Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Volleyball sweeps Duke

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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Louisville sweeps Duke 3-0 in Volleyball

-Soccer shuts out SEMO 4-0

-Staff predictions on UofL vs. UK football game

The VolleyCards stayed on the winning path Friday night in the KFC YUM! Center...sweeping Duke in three games before a crowd of 2511. Led by Lola Arslanbekova's 19 kills, the Cards improved to 4-1 on the season with a 25-23, 25-12, 25-17 triumph over the A.C.C. powerhouse. 

The Cards jumped out to an early 2-1 lead in the first game on Lola's first kill of the evening and led 10-7 before Duke went on an 8-2 run and pushed ahead 15-12. The Cards rolled back, though...getting a service ace from Caitlin Welch to tie it up at 16-16 and Gwen Rucker's spike put the Cards ahead 20-18. Duke wold rally to tie the contest at 22-22 and 23-23 but Lola delivered a massive kill shot to give the Cards a one-point lead and Kaitlynn James expertly sent a tip past Duke defenders to give the Cards game one 25-23. 

(Not so Cameron Crazies in the KFC YUM Center)

Inspired by the win, Louisville took no prisoners in the second game. A 4-2 early Cardinal advantage ballooned to 15-7 after a Kaitlynn James kill at the net and the Cards...led by three Lola kills, out-pointed the Blue Devils 10-5 the rest of the way to win easily 25-12. 

After the halftime intermission, Duke offered a brief challenge..jumping out to a 4-1 lead to start the third game. Behind Lola and Brooke Mattingly, the Cards fought back and took the lead for good when a Lola block gave Louisville an 8-7 edge. The Cards steadily increased the lead the rest of the way...enjoying scores of 12-9, 16-12 and 24-15 before settling for the 25-17 final margin. Of particular note was the third game efforts of Mattingly...who recorded five kills in the final game and three straight during a stretch that saw Louisville go from a 17-14 lead to a 20-15 advantage. 

The Cards held Duke to just 17 kills in the final two games after allowing 15 in the first game. Louisville hit .333 for the contest and held Duke to .140. Welch and Lola led the Cards with 12 digs each. 

Two games today for the Cards...Marshall at 11 a.m. and Samford at 7:30 p.m. Samford defeated the Thundering Herd in earlier action on Friday.

POSTGAME : ANNE KORDES

(Opening remarks) 

" A huge win tonight. Duke is picked to contend for the ACC title and has a great tradition and winning program...so we couldn't be happier about it. I thought our girls played really well and we're working hard to get them prepared. I think their level of execution is at the highest level of any team I've ever coached. And, that's fun...because their IQ for Volleyball is very high. As a coach, you can just let them go out there and execute. We've got a lot of experienced upperclassmen and our freshmen are learning really fast. Tonight was a fun situation because we just controlled the game. 

(On Brooke Mattingly's third game effort)

" The reason she didn't come on before the third game is because we weren't setting her. We just got to get her the ball. She is going to be the girl that everybody prays doesn't have a good match. Opponents are going to have to key on Lola, key on Gwen...and if they key on them, it's going to leave Brooke wide open. And, that's fun...because she's taking full advantage of it when they do. 

(On Marshall and Samford next)

"Marshall is scary. They've got some Louisville kids on their team and we're the bigger, more established program...so, of course they want to come in here and show us up. I don't ever take anyone lightly. They struggled last year, we beat them last year but it's definitely not a game to mess around with. 

Samford...they go through their conference last year and don't drop a match. They'll probably do the same thing this year. They're a very dangerous team. They've got everyone back from last year. Their head coach actually worked for me at St. Louis. He does a really good job of firing them up and they have two senior leaders from Louisville..a player from Mercy Academy and one from Sacred Heart. We always like bringing opponents in with Louisville girls and giving them a chance to play."

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Louisville soccer improved to 3-0 on the season with a 4-0 win over Southeastern Missouri Friday afternoon in Lexington at the UK Tropical Smoothie Invitational.

Four different Cards provided the goals, Erin Yenney getting the first in the 18th minute of play. That held for the first half...Andrea Distler made it 2-0 Cards in the 55th minute of the second half. Nicole Mitchell gave Louisville a 3-0 advantage a few minutes later and Lauren Nash closed out the Cards scoring.

Louisville outshot SEMO 19-5...Chloe Kiefer had three saves while notching her 12th career shutout. 

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We promised you yesterday we'd have predictions from our columnists on the UofL vs. UK football game and the troops came through in fine form with their predictions. We even got a prediction from Anne Kordes!  Timmy the Intern has collated the results and totals and predicts Louisville will win. (He's brilliant that way...) Here we go...

Jenny: I'm predicting a 20-3 win by Louisville, That's right, gonna keep the Kitties on a tight leash and only allow a field goal. 

Sandy: Louisville 28-0 and it could be a larger spread. There is a reason the UK fans aren't able to make the long distance trip in from Lexington. It is their loss as the return of tickets from their allotment just made more seats available for the home team. Regardless of the prediction of rain, word has it that the Cat fans need to stay home to be close to their Kitty Litter boxes once the upset stomachs begin from the "deluge" of T.D's.

Sonya: UofL wins 35-10. UK's a basketball school, right? This isn't John Calipari or Rupp Arena. This is Joker Phillips taking his first loss of his final season in Lexington. Maybe he and Petrino can team up and open a car dealership or something. 

David: Give me Louisville 27-10. I do feel weather might be a factor in the contest, but I don't think UK or monsoon strength winds can slow down Teddy "Bilge" Water. Full steam ahead! 

Mark: First games are hard to predict. Louisville is the favorite and the last two games have been close. Could this one go into overtime like the one in 2000...where the Cards won 40-34? Not this time. I think the Cards offense will shine -- even if it is cloudy and rainy. Louisville 23- UK 10.

Paul: Given the weather forecast and first game adjustments...I'll take a 21-14 UofL win. If the rainy weather holds off, add 10 to the Louisville total. If my beer gets diluted...I'm leaving in the third quarter and headed to 80 Under 80 to change socks and play boccie ball.  

Jeff: In the rain, huh? Well, that doesn't affect bumping much, but it does make setting a lot tougher. What's that? Wrong sport? Jeff Walz hasn't even started preseason practices yet...Football? It's the UK Invitational but they're not actually going to play UK. Oh. That type of football, the American stuff. 
As I understand it, rain tends to keep scoring lower and since we're apparently going to be playing in the Monsoon Bowl, let's say 21-3...Cards winning of course.

Donny: I'm going to go ahead and predict a 31-14 victory for the Cards. I think the first half will be close with the Cards holding a slim 10-7 halftime lead, before they control the second half and win going away. 

Anne Kordes: 31-10 Louisville. Charlie Strong doesn't need any motivation from our win over UK Wednesday. He's very fired up for Sunday. 
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