Lacrosse Signing Class
As we get to a less hectic time of the year now that all of the fall sports are over (well, there's still a football game to play, but that's not all that big of a deal, right?), I want to go back and pick up some coverage of the signing period for various sports that we didn't get to fit into our coverage at the time.
Nine Sign, All from East Coast States
It's no secret that Lacrosse is most popular along the east coast, particularly the northern coastal states, and Kellie Young's signing class reflects that strongly with all nine signees coming from the states from Connecticut to Virginia.
It's also becoming rather unsurprising to discover that nearly all of the signees were multi-sport athletes in high school.
Alexandra Ball
Alexandra Ball comes to us from Charleton, NY, which is just north of the Schenectady and Albany area of New York. Ball will be bolstering the already impressive ranks of the goalkeeping squad at UofL. This high school All-American also lettered all four years of her high school career in Field Hockey.
Allison Arcidiacono
From Somers, NY, just north of NYC, Arcidiacono is a three sport high school athlete, with Soccer and Basketball being on her busy schedule in addition to Lacrosse. She helped propel her Lacrosse team to the state finals.
Ashley Lynch
Ashley is from Cold Springs Harbor, NY, on Long Island and dual-sported with Field Hockey. Lynch is a First Team High School All-American, and was named by Inside Lacrosse as one of the Top 25 players in the country. She was also a member of the US Lacrosse National Girls Team Champions.
Julia Schmuckler
Schmuckler also participated in three sports in high school. Lacrosse, was joined by Field Hockey and Squash on her calendar. She was named the Kent Place School Unsung Hero while racking up some fairly impressive scoring, assist, and ground ball numbers. Schmuckler hails from Chatham, NJ, which is a suburb of Newark.
Chloe Harris
Harris also arrives from New Jersey, from Mountain Lakes, NJ in fact, which is a bit farther out from Newark, but still in the general vicinity. Also playing Soccer, Chloe played for the Building Blocks Lacrosse Elite Travel program which produced 15 Division I signees this year.
Emily Petillo
Another calendar overachiever, Petillo could be found on the Soccer field as well as Track & Field. She was named a 2014 Brine National All-Star team member and also played on the New Jersey South Women's National Tournament Team. Manasquan, NJ is on the Jersey Shore about halfway between Atlantic City and Newark.
Katie Caddigan
Moving further south, Caddigan is from Fulton, MD, about halfway between Baltimore and Washington DC. Another tri-sport athlete, with Soccer and Basketball. Katie, if she played basketball for UofL, would be eligible for the Attack Yorkie squad at 5'6", but that isn't anticipated. A finalist for the Howard County High School Female Athlete of the Year, and did pick up the Scholar Athlete Award. She is also goalkeeper on the three time state champion soccer team.
Alexa Biller
Biller comes to us from Ashburn, VA outside of Washington DC (as an IT guy, I didn't even have to look this one up...lots of data centers and telecom interconnects in Ashburn). Biller will be joining her high school teammate Heidi Smith here at UofL. She also played Field Hockey and Basketball.
Annika Ekvall
Back north for this one, Ekvall hails from Old Greenwich, CT, which is about halfway between New York City and Bridgeport. Ekvall was twice named to Brine's New England All-American list as well as being invited to participate in The Ride, an event for the Top 50 players nationwide where she was named Top Defender in 2014. She also helped propel her team to a state runner-up.
As a spring sport, these players won't hit the turf in recorded competition for The Cardinals until Spring of 2017, but store these names away in the back of your mind to bring them out in a little over a year as they start to make an impact on an already excellent Cardinal Lacrosse team.
-- JMcA
The Cards won the ACC Conference Volleyball Championship. With a 18-2 in conference and 25-7 overall record. Erin Fairs and Katie George All-Americans. The bright promise of Molly Sauer and Aniah Philo...plus the continued excellence of Janelle Jenkins, Maya McClendon, Tess Clark and Maggie DeJong gave us some memorable moments and the promise of a very bright future for Anne Kordes' wide-netters.
The end of 2015 has seen a major construction project in progress for a young group of talented Cardinals that very well may write another storied chapter in the history of Louisville women's basketball time. Give them time and patience. Championships aren't built in a day.
Louisville Field Hockey is another sport that made the NCAA Tournament, competed in the best conference in the NCAA and made some memorable moments. Elisa "Chile" Garcia, Vic Stratton, Katherine Gwynne-Wood and Megan Anstotz helped make Trager Stadium a nightmare for opponents. Their skills will be missed but Justine Sowry will pick right up when she left off with stars Ayeshia McFerran, Nicole Woods, Stephanie Byrne, Tess Hannah and Erin McCrudden back in 2016. Another warning salvo off the port bow to the other ACC ships...here come the Cardinals.
