Friday Cardinal Couple -- Cards defeat Belmont 3-1 in NCAA 1st round

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FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Lola, Rucker lead Cards past Bemont 3-1

-Cards headed to a BCS Bowl!

The University of Louisville Volleyball team defeated Belmont 21-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-21 to advance to the 2nd round in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Thursday night in the KFC YUM! Center.

It didn't come easy for Anne Kordes' squad.

Cards prepare to play

Belmont came out ready to give the Cards a battle from the opening serve. Knotted early, the OVC champs took a 11-9 lead over the Cards on a Allison McCoy kill. Louisville battled back, though and took a 15-12 lead after a kill by Tanya Lukyanenko. The Cards extended that lead to 20-16 after a Lola kill and Belmont needed a timeout.

The strategy worked. With Scarlet Gable serving, Belmont ran off eight straight points and had the Cards at set point. Emily Juhl's kill kept the Cards alive for one volley, but Belmont got a kill from Jocelyn Youngdahl to take game one 25-21.

Kaitlynn James serving

Belmont remained on fire to start game two and led 5-1 early, thanks in part to three Louisville attack errors. The Cards came back to tie it at 5-5, though and the game was still close at 15-15 when Lola went to work.

Three straight Lola kills and it was 18-15. Belmont called a timeout. This time, the strategy didn't have as much success, the Cards extending that lead to 21-16 after another Lola kill. Kaitlynn James ended the set with a kill on a nice feed from Hannah Kvitle to take the second game 25-19 and tie the match at 1-1. Lola had eight kills in the second game.

Gwen Rucker serves

After the break, UofL and Belmont got engaged in another nail biter. Neither team could gain a clear advantage and the contest was even at 13-13 before four Belmont attack errors helped the Cards grab a 20-15 advantage. Three more Belmont miscues had the Cards at 23-17 and kills from Tanya and Lola ended it. Cards 25-18 and up 2-1 in games.

The rowdy Belmont students and the girl who saved my
life (deflecting a kill headed directly toward my head). 

Once again, the early stages of the next and final game were tooth and nail. Louisville took an 8-8 tie to a 15-10 lead after Gwen Rucker aced a serve. Although Belmont would climb back within three at 21-18, Gwen's kill put the Cards up by four, a Belmont attack error made it 23-18 Cards and Lola's kill had the Cards at match point 24-19. Belmont would not go quietly, though. Two straight Gable kills made it 24-21. A service error ended it, though and Louisville rejoiced with a 25-21 triumph.

Lola had 19 kills for the Cards and Gwen Rucker added 13 for the victorious Cards. Together they produced 32 of the 55 UofL kills for the match. Rucker added seven blocks and Caitlin Welch led a balanced Cardinal dig effort with 19.
The Cards hit .214 against the pesky Belmont squad.

Caitlin Welch, Gwen Rucker and Anne Kordes
address the media after the win.

2782 in attendance Thursday night in the KFC YUM! Center and Louisville advances to Friday night 2nd round action to face Michigan, who defeated Tennessee earlier in the day 3-2.

Coach Kordes was effusive in her praise for the scrappy Belmont squad in post games remarks and spoke about the tough match ahead against the tough BIG 10 squad. She was also philisophical about the Cards having to go to Berkeley, CA instead of West Lafayette, IN. if they get past the Wolverines tonight.

In Anne's hire, Tom Jurich has put another one deep over the fence and touched all the bases. She exudes confidence, gives great post-game summations and recaps, answers questions with detailed knowlege, and...oh, yeah...she's a darn good volleyball coach as well. 

Game time Friday night is 7:30. We think you should go.

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An incredible, come-from-behind effort by Louisville Football Thursday night at Rutgers -- falling behind 14-3 to the Scarlet Knights but fighting back to win 20-17. John Wallace's field goal with 1:41 to go gave the Cards the BIG EAST title and the Cards will be heading to a BCS Bowl. The guess here is the Orange Bowl, with the Sugar Bowl a possibility.

Teddy Brigdewater, gutting it out with a broken wrist, bum knee and ankles. Hats off to you, sir! In the words of Rocky..."I didn't hear no bell, Tommy!".

We recommend Charlie Springer's excellent read on this donnybrook. The link for Charlie's site -- Card Game-- is below.

Louisville going Bowling!


