SOFTBALL STARTS ACC PLAY TODAY

5-5 CARDS TRAVEL TO ATLANTA FOR GA.TECH

It hardly seems like softball season here in Louisville...with all the snow still on the ground...and one can only imagine how the sting of the bat feels on the hands in this frigid weather. 

The University of Louisville softball team, though, is 10 games into the 2015 schedule and is in Atlanta today to play two against ACC opponent Ga. Tech.

The Ramblin' Wreck is 7-6 this year and is on a five game winning streak...taking all five games in the GT-GSU Tournament. They like to run the bases, scoring 57 runs in those five wins, and they like keeping opponents off the bags with just nine runs allowed in the five game stretch.

GT has sent 15 Mr. Spaldings over the fence this year and freshman pitcher Christina Biggerstaff is 3-1 with 38 strikeouts and a 2.53 ERA. 

The Cards will counter with a young inside the circle contingent as well. Freshmen Shelby McCombs (2-1) and Madi Norman (2-4) share a team-high 24 innings pitched and sophomore Maryssa Becker (1-0) has struck out 20 batters in her 18 innings of work and the pitcher/first base star is hitting a crisp .500 with two fence clearers and five doubles. She's also on a nine-game hitting streak. 

Jordan McNary leads Louisville with a .556 batting average and Kelsi Jones has driven home eight RBI's.

They throw the first pitch at 1 p.m. and we'll review it tomorrow. 

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CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO hits the airwaves again this morning at 11 a.m. and we've got a busy show again lined up. We'll get Worldwide Jeff McAdams' report on his South Bend trip and review the Notre Dame and Boston College WBB games. We'll also take a look ahead to Sunday's game against Virginia. Add in softball, lacrosse and a quiz...plus a possible visit from Don Paulie and we'll need to try and squeeze about 90 minutes of news into 60.

You can listen locally on WCHQ 100.9 FM or online at:

www.crescenthillradio.com


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Hats off to our February CARDINAL COUPLE contest winner Doug Anderson. We've got a March Contest you can enter...pick the two teams who will play for the ACC Tournament Championship and total points scored. 

Sonja says:  Louisville beats Notre Dame and 123 total points are scored.

Leave your picks in the comments sections leading up to Wednesday or e-mail them to cardinalcouple@twc.com

WE got a CC T-Shirt and a $25 gift card from Cracker Barrell waiting for the winner.  

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Lacrosse puts their 2-0 record on the table when they take on Denver in Denver at 3:30 p.m. today. 

The Cards have wins over Canisius and Cincy. #19 Denver fell at Syracuse to start the season but has rallied with wins over Colorado and Vanderbilt.  

paulie
xxxxx

Sending the Seniors out in style...Louisville 77 - Boston College 60 -- Friday Cardinal Couple

Five hit for double figures in Cards win

Cards signing autographs after the game

The Louisville women's basketball team survived a three-point barrage from visiting Boston College and said goodbye to five seniors in the home finale for the Cards Thursday night. 10488 braved arctic-like weather in Louisville to see Bria Smith, Sherrone Vails, Shawnta' Dyer, Jude Schimmel and Sara Hammond...the Cards never in serious trouble against a trifecta-happy BC squad that attempted 26 and made 12.

Photo by Charlie Springer - UofL Card Game

They shot threes with the same voracity that Paulie hits the media buffet...and six different Eagles cashed in from the deep. BC attempted 47 shots in the game and 12 of the 22 baskets made were outside the arc.

After a pre-game ceremony honoring the seniors and their families (Jude's contingent numbered 18...) Jeff Walz started all five final year players and they jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first two minutes after six straight Dyer points and a Smith putback of a Hammond shot. 


The Eagles countered with two straight threes by Nicole Boudreau to get within two...but it would be the closest they would get for the remainder of the game.


Walz kept the seniors on the court for the first six minutes before sending the freshmen Moore and Hines-Allen into the contest. Louisville had amassed a 14-6 lead at that point and would finish the 10-0 run with the duo connecting on a fast break layup by Hines-Allen and two Moore free throws.

It was 18-6 and you got the feeling that this one was already a "W".