It was my top moment for Louisville women's sports in 2015 and one I'll never forget. The biggest win in the history of UofL women's soccer and to be there to see it is something I'm very grateful for. The 2015 squad had heart, desire, youth and skill working in it's favor and with a solid nucleus returning...Karen Ferguson-Dayes is assembling a squad that will compete with the best in the ACC. The play of Casey Whitfield, Hannah Konermann, Lexie Nieboda, Rachel Avant and Aubrey Baker was essential to the improvements Louisville women's soccer had in 2015. Sadly, we see them go...but talent abounds in Lynn Stadium and Ferguson-Dayes has added some excellent freshmen. 
The Cards held a 41-33 lead over UTM at the end of the first half but the SkyHawks ran off seven straight points to begin the final half to cut the Cardinal lead to 41-40 after Katie Schubert connected with a jumper in the paint with 7:51 remaining.
So, with conference play looming Friday against powerhouse Florida State...is Louisville ready for ACC play? I posed the question to Jeff Walz in the post-game press conference. Without batting an eye, here was his reply:
Freshman guard Daijia Ruffin, who played her high-school hoops at Louisville Sacred Heart, leads the flock with 14.7 ppg and has 18 steals for the Skyhawks. Butler transfer Haley Howard and Jessie Ward also average double figures for the OVC squad that was picked to finish second in the preseason coaches conference poll. 
A good test tonight before the Cards roll into ACC play. Certainly one that Louisville would gladly accept another 34-point win over...but we've got the feeling it'll be closer than that tonight. 
UofL men's athletic programs were 5-1 against UK in 2015. Louisville won in baseball twice, in football, soccer and swimming against Kentucky. Men's basketball was the only loss. 
Each night, Walz pretty much knows what he's going to get out of this group. Strong shooting, rebounding, hustle, effort and experience. Sure, there are occasional clunkers but the four average over 28 minutes a game and are four you would expect on the court in the final two minutes of a close contest...fouls and such not taken into consideration.
With Durr it is pain management. When able to go at 100% she has the potential to be the best player on this squad. Even at 70%...she's a force to be reckoned with.
Cole has shown us flashes of greatness and at times just might be the most deceptive ball-handler on the roster. Then, there are the moments of freshman mistakes and looking lost. Fortunately, that will disappear with experience. 
With Fuehring, we've seen what could be and what we're expecting to see down the road. We've also seen the miscues and inexplicable moments of freshman mistakes. If she can get to the point when Walz can feel confident give her 20 minutes a game to augment the thin front line, I'll gladly move her to the Expectation Crew club.
DeGrate is a rose about to bloom. Working hard to get into D1 playing shape and looking better each time she steps on the court...her upside is huge. She'll get there with continued hard work and experience and we're confident you'll love the results. 
With Brackemyre, it's all about the knee. I saw video of her as a junior in high school and was convinced she'd be a starter here her freshman year. Injuries...ask Asia Taylor or Shawnta Dyer about injuries. If the latest operation cures the problem...think of a muscle car that had to run on a flat but then gets a new tire and tune-up. A-Tayy and Shawnta overcame the setbacks. We'd love to see Syd do the same. 
Yes, we know....Kentucky plays Louisville today at noon. That does give you an hour before tipoff, though, to listen to THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR on WCHQ 100.9 FM or on the internet at:
We hope you have a great Christmas day and want to thank you for following CARDINAL COUPLE in 2015. We appreciate your readership, comments, ideas and suggestions and promise that 2016 will be another great year of reporting on the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports. 
If I were Bob Hope, he'd be my Bing Crosby.
A sweet 16 (or beyond) appearance. I've been to every UofL NCAA tournament volleyball in person since 2008, I believe, and I've never been to a volleyball sweet 16 (well, other than when it was hosted at the KFC Yum! Center, but I'm not counting that because UofL wasn't playing in it). The program narrowly missed it this year, and I hope next year to see an even more improved team and further success in tournament play.
For the both the men and women on this one. More courts! I've heard that this one might already be in the works as well. It would likely take the form of adding more outdoor courts in front of the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center where the old soccer practice field is. With the spiffy new Lynn Soccer Stadium, the practice field isn't really needed anymore, and the Tennis programs would benefit by being able to host full tournaments rather than just competitions against individual opponents.
I think our wish lists here probably all look a lot alike.
I haven't put together lists for all of the women's sports teams, feel free to add some lists for other teams, or even add items for these teams in the comments. I'd love to hear what you would like to see out of these programs. Our biggest wish of all, though...is that all our readers have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! 
