame softball student-athlete has was finding any success Sunday was Lily Hagan..who had two home runs and four RBI's. 

The Cards...now 34-9 overall and 10-5 in conference...returns back to Ulmer Stadium to host IU in a non-conference tilt Wednesday April 15th at 8 p.m. 

paulie

Softball wins, Lacrosse loses in Saturday action -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS OUTSLUG NOTRE DAME IN SOUTH BEND. LAX FALLS TO PITT IN THE L.L.S. 

A good and bad day for UofL spring women's sports. 

Softball travelled to South Bend and out hit the Irish softball squad for a 8-5 win.The LaxCards hosted the Panthers and took #24 Pitt to overtime but fell 15-14 to the visitors. 

SOFTBALL USES FIVE RUN FIFTH INNING TO GET BY IRISH.

(photo by kennedy Knisley)

Louisville visited the Irish in South Bend and got two good pitching performances...one out of Brooke Gray for the win, to go 10-1 on the season...and from Jayden Gohs in relief to clinch it and get her second save credit of the season. The 8-5 UofL win tied the three game series at 1-1. 

Louisville struck first in the contest when they put two on the board in the top of the first. Madison Pickens picked up two RBI's when she singled home Chelsea Mack and Bri Despines. The Irish would chip away at Cards hurler Brooke Gray for four innings, picking up runs in the second. third and fourth innings to take a 3-2 lead. 

The Cards erupted for five runs in the top of the fifth. The scoring began when Easton Lotus smashed a double down the right field line that scored Chelsea Mack. Camryn Lookadoo doubled to right center to bring Lotus and Despines to the plate. Then, Madison Pickens sent one out over right field fence...scoring her and Lookadoo. That made it 7-3 UofL and the Cards just had to get nine more outs. 

Notre Dame wasn't ready to leave the ball park yet, though. They homered off Gray in the bottom of the fifth, and put runners on the bags...which effectively sent the UofL pitcher to the sidelines. Anna Wise came in and got the Cards out of the fifth by allowing just two runs. Jayden Gohs got the final six outs in the sixth and seventh innings for Louisville. 

UofL would add an insurance run in the top of the sixth. Easton Lotus scored from first on a Despines double. 

The squads finish the series today with a 1 p.m. start . 

LAX LOSES IN OVERTIME TO PITT. 

(photo from UofL)

A thriller but overtime 15-14 loss for Louisville Lacrosse today against #24 Pitt. 

Kaitlyn Giandonato scored for the Panthers with a minute and a half left in the extra session for UPitt to end the sudden victory session. 

Pitt began the contest with a 4-0 lead at the L.L.S. The Cards were able to fight back by the end of the period and make it a 4-3 Pitt lead. Both team were having success in finding goals in the second quarter and the contest was tied at halftime 8-8. 

Louisville came out with a roar in the third period and took a 11-8 lead on goals by Charlotte Jackson and two goals from Ella Berg. Berg also assisted on Jackson's goal. Pitt responded to tie it at 11-11 and edged ahead at the end of the third 13-12 . The fourth period was one where Pitt went up 14-12 but Louisville rallied to tie it on goals by Reese Whitman and Rian Adams...and force the extra session.  

The Cards drop to 6-8 on the season..and 2-7 in ACC play...while Pitt improves to 8-7 and 4-6 in conference. 

PAULIE

SB Drops Game 1; LAX Senior Day -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Falls 5-2 at ND

In a game that wrapped up scoring early, Louisville was unable to keep their early lead against the Irish in the series opener. The Cards scored a pair in the first inning, but gave up five in the bottom of the second. Neither team crossed the plate for the remainder of the game. The two teams will be back in action today at 1PM.

Easton Lotus reached base from the second spot in the batting order before Bri Despines doubled her home. Camryn Lookadoo singled, and an error helped score Despines to give the Cards the 2-0 lead. Alyssa Zabala got the start for Louisville and had to walk a tightrope in the first inning. She gave up a walk and single to open, but managed to escape the inning without giving up a run. 

Louisville went 1-2-3 in the second, and ND was ready to pounce. Zabala got a fly out to open the inning, but ND would go on to pick up five hits and profit from two Louisville errors in the inning to score five runs. The Cards put a runner on base in the third, but couldn't bring her home. Zabala got two outs to open the inning, seemingly settling back in, but a four-pitch walk spelled the end of her day. Brooke Gray came in to relieve her. 

Gray was incredibly efficient. She pitched the remaining 3.1 innings (ND didn't bat in the bottom of the 7th) and gave up just three hits. She had one strikeout, and used just 38 pitches. Of those 38 (fewer than four per out), 27 were strikes. Gray gave the Cards a chance to get back into the game, but Brianne Weiss on the other side was too good. She threw 118 pitches in a complete game to ice the Cards. Louisville had just five hits and two walks in the game. Despines' double in the first was Louisville's only extra base hit. 

Lax Hosts Pitt for Senior Day

Louisville lacrosse has flagged a bit of late. They beat Cal to keep their ACC tournament hopes alive, then gutted out a 5-4 win over Vanderbilt, but a tough 10-12 loss to Virginia was followed by a 22-5 thumping at the hands of Stanford. The Cards will host Pittsburgh, ranked 25th in the country, today at noon for Senior Day. 

