Of wins, losses and ties -- Monday Cardinal Couple

A Win, A Tie, and A Loss

It's like the beginning of a bad joke, "A Win, a Tie, and a Loss walk into a bar..."  Instead, it's the results of the three major women's sports in Sunday action.

Let's Start With The Win

Field Hockey, after a good upset win over North Carolina Saturday, kept it rolling against Kent State for Senior Day at Trager Stadium.

This one didn't start out looking great, with the Cards going down 2-0 25 minutes into the game on a Kent State penalty corner and a crossing shot.  Minout "Minnie" Mink ("I score goals.") was able to claw one back on a corner, with assists to Erin McCrudden and Nicole Woods 5 minutes before halftime.

After what was no doubt a vocal halftime in the UofL locker room, the Sowry squad was able to play to their identity, a strong theme for the Field Hockey squad this year, and keep Kent State on their heels.  Mink was able to get a breakaway and put the shot away for the equalizer about halfway through the 2nd half.  Lizzie Gittens scored the go-ahead goal with less than 8 minutes left in the game on a penalty corner, again with Erin McCrudden and Nicole Woods providing the help.

Field Hockey seniors with the "Big Heads" !!

This was Senior Day, the last home game of the season for the Field Hockey squad.  The team heads
out on the road for the final 3 games of the regular season, starting this Friday at Virginia, with a 6 o'clock start for the Cardinal conference closer.  Sunday keeps the squad in the same region, with a tilt against James Madison on Sunday with a noon start.  The Cardinals will close their season against Michigan in Ann Arbor on Friday the 29th, with a 1pm start.  The ACC Field Hockey tournament is being hosted by Wake Forest in Winston Salem, NC, and will begin November 3rd.

A Tie for the Kickers

WSOC gathering multiple ties...

Time for another Soccer overtime rant, as Karen Ferguson-Dayes' squad played Virginia Tech on their home turf.  The first half of play was scoreless, with Tech maintaining an advantage in pressure against the Cards by getting 8 shots off.  Halftime adjustments are sometimes a thing of beauty, though, with the Cards coming out and dominating the 2nd half possession.  Louisville would finally get on the board with a shot off of a rebound by Callie McKinney in the 66th minute.  The goal came out of a series of shots started by a corner kick.

Down by 1, Tech upped the pressure and was able to find the equalizer in the 81st minute off of a rebound.  Neither team was able to get any good looks in the 2 overtime periods, resulting in the 1-1 2OT tie.  While the Cards pick up a point in the standings with the tie, they are clinging precariously to 8th position in the ACC standings.  The ACC Championship tournament is an 8 team tournament, so the Cards would really love to climb a bit in the standings to assure their appearance in the tournament.  With 3 games left, opportunities are starting to dwindle.  The next game may be the best opportunity to pick up another 3 point win when the Cards head to sunny Miami for a game against the Hurricanes on Thursday.  This one is a 7pm start.

The Cards will close out their conference and season, with games against Florida State and Virginia, 3rd and 5th respectively in the ACC standings.  The tournament begins October 30th at campus sites, and wraps up on November 4th and 6th in Charleston, SC.

And Finally, a Loss

Melanie McHenry for Lamar Jackson...straight up. 

The volleyball squad suffered a loss at the hands of #8 North Carolina.  This one went in a straight 3
sets, 25-11, 25-21, 25-17.

While this one goes in the loss column, and the first set was nothing to write home about, there were signs of life for the Cards in the 2nd and 3rd sets.  The Cards played some of the best volleyball I've seen from them all season in the 2nd set...for some of the set...but weren't able to maintain it for the whole set.

Early in the season, one of the shortcomings I pointed out for this team was the lack of "connection" between setter Kali Eaken and our middles, Tess Clark and Jasmine Bennett.  I said that this would improve with time, and it certainly has.  What hasn't really improved has been our ability to get the ball to them to score.  Our passing and digging just isn't where it needs to be, and when a team isn't passing and digging well, they can't be effective at setting up the hitters to generate offense.  This is particularly pronounced for UofL that depends heavily on middle hitting for offense and to spread the defensive block out.

That having been said, there were periods where our passing was on target, and the offense fell solidly in to place, so this team is on the verge of being a quite good team.

Janelle Jenkins...MIA

Clark hit a very impressive .455, but on only 11 attempts.  Bennett hit .286 on 7 attempts.  Not too many other highlights in this one.  Though  Clark has been serving, a turn of events that would have been unheard of the past couple of years, and was able to put some pressure on the UNC serve receive, including picking up a score off the serve that wasn't officially credited as an ace.  She also was credited with 2 digs, demonstrating her improving all around play.

There is still a significant amount of play in the Volleyball season.  There is no ACC tournament in volleyball, and NCAA tournament play seems unlikely for the squad at this point.  The rest of the season will really be an opportunity for the team to improve skills and build for next season.

-- JMcA