Zabala Drafted to New Pro League -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Alyssa Zabala Returns Home with Florida Vibe

Alyssa Zabala was a star for Louisville softball, regardless of how the seasons turned out. Smiley, as some often called her due to her constant toothy grin regardless of the situation, was a stalwart starter for the Cards and finished her career with 56 wins and a 3.45 career ERA. She threw 23 complete games, had seven shutouts, and earned 375 strikeouts in 556.1 innings pitched. She was Louisville's ace pretty much from the moment she stepped on campus, and some of her negative numbers were perhaps a product of her being utilized in a way that she wasn't quite fit for. Nevertheless, Alyssa Zabala should be remembered fondly in the annals of Cardinal history. 

Her career isn't over, though. Zabala was drafted by the Florida Vibe, which is one of four inaugural teams in the Professional Softball League. (No one is winning major awards for some of these startup league names, I'll tell you that, but that's beside the point.) The Vibe are joined by the Atlanta Smoke, Kansas City Diamonds, and Florida Breeze as the original full time teams. Since there are two Florida-based teams and the one that drafted Zabala is called Vibe, I'd guess it's safe to say that one is based in Miami, not least because that's where Zabala is originally from. 

The four primary teams will play a full season in 2026, which is the first season of this new league. The teams will play dozens of games in June and July, with a league tournament scheduled for early August. They'll travel throughout Florida and the southeast, along with KC, and one game is even listed with Puerto Rico as the location. The teams will head to a couple of other destinations, though, as there will also be games against some of next season's full-time teams. Already on the docket are the NY Rise and Chattanooga Chill, and there are other teams yet to be announced. 

Professional women's sports are definitely on the rise. With the NBA finally realizing it can make money by boosting the W, and the NWSL drawing more and more eyes, the other sports are starting to catch on as well. Volleyball is seemingly popular enough to maintain competing leagues, and the fact that baseball seems to be having a moment in popularity will surely help the softball scene. We'll see if any other Cardinal names pop up in this new league and let you know. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Field Hockey's Lauren Masters named to US Women's National Team -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 MASTERS ONE OF 19 NAMED TO US TEAM

Lauren Masters,  a senior forward for the 2026 season out of Pittstown, NJ will participate for the USA in the Four Nations Tournament in Lillieshall, England from July 8-15. The USA U 21 squad will go up against India, Belgium and England's squads in the event. 

Lauren Sloan, who plays for Virginia and is from Louisville's Christian Academy is also on the squad. Sloan was the 2024 Kentucky High School Player of the Year and a strong defender for the Charlottesville,VA squad.

As could probably be predicted, the USA roster is primarily made up of players from the hotbed of high school field hockey in the U.S....almost a third of the roster is from Pennsylvania and North Carolina and New Jersey is well-represented on the squad. 

Masters has had a storied career at UofL. She was on the 2023 Cardinals squad that made it to the semifinals of the ACc Tournament and quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. In 2024, she was named to the 2025 Under 21 squad USWNT squad and the Under 21 roster for the Junior Pan Am games. 

Louisville Field Hockey hosted the 2025 ACC Field Hockey Tournament but was knocked out in the first round by North Carolina 2-1. Northwestern ended up winning the NCAA Championships. 

 

College Softball World Series set -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 WHO'S HEADED TO OKLAHOMA CITY? 

Louisville Softball is long gone in the NCAA Tournament race for the World Series...and now the ACC is eliminated as well. 

Arkansas defeated Duke in regional play to send the last Atlantic Coast Conference school to the side lines The SEC is proving to be the powerhouse conference this year in the regionals...with Alabama, Arkansas, Nebraska, Mississippi St, Tennessee and Texas qualifying for the College World Series...along with UCLA and Texas Tech.

The Alabama squad sent another SEC school in LSU to the sidelines to get to the CWS. UCLA sent University of South Florida home, Nebraska took Oklahoma St. out of the chase and Mississippi St. made their first ever College World Series by knocking off Oklahoma. Tennessee downed Georgia to advance and Texas hit past Arizona St to make the field of eight.  