Louisville led 31-15 with 7:34 showing on the clock after a spectacular Moore three and the talented freshman would run off five more straight points to give UofL a 36-23 edge with five minutes left in the half.

BC did not relent in the three-point efforts...taking 14 in the first twenty minutes and hitting seven. Kelly Hughes three with 86 seconds left in the half trimmed the Louisville advantage to 42-31 but Louisville added two Moore free throws and a Hines-Allen jumper with eight seconds to take the 46-31 lead to the locker room.

Photo by Charlie Springer - UofLCardGame.com

Moore (12 points) and Dyer (10 points) were already in double figures for the Cards and Louisville was outscoring the Eagles 30-8 in the paint. BC's halftime stats revealed numbers I don't ever remember seeing before...they were 11-22 from the floor (50%), 7-14 from three-point range (50%) and 2-4 from the free throw line (50%). Their eight rebound were four offensive (50%) and four defensive (50%).


The halftime activities featured an incredible group of a dozen or so Native American dancer groups that ranged from grade school aged performers to senior citizen dancers...all dressed in colorful and intricate tribal wear. They were accompanied by the steady drum beat and chant from the amazing Elk Soldier drum core...which featured almost a dozen drummers with one drumstick each -- beating a single drum in unison while chanting. 

Photo by Charlie Springer --UofLCardgame.com

The Cards started the second half with the same senior starting five. The Eagles were back with the long range bombing, though and hit the first two threes they attempted to trim the Cardinal advantage to 46-37 a minute and a half into action. BC hung around within range for the first five minutes...trading baskets with Louisville and trailed 55-44 after a Ashley Kelsick score inside. 

The Cards got busy after that and went on a 12-2 run to take a commanding 67-46 lead with 10:07 to play on a Hines-Allen putback of her own missed shot. That lead would stretch out to 77-51 with five minutes to play after a Vails jumper off a nice feed by Bria. 

Walz had all the seniors back on the court with 3:24 remaining and substituted for them...one by one...to a standing ovation from the crowd with 31 seconds to go. Sherrone Vails was the last to leave. The Eagles finished with a 9-0 run...including (you guessed it) a couple more threes for the 77-60 final score. 

Moore led the double figure producers with 18 points (including four threes) and Dyer finished with 13. Hines-Allen added 12, Jude (with three threes) and Bria totaled 11 points each. A quiet offensive night for Sara (1-8) and just three points in 26 minutes. Louisville forced 27 Eagles turnovers that produced 38 points and held a 22-5 second change advantage. The Cards also had 19 assists on 28 baskets. 

Louisville was looking to improve from the outing against Notre Dame and they did accomplish that quite well. Walz wanted the defense to make BC take layups instead of threes, which didn't turn out so well, but Louisville did shoot 42.4% for the game...a blistering 56.3% in the first twenty and a so-so 29.4% in the final half. 

All five seniors were featured in the post-game presser and they discussed their memories and feelings about their time at UofL. Bria fought back tears when she talked about the seniors 'sisterhood' , Sara spoke passionately about passing the torch to the underclassmen, Shawnta' recalled her trials with overcoming injuries, Sherrone spoke eloquently about her love for the fans and her teammates and Jude announced she is writing a book titled Dreamcatcher. 

I got a little misty-eyed seeing them all there together and realizing it would be the last time I've ever see them up on that stage. 

A fitting way for these five to end their KFC YUM! Center days. All played at least 19 minutes and all five scored. The task is not done for them yet...dangerous Virginia awaits them Sunday in Charlottesville and ACC Tournament play next Friday as a probable #3 seed. 

In a season that has produced a very unexpected 24-4 record and the emergence of two of the best freshmen in the country...the contributions of Jude, Sara, Shawnta', Sherrone and Bria will long be remembered by Cardinal fans. Five women that bonded to make up the largest senior class in Jeff Walz's coaching history and five individuals that will go on to achieve even greater things when they leave campus and go out into the world after college. No matter where they end up...you get the feeling this fivesome will always be a tight-knit bond. 

( A special thanks to Charlie Springer at UofLCardGame.com for sending photos of last night's game and the photos he has supplied us with all season long. Be sure to check out his Senior Night photo gallery at his fine website www.uoflcardgame.com)

paulie
xxxxx 

WBB hosts Boston College for Senior Night -- Thursday Cardinal Couple

CARDS HONOR FIVE SENIORS TONIGHT

Sometimes, I wonder where the time goes...