Ahead of today's game, Louisville will honor their seven seniors. Many are names with which we've become quite familiar. The others have given a lot to the program over the years, even if they haven't seen as much playing time. Honorees will be Rian Adkins, Aubrey Bagenstose, Karlie Harnischfeger, Sophie Macleod, Maggie McMahon, Erin Nicholson, and Cece Reilly.

After today's game, Louisville will wrap up the season on the road against Notre Dame on Thursday. With only eight teams making the ACC tournament, the Cards are just about officially out of contention. With two possible wins remaining, they'd need a pair of losses by Virginia to tie the Cavaliers, but they'd still lose the tiebreaker based on the head-to-head loss. A three-way tie between Louisville, UVA, and Pitt is possible, but I don't think Louisville comes out of that one favorably. Nevertheless, four wins would be a high-water mark for Scott Teeter in ACC play, and it would give the Cards an overall record above .500, so they'll still be motivated. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Softball faces Notre Dame in three game series -- Friday Cardinal Couple

 32-8 LOUISVILLE SOFTBALL TRAVELS TO SOUTH BEND

A crucial three game series with the Irish in South Bend begins today. 

It's a 5 p.m start and will be on the ACCNX broadcast network. Louisville hopes to keep pace with the three teams above them in the ACC standings and maybe even gain ground on them . 

Notre Dame is not having the best of seasons. They are 16-23 overall and 5-10 in the ACC. It's a "Strikeout for Cancer" weekend in the Melissa Cook Stadium on the South Bend campus

Notre Dame is 29-20 all-time against the Cards and have won six of the last nine matchups against the UofL squad. The Irish are led by Mickey Winchell, who is hitting .400 against the Cards in her Notre Dame career. 

Notre Dame is a fairly young squad, with just three seniors and one graduate student. They have no student-athletes from Kentucky, but 10 from California. The Irish have lost their last four games...three to league leading FSU in Tallahassee and one to Valparaiso in South Bend. . We'll have the results here for you tomorrow and the rest of the series on Saturday and Sunday . 

paulie

WBB Coaching Carousel -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 SPECULATING ON WHO WALZ WILL BRING IN

Gee, we have seen a lot of assistant and associate coaches come and go for the Louisville WBB  program. Looking back just seven years ago, Walz's staff was Sam Purcell, Steph Norman, Johnneisha Pineda and Beth Burns....although Burns was not officially classified as an assistant. These days,  Purcell, of course, is the head coach at Mississippi State,Norman is an associate head coach at Arizona State, Burns is an associate head coach at USC (Southern California) and Pineda is the only one left at Louisville. Shay Robinson has arrived and departed...joining Florida's staff as an assistant. Amanda Butler came for a cup of coffee and then split for Charleston to become their head coach .

I guess the question is...who will Walz bring in to replace Shay Robinson and Amanda Butler? 

There is a lot of public outcry to have Kasa Robinson join the staff. I'd venture it's be hard to get her off the Marshall WBB staff where she is an assistant, and goes by Mykasa Lucas, since she married Jordan Lucas...who played at Penn State and several NFL squads. I don't see her coming back, but I hope I am wrong. 

Will Walz follow his previous trend of hiring assistants from other programs? My guess is that there's more than a few resumes on his desk in the Kueber Center from aspiring hopefuls. 

And, if that isn't enough, longtime director of video and graphics Lamont Russell will be leaving also to be the director of player development for the Dallas Wings. It was always a pleasure to run into Lamont in the basketball offices and at games when I was more mobile

College basketball is an ever changing world anymore, with the NIL implementation and the advent of players getting five years of eligibility proposal and discussion . Let's see what that does to the power structure of the traditionally strong programs like UCLA, UConn, South Carolina., Tennessee. Louisville, Duke, LSU and others. 

Yes, indeed...interesting times ahead. 

paulie

Cards Called Up -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Bard, Cantu Earn USWNT Attention

Louisville women's soccer saw two players invited to camp with the US Women's National Team youth programs this month, with announcements coming yesterday. Rising sophomore Ella Bard and incoming freshman Cate Cantu heard their names called as they'll join camps for the U-20 and U-18 teams, respectively. Bard will camp in Kansas City 4/7-4/16 with two opportunities to play against Brazil on 4/11 and 4/15. Cantu will camp in West Palm Beach 4/10-4/17. No international friendlies are listed for that one. 

Ella Bard's call-up to the U-20 team indicates that she has impressed the USWNT staff so far in her development. Bard was called up to the U-19 team in October, missing time with UofL to take part in friendlies against the Republic of Ireland and Portugal. In February, she joined that team again to play against Czechia, Wales, and Portugal. This time, an invite to U-20 camp means that Bard is a serious contender to be a part of the team which will participate in the Women's U-20 World Cup in Poland in September. A call up in that window would surely be difficult for the Cards in the early season, as Bard figures to move into a full-time starting role on defense, but the experience she could gain would be unmatched.