Texas won it all last year and has to be one of the favorites to repeat. this year. As far as DI rankings go...Nebraska is ranked #1, Alabama in #2, Texas is #3., Arkansas is #5, Texas Tech is #7,  UCLA is #8 and Mississippi St. is #20. The Bulldogs are the darkhorse of the eight, with their shocking elimination of Oklahoma, who was ranked #4.

Lookadoo looking at you.

Louisville ended up ranked #24 and will look to build on a very successful 44-12 season with key returnees. Maybe Camryn Lookadoo summed it up best when she said:

"When you go out there and have fun with your teammates, it easier to perform. It's less pressure and just putting trust in each other is fun."

Sophomore outfield Madison Pickens saw last year as a key to this season. 

"We had our moments where we grew together last year. This year brought us ever closer because we didn't have that many people come in or leave.  We were just able to grow certain things together." 

The WCWS begins May 28th and ends June 5th. Four games Thursday, two Games Friday and Saturday nd Sunday before two on Monday and then the Championship series on Wednesday, Thursday and, if needed on Friday.

Have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day, but also remember the reason for the holiday. They served and gave it all so that we could have this way of life. 

paulie

Kroon named Arthur Ashe Jr Scholar -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 TATUM KROON IS FIELD HOCKEY'S 2026 WINNER

We all know how well Tatum Kroon guarded defenders in her four years at UofL. A former field hockey defender once told me that being a good defender started with studying you opponent's techniques and anticipating their attack moves. And, to further back her knowledge skills, we find out the senior has been named the  Arthur Ashe Jr.scholar Award Winner forr Field Hockey.

Kroon came to Louisville from Den Bosch, The Netherlands and was a key contributor to the Cards defense during her time at UofL  She was a part of 15 defensive shutouts in her career at UofL 

2025 wasn't a spectacular season for UofL Field Hockey. They went 8-10 on the season and were 2-6 in the ACC. They were knocked out of the ACC Tournament by UNC and did not qualify for the NCAA DI tournament. .

Since it is Memorial Day weekend, how will you spend it? It is a day we observe to honor the deaths of U.S. servicemen in battle. With travel costs rising, I wonder how many will try to do something a little less expensive and stay regional.  Bernheim Forest is always a great option if you're not into attending picnics or parties. 

Cards Sending 23 to East Regional -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

T&F Well-Represented in Lexington

I'm up at Indy this week so I'm keeping it short and sweet. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

The NCAA East Regionals will get started in Lexington on May 27th, with trips to the NCAA Championship event on the line. Louisville has 23 total athletes competing, with 13 women taking part in fifteen events. The full list is below: 

Ashley Callahan | Pole Vault

Nancy Chepleting | 5000m, 10000m

Alba Cuns Iglesias | Triple Jump

Sophia Day | Long Jump

Eve Divinity | Long Jump

Emma McGill | 5000m

Eliza Nicholson | 5000m

Anna Panenko | Triple Jump

Sharvari Parulekar | Triple Jump

Athena Peterson | Triple Jump

Lydia Stuart | Pole Vault

Iliana Triantafyllou | Pole Vault

Kaia Tupu-South | Shot Put, Discus Throw

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

UofL Athletics deep in debt...what will the future bring for college athletics.? -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 A $30 MILLION DOLLAR PROBLEM

You've probably heard the news by now, UofL's athletic program is $30 million dollars in debt. The problem is there...staring right at The Thinker on campus. What is the answer? 

A friend sent me the Eric Crawford article. I can only take a look at some the woeful media moguls for UofL sports information and think about this suggestion. Send them packing like hobos from the railroad yards. They hid the information of the increasing debt far too long. After all, this is a public institution, not some prestigious private college Turn the promotion of UofL athletics over to companies skilled at information reporting who know a little about what they are doing in the advertising and promotion world. Put spending under a magnifying glass. 

