Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Sports galore for Friday and Saturday

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Fellerhoff and Shine playing fine!

-Field Hockey falls to ODU by two in BIG EAST semis

-Volleyball falters, rallies against Houston

-Louisville WBB takes floor tonght vs. Loyola-Chicago


*************************BREAKING NEWS!!*********************

The University of Louisville doubles pair of Julia Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine advanced to the finals of the 2013 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships at the USTA Billie Jean National King Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. The Louisville pair beat Lauren Herring and Maho Kowase of Georgia 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 for the right to play for the doubles national championship.
"These girls are amazing!" said U of L head coach Mark Beckham. "They are playing like this is just another tournament. They are not nervous at all. The programs they are playing are legacy programs with multiple national championships. For these two girls to develop into the best players in the country, shows a lot about their character and their dedication to the program. They will be playhing for the first national championship of the program."Fellerhoff and Shine will face Megan Kure and Kendal Woodard of Georgia Tech for the National Championship at 10 a.m. Sunday morning.

****************************GAME UPDATE**********************

Sophomore guard Starr Breedlove isn't expected to play tonight against Loyola-Chicago because of a concussion suffered in practice earlier this week...per her tweet.


Plenty of sports activity swirling around the UofL campus and other place for Louisville women's athletics! We'd also like to remind you we'll have recaps, discussion and commentary on these topics on our Saturday radio show at 11 a.m. this morning. Come join us, wont you? Link below:

WE GOT BALLS, STICKS AND RACQUET'S !!


FELLERHOFF AND SHINE PLAY THIS MORNING AFTER ADVANCING TO SEMIS YESTERDAY

Louisville women's tennis' dynamite doubles duo Julia Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine took another impressive victory Friday at the 2013 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY.

This time, the victims of the fury were Sarah Lee and Ronit Yurovsky of the University of Michigan. These Wolverines had no boots in as 8-1 loss to F&S Inc.

Women's Tennis coach Mark Beckham was pleased:

"Becca and Julia played really well today. The thing that is encouraging is they are playing better each match they play," said U of L head coach Mark Beckham. " It is very similar to what they did at regionals. They never let Michigan get comfortable and were able to control the match. That is not easy to do because this Michigan team was hot as well. It just shows the level that Becca and Julia are playing at right now. Thoardey have got another win under their belts. "

An early call this morning for the Cards...they'll face Lauren Henning and Maho Kowase ( University of Georgia) at 9 a.m.

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FINAL FIVE MINUTES FOIL FLOCK AGAINST FOE


After a scoreless first half in frigid Storrs, CT...the Louisville Field Hockey squad had managed to do what no one had done in ODU's last ten outings...keep them scoreless. That luck didn't hold in the final 35 minutes of play, though...as Old Dominion scored twice on the Cards to advance to the BIG EAST Field Hockey Finals.

The Cards did have a 2-1 shots on goal advantage in the first half but ended up getting only goose eggs on the scoreboard against a Monarchs team that has won their last 12 in a row.

Louisville did hold ODU scoreless for the first 20 minutes of the second half but the Cards eventually fell prey to the ODU attack and allowed an additional goal as well when they pulled goalie Sydney King late to add an extra attack player and ODU scored an unassisted goal late in the contest...which ruined any comeback hopes for Louisville.

I've never been a fan of the pulling the goalie to create more offense. It's like leaving the back door open because you're trying to take packages to the car out the front door.

The Cards await their fate for further post season play when the NCAA announces the tournament pairings on Sunday, Nov. 10th. at 10 p.m.

Louisville's 15-5 body of work should be good enough to get them in the dance...or maybe a play-in-game. This year, there will be play-in-games to reach the 16 team tournament. Before yesterday's loss, the Cards were ranked 15th. Temple lost to UConn yesterday in the other semi-final match...

The No. 7 University of Connecticut field hockey team got an early goal just 6:44 into the game from senior Anne Jeute and never looked back, defeating No. 19 Temple, 3-0, in BIG EAST Semifinal showdown on Friday night at the George J. Family Sports Complex. With the victory, UConn moves into its 12^th consecutive BIG EAST Tournament Final set to be played on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Huskies will face the winner of the Old Dominion/Louisville Semifinal contest. Connecticut moves to 16-4 (6-1 The Big East), while Temple drops to 14-6 (4-3 The Big East) with the loss.

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FIVE SET NAIL BITER FINISHES VOLLEYBALL WIN FRIDAY


After watching Louisville totally dismantle Houston in the first two sets Friday night in the KFC YUM! Center...one really couldn't blame fans who had an interest in the Louisville Cardinals Friday night football game for leaving downtown early.

Apparently, the UofL Volleyball offense decided to head down 2nd street as well...the Cards got schooled by an inspired Houston squad in the next two games and Louisville dropped both before winning the tie-breaker fifth set behind Randi Ewing and Emily Juhl.

CARDS WIN! 25-17, 25-18, 13-25, 23-25, 15-6

It also marked the return of UofL Coach Anne Kordes to the hardwood...just days after giving birth to her first daughter Mary. Contrary to what Jeff, Jenny and I discussed on last Saturday's radio show...the infant was not in a front-loader or back pack attached to Anne.

This one was just head-scratching. Louisville looked as dominant as they have all-season in the first two. They looked hopeless and hapless in the third game. The Cards had a chance to end it in the fourth game at 23-23. Houston delivered two booming kills to force the fifth game.

Louisville jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the final set...thanks to a couple of Emily Juhl kills. Houston promptly got back to within three at 8-5. Randi Ewing leaped her way to a couple of kills and blocks to quell the rally, though and take the Cards to 12-0 in AAC play. 

Good to see Anne back patrolling the sidelines...although Lee Maes did a fine job in her absence. Cards jump back in Sunday in the YUM! when UC slinks across the bridge...the Bearcats finally did get a win this season at Rutgers and will bring a 1-25 record to town.

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(This picture doesn't take you to season ticket
purchases. I just like it...)

LOUISVILLE LOOKS TO LAMBLAST LOYOLA


Louisville WBB starts the official season tonight at the KFC YUM! Center when the Ramblers of University of Loyola-Chicago come to town for a 7 p.m. tipoff.

It's the first round of the preseason WNIT and first time the two schools have ever met.

Four time WNBA Champion, NCAA Champion and three-time Olympic gold medalist Sheryl Swoopes is the first year coach of Loyola-Chicago.

Cards should win this one by 30 or so...unless Swoopes finds a way to sneak on the court and play.

It's on CARDS radio 790 AM (we think) with Matt and AJ. When we said that about the Tuesday 127-40 exhibition win over Pikeville...it wasn't and I heard about it.  CARDS TV will also show it to paying subscribers. We'll have a full report on the action in the Sunday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE.

See you on the radio!

-Paulie

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