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Thursday Cardinal Couple -- Louisville WBB romps EKU 76-42

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THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Schimmel's with 12 each in 32-point UofL win

-Volleyball tonight!

With 1:25 to go in the first half of the UofL women's basketball game Wednesday night, it was Louisville 33-Bryant 9. Yes, I know Louisville was playing Eastern Kentucky and no...it's not a misprint. EKU guard Jalisa Bryant had all nine of the Colonels points...on three three-pointers. She reached double figures for the half with ten...Jasmine Stafford added a free throw to make it 39-11 at the half.

For the first four minutes, it was questionable whether Louisville was aware they could score, too...down 6-0 at the 16:18 mark. Fatigue, both mental and physical seemed to be the culprit.

 A Bria Smith free throw, though, started a eight minute, 19-0 Cardinal run that had Louisville up 19-6 before Bryant connected on her third three of the half. Key to the run was the insertion of Jude Schimmel and Monique Reid into the game...Mo's four straight points got Louisville within one and four straight from Shoni put the Cards ahead to stay.

Louisville got balanced scoring in the first twenty minutes...nine of the eleven Cards who played hit the scoring column...Shoni leading the way with eight. The Cards held EKU to 14.3% shooting (3-21) and had forced 17 EKU turnovers, while committing only four. The 11 points is a season low for an opponent in the first half of a game this year.

Louisville started the same five (Hammond, Slaughter, Deines, Smith and Shoni) in the second half but saw the Colonels get production from someone else besides Bryant and actually used a 6-0 run to climb within 21 points at 46-25 with 13:24 left.

Shades of Tennessee-Martin?

Not tonight. Louisville responded with a 14-6 run that had them up after a Shawnta Dyer layup 60-31 with 8:24 remaining. From there on...it was purely a matter of how much Louisville would win by. Jude's three at the 2:32 mark made it 70-40 and the Cards outscored EKU 6-2 the rest of the way to take it by 34 points. Final: Louisville 76-EKU 42.

Jude and Shoni led the way for Louisville with 12 points each. Jude's came on a stellar 4-5 from the field and 3-4 from the foul line. Monique Reid finished with 11 (in 11 minutes...proving the Mo per Minute point philosophy is still alive and well). "The Hammer" -- Sara Hammond and Cortnee Walton added eight points, Shawnta Dyer seven, Megan Deines six, Bria Smith five, Nita Slaughter four, Shelby Harper three and Sheronne Vails one. All Cards played and all scored. 

Louisville outrebounded the Colonels 45-38, with the Hammer grabbing 7. Eastern's Jade Barber (a Louisville Ballard alumni) led all rebounders with 10 and also had 11 points. The Cards shot 42.4% for the game and had forced 24 EKU turnovers. Official attendance was 7942.

Things we liked

1. Turnovers = Points. The Cards scored 29 points off the 24 turnovers and had 44 points in the paint. Good to see the transition game in gear and 17 offensive rebounds.

2. Jude in the Mood. Another solid performance from the sophomore tonight...80% from the field, 75% from the line and a team-leading six assists. She also grabbed six rebounds. We're still waiting to hear if she drove the team bus back to campus.

3. Defense, defense! Louisville couldn't shoot worth a spit early...but made sure the Colonels didn't either. Over eight minutes without a EKU basket after Bryant's first two threes. That works for me.

4. No fold. The Cards saw a mini-EKU run cut it to a 21-point lead in the second half. The Cards did not panic, though...and rolled off eight straight points in response.

Things to Work On

1. Cardinals, start your engines! The Cards were 0 for 10 from the floor in the first four minutes of the game. Maybe jet lag? Not according to Shoni..."We weren't focused mentally". (They got better).

2. Gotta hit the free ones. I'll harp on it until it improves to 70%. 17-28 from the charity stripe. 60.7%. That needs to get to 70% or better. 11 missed points could be crucial Sunday against "you know who".

3. Stark from beyond the arc. Louisville went 3-14 from three-point range. 21.4%. One each for Shoni, Jude and Nita. Another area that must get better. If "Shake'Em" nails over 50% from the arc this year, I'll probably pass out from the shock.

Still...a good, quality win against an opponent who will definitely make some noise in the OVC. A nice tune-up before the UK game. A great way to top off an exciting day in the history of UofL sports.

They said it. (From the post-game presser.)

