Who's Next? Thursday Cardinal Couple

 WHO'S NEXT? 

It is a question we get asked from time to time, here at Cardinal Couple, when it comes to the contests ahead for the Louisville women's sports squads. If I am in a playful mood. I wiil respond:

"Yes, an excellent release by the Who with classics such as "Baba O'Riley, "Bargain", "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" I believe the release date was summer 1971. Who can ever forget the opening chords by Pete Townsend on "Won't Get Fooled Again" once you have heard them (A,G,D) and Roger Daltry's screaming opening?" . 

After I finish ny recap, and see they are staring at me with blank eyes, I then ask them if they were referring to UofL women's athletics events. 99% percent nod yes. I apologize forr the answer, letting them know it was just a bit of old man's humor. 

Let's look at the next four days for UofL women's sports we cover and feel free to air guitar along as you listen to WHO'S NEXT

THURSDAY 9/24

All three squads we cover the most in fall sports are off. Field Hockey, Women's Soccer and Volleyball

FRIDAY 9/25

Volleyball is at Syracuse, Field Hockey is at California. WSOC still off,

SATURDAY 9/26  

All three are off.

SUNDAY 9/27

Volleyball is at Boston College, Women's Soccer hosts FSU and Field Hockey goes up against UC Davis. 

We'll have recaps and observations for you as the events come up. 

paulie

FH's Emily Young named ACC Co-Defender of the Week

 YOUNG HAS ALLOWED JUST NINE GOALS IN EIGHT GAMES

Most coaches will tell you, you need to have a solid defense to win games. When you allowed just eight goals in eight games, your goalie...in Field Hockey...is going to get a lot of the praise and credit along with her defensive unit. Louisville is (6-2) and the squad is now 10th in the latest rankings. Emily Young does the net duty and has for four years, the senior out of Houston, Texas climbed up thru the Cards ranks to be where she is today. It's the second time this season she has Defender of the Week shared honor

Young redshirted her first season on campus in 2023. She was a backup to Merljin van der Vegt. In 2024 she was the keeper in Cards wins over American University, Cornell, Ball St. and UC Davis. As the starter in 2025.she got a little better

6-2 and 4-0 so far this year .We'll take in, especiilly since the losses are against #1 Northwestern and #2 Iowa.

Keep sending them back without scoring, Cards defense and let the offense maneuver and drive. 

paulie

Where are Volleyball, WSOC and Field Hockey ranked? -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 HOW ARE THE WSOC, VB AND FH RANKED FOR CARDS?

We know all three are having good season Louisville i DI NCAA Sports..but just where are they ranked nationwide? I thought we'd take a look this Tuesday

LOUISVILLE VOLLEYBALL

In the NCAA's AVCA (Coached Poll) rankings in DI, the VolleyCards check in at #4. They basically traded placed with UK after UK got the best of them In Memorial Barnyard Coliseum in Lexington. To be quite honest, when I was up covering WBB with Sonja and Jared for Cardinal Couple a few years ago,, the place looked incredible after the renovation. Yeah, they were still serving cold Papa John's Pizza to the media and some kinda chicken...and visitor media parking puts you almost in Georgetown. but our sight lines were top notch for game viewing. Can't thank their media folks enough for assigning a couple college kids to escort the old folks around. Susan Lax, in her 30th year as director of Athletic Communications and Media Relations, is simply best in field. And a very personable and friendly lady. She's scoring goals every tine, Louisville's ex-Director of Media goon couldn't even find the ball to kick it. This guy's mode o operation was to run off home media and deny, them everything. And, no, I am not talking about K.K....

The DI committees top 16 poll has Louisville currently in sixth. 

LOUISVILLE FIELD HOCKEY

The NFHCA (Coaches Poll) puts Louisville Field Hockey at #16 in their top 20. They are one of seven ACC school in the top 20. The Stick Girls are #16 in the NCAA Committee Tournament Rankings as well. At 6-2 the Cards FH gals have played a nails tough slate against Miami, Indiana , St. Louis, Michigan, Northwestern, Boston College and St. Joseph's and. Michigan State. 

Plenty of Field Hockey left to play. Sory will get them in the top 10 and better by tournament time. Losing to #1 and #2 in the nation isn't exactly underperforming

LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SOCCER

The Kickin.women Cards are 8-1-1 and not in the top 16 in the United Soccer Coaches poll or top Selection committee's Top 16. 

They have an RPI of #31. 

Admittedly, I do not know a lot about ranking in WSOC, but 8-1-1 and #31 and not in the top 16? Scratches head, walks into kitchen more more coffee. Something seems amiss with this. 

They ya have it, have a great Tuesday!  Today is the first day of fall, someone tell the temperatures that, OK? 

WSOC ties California, Volleyball falls in four at UK -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 WSOC gets first tie of the season

Louisville battled a stingy Golden Bears in women's Soccer yesterday out on the Cal campus but could not push by them for a win. Instead, they gained a point with a1-1 tie...to start out the Cards action for the day.