It also may be time to start collecting for attendance to some on the non-revenue sports. I know it's a steep cliff to jump off of...attendance could plummet...but these sports are paying coaches, assistant coaches and the S.I.D's just like all the other revenue sports  and are a cost to athletics as well.

Yum! Brands, Texas Roadhouse, Humana and Brown Foreman make big money. Maybe they might have an interest in helping salvage UofL sports more than they currently do. They are based here, after all. 

And, when you are that deep in debt, it's only a matter of time before women's sports start to take some money allocation hits. You know they are gong to try and salvage men's football, basketball and baseball first before they worry about lacrosse, field hockey and volleyball. 

"How did we get this deep in the hole?" 

Maybe take a look at how Texas, Ohio St. Georgia and Michigan are out of the red and into the black in revenue producing. UK was valued at $910 million dollars....fifteenth best in the nation. UofL is at 37th. at $645 million. 

Any other business model that would lose that much would probably be shutdown. And maybe it's time for some of these high pocket professional franchises to realize that their talent comes from college athletics and maybe they need to throw some huge bucks at their source of players. 

I got tired of the way media got pushed around and slighted a few years ago and just stopped attending games. Some were definitely more equal than others . But, being a graduate of the university and fond of many of the women's coaches on campus..it's certainly not the coaches fault that monies spent far exceed revenue produced. And, a student fee for athletics isn't going to solve this dilemma. 

The SEC and Big Ten have 18 of the top 20 revenue producing programs. Notre Dame and Clemson are the only two in that top 20 that are not members of either conference. Both have storied football programs. Both have no problem getting butts in the seats to watch games.  

Maybe one of the most ridiculous things is the makeup of the Atlantic Coast Conference...that has California, Stanford and SMU...hardly on the Atlantic Ocean coast.  The Big 10 has 18 members. 

But, I'm not a numbers cruncher. I just report on the joy and excitement of UofL women's athletics.

 Being $30 million in debt, though, isn't much of a joyful thing, is it? 

pauliie

WBB 2026-27 -- -THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 IS IT EVER TOO EARLY TO LOOK AT CARDS WBB?

Yes, I now it's May 21st and Cards WBB basketball is still almost a half a year away...but...what the heck...is it ever te wrong time to talk a little Cards WBB?  I don't think it is, and Jeff Walz would most likely agree...from a snow slope somewhere or maybe doing his yard work. 

Let's star with the young'uns first. Those that will be spending their first season prowling the hardwood in the KFC YUM! Center. Three new branches on the tree. 

Have a  Peanut, Cards! 

A couple of four star recruits are joining the crew. Ariayana Cradle, Myah Epps and Ayse Melek Demier.. 5'10' Myah is not related to Anthony Epps. former UK villain..she's out of Homestead, FL and , Ariyana "Peanut" Cradle is a 5' 10" guard out of Westerville. OH. which is a northeastern suburb of Columbus. From across the deep, blue sea...Ayse Melek Demier. Demier is a 6'3" power forward out of Turkey. 

Next, the transfers in...Carys Baker was a standout at Va. Tech. She averaged 14.3 ppg last season and almost seven rebounds. Zam Jones is headed over from Raleigh, NC and NC State. She'll be a junior for Jeff Walz and is legally known as Zamaeya. She's a dynamo 5'7" guar that averaged 14.9 ppg last season for Wes Moore. 

We're always sad to see departees. Laura Ziegler is off and graduated and with the LA Sparks. She's buried deep in a deeply talented squad there...so playing time may not be plentiful any time soon. Anaya Hardy has decided to go test her fortunes at Notre Dame. Peyton Bradley will seek playing time at U.A.B. Skyler Jones has joined forces with Baylor and Isla Juffermans will look to be an impact forward at the College of Charleston. Reyna Scott has exhausted her eligibility, too.  