Shoni on the start:

"We just weren't mentally prepared for this game. We came out and picked it up after a little bit but we just lolli-gagged. Our bench gave us a good spark and for them to come up and take off was good for us."

Shoni on Jude making plays:

" It's awesome! To just watch her go out there or be on the court with her and see do her own thing....it's awesome." 

Shoni on what needs to happen between the EKU game and UK game:

"Definitely a day of rest. We been going pretty hard for the past few weeks and just a day of rest is going to help a lot. We want to be prepared for this game Sunday, because it is a big game for us and we want to do the best we can...so for us to be mentally prepared is probably the best answer for that." 

Sara on what the team can take out of the win:

" We can't take any teams for granted. Not saying like...'Oh, they're Eastern Kentucky and we're going to come out and blow them out'. Mentally, like Shoni said, we came out and said 'Oh, this is going to be a win for us'. A team like UK, a top ten team...with their defense where they pressure you and deny you...we have to come mentally prepared and bring energy."

Sara on Monique Reid off the bench:

"She comes in and she's instant points. She knows how to score...and she'll tell you that's what she does. Her experience, her scoring ability and being able to get to the free throw line. We're going to need that come Sunday...because they've got bigger post players this year." 

Coach Walz on the start of the game:

"We're tired. We're a tired group and I was concerned about that. We need a day off to just get acclimated again. Get back to school. Get some rest. Our travel schedule has been crazy. I think that had something to do with it. And, we're 0 for 10 in our first shots. We had some good shots. We just missed them. Then, we give up back-to-back threes where we just weren't there mentally. We're probably more mentally tired than we are physically. And with what we're asking them to get done, you can't be mentally tired".

Walz on Jude:

"I've challenged her. Now that teams know how well she passes the ball, they're going to force her and make her try to finish. And she hit some nice pull-up jumpers tonight. She's probably the best we've got going off ball screen. Just how low she gets. She passes the ball extremely well. I was really pleased for her."

( As were the fans, Coach. Cats Sunday. Volleyball Thursday and Friday. Football, too. It's a great time to be a Cardinal fan. But, has there ever been a time when it hasn't been?)

Best Walz quip of the night.

When asked about the 11-point first half performance of EKU:

"Yeah, and one player had ten of them. If we could have guarded her, it would have been a pretty good first half."



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As mentioned, Volleyball tonight in the YUM! against Belmont. The Cards have already won the Derby and Preakness, so.... The Rutgers vs. Louisville football game will be shown in various places as well inside the arena...so c'mon out and celebrate! Michigan vs. Tennessee at 5 pm. and Louisville vs. Belmont at 7:30 p.m. 

This is your chance to see exciting NCAA Volleyball action featuring the University of Louisville Cardinals and the Tenn. vs. Michigan match should be a very exciting one also.

The Cards are fortunate to have this first and second round match-up at home and if they are successful..they'll head to Berkeley, CA for the regionals. Then, it's back to the KFC YUM! Center for the Final Four if they take two on the left coast.

Anne Kordes and her staff have done a wonderful job with this team. In only her second year here, she's combined a roster of seasoned veterans and talented newcomers to sweep the regular season and tournament titles in the BIG EAST. In the ACC, they'll face even tougher opponents and challenges.

They deserve our support. Please get out to provide it Thursday amd Friday if at all possible. 
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welljustdropthislittlepregamepredicitiononyouandpredictthatuoflbeatskentuckyinthekfcyumcenterbythescoreof77to70.ifanyoneisabletoreadthis,goodjob!

Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Basketball returns home

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Cards to ACC!

-Cards to face EKU in KFC YUM! Center Wednesday

-Cards WBB prospect scores 33.

The University of Louisville is the newest member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cards were voted in Wednesday morning in a teleconference among ACC officials.

Bye, bye DePaul, Marquette and Seton Hall. Hello UNC, Duke and Florida State!

Tom Jurich...doing work. Lobbying. If there is a better A.D. in the universe, show me. 

Sixth member of the BIG EAST to bolt. Cards supposed to be out by 2014. We'll see. The buyout is chump change. A possibility of an early exit? And, unlike WVU...we don't need to hit the member schools up for $1 mil each to cover the tab.

We'll miss the challenge of not playing Tulane, Memphis and East Carolina in women's basketball.

ROTFLMAO.

