CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDINAL COUPLE
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Monday, October 17, 2016

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

12 comments:

  1. Still no Janelle Jenkins? What's the word, Jeff? Was in attendance yesterday and was impressed by UNC's #4 and #43 on the kill sequences. This Louisville team has a lot of potential but they just aren't showing it. The Deb Factor

    ReplyDelete
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    1. She has a strained PCL. She has a checkup on it sometime this week or next (she said "next week" when I spoke to her at the match yesterday...I didn't clarify if that was this coming week or sometime after this upcoming weekend...I'm hoping sooner). She was moving without seeming limitation, so I suspect she'll be back in the lineup after the checkup.

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  2. I like your ACC Network Extra concept, Louisville but who was that lame-brain calling the Field Hockey match? We've got underclassmen here at Kent State that could do a better job. Nice comeback on us, Cards. I thought we had you at the half.

    Albert Flasher

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    Replies
    1. Our usual ACC coverage for Field Hockey is done by the inimitable Sean Moth, but he was on the PA at volleyball yesterday. Good for us at Volleyball, maybe not so much for ACC Network Extra viewers. I think maybe it was Jody Demling filling in? Paulie was there and could confirm that.

      It sounds like you all put up a heck of a competition. I always love when the Golden Flashes come to town as I'm a bit of a connoisseur of interesting mascots, and the Flashes rate high on that scale.

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    2. It was Jody and I did not get to hear it. I will say that whereas Sean does....basically a ton of sidebars and interesting details...a 3 hour college credit course, if you will...in his play-by-play call...Jody tends to be a bit more reserved and sticks to the actual action. They are both veterans on play-by-play and I really like the way Jody does the sidelines reports for football on the radio. That being said, Sean is the consummate play by play announcer...his baseball broadcasts this spring are "can't miss" events and, given the choice between the two...I would choose Sean over Jody any time.

      I suspect someday our excellent play-by-play man Paul Rogers for football and basketball will retire. I would have no problem at all if Sean was asked to fill those shoes.

      Great effort by the Golden Flashes yesterday, Albert. They never let up. I suspect you'll be an NCAA Tournament participant and a very dangerous first round opponent for someone.

      Paulie

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    3. Demling irks me with that sing-song, whiney voice. I feel like I'm in third grade math class and he's the teacher whenever I hear him. "And two TIMES to IS four and DIVIDE that by TWO and you'll be BACK to two." No, thank you. I'm glad I have a mute option. I'd rather you did the call, Paulie, if Sean isn't available.

      Curtis Franklin

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    4. LOL. Curtis. I don't see that ever happening. Been on a persona non grata list down there for a long, long time. I like Christian Payne play-by-play a lot. One of the Young Turks. Calls a informative, correct game but can spice it up and emote with the best of them.

      Paulie

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    5. Hey I've been listening to your guys radio show an I think any of the three of you could do a great play-by-play. I wish we had a show like your radio hour for Kent State.

      Albert Flasher

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    6. Thank you Albert. Our rebroadcast is available at https://soundcloud.com/chradio/cardinal-couple-20161015

      Paulie

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  3. Your Soundcloud broadcast is jumbled in a few spots. It is hard to listen to.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. The first half of the show is tough to listen to

      -- The Real Joe Hill --

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    2. I will contact the station manager about this. Thank you for letting me know. I have not listened to the rebroadcast yet but will and will point out to her where.

      Paulie

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