Cate Cantu is a name that is likely more unknown to Louisville fans. While Bard made a quick name for herself as a freshman last season, making her debut in the Vanderbilt game and earning her first start against Wright State, Cantu hasn't yet made it to campus. Cantu is an incoming goalkeeper, which is a position you might remember as recently vacated. (Happy belated birthday to the new Racing Louisville keeper, Erynn Floyd, by the way.) Cate has the opportunity to claim that position right out of the gate. If she does so, she could become the third straight long-term starter to claim the job as a freshman, following Floyd and Gabby Kouzelos. Cantu was a three-time All Central League First Team selection in Pennsylvania, and she was a High School All-American as a senior. Her club team, Penn Fusion, were ECNL National Champions in 2024. Cantu will be competing for the starting spot against Brielle Baker, who is the only returning goalkeeper from last season's roster.

While players missing time is difficult for a college team, the opportunity to play for your country are invaluable for both the player and the team. Players get the chance to fulfill lifelong dreams and play against some of the top competition the world has to offer. Teams get to reap the benefits of the additional experiences the players gain as well as show recruits how much they support player development. We see the same with Jeff Walz and basketball all the time. Showing recruits that you're not just going to make them good enough to play for their national team, but that you will also give them the freedom to make the most of those opportunities, is quite enticing. 

All the best to Ella and Cate in the coming weeks. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

images from @louisvillewsoc on Instagram

Softball CARDS in logjam behind FSU and Duke -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Louisville in fourth place in ACC 

There are a couple of clear leaders in the ACC Softball race this season.  

FSU and Duke sit atop the conference with the best records. The Seminoles are 12-0  in ACC play and 35-4 overall. Duke is 13-2 in the ACC and 28-11 on the season. Not too far back is Virginia Tech with a 9-3 conference mark and 33-5 overall. The Cards check in at fourth...at 8-4 in the league and 32-8 this season. 

Virginia (9-5) and Stanford (9-6) are hot on the heels of the top four and North Carolina is the only other team with an above .500 conference mark at 8-7.It's important to note that the top four finishers in the league will receive a bye in first round ACC Softball Tournament action and only 12 of the 15 teams that play softball in the ACC make the tournament If the tournament were to start tomorrow...the other five teams that would qualify would be Clemson, Georgia Tech, Pitt, Notre Dame and NC State.  All told, the teams play in 24 conference games. 

The Cards have three games left against each of these fellow league members....Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and NC State. The cards will travel to South Bend for that UND series, Pitt and Syracuse will come to Ulmer Stadium in Louisville and the Cards will travel to Raleigh for the NC State series. The ACC Tournament will be in Charlottesville this year...hosted by Virginia. May 6-9 in the tournament dates...that's is the week after Derby....which is May 2nd. 

The Cards have an advantage in getting to play Pitt and Syracuse in Ulmer. 

The Cards vs Notre Dame series starts Friday.

Louisville is 9-1 in their last 10 games and has been on a hitting tear the last three games...scoring 25 runs. In addition to conference battles ahead, the Cards still have the second rivalry game against UK in Ulmer and also a game against IU. 

Let's hope the old adage of "April Showers bring May Flowers" doesn't rain out any of the Cards remaining games and that we don't get any mid-April or later snow in the area. I can remember snow back in 1989 on Derby Day...by then I had stopped attending the event and was hitting an annual Derby party. 

paulie

The WBB season ends...UCLA proves me wrong by showing they are the best team -- Monday Cardinal Couple

 UCLA BLOWS OUT SOUTH CAROLINA IN SECOND HALF. 

I step back and admit I am wrong. 

I said, a few weeks back, that UConn was the best team in Division I WBB. 

When South Carolina ended their season with a surprising blowout, it led me to think that the Gamecocks would do the same to the Lady Bruins.  But, after a half, this one was already close to being over at 36-23 UCLA.. the 79-51 final unfolded in almost unbelievable fashion. Dawn Staley's gals couldn't buy a basket with gold standard cash money.

As a buddy remarked to me..."When's the last time you saw a bunch of white girls beat a bunch of black girls in D1 action?" Putting the unintended racial profiling aside, she made a good point. I guess none of us figured that Lauren Betts and Gabriella Jaquez would shut out the "cocks" inside and dominate on the offensive boards. Maybe we should have opened our eyes a little wider. 

After all, UCLA came into the contest with just one loss all season. Yes, it was early on, against South Carolina...but this was NCAA Tournament time and many critics were saying that UCLA was the best team in the nation. I was still in the UConn camp. 

I guess I didn't read the signs correctly either. 

Isla, we hardly knew you...Good luck

For Louisville, the upcoming few weeks could prove to be very interesting. The height that the Cards had is disappearing quickly. Between graduation and the transfer portal . Juffermans and Hardy are in the portal. .Ziegler has graduated. Istanbulluoglu and Putra are back, along with Mbugna. It looks like Roberts and Randolph will hang with the Cards, and that alone will make Louisville a bona fide ACC title contender. 

They don't have a Betts on their roster though...and that's what it took this year to best the rest.  

paulie