It seems way less than five years ago that Shawnta' Dyer and Sherrone Vails arrived on the UofL campus. Vails...a big name paint player coming in to join a 2010-11 squad that was coming off Jeff Walz's only losing season at UofL. Dyer ready to roll but suffering a season-ending injury before she ever got to play. A freak heel fracture in a controlled scrimmage. 

Shoni Schimmel, Nita Slaughter, Polly Harrington and Charmaine Tay were also a part of that freshman class. Names we'll either remember for a long time or bring up on rare occasions when discussing the history of UofL WBB.

Fast forward to 2011-12. Sara Hammond joined the ranks, Louisville winning the battle with UConn to gain her services. Jude Schimmel became the second off-spring of Cece and Rick to arrive on campus. Bria Smith reconsidered and said "no" to Virginia after a coaching change and "yes" to Coach Walz. Dyer was healthy and Vails was ready to swat shots and rebound. 

108 victories these five have been a part of. Final fours and the biggest upset win in the history of women's college basketball. Opening a brand new downtown arena. Playing in three different conferences. Injuries, setbacks and times in the limelight and times watching from the seats on the sidelines. 

Ah...the life of a college student-athlete.

Boston College comes into town tonight to be the Cards senior night opponent. Chances are...if head coach Erik Johnson could have picked another opponent or another night to face the #8 Cardinals...he probably would have traded with any of the ACC members on the spot. Unless the option was the Irish.

These Eagles are 12-15 and 4-10 in ACC play. Unless they pull off the biggest shocker in ACC Tournament play history in Greensboro, they'll be concentrating on studies instead of offensive sets in mid-March. They've lost three of their last five...Sue Semrau's Seminoles delivering the latest "L" 86-68 on Paulie's birthday Sunday.

These Bostonians shoot the three a lot. Kelly Hughes has made 74 of them this year for BC. They connect on an ACC-best 8.4 in 23 attempts per game. 

A beautiful halftime ceremony is planned for Native American night. You won't want to hit the concession stands for those 15 minutes. Black Elk puts on a drumming show that will leave you in awe and admiration.

 A pre-game honoring of the five seniors will make you want to arrive early to the KFC YUM! Center. All five will start against the Golden Eagles.

Come out.

It's the final home game of the year for Louisville WBB. It's your chance to say "we love ya and goodbye" to "The Hammer", "Hey Jude", "I see ya Bria", "URinDyerNeedofme" and "Roni". Five women that came, saw, conquered, dealt with the pain and pleasure and performed for your entertainment. They deserve your applause one more time. They've certainly earned it. 

It'll be on WKRD 790 and Cards TV if you can't attend. An expected good time is planned for all. Unless you're sporting Baldwin the Eagle's gear. We'll wrap it up later tonight...

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Words From Walz

Jeff Walz did address the media yesterday about the seniors and the upcoming game against BC...amongst other things. Unfortunately, the Cardinal Couple crew was unable to attend the 11:30 a.m. presser. I suppose I'll have to wait until this evening to get another math lesson from the Mad Scientist. He did cover a variety of subjects in the 17 minutes oratory...including the WBB Squad getting grounded after the Notre Dame game and caravaning it back to the "Ville". 

Check it out at the link below:

WALZ TALKS SENIORS AND BC


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Durr, Cole named to WBCA All-American Team


Congratulations are in order to 2015 signees Asia Durr and Taja Cole for being named to the WBCA high school All-American team. The Women's Basketball Coaches Association honored Durr on the 10-player first team and Cole was one of twenty selected as honorable mention.


Katie Lou Samuelson was picked as WBCA Player of the Year. 

paulie
xxxxx

ASIA DURR A NAISMITH FINALIST -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

St. Pius star one of five for POY Award

( We step away briefly today from current UofL WBB to look at one of the bright spots in the future for Jeff Walz's squad. If you catch Walz in sunglasses...it's because the future is so bright he has to wear shades...)

To say future Cardinal Asia Durr has had an impact on high school basketball would be like mentioning that water is wet. 