The ACC, in case you were worried...does allow alcohol sales in arenas. Go ahead and renew your season tickets Mondo Vendo and Bread Boy...  

The Cards will replace Maryland, who heads to the BIG TEN. At a cost of $50 million.

After the disappointment of seeing West Virginia go to the BIG 12 instead of Louisville, this is cause for celebration.

For womens' sports...hello to top competition in field hockey, softball, volleyball, soccer, women's basketball and lacrosse. We'll miss Geno and C.Viv on the KFC YUM! sidelines...but Sylvia and Coach P. should be just as entertaining. And, there's always "Q"...

Time for some new hoodies and gear...


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(CARDINAL COUPLE staff columnist Jenny O'Bryan gives us the scout on Louisville's next opponent and her thoughts on tonight's matchup)

Louisville Women’s Basketball returns home, after a 5 game road trip, to play Eastern Kentucky University today at 7:30 p.m.    The Cardinals return home 7-0, the best start for the team under Coach Walz, and look to extend that to 8-0 this evening.

The Cardinals had a dominant road trip leading the way most of the time and holding their opponents to under 23 points for 5 consecutive halves.    The Cardinals have had some outstanding stats, different leaders stepping up on any given night, and some outstanding defense over the recent road trip.  Two glaring issues Cardinals are likely working on are valuing every possession/minimizing turnovers and playing a full 40 minutes, with no mental lapses.   Controlling turnovers seem to always be a work in progress for the Cards, but regardless, they are taking care of business. 

Cardinals won at EKU last season, easily 77-53.  The Colonels return a veteran squad with 6 seniors and 3 juniors.  They also return 4 of the 5 starters from last year’s game.  Expect a starting line up of Alex Jones (senior forward), Jade Barber (senior center), Raechele Gray (senior guard) and Marie Carpenter (junior guard), all who started last season against the Cards.  The fifth starter is likely to be Brittany Coles, also a senior guard. 

The Colonels are led in scoring by Carpenter who is averaging 27 ppg, followed by Barber at 13 ppg and Coles, 12 ppg.  Cardinals have a height advantage with the tallest on the Colonel roster checking in at 6-2. 

EKU is 3-2 on the season, losing two in the San Juan Shootout to Florida State and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

On paper, this should be a win for our Cards.  Though, one can never take any opponent for granted.  For this game I would like to see our team minimize turnovers and get the inside game going.  With a height advantage over UT Martin, the Cards seemed to struggle with the inside game and relied heavily on guard play.  I would like to see our post players have a dominant game, thus heading in to the next big challenge, UK, with confidence.   Specifically, I’d love to see Shawnta Dyer have a great game.  WE all know she has it in her, dominating the paint and boards at the end of last season.   I am ready for that player to make her appearance this season.  

So, Cardinals, suit up and take care of business and keep this winning record going!  

( We agree with Jenny that 40 minutes of consistency would be a great thing to see Wednesday night. The Cards have the defensive skills and offensive firepower to do it night after night. Time to put the potential to work. )

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2014 Lady Cards target Sydney Brackemyre had a very successful night for Clinton-Massie. Link below.

(Hey, Sydney...we're headed to the ACC! How do you like us now?)

Sydney scores 33



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Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- Running, Running, Running!

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

(Staff columnist Sandy Walker brings us her weekly jaunt through Cardinal womens' athletics and more! Adjust your seatbelt, put your tray in the upright position and prepare for take off!)

This week Sandy will spend her time exchanging dirty laundry for clean clothes during brief stops home between attending matches and games.

Fans will need to put their running shoes on as

Wednesday

is basketball with Eastern KY,

Thursday and Friday are the opening rounds of the NCAA Volleyball Championship

and Sunday is the UK basketball game.

BASKETBALL – TENNESSEE MARTIN GAME

The now 7-0 Louisville women again did not trail during the course of their game and for 25 minutes looked to be unbeatable by anyone but then they also again managed to spend some time with a lost focus, while becoming sloppy and allowing too many unforced turnovers which opened the door for Tennessee Martin to reduce a Louisville 26 point lead to 11 with only 4:56 left.  They managed to keep it together for a 79-61 win but went for a period of time where the broadcaster said they appeared at times to be brain dead.                                          

In his post game interview Coach Walz said that they just were not mentally tough and it seemed Coach Walz was extremely upset at everyone including UofL play-by-play announcer Matt Andrews but did praise the team for a good job of guarding. 