Putra on the verge of big things. 

So, who is returning? Four of their top five scorers from last year is a plus...in Taj Roberts, Mac Randolph, Elif "The Elf" Istanbulluoglu and Imani Berry. Grace Mbugna, the tower out of Danville comes back and should see a ton more playing time this season (we hope). Rebecka Graves also returns. And...Yevheniia Putra returns and could be the dark horse candidate for most improved player from 2025-26, her experience with the Ukrainian National team this summer certainly couldn't hurt and she speaks five different languages. (Let's hope scoring becomes a sixth). 

This should be  fun and talented group to watch in the 2026-27 season, The returning depth, impressive transfers in and strong freshman class could make them one of Walz's finest teams here at UofL. Let's hope the incompetent UofL athletic media and information crew doesn't trip them up too much. Also, losing Amanda Butler is a shame, but Walz has a knack of finding the right assistant for his master plan. 

paulie 

paulie

Honor for Madison Pickens -- WEDNESDAY CARDINALCOUPLE

 PICKENS NAMED TO SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICAN SQUAD 

We all here locally saw how valuable left-fielder Madison Pickens was to the Louisville softball squad again this season and now the nation is recognizing her as well. 

Pickens was named as a Second Team All-American by Softball America. 

She was already recognized as a NFCA First Team All-Region selection and stood out as one of the top run producers in the country this season. She amassed 74 RBI's on 86 hits for Holly Aprile and UofL this season and, in doing so, set a new UofL record...surpassing Maryssa Becker's 60 RBI's back in 2016. 

The Flowery Branch, GA sophomore blossomed this season and led the Cards in batting average as well...setting a new single season record by batting .467. She also led the squad in slugging percentage (,.777), home runs (11). extra base hits (34) and total bases (146). If all that wasn't enough, she also stole 12 bases and batted .494 in ACC play. 

She was named earlier this month to the ACC All-Tournament Team. 

Pickens is part of a returning nucleus that could pay big dividends for the Cards next season.  Other key student-athletes slated to return (and hopefully the transfer bug stays away or is a bug that adds to the roster instead of depleting from it) are Brooke Gray, Riley Janda, Ava Venturelli, Camryn Lookadoo, Jordan Williams, Katie Thatcher, Taylor Monroe, Jayden Gohs and Madi Reeves.  

These 10, along with others, willt ry to improve upon the Cards stellar 44-14 record and 18-6 ACC mark from the 2026 season.. 

Getting runners around the bases and to home plate has to be on the short list of things Holly Aprile's list of things to improve for 2027. Just three runs scored in the final 14 innings of the season was a disappointing number...and it was against non-top 25 squads Grand Canyon and South Dakota. 

We look forward to the 2027 season at Ulmer. To butcher an old phrase, the Cards shouldn't  suffer from "slim pickings" 

paulie 

Track and Field Wrap Up ACC -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Finish 6th in ACC Championships

There is one sport remaining in action for Louisville women's athletics, and that's track and field. The ACC Championships were here in Louisville over the weekend, but the news was (perhaps understandably) overshadowed by Louisville softball in the NCAA tournament. The Cards demanded attention, though, so let's take a look at some of the success from the weekend. Louisville athletes will be idle (in competition anyway) for a week before the NCAA East Regional begins on Wednesday, May 27th. 

Day one saw the Cards continue their recent pole vaulting success, with KJ Byrd defending his title on the men's side. On the women's side, Ashley Callahan finished with a silver medal. It is the seventh straight season that Louisville women have scored a podium in pole vault at the outdoor conference championships. Nancy Chepleting finished just fifth in the women's 10000m, but her mark was the fourth-fastest in school history and earned her Second Team All-ACC. 