The senior point guard from St. Pius X High School in Atlanta adds another honor to her high school career in being named as one of five finalist for the Naismith Trophy Girls' High School Player of the Year award. She is the first player recruited by UofL to be selected for the top award in girls' high school basketball. 

Durr, considered the #1 player in the country by ESPN and Prospects Nation, is also a McDonald's All-American and had 40 points last night in a St. Pius loss in the quarterfinals of Georgia's Class AAAA quarterfinals. 

Joining Durr in the finalist slots are Napheesa Collins (UConn), Tea Cooper (Tennessee), Lashann Higgs (Texas) and Katie Lou Samuelson (UConn).

Durr, quite simply put, is amazing. She totaled 2700 career points at St. Pius...facing double and triple teams during her four years as a Golden Lion. 




St Pius fell to Buford in a rematch against a team they had sent to the sidelines the previous two year in Georgia State Tournament play. Durr fouled out of the contest with 23 seconds left and St. Pius down by two. Buford coach Gene Durden had this to say about Asia:

" Asia Durr is everything as advertised. I've been around 27 years coaching girls basketball and the only girl I can say who is close to her is Maya Moore. Asia is a complete player. She's an absolute fierce competitor. They (St. Pius) run everything through her."

Durr had 52 and 44 points in the first two playoff games. 


Watch the many videos out there online that feature her. Break down her play and watch her "wow" factor. The Cards are getting a point guard that works harder than anyone on the court while making it all look easy. Her sense of court awareness, scoring creation and basketball IQ equal that of the top seniors in college basketball at this point in her career. 

The scary thing is that she's only going to get better with four years under Jeff Walz. A noted WNBA coach commented about her play:

"She's the reason I wish the WNBA had the money to offer a 'one and done' to players . She could go to Europe and pull down six figures right after high school with the skills she has. She's another of those girls that Walz brings in that will wow the fanbase and take the Cards back to the Final Four." 

Pretty heady stuff for a high school senior. And, she's in Atlanta. Plenty of opportunities to connect with two other UofL stars that have made a pretty good name for themselves in their careers. 

Shoni...Angel...meet Asia. Get her ready for the show that is KFC YUM! Center WBB. Asia Taylor...drop by and talk to the next Cardinal Asia. 

And get ready...fans...for pure Durr. 

paulie

16-0 run dooms Cards in South Bend -- Notre Dame 68 - Louisville 52 -- Tuesday Cardinal Couple

2nd half slump sinks Cards in South Bend 

Brianna Turner hosted a block party Mon. night

I'm hoping this article gets posted to the Cardinal Couple website. There's always the chance Notre Dame's Brianna Turner could appear out of nowhere and swat it off the page. 

In a game full of highs and lows, Turner's seven blocked shots and a second half 16-0 Notre Dame run were high points for the Irish in dismantling UofL 68-52 in the Purcell Pavilion Monday night before 8911 fans and a nationwide audience on ESPN 2.

The Cards actually got off to an encouraging start and were scoring inside...leading 11-7 six minutes into the game. Balanced scoring where all the starters but Moore had put points on the board. 

Shawnta' Dyer gave Louisville their biggest lead of the half on a 'plus 1' that made it 14-9 with 12:34 on the clock...but ND rolled off an 8-0 run to go up by three on a coast-to-coast Madison Cable layup. 

Muffet waves to Worldwide Jeff

Sara Hammond went to work inside for the Cards to keep it close. A layup with 5:05 left made it 23-22 Notre Dame. Hammond's eighth point of the half inside drew the Cards within three at 29-26 with 1:56 on the clock.

A Dyer hook shot set the halftime score at 31-28 UND. Jewel Loyd had nine points for the home team and Sara Hammond had eight for the Cards. Mariya Moore hadn't made a basket yet and Loyd & her teammates defense held her to two free throws. 

Moore broke away from the pursuit briefly in the second half and produced the Cards first nine points. 

Dyer gets this one off in the paint, She was 4-6 last night

The Cards rallied from the three-point halftime deficit and took a 37-35 lead at the 16:20 mark. A nice feed from Jude Schimmel to Mariya Moore led to Moore's fourth basket of the half and Louisville looked energized and ready to battle #4 in the nation to the buzzer. It was Moore 9 - Notre Dame 4 and the freshman had 11 points. 