(Editor's Note): The thing about Coach is that he can parody and feign anger, indifference and rage with the skill of a Shakesperian actor. It made for the best 10 minutes of radio of the evening...including Walz staying on to read the post-game UofL stats over the air and delivering a flawless recap of them...including a brief synopsis of each player's acheivements. The bottom line is that Coach was probably as upset over the Cards losing a 26 point lead with 15:16 to go as we were at home...listening to the game. And, he has a lot more vested in the outcome than we the fans do.

               

Fortunately the women were able to come away with the win with Bria Smith (16), Sara Hammond (14), Megan Deines (15) , Shoni Schimmel (16) and Monique Reid (10) all shooting double figures.  Deines appears to improve with each outing.  Her 3 pointer will soon not only match but exceed Becky’s Big Shot threat.  Tonight was a break out game of sorts for Bria Smith who added a game high 7 rebounds to her status.  It appears that over the summer Bria has added an outside shot to her lay-up arsenal and it is paying off.  Also note that this was Sara’s 4^th game of the season with double shooting figures while last year she only had 4 games which showed double figures.   Shows what an intensive and dedicated summer can do.  In addition, Louisville out rebounded UTM 40-22.

Looking forward to a solid 40 minutes of play this Wednesday against Eastern Kentucky as a primer for UK on Sunday.

Again I want to give a shout-out to the OVC network which allowed Louisville fans to watch the game while listening to Matt and A.J.’s radio broadcast.

Louisville outrebounded the SkyHawks 40-22 and shot a sizzling 55.4% for the game (31-56). They also sank 6-20 from 3-point range. Shoni had four of them and Megan Deines two. 19 turnovers for the Lady Cards, compared to 17 for UTM. Hats off for the free throw shooting! 11-13, which is the best outing of the year at the charity stripe.

We mentioned Monday that Newsome and Butler would be ones to watch and they were, indeed. They made 14 of the 25 baskets UTM scored and had 33 of the 61 points.

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VOLLEYBALL

The Louisville YUM! CENTER and our 10^th ranked Volleycards have been awarded the first and second rounds of the 64 team Division I national championship tournament.   

This is the 15^th consecutive year for the Volleycards to gain an NCAA bid and is a testament to the strength of the program.  Louisville’s match on Thursday is with OVC winner Belmont.  Wins on both nights will send them to Berkley for regionals before a return to the championships.  The marketing department has been promoting that the road to the championship begins and ends in Louisville.

Tickets for both the first and second opening rounds and the Championship can be obtained by contacting the Louisville Ticket Office during normal business hours (Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.) by phone (502-852-5863) or e-mail (ticketoffice@louisville.edu).  Opening rounds are scheduled for this Thursday and Friday and both nights can be seen for a total of $20 by adults and $10  for students and children.   The Championships are set for December 13th and 15^th   with ticket prices subject to age and arena location.

VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT BRACKETS

 

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BASKETBALL SCHEDULE CHANGES

Wednesday’s game against Eastern KY has been changed to 7:30 from 7:00.

Sunday’s game against UK has been changed to 6:00.

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“NELL ON WHEELS” WITH NELL FORTNER COMING TO LOUISVILLE

Nell Fortner will be in Louisville for the UK game with her road show.  Information about the new show can be found at  http://www.fullcourt.com/ncaa/22157/nell-fortner-takes-road-game-day-show but more importantly everyone on Sunday needs to be at the YUM! CENTER a full one hour early before the start of the UK game.  Nell’s RV road show will move indoors to the lobby where her show will be taped for later distribution.  UK fans are arriving by bus and plan to arrive in time for her show which will feature open discussion with fans of both teams and perhaps featured guests which she will later select.  Those present should feel free to be a part of the video – otherwise the UK folks will appear to out-number us at our own arena.   Remember: SUNDAY -- BE AT THE ARENA LOBBY ONE HOUR BEFORE TIP OFF AND JOIN IN THE PRODUCTION.

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LOUISVILLE CARDS MOBILE APP

Today I learned that the Louisville Cards Mobile App also has available a live game day audio and video premium option.  My excitement is that I now have the ability to listen to the live game broadcast while at the game.  Readers who know of other options to do the same please share it with our readers through the comment section.