Louisville, now 8-1-1, struck first off a corner in the 36th minute. Eefje Botjer earned her first goal of the season and second of her career when she headed the ball into the back of the net...following up on a Amelia Swinarski shot-on-goal. 

That 1-0 lead held thru the first half. 

California would tie it with 63 minutes played when Amelie Hoppe got her first goal of the season. And, the tie remained until the 90 minures has expired. 

The Cards had 14 shots, with three on goal. Cal took eight shots wth one on frame 

Cal goes to 2-4-4 on the season. 

Louisville returns to action Sunday when they will host FSU. It is scheduled for a noon start and will be shown on the ACC Network, if you are unable to attend. 

VOLLEYBALL LOSES IN FOUR SETS TO UK IN MEMORIAL

Louisville Volleyball took the first set 25-19 against UK, but the luck went south after that. 

Per usual,we won't offer a lot of commentary or stats on a loss, especially when it comes against UofL's in-state rival. The 7,000 in Memorial Coliseum were loud, pumped and cheering on their 7-2 Cats. The Cards go to 10-2

Brooke Bultema got a block to give Louisville the first set 25-19 win.

In the second set,UK and UofL played extra Volleyball but the Cars ended up on top 29-27

Set three had the Cards rally late but could not catch UK's early lead and lost 25-21

The final set was UK's 25-19.

Louisville stays on the road and will play Syracuse Friday. 

paulie

Three major UofL women's sports in action today -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 VOLLEYBALL, WOMEN'S SOCCER AND FIELD HOCKEY PLAY TODAY

It isn't often we get the three major UofL fall sports in action on the same day. 

With Volleyball at UK, Field Hockey hosting St. Joseph's and women's soccer going against against California on the west coast, there will be plenty of Cardinal action to track 

With St.Joseph on Trager Field against the Cards at 10:30 a.m., Louisville and Kentucky Volleyball at 3 p.m. and WSOC facing Cal at 4 p.m. EST...it will be a busy day to track them all. 

FIELD HOCKEY VS ST. JOSEPH'S 

Annabel Sep

St. Joseph comes to town with a 3-4 record and coming off a win yesterday at St. Louis against the Billikens 2-1, they can not be ignored or underestimated. They also have wins over Lehigh and New Hampshire and losses to Maryland, Drexel, Liberty and UConn. 

Louisville is 5-2.

They are led by Cat Arenitz with four goals and they have scored 12 goals this year while allowing 29. We'll watch on ACCNX.. 

VOLLEYBALL AT U.K.

Chloe Chicoine

Scheduled for a 3 p.m. start and to be shown on ABC, the Cats are 7-2 on the season, only losing to SMU in the Bahamas and at Pittsburgh. Their wins are impressive. The Cats have clawed Wisconsin, Utah St. South Florida, UCLA, Penn State, North Carolina and Houston. 

Louisville has wins over Texas A&M, Dayton, Indiana, TCU, Texas, Missouri, Rice, Creighton, Northern Iowa and WKU. Their loss was at Wisconsin. 

The two will face at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. Word is, it's sold out. It just might be loud, too...

WOMEN'S SOCCER AT CALIFORNIA

The Cards go into the California match with a 8-1 record. The only loss was to Nebraska. This one will be on ACC Network Extra. (ACCNX) at 4 p.m. EST. 

California is 2-3-3 with wins over LMU and Columbia. losses to Pepperdine, San Diego and North Carolina. They played Cal Baptist, Santa Clara and  Cal Poly to ties. 

Let's hope the Cards women's sports squads can go 3-0 today. 

paulie

Cards FH take Boston college 1-0 -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 RAIN DELAY DOES NOT DETER STICK GIRLS IN 1-0 WIN

You can ask most student-athletes who participate in sports that apply...the rain delay haltage of action is a fact of their sport they probably dislike the most. Everybody gets the premise, safely first and no one wants to see a teammate or an opponent get zapped  by a bolt of electricity.

The dreaded rain delay came into play last night when the Cards Field Hockey squad was facing visiting Boston College. The #16 Cards were going up against the ACC's version of a bear, a squad that was fast, physical and dangerous, and the 2-4 record wasn't really an indication of how good a team the Eagles are. They were playing their fourth, top 25 ranked opponent on the road, and this battle of birds looked to be a tough, defensive struggle on paper. 

If it ever got started...or finished. 

Two rain delays came into play, one that delay the start of the contest and a second one that halted action for 92 minutes in the third period The old adage is..."If rain comes to play, and lightning is in the air...postpone and delay. and get the hell out of there"

As far as offense, it was Chloe Plumb...the senior forward from St.Lawrence College and Ramsgate, England who tailed the only goal, in the fourth quarter. She talks about it, in the video below. 

https://gocards.com/news/2026/9/18/field-hockey-no-16-louisville-tops-boston-college-1-0-in-acc-opener

Justine Sowry also chimed in on the "W": 

https://gocards.com/news/2026/9/18/field-hockey-no-16-louisville-tops-boston-college-1-0-in-acc-opene

I will inject a little commentary here...the interviews that Jared and I used to do post game were a lot clearer, direct and informative. You probably heard that if you listened. 