Unfortunately, the script changed again and Moore would not score again.

The next five minutes turned into a Irish riverdance over the Cards...Jewel Loyd, Taya Reimer and Turner frolicking past the step-slow, shot-slightly-off Cards to go up 51-37 with 11:15 left in the game. The stretch included Jeff Walz getting a technical for protesting a Turner block that looked like a foul. 

Sara Hammond's three would finally put the Notre Dame run to an end...but the damage had been done. 

"Sorry, Cards...I'm on my way to 20. It's what the best guard
in the ACC does. 

Louisville would make one last attempt to get back in the contest...a 9-0 run that followed the Irish run. Dyer's two free throws with 7:47 to go cut the Irish advantage to 51-46 and there was a glimmer of hope that the Cards just might be soaring to pull out yet another second half mastery over an opponent. 

Sadly, UofL would get no closer than that five-point deficit the rest of the way. 

Moore picked up her fourth and fifth fouls within 30 seconds of each other and went to the bench with Louisville trailing 59-48 at the 3:45 mark. The Irish breezed in on a 9-4 run the rest of the way to take a 68-52 win.

Moore experiences Cable difficulties here. 

A rough shooting night for Walz's ballers. 21-63 for 33%. The free throw line wasn't kind to the Cards either...going 7-13 for 53.8% Louisville ended up putting three players in double figures...11 points each for Sara, Mariya and Shawnta'...which is commendable when you consider all the ones that Turner was turning away in the paint. Turner and Reimer are going to be around for awhile...bad news for UofL and the rest of the ACC . The 6'4" bookends are long and prowl the paint well. 

Louisville allowed the Irish 23-47 shooting for 48.9%. Loyd went for 20, Taya Reimer was 8-8 and 16 points and Turner had 11 points, nine boards and seven swats. 

The 16-point loss looks rough on paper...but Louisville was still within striking distance until Moore went to the bench. It reinforces the importance she (and Myisha Hines-Allen) have had on this team as freshman.

The loss also showed us that Louisville simply can't afford to

fall asleep at the wheel for significant stretches in game. When you consider that Moore was the only Cardinal to score for the first 9:40 of the final half one has to wonder what was going on with the other four Cardinals accompanying her out there on the court. 

Last night was a lesson on what the Cards need to do to get to that next level Walz wants them to be at. A veteran team mixed with youth withstands two runs on their home court and delivers a second-half knockout punch. It looked like (to this watcher) the Cards resigned themselves to a loss after Moore sat down and no one stood up to carry on the fight. Someone should have been there to cut into the 11 point Irish lead. Instead, it ballooned to 16. 

Yes, the Cards were getting beaten before Moore fouled out...but great teams step up in adverse situations.  

The scenario is one that Louisville is well-familiar with...they've used it to bury opponents all season long. On Monday night, the roles were reversed. 

Help is on the way next year. Last night, Louisville had no punch left after Moore went to the corner. 

Louisville now sits alone in third place of the ACC...two back of Notre Dame and one behind FSU. The Cards will look to get back on track when Boston College visits Thursday. 

On a night where the Irish front line starters went 12-13 from the floor and sent eight Cardinal inside attempts astray...the best defensive team in the ACC got taught a few lessons in blockage by a sophomore and freshmen. Notre Dame ruled the paint, which is usually Cardinal territory. It was the Cards first double digit loss of the season. 

Worldwide Jeff McAdams was in attendance for this one and he'll either podcast his experiences in South Bend later this week or save them for the Saturday radio show. 

paulie
xxxxx

Monday Cardinal Couple

Big Monday Game in Basketball

In what is certainly one of the biggest games of the year for Women's Basketball, UofL plays one of the perennial powerhouses in Women's Basket in Notre Dame.  This one is in South Bend and is the ESPN2 Big Monday game with a seven o'clock tip.

I doubt we have to do too much scouting for Notre Dame as their lineup is pretty well known to the Louisville faithful.  The biggest threat is likely 5'10" Junior sensation Jewell Loyd, but Notre Dame isn't a one-hit wonder in the guard position, with Loyd being joined with Senior Madison Cable (5'11").