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WOMEN’S GAMES ON TV THIS WEEK

There are a large number of games being publically broadcast this week.

Note: The schedule above lists the Louisville/KEntucky game at 2 p.m. Just a reminder...it is at 6 p.m.

 

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BASKETBALL WOMEN WINS HARDWOOD TOURNMENT

The women beat Oregon on Thursday to win the Hardwood Tournament which was played at Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  High scorers were Shoni Schimmel with 15 and Sara Hammond with 17.  The team ended the tournament at 6-0 for the season.

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TOP 100 PROGRAMS

SBN has the full list of Top 100 programs in women's NCAA Division I basketball.  It can be found at http://www.swishappeal.com/2012/11/3/3596590/top-100-programs-womens-ncaa-division-i-basketball-full-list with Louisville coming in at # 10.

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ATTENDANCE

 SBN also has compiled a great article which came from the study of NCAA Division I attendance figures for men’s and women’s basketball.   One of the revelations for me is that due to our above average attendance at Louisville for both the men and women’s teams that we are unaware of most of the rest of the team situations. The average men's college basketball attendance for home games in NCAA Division I is 4,994. The average women's basketball attendance for home games is 1,583.   Not 14,000 vs  1500 but 4,994 vs 1,583.  This averages to 3 fans attending men’s team games per 1 fan attending a women’s game.  My second revelation is that there are actually schools where the women’s teams outdraw those attending the men’s game.   Baylor and Notre Dame are among those schools with higher attendance at the women’s basketball games than those who attend the men’s game.   Surprised/shocked -- yea  -- me too!  My remaining question is how much longer is it going to be before Louisville is added to this list as their team play is organized and exciting to watch?

Just for the record

                                     MEN              WOMEN                   RATIO

           

Louisville	21,503	10,670	2.02
Kentucky	23,721	6,282	3.78

The complete article can be found at http://www.swishappeal.com/2012/11/21/3659730/ncaa-womens-basketball-attendance-mens .

Sandy W.
 

Monday Cardinal Couple - Louisville WBB faces UTM

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Cards fly into SkyHawks nest in battle of birds

***************GAME RECAP*************

Cards survive a scare in the second half and defeat UTM 79-61 Monday night in Martin, TN. Louisville jumped out to a 18-4 lead in the first six minutes and led 41-22 at the half. The Cards stretched that to 52-26 in the second half with 15:16 left...but the SkyHawks cut the lead to 68-57 with 4:56 to go.

Shoni Schimmel's three with 1:40 remaining was the death knoll for the SkyHawks...making it 77-61. The Cards were able to outscore UTM 11-4 the final 4:56 of the game to get the "W" and and go to 7-0.

Five in double figures for Louisville, led by 16 each by Bria Smith and Shoni Schimmel.

We'll have much more on the win in the Tuesday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE.

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They may not be as well known as a couple of the teams in their state like the Vols or Commodores, but Tennessee-Martin hopes to gain some national name recognition with a defeat of the University of Louisville tonight in women's college basketball. Playing the #6 Cards shouldn't give the SkyHawks any jitters or anxiety...they've already faced Baylor and Stanford this season.

UTM ran the gauntlet of fearsome opponents in their recent trip to Hawaii for a tournament. Having to face the home team....Hawaii...and national powerhouses Stanford and Baylor probably gave the SkyHawks all the preparing for a big game lessons they'll need for the rest of the season. Although UTM failed to win any of the three contests, they didn't get pulverized by the trio either.

UTM (1-4) was picked to win their division in the Ohio Valley Conference in a preseason coaches poll and will have the home court advantage tonight against the Cards.

Jasmine Newsome, a junior guard from Millington, TN. was named the adidas Ohio Valley Conference Co-Player of the Week for her efforts in the Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahine Classic in Hawaii last weekend.

(Don't you just love how awards and events always seem to have sponsors now? Maybe WE need to become The 'That's a Good Dog!' CARDINAL COUPLE Website"...)

Newsome put up 20.3 points, six rebounds and 5.7 assists in the three games. 25 points against Hawaii, 24 against Baylor and 12 against Stanford. She played against Louisville last year in the KFC YUM! Center and had 11 points in 38 minutes in a 70-57 loss to the Cards.

Another UTM player to keep an eye on is Heather Butler. She and Newsome combined for 135 of the SkyHawks 204 points in Hawaii. Butler played against the Cards last year also and led the SkyHawks in scoring with 13 points.