Louisville plays their "children's aspirin" game of the year next, when they take on St, Joseph's. Take two friends, and call me in the morning...

paulie

Cards WSOC pulls off upset at #6 Stanford -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 PEAT'S SCORE THE DIFFERENCE IN 1-0 WIN

Louisville women's soccer recorded their eighth win in a row last last night with a brilliant defensive effort against #6 Stanford "on the Farm" late last night when Karina Peat scored after just 3:17 played. The score was enough to give the Cardinals the 1-0 win over the Cardinal and bump their record to 8-1. 

It was a classic defensive struggle and Stanford actually out shot Louisville 19.8. The UofL squad totalled five saves and Stanford didn't hv any to save..

The loss dropped Stanford to 6-2 on the season and both their losses have come in conference. It'll definitely bring them down from their #6 ranking. 

A pretty incredible win for Hunter Norton's squad. To travel across the nation, play at a time (10 p.m. EST ) when they are normally getting ready to go to bed is a humongous accomplishment. 

Louisville stays out on the west coast and will visit California next. Louisville is one of three teams in the league at 2-0, along with Wake Forest and North Carolina. 

paule

WKU swept by Cards Volleyball -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS VOLLEYBALL DOWNS WKU IN THREE SETS

A big night for Louisville Volleyball,  down in Bowling Green. The Cards protected their #3 ranking with a straight set sweep of WKU 25-15, 25-19, 25-19. 

SET ONE

Louisville jumped out to a 8-3 lead on the Toppers and extended that to a 15-11 advantage at the media timeout break on a WKU setting error. It was 20-13 Cards on a Chloe Meester kill and the Cards took the win 25-15 on a WKU service error. 

SET TWO

The Hilltoppers scored the first four points of the second set. but UofL battled back to tie it at 5-5. The Cards built an 11-8 lead, but EKU rallied to tie it 12-12. Louisville regained the lead on a 3-0 run and led at 20-16 on a Chloe Meester kill. Louisville was up 24-17 but WKU cut that lead to 24-19 before Meester ended it with a kill to give the set to UofL 25-19.

SET THREE

The Cards took an early 5-2 lead on a Blackshear kill. WKU battled back to get within one at 9-8. The contest was still close at 15-12 after a Payton Petersen service ace, and the Cards increased that to a 19-12 edge. Louisville was ahead 24-17 before WKU made one last run, but a WKU service error gave UofL game, set and match 25-19. 

Blackshear and Chicoine led Louisville in kills with 12 and 11 each. 

Louisville faces UK next...in Lexington.  They'll play Sunday, Sept 20th. in Memorial Coliseum. It's scheduled for a 3 p.m. and ABC will have the feed. 

Cards VB to face WKU at WKU today -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 HILLTOPPERS ARE 5-4 COMING INTO THE LOUISVILLE MATCH

Louisville Volleyball travels to Bowling Green to face WKU today and the contest is, unfortunately..not going to be shown anywhere on cable except for ESPN+. That's right,kiddies..pay per view strikes again. 

The match is scheduled for 6 p.m. central time, which means 7 p.m. in Louisville. 

The Toppers are 5-4 and their losses have come to Oregon, Wright State, Ball State and EKU. They have defeated SEMO twice, Pepperdine, Wright State and James Madison. 

The WKU roster has a local talent that people in Louisville might remember. Camilla Adams came out of Providence...right  across the river from "The Ville".   

I'll probably follow the action on stat tracker and we'll have the report for you in our Thursday edition. 

paulie

Newest Cards WBB assistant coach -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

SELIM ALDAG NEWEST CARDS WBB ASSISTANT 

The Cards have had some very good assistants on their staff in the eff Walz era, some who have gone on to become head coaches at major DI NCAA women's basketball programs. Remember the days pf Cam Newbauer, Sam Purcell, Beth Burns, Adrienne Johnson, Shay Robinson and Amanda Butler have found success (and sometimes...hot water) after leaving Louisville for other schools. 

When you lose an assistant, you search for and hire an assistant. Louisville has announced they have added Selim Aldag to the coaching staff. They didn't have to go far to find him, he was a graduate student at UofL and is now an assistant coach and director of video analytics and graphic design.  

Before he got to Louisville, Selim was coaching with the Turkey Women's National teams. In the summer of 2025, he and Jeff Walz were coaching on the Turkey senior women's national team. 

They were on the team that competed in the 2025 Eurobasket in Greece. The squad finished seventh overall. Elif Istanbulluoglu was on that squad. 

paulie