You never want to play a powerhouse team after they come off an upset loss, and we narrowly avoided that with Notre Dame squeaking out a win over Georgia Tech.  The final score was 10 points, but the game was much closer overall.  Notre Dame trailed 34-33 at the half and with as little as 11 minutes left in the game, the scored was knotted up at 51.  Jewell Loyd scored 31, with no other Irish achieving double-digits.  Cable was the next highest scorer with 9.

I'll be in attendance, and hope to get some post-game comments from Coach Walz.

Tennis Loses a Heartbreaker

Tennis matched up against North Texas Sunday in a match that turned out to be quite a nail-biter.  The serve and volley youngsters were tied at three points apiece with Ellie Stokes playing a third set in the last running match.  Unfortunately the Birmingham England Sophomore was unable to pull out the match and the Cards dropped the overall match 4-3.

The Cards got the doubles point to start out with two of the three wins with Ellie Stokes and Freshman Ariana Rodriguez getting a win, and Freshman Jessie Lynn Paul teaming up with the lone Senior on the squad, Manuela Velasquez to clench the doubles point.

In the singles matches, Jessie Lynn Paul and Sophomore Olivia Boesing picked up points.

Tennis takes to the Southeast roadways next with trips to NC State, Duke (this time, it counts in conference), Georgia Tech, and Clemson.  They return to the Bass-Rudd for a 4pm Friday start on March 13th against Wake Forest, and a 11am Sunday start versus North Carolina.

A Correction

Yesterday I mentioned the large contingent of Volleyball Cards invading Colorado Springs for the USA Volleyball tryouts, but the invasion was larger than even I realized as Maya McClendon also made the trip.

- JMcA

Sunday Quick Hits, Scores, and Splits - Sunday Cardinal Couple

(Sorry for the late update this morning, Paulie and I had a bit of a miscommunication and both of us have travels going on the next couple of days.  In the meantime, let's all wish Paulie a joyous Happy Birthday in the comments!)

Quick Splits for Swim and Dive

Someone needs to check Tanja Kylliainen for gills, as she won three golds in the ACC Swimming Championship, setting three ACC records in the process, as well as pulling in the MVP award for the meet.  While she hasn't quite hit the mark yet, some of her records are putting her into overall American record setting territory.  Tanja isn't out there alone, however, teammate Kelsi Worrell picked up an individual ACC championship with a record setting pace in the 100 free.  She also picked up the win in the 100 fly, and claimed a silver in the 50 free.

Other finishers of note in the meet include Andrea Cottrell with a bronze in the 200 breaststroke, and the team took a bronze in the 400 free relay.

Lacrosse Chills Canisius

The scoring came fast and furious for the Cardinal Lacrosse team as they tried to stay warm in the sloppy cold weather on Floyd Street.

Cortnee Daley and Faye Brust both found the back of the net four times in the victory over the New Yorkers, who, by reports, insisted on playing the game on the outdoors Lacrosse field rather than taking it indoors to the warmer and drier confines of the Trager practice facility by Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium.  I wonder if they thought the cold, rainy, sleety weather would be an advantage to the northerners, but the tricks on them as Cortnee Daley hails from not much further south in Pennsylvania, and, of course, our draw control expert, Kaylin Morissette, comes to use from Canada and merely laughs at New York's cold weather resume.

Suffice it to say that this game was never in too much doubt.  While its still early in the season and there are plenty of lessons to be learned to improve the Cardinals' play, they jumped on the board in the first half, scoring three times before Canisius was able to get one between the pipes.  The Cards and and The Golden Griffins would trade a couple of goals apiece to go into halftime 5-3.

The second half was all Cards, though.  While shutting out The Griffs...I wonder if they stopped in at Griff's on Cardinal Boulevard for dinner after the game...in the second half by turning up the defensive intensity, the net got a workout as ten shots managed to find their way between the pipes before the final buzzer sounded and the teams were able to go dry off and warm up with a final score of 15-3.

Sophomore Ashley Peacock stopped four shots in goal, while the GK for The Griffs, Rebecca VanLaeken got in front of six to help keep the score from getting even more out of hand.