Louisville goes to SkyHawk Arena (capacity 5000) to face their second OVC opponent of the season. The Cards travelled to Clarksville, TN to play and defeat Austin Peay back on Nov. 15th. They are 2-0 lifetime against the SkyHawks, as is Jeff Walz. We've never made the trip to Martin, TN....so we can't give a lodging and restaurant recommendation report if you're headed down to the game. It's a college town, probably a few nice bistros and chain hotels.  

Louisville struggled in the first half last year against UTM and led by only 35-30 at half-time. In the Cards' defense, it was a game played three days after Christmas and the Cards first in nine days...after returning from their west coast swing against Portland and Washington State. The SkyHawks put up a eye-popping 30 three-pointers against Louisville last year (sinking 6). Our guess is Butler and Newsome will launch the majority of the trifectas again tonight against Louisville...they went a combined 11-19 in a win over Arkansas State earlier this year.

For Louisville, it's a road trip that comes at the end of a stretch that has had the Cards on the road for games since Nov. 11th. At 6-0, Louisville has a busy week ahead, hosting Eastern Kentucky on Wednesday and Kentucky Sunday in the KFC YUM! Center. Mix in Cardinal Volleyball on Thursday and Friday nights and the KFC YUM! Center looks to be a busy place this week.

The game will be on the OVC Network if you want to watch it online. Link is below. You have to register for the site, but it's free. Tip is 8 p.m. E.S.T. We'll have the full report shortly after the action for you.

Cards vs. SkyHawks

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Volleyball triumphs over Belmont -- awaits NCAA pairing and assignment.

-Women's Basketball 6-0 and facing a tough week ahead.

***************** SEEDING UPDATE*****************

As expected, the UofL volleyball team will play their first and second rounds games in the KFC YUM! Center on Thursday and Friday. First round opponent is Belmont University...who the Cards defeated last Friday. The other two teams that will play in the YUM! are Tennessee and Michigan. The winners will face off Friday night.

Louisville is in the Berkeley (CA) region, which means they'd travel there if they are successful in winning two on their home court. We'll have more on this tomorrow....including times, hopefully.

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The University of Louisville Volleyball team disposed of OVC Tournament Champion Belmont Friday afternoon in Cardinal Arena and now awaits their fate in the NCAA Tournament. The Cards took the straight set sweep 26-24, 25-21, 25-14 to improve to 29-3 on the season and Gwen Rucker slammed home another impressive game with 15 kills. Lola Arslanbekova added 14. Seniors Tanya Lukyanenko and Kaitlynn James contributed to the victory as well...with eight and seven kills respectively.

It's now a matter of "wait and see" as the team awaits the NCAA Volleyball Selection Show, which will be aired on ESPNU Sunday @ 4:00 p.m. Anne Kordes and the squad will be throwing a selection watch party at Bearno's By The Bridge (near the KFC YUM! Center) at 3:30 p.m.

Lasagna with Lola. Rigatoni with Rucker. Meatballs with Mattingly. Sounds like a great time. We're huge Bearno's fans here at Cardinal Couple and recommend the Mama Bearno's pizza if you go...

It's no secret that the Cards have bid to host 1st. and 2nd. round matches at the KFC YUM! Center, beginning Thursday, November 29th. and ending Friday, November 30th. They're going to get that request, in our opinion...so here's the skinny on tickets.

All-session for adults are $20. Seniors and youth get in for $10. Bring a chimp and get in free.(Not really, but wouldn't that be fun!). Single-session are $12 for adults, $7 for seniors and youth and $5 for college students. Get a group of 10 more for the single session and it's $5 each as well.

All-session tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Monday and can be purchased at the Louisville Athletic Ticket Office at (502) 852-5151, online at GoCards.com or in person at the Student Activities Center ticket office between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

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Jeff Walz's WBB squad is 6-0 and preparing for a road trip to UT-Martin after winning three games in three days in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in the Hardwood For Hope Tournament. Three games for the Cards in a seven day stretch...they host EKU on Wednesday and arch-rival UK on Sunday.

