Soccer, Volleyball triumph on Friday

SATURDAY @ C.C.

-Lola leads Cards to win over the Hoyas

-Soccer qualifies for BIG EAST tournament with a 1-0 win

-BIG EAST WBB Media Day observations

Lola Arslanbeckova continued her torrid net domination with 22 kills yesterday in Cardinal Arena as the Volleyball team downed Georgetown in four games 21-25, 25-14, 25-18 and 25-18. Seven in a row now for the streaking Cards and they improve to 7-1 in league play.

It didn't start easily for Yelin's netters. Georgetown came out fired up in the first game and stunned the Cards with determined and impressive team play to take the first contest by four points. Louisville led most of the way but the Hoyas were able to tie the match at 17-17 and capture eight of the final twelve volleys to ground the Birds.

Arslanbeckova took control in the second game and powered five kills over the net to lead Louisville to a 15-10 lead and eventual 11 point win. The Cardinals kept up with the hot hitting after the break and sunk the Hoyas in the third match by 10 points. The final was Louisville's all the way and key blocks by Gwen Rucker and Amanda Simmons assured the Cards would win the game and match. Rucker had seven blocks on the afternoon and setter Taylor Brauneis was spectacular with 40 assists for Louisville.

The Cards (13-5, 7-1) take the floor again on Sunday against rival South Florida at 1 p.m. This one will be televised locally on WHAS-TV.

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Jennifer Jones sent a first half penalty kick into the net for the only score in Louisville's 1-0 win over Seton Hall yesterday in South Orange, NJ. Louisville goes to 10-7 and 4-6 with the win and more importantly, qualified for the BIG EAST tournament with the victory.

Taylor Vancil turned in a strong net guarding performance for Louisville, recording 12 saves. the Pirates actually outshot Louisville 16-13 and 12-5 on shots on goal, but they could not get the ball past the sophomore from Chicago. Louisville has never lost to Seton Hall.

The Cards travel across state to Piscataway for a Sunday matchup versus Rutgers next. The BIG EAST Tournament starts Thursday, Oct 28th. at various campus sites and it was not known at the time of this article where, when and who Louisville will get in the first round. The Cards could actually finish as high as third in the National division of the BIG EAST with a win over Rutgers and a little luck in other games.

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The BIG EAST Women's Media Day took place at B.B. King's restaurant in New York earlier this week. No surprises here, UConn was picked to finish first by the coaches in the preseason poll, gathering 15 of the 16 first place votes. We're figuring Geno selected WVU, and the Eers came in second in the voting. Maya Moore swept the BIG EAST preseason Player of the Year award.

Louisville ended up 8th in the voting. The full results are below.

1. UConn 2. WVU 3. Georgetown 4. Notre Dame 5. St. John's 6. DePaul 7. Rutgers 8. LOUISVILLE 9. Syracuse 10. Marquette 11. South Florida 12. Providence 13. Pittsburgh 14. Villanova 15. Cincy 16. Seton Hall

I can't see too much out of kilter with the coach's decisions. I do think Louisville might be a little low here...I did my own preseason prognostication and had the Cards at seventh. Rutgers I had sixth. DePaul in the eight hole. Can't argue with the top three and honestly I could have gone with St. John in 4th. It really doesn't matter. These preseason bashes are all about the publicity and Connecticut anyway. I hope the meal was good, the beverages cold and that Quentin Hillsman, Syracuse head coach, wore one of his flashy suits. the guy knows how to style out.

I'll go out on a limb here, though and predict that someone will end the Huskies win streak this year and that they'll also suffer a BIG EAST loss. Moore is all that but graduation losses will make the difference. You don't replace a Tina Charles easily. UConn has a brutal pre-conference schedule with Baylor and Oklahoma on it. Can't wait to hear what a Geno post game press conference sounds like after a Husky loss.

Gotta love him. Harry Perretta returns for his 33rd season as the Villanova skipper. He gets seven letterwinners back and forward Laura Sweeney. Louisville could follow the Philadelphia school's example and sweeten Jeff Walz's pot to ensure he will be around for that long. Don't let this guy get away, T.J. You know how the S.E.C. loves to raid our coaching pool...

And, in a shocking development...the 2011 BIG EAST tournament will be held at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Eight years in a row now. Hey, BIG EAST...why not give that beautiful complex down by the Ohio River a shot? And, I'm not talking about Cincinnati's Shoemaker Arena.

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Cards vs. Huskies in football today at 3:30. Be there. BE strong. Be early. Louisville wins 33-27. (I hope) GO CARDS!

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Anne Donovan is the new coach at Seton Hall and obviously has her work cut out for her on the South Orange campus. I like the choice. She's a former Olympic gold medalist and was coaching the WNBA's New York Ly the Liberty before taking the Pirate assignment. She is a winner, got royally screwed by the Liberty and is a class act. We're cheering for ya, Anne. Except for when you face the Cards on Feb. 26th in the Yummy Arena.