Lacrosse takes their first road trip, heading out to Colorado to take on Denver in a 3pm Saturday game.

Team USA Volleyball Tryouts

A quick hit, actually, probably a lot of quick hits in Colorado Springs this weekend as the US National Volleyball program holds their annual tryouts for the various US Collegiate teams that will play this summer.

The Cards have seven, a veritable invasion of the Rocky Mountain State, taking part in tryouts.  Libero Roxanne McVey; our pair of starting middles, Tess Clark and Maggie DeJong; both setters, Katie George...because she doesn't already have enough to do this summer...and Lyndsey Palmer; outside hitter and transfer from USF, Erin Fairs; as well as the play-her-everywhere-but-mostly-outside-hitter, Janelle Jenkins; are all taking part.

We here at the Cardinal Couple wish them all the best and look forward to hearing of summer travels to come.

- JMcA

Cards get gold in ACC Swimming and Diving Championships -- Saturday Cardinal Couple

Kelsi Worrell’s gold medal swim in the 100-fly and Tanja Kylliainen’s gold in the 400-IM shattered two ACC records, which along with two other school records setting performances in the 100-breast and the 400-medley relay, paced the University of Louisville women’s swimming and diving team in the Day 3 finals of the 2015 ACC Championships.

North Carolina holds the team lead heading into the final day of the 2015 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships in the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. The Tar Heels lead with 862 team points at the conclusion of the third day of competition on Friday. Seven-time defending champion Virginia holds second place with 839.5 points, while Virginia Tech is third at 664.5. Louisville is in fourth at 641. NC State is fifth at 589, followed by Notre Dame at 449, Florida State at 408, Miami at 365, Pitt at 330, Duke at 325, Georgia Tech at 137, Boston College at 92 and Clemson at 4.

LACROSSE FACES CANISIUS TODAY AT 1 P.M. 

The No. 13/15 University of Louisville women's lacrosse team will look to continue its

winning ways when it hosts Canisius on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at UofL Lacrosse Stadium.

The Cards (1-0) are coming off a 17-8 season-opening win over Cincinnati last Sunday. Sophomore Hannah Koloski scored a career-high six goals and junior Cortnee Daley added five more to lead Louisville over the Bearcats. Junior Kaylin Morissette finished the match with 14 draw controls, tying a school record she set last season against Cincinnati. Morissette also set a new school record for career draw controls with 249.

The Last Meeting

CANISIUS	3
Louisville	13

February 10, 2013
UofL LACROSSE STADIUM

Women's Lacrosse Overpowers Canisius in Season Opener Behind a 10-goal first half, the University of Louisville women's lacrosse team overpowered visiting Canisius, 13-3, Sunday afternoon at the UofL Lacrosse Stadium.

Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery

Canisius (0-2) fell 21-13 and 19-7 to No. 3 Syracuse in its first two contests of the season. The defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions are led offensively by Tori Quinn, who has tallied five goals on the season for the Golden Griffins, four of which came in the first game against the Orange.

The Cards hold a 1-0 series lead over Canisius. The most recent contest was played in 2013, when Louisville defeated the Golden Griffins 13-3 at UofL Lacrosse Stadium. The scheduled 2014 matchup between the two squads was cancelled due to 
inclement weather.











RADIO THIS MORNING



We'll brave the elements and head to Crescent Hill this morning for our weekly CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR on WCHQ 100.9 FM and also on the internet at www.crescenthillradio.com

The show will be slightly different today...with Worldwide off ...but we'll have Sam Draut -- sportswriter for the Louisville Cardinal -- in the chair...talking women's sports with Paulie.

Should be a great time, so join us at 11 a.m. this morning!


paulie 

Cards "weather" VA Tech 69-49 -- Friday Cardinal Couple

10-0 second half run boosts Cards over VT

Despite a slow start in Blacksburg, Louisville used a 9-0 first half run and 10-0 second half run to pull away from a determined Virginia Tech squad Thursday night in Cassell Coliseum. 

On Senior Night...in sub-zero weather...the Hokies heated up the gym early and led Louisville 7-3 four minutes into the contest. Louisville had four turnovers and a lone score on a Mariya Moore three.

