Positive Road Results -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Restarts Win Streak

If you listened to the very end of Saturday's radio show, you heard me mention my concerns about Louisville's volleyball wins earlier in the season being "flukish" and the upcoming rematches being extremely important. I've had these concerns since Louisville won those matches in the first half of the ACC and their loss on Friday to Miami only amplified the concerns. Fortunately, the Cards took a step towards proving their mettle yesterday against Florida State as they picked up a road sweep. 

The sweep didn't come easy (27-25, 25-21, 25-20) as Louisville trailed deep into the first set. They were able to come back and win that set in extra points, and downed FSU without significant fear in the second and third sets. Florida State is still a team that has confused many this season. The Seminoles started the season in the top 25 but fell out shortly after losing to Louisville earlier this year. Since, they haven't been able to muster much to show what the pollsters thought of them in the preseason. However, a road victory over a conference opponent is tough, especially in a rematch setting. Florida State has talent (that's what gets you preseason votes), but Louisville was able to hold that talent at bay for the second time this season. 

Melanie McHenry, as usual, paced the Cards with 11 kills, 2 aces, 4 digs, and 3 block assists Unfortunately, she also had 9 errors and hit an abysmal 0.059. The only thing that helped Louisville win while hitting only 0.188 for the entire match was the fact that FSU hit only 0.092. Sometimes you show up and you play ugly ball. Sometimes the other team does. When both teams do, and you come out on top, you thank the sports gods for letting you get away with your mistakes and you move on. There isn't much Coach Dani Busboom Kelly can do about an abnormal amount of errors. It is up to the players to put whatever happened out of their heads and execute better next time. The Cards look to extend their new winning streak to two when they take on Notre Dame in South Bend at 7PM on Wednesday.

Women's Soccer Picks up Another Draw

After finishing the home season with a draw against the 15th ranked Demon Deacons from Wake Forest, Louisville was able to get the same result yesterday morning against the fifth ranked UNC Tarheels in Cary, North Carolina. Sunday's tie was huge for the Cards as UNC was on an 8 game win streak and was 8-0 in the conference. Outside of being a big result because of UNC's standing, the draw gives Louisville an ever important point in the conference standings, moving their total to 11. 

Louisville is tied with Clemson for the 8th and final spot in the conference tournament. A win over NC State would improve their chances dramatically, but would not guarantee them a spot, as far as I can tell. I did some digging and was unable to determine what the tiebreaker rules for the conference standings are. Louisville holds the head-to-head victory over Clemson, but the Tigers have the better overall record. We just need to hope that Louisville can pull out a better result than Clemson on Thursday. Boston College is also important, as the Eagles sit only a point behind and could play the spoiler.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Per UofL assistant SID for WSOC Kim Pemberton: "The Cards would get the tiebreaker (if it's a two-way tie with Clemson) based on the regular season win if they are tied."

It gets complicated if Boston College, who has ten points...one behind Louisville and Clemson...wins. They would pass Louisville and Clemson, if both these schools lose or tie. If the Cards win, they get the 8th spot no matter what Clemson or B.C does. If B.C. gets a tie and Louisville and Clemson lose...Boston College beat Louisville during the regular season and would hold the tie-breaker advantage. Boston College and Clemson did not play each other during the regular season.  B.C. (3-5-1 in conference) faces Pitt (0-8-1) to end the season. Clemson (3-4-2) ends with Florida State (5-4). A Clemson win, combined with Louisville and B.C. ties or losses gives them the 8th. spot. Confused enough?  Go Cards, get the win and secure your fate! 

While it was Louisville's offense that was unable to finish against Wake Forest, it was the defense
that stood strong against UNC. The Cards turned away 19 total shots by the Heels, including 6 saves for Gabby Kouzelos in goal. The most important came on a UNC breakaway with time ticking down in regulation. Louisville's offense was able to muster only one shot on goal, making their defensive efforts all the more important. Louisville will need a similar defense to show up on Thursday against NC State and they'll hope their strong offense makes a return after a couple of games off. The final game of the regular season kicks off at 7PM and is available on ACC Network Extra.


FIELD HOCKEY FALLS TO #4 MICHIGAN 

A tough one for Louisville Field Hockey yesterday at Trager Stadium with a 6-2 loss to Michigan.

What is this? First correct answer gets entered into the
Panera Card drawing. 

The Cards gave up two quick goals in the first nine minutes and went into the halftime break trailing 3-1. Michigan pushed that to 4-1 early in the second half before Louisville got their second goal from Abby Grimes to get within two before UM added two goals for the final 6-2 finish.

Disappointment, certainly. After a close loss Saturday to #3 Virginia, Louisville came out flat and was out shot 9-4 in the first half.

Justine Sowry was frank about the defeat.



"Michigan is a very good team, make no mistake about it." 

The Cards ended up with six shots on goal for the contest while Michigan had 11. Goalkeeper
Ayeshia McFerran did have five saves in goalkeep for Louisville but the breakdowns from the normally strong defensive backs kept her busy for most of the entire contest. Michigan got three of their scores off penalty corner attempts.

Al Greener's Pep Band could not
spur the Cards on to victory. 

Louisville (11-6) has a week to think about it and prepare for their final regular season game Sunday against Ohio. The Cards already know their fate in the ACC Tournament -- a #3 seed in the action that will take place here in Louisville at Trager beginning November 2nd.

A windy post-game interview with Coach Sowry below:

COACH SOWRY DISCUSSES MICHIGAN LOSS

Once again, the full interview edited by UofL sports information.

I've upload my own personal audio here. It's on Soundcloud,
so you may need to sign up to hear it there (and here).

PAULIE'S AUDIO FROM THE COACH SOWRY INTERVIEW

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-