We'll have more on UT-Martin in the Monday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE, but they're not an opponent to be taken lightly. Three starters back from a squad that went 23-9 last season and made the NCAA Tournament. This year, the Skyhawks are 1-4...but the losses have come against quality opponents like the defending national champs Baylor (82-67), Stanford --who beat Baylor last week -- (92-68), Big 10 Northwestern (79-69) and Hawaii (73-69).

You can guarantee that Skyhawk fans will pack SkyHawk Arena, on the UT-Martin campus for this one. A great early season test for Walz's squad in a hostile on-the-road environment awaits.

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FROM THE "TELL YOUR STATISTICS TO SHUT-UP" DEPARTMENT


Here's how the numbers stack up so far for the Lady Cards this season.

Points per game - Shoni Schimmel 13.0
Rebounds per game - Sara Hammond 8.7
Steals - Bria Smith 11
Assists - Shoni Schimmel 20
Three-Point Shooting % - Nita Slaughter .421 (8-19)
Overall Shooting % - Sherrone Vails .650 (13-20)
Free Throws % - Nita Slaughter 1.000 (2-2)
Minutes played - Shoni 171 (28.5 per game)
High point total (game) - Sara Hammond 20 (vs. Texas A&M)

The Cards have out-scored their opponnents 442 (73.7 per game) to 303 (50.5 per game). They're also out-rebounding foes 245-193. They've forced a total of 132 turnovers. In two home games, Louisville is averaging 8660 per game. On the road and in neutral sites...uh, well....hmmm, we seem to have lost those figures.  

TV will be available for the Monday night matchup against UT-Martin on the OVC Network. We recommend you turn down the sound and listen to Matt Andrews and Adrienne Johnson's call on WKRD 790 AM, if possible. Depending on where the two are set up...you can hear Jeff Walz join the broadcast (he doesn't even need a microphone!) with his instructions, teaching points and observations from the sidelines...along with his award-winning post game show with Matt.

OVC Network link below:

Louisville vs. UTM

Tipoff is 8:00 p.m. E.S.T.

Have a great Sunday, everybody and GO CARDS!
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Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Remembering the Past

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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Jan Langley Brewer recalls early Cardinal Volleyball and women's basketball.

We got a letter a few days ago from Jan Langley Brewer, a member of the Central Cardinal Club and participant on the UofL volleyball and women's basketball team from the early 1960's. Jan and Paul have had a couple of great discussions on sports the way it was back then for Cardinal Womens' athletes and she sent some team pictures as well with the letter. Jan writes:

Dear Paul,

Enclosed are some photos as promised. The photos are of UofL's Women's Volleyball teams in the early 60's (61-62-63?). One photo is the women's early 1960's basketball team.

As the first photo shows - we were the state (college level) Volleyball Champs 1963. Clearly, one of us snatched the "game ball" as that is a Centre College volleyball in the picture. Notice those flashy uniforms!

Unfortunately, there are no dates or player's names on my original photos. I guess I thought I would remember! I do recall some first names and nick names- but, not last names. Except for my friend Linda Tucker. Like myself, she is in all four photos. By the way, I was Jan Langley back then...not married yet.

I do recall that not all team members showed up for photos - so there would be several team members who are not in any photo. The women wearing the blazer in the third and four photos is Lois Massie, who coached all of the women's sports teams back then. She was also an instructor at UofL.

In the top photo, I am the 2nd from the right - kneeling in the front row. I'll leave it up to you and your readers to find me in the other three photos...sort of a game of "Where's Jan?".

My friend Linda Tucker lives in Orange Beach, AL. now and she could probably recall more about UofL women's sports in the 60's. Her cousin was Harold "Butch" Adams, who you might remember.

Mercy sakes! It just dawned on me that a couple of these photos are now 50 years old. Obviously, I must have attended UofL when I was 10 years old!

I hope my photos are of some interest to you and your readers.
-Jan

( What a great look back at the teams on campus back then! Sadly, there are no official records of how the women's sports teams did back in those days. We welcome any input on the sports from that era from you, our readers and maybe participants from then, might have. We have forwarded the photos and Jan's letter to her friend Linda and perhaps she'll recall and contact us with some more stories and memories from those days.

Remember, for every Angel McCoughtry, Gwen Rucker, Lola Arslanbekova and Shoni Schimmel that thrills us these days with their basketball and volleyball skills and talent -- there was a Jan Langley Taylor and Linda Tucker doing the same work and giving the same effort...in an era far before Title IX and large fan bases...
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