Jeff Walz went to the bench and inserted Arica Carter, Shawnta' Dyer and Emmonnie Henderson to jump start the sluggish visitors and the Cards responded with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to lead 12-7 after Henderson scored inside, Moore knocked down another three and Bria Smith added a jumper. 

The Hokies weren't ready to concede the first half just yet and cut the margin to 14-12 with 11:20 remaining. The Cards responded after the media timeout, though...steadily growing the lead back and going up 23-15 after a Carter free throw at the 5:25 mark. 

The defense was solid for Louisville...finally figuring out the VT zone...but the offense wasn't playing up to par. 

Two shot clock beaters...one off a Mariya Moore three with 1:13 to go in the half and a Smith jumper with 16 seconds to play boosted the Cards lead to 34-23 at the halftime break.

Louisville shot 50% for the first twenty and had forced 12 Va. Tech turnovers while committing eight first half miscues. Moore had nine points to lead UofL on three threes and Walz got strong minutes from Smith and Shawnta' Dyer ( 8 points each) off the bench.

The second half produced another sluggish Cardinal start.

Virginia Tech whittled the Cards lead to 36-31 two minutes in after a Conyers 3 and it was 38-33 with 17:00 to go. 

Shawnta' Dyer went to work for Louisville, scoring five points in a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to give the Cards a 48-33 edge after her jumper at the 13:35 mark.

The Hokies would get no closer the rest of the way.

Louisville led 62-41 after Myisha Hines-Allen canned two free throws with five minutes left. Hammond and Henderson went to work after that...scoring the Cards final seven points for the 69-49 win. 

A good win that saw the Cards play well at times and struggle in a few spots. Louisville placed three in double figures with Dyer's 15 leading the way. Moore ended up with (4) threes and two free throws for 14 points. Smith added 12 in 27 minutes of play. 

Henderson turned in one of her best performances of the season with nine points and strong board play at both ends of the court. Hammond finished with eight, Hines-Allen six, Carter three and Jude two. Walz played them all...Vails started but went scoreless and Freeman saw late action with no points. 

The Cards are the best defensive team in the ACC...in terms of opponent's point production...as they proved again tonight. 10-15 second half free throw shooting solidified the fact that Louisville is the worst free throw shooting team in the conference. Strong inside offensively, not much a threat from beyond the arc. 

Strengths and weaknesses...but a stellar 23-3 overall and 11-2 record in the ACC. 

Smith appears to be getting a little further out of the "self imposed" doghouse she's in...Walz mentioning she's been getting in extra shooting practice and finally understands "how to work hard after four years". We hope it continues...the off-the-bench role has worked two games in a row now.

Henderson keeps getting stronger in offensive recognition and performance but is still a defensive liability. It prevents her getting more minutes...since Walz is hesitant playing her and Hines-Allen together because of lack of defense when the two are on the court at the same time. 

A 20-point win on the road on the opponent's senior night isn't anything to gripe about too much. Solid off-the-bench bench performances from Smith, "E" and Dyer is very encouraging. 

We'll see if it can be maintained in the Cards next outing...a 'Big Monday' test at Notre Dame.

SIDEBARS

-- Did anyone else besides me notice that VT coach Dennis Wolff looks like "Mike" from the TV shows 'Breaking Bad' and 'Better Call Saul'?

I was wondering I'd see Walt and Jessie in the stands eating Los Pollos Hermanos chicken...

-- What's up with that annoying bell that kept going off during the ESPN 3 broadcast? Was it someone's phone? Or was someone ringing a cowbell next to the announcers?

-- Walz's postgame with ESPN3 color analyst Mack McCarthy got scrapped after 15 seconds because of no audio. If you're going to interview, make sure the microphone is on...


-- Louisville is assured one of the "double bye" or top four spots in the upcoming ACC Tournament with NC State's win over Miami Thursday night. 

-- ESPN3 play-by-play announcer Danny Nokes has a whiney voice...especially when the Cards messed up or the Hokies made a big shot. It got annoying. If the delay hadn't been so bad between TV & radio, I would've bailed on ESPN3 audio. Maybe I'm spoiled by the smooth call of Matt Andrews and A.J. game after game. This "Hokie homer" mirrors the team he covers...


  

paulie
xxx