Friday saw a couple of additional gold medals for the Cards. Roman Kuleshov took the top spot in men's long jump, while Lucy Fellows earned the women their first individual title of the weekend. Fellows took home the gold medal in the women's heptathlon. She's the first woman in program history to win the event in the ACC Championships. Just like their recent jumping success, Louisville continued their program tradition of throwing. Kaia Tupu-South finished second in the shot put with a throw of 17.56m, improving her position of third in program history and maintaining a spot among the top-ten in the NCAA this year. 

Louisville's team lead unfortunately unraveled in the final day of competition, as the sprints are not a program strength. While the men added three more golds, the women were unable to reach the top spot on the podium on Saturday. The Cards did earn three podium finishes on the women's side, though, with Alba Cuns Iglesias finishing second in the triple jump, posting the third-best wind-legal jump in school history. Sharvari Parulekar improved from ninth to third in her final jump, giving Louisville two on the podium in the event. Kaia Tupu-South added another silver medal to her collection, when she finished second in the discus throw. 

Louisville's final list of NCAA qualifiers isn't known just yet, but they won't have to travel far for the event regardless. UK hosts the East Region this year, so a quick trip over to Lexington is what awaits the qualifying Cards. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

After the thrill is gone --MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 WITH CARDS SOFTBALL SEASON OVER, WE GO INTO THE VOID FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS. 

It was Glenn Frey and Don Henley who wrote the Eagles classic "After The Thrill Is Gone" Although a song about a relationship (or sexual affair) ending...it can easily be about the end of Louisville Softball and Cardinals women's spring sports fading into the hills. 

After TheThrill Is Gone

We will still find things to write about here at Cardinal Couple. We always have... and despite it being just Case and I now. He is a talented and creative writer and I am the old fart that is still doing this. I am no longer allowed to contact or interview Louisville coaches or players...(I envision this "wanted" poster of me hanging in locker rooms and entrances to Cardinals sports venues ) but, we have consistently tried to report on the joy and excitement of UofL women's athletics and remind the new "guard" down there to beware of the old dog on the porch. I do have a following. I know "stuff". 

We'll keep an eye on many things. Transfers and recruiting and prospects. ACC news, too. when it affects what is going on with the Cardinals.

What they fail to realize is that I was there way back in the mid seventies when it was a kinder, gentler and most friendly scenario. The days of the Cards in the Missouri Valley Conference. Before the foibles of internet accounts...and them being hacked and a paranoid staff in Louisville athletics. When you could actually go in and talk to a coach and discuss things that are off-base now. 

I have had some good teachers in journalism and some great writers here. I had a very successful radio show. I've also covered some pretty rough and program changing things. I guess all journalists go through the peaks and valleys of writing. It is encouraging to know that several of the previous coaches still follow me and offer the occasional encouragement or point-of-order corrections, ideas and suggestions. My days of covering events in person are done, and my photographer was bullied into ceasing his relationship with me in order to retain his media pass.  Things aren't always "Brady Bunch" happy and smooth sailing down on Floyd Street, y'all.

But, I am an alumni and continue to cover my school. I will, until the senility or health issues take those abilities away from me. A former, long time reader was surprised to see I was still "at it" with the site and sent me a interesting e-mail. She reminded me about a night at a conference basketball tournament when a certain someone engaged in a bit too much spirits and passed out in my room and on my bed. She told me that that person had recently had a debilitating stroke and she was now in a nursing home. She reminded me that the person was only three years older than me.  

Life is funny sometimes. But, as my daddy used to tell me...do the best you can, and settle for the results or look for a way to improve them. The sun will rise in the morning and you can't please everyone. Maybe try pleasing yourself now and then....you might just like it. 

Softball will regroup and recruit and go through the transfer bruhaha that now envelopes the sport. In watching the NCAA Tournament, it is eye-opening to see the former Cardinals shining on other teams. They have a solid nucleus returning (so far) and a great coach to guide them. A coach I had some great interviews with. Back when I wasn't deemed to be a "persona non-grata" on campus by some, who influenced a lot of others.  

Life is funny sometimes. 

paulie

paulie