Sauer and U.S. Collegiate National Team Prepare to Close Out Tour
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| Molly Sauer |
In their first three matches they are 2-1. The other two matches are listed for May 29 (no update) and May 30. The second and third matches were against Zhejiang, a professional volleyball team in China.
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| Sauer's Instagram Story |
May 25 vs Zhejiang won 3-0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-9). Sauer and her squad rebounded from the loss one day prior and obliterated the Chinese in the third set after an easy first set and tight second set.
There were no quotes from Sauer, but we know the libero has played a huge factor on the team and is as beneficial with the U.S National Team as she is with Louisville.
The rising senior also celebrated her birthday three days ago while overseas.
Football Stadium Expansion Update Released
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| Panorama Photo by Morgan Lentes, WLKY |
The $63-million expansion is quickly on its way to being completed. The new training room is operational and features two plunge pools, hydro-therapy room, 4x rehab space as the old one, and a much larger weight and cardio room. The seating is not yet completed, but will accompany the two new 40-foot by 80-foot LED video boards in time for the home opener against Indiana State.
Other News and Notes
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| Cardinal Forever Josh Rogers |
Olivia Cason just wrapped up her season with women's golf and is already moving onto another big event. The rising senior will compete in the U.S. Women's Open in Shoal Creek, Ala., beginning this Thursday. She is part of the 36-player field and the only Cardinal competing.
Kassidy Manning and Joe Delgado were named to the 2018 Google Cloud All-District Track and Field teams. To be eligible, athletes must be a starter or key reserve and maintain at least a 3.3 GPA while reaching sophomore standing at their school.
I'd like to wish my mom a happy early birthday, as she adds another year of experience to her life this Thursday. My dad celebrated his birthday about a week and a half ago and my brother's is next week. My September birthday makes me the odd one out in my family.
Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!
- Jared -
Also, wishing Myisha a happy birthday!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to all mentioned and Myisha. Mikey T. of Washington has made two good decisions since getting to WASHINGTON. Getting Della Donne and keeping Mooks.
ReplyDeletePaulie
OT: Angel hit the winning shot with time expiring to create a Dream win last night.
ReplyDeleteMyisha had another really good rookie game where she was called into a starting role as Elena Delle Donne appeared to remain ill ( no playing minutes). I think this is only the beginning for her. Unfortunately although close the game was a loss without their star player. Waiting to see both of them in full action.
she is playing her way into starting role
DeleteMyisha was one of a kind at Louisville. I don't think you replace her. I think you find 2-3 players on the current roster who can do some of the things she could, in limited fashion, and come up with a composite "Myisha".
ReplyDeleteMaybe you start Diop down in the four, substitute her with Dunham and Kakala as needed and start Carter, Sam, Jaz, Asia.
Who works hard this summer will be important as well.
I do expect Evans, Robins and Duvall to be integral parts of the rotation as well. OF course, what I expect and who the coaches will decide on are two different things.
Curtis "Make it a Myisha double, no rocks" Franklin
Agreed that there is no "replacement" for Myisha, just as there was no replacement for Angel. I've heard speculation that the Cards go "quick" next year and have Asia, Arica, Jaz, Dana and Sam out there a lot. Jaz has shown she can go in and "mix it up" and could be a smallish "four" with Diop seeing some time there also.
DeleteCurtis, I saw no mention of Shook in your analysis. She could be a an option if the Cards go "tall" and rotate her, Sam , Loretta and Bionca down in the power forward and center spots.
But, as you say, it's all speculation. Trust in the coaching staff. They know. They watch. They evaluate and, ultimately...they decide.
Paulie
its great to have a lot of toys aint it
DeleteSo who will Sauer have to make kill shots this year? I ran into an ex-VBall Card who pretty much said that UofL has no kill power this year. I don't follow v-ball a whole lot but if Clark is gone, who gets that second pass and drills it?
ReplyDeleteBlue Lou
Worldwide and Jared follow VB a lot more closely than I, but Melanie McHenry is back and I've heard good things about Marijke Van Dyke...a sophomore out of Indiana and 6'2". Amanda Green returns as well. Piper Roe and Jasmine Bennett are both 6'2" but will probably be middle hitters?
DeletePaulie
Appreciate it Paulie. 6'2" just seems small in V-ball. Especially when UK goes 6'4" and 6'5" most years. Any chance that V-Ball could borrow Shook? I seem to remember she came in with some V-Ball skills from Colorado. LOL
DeleteBlue Lou
A lot has to do with the "hops" and timing. I remember Lola Arslanbekova wasn't quite 6 foot and was one of the best ever for UofL at Outside Hitter. Gwen Rucker was around 6'1" or 6'2" and had a pretty fair Volleyball career as well.
DeletePaulie
As Paulie mentioned I may have a little more insight into volleyball...
DeleteMcHenry is a sure starter. However, she also plays excellent defense and has a killer attack from back row so I expect she’ll hang out with Molly Sauer and Alexis Hamilton in he back row. Sauer and Hamilton were together for two years at Assumption High School.
Jasmine Bennett has made quite the name for herself. Her dad, Winston Bennett, played basketball at Male (go bulldogs) and UK, but has converted into a UofL fan. She definitely has the competitive gene and is a fighter.
Amanda Green has been consistent up front for the Cards and had a good spring showing. Marijke Van Dyke transferred in during the spring and seemed to catch onto the UofL style fast.
Wilma Rivera has been one of coach’s go-to players as a setter and has done a fine job.
I would say those are your starters going into the season with Sauer remaining libero in her final year. I fully agree that having no one above 6’2 is concerning. In terms of collegiate volleyball that is short. The top teams in the country have multiple 6’4, 6’5, 6’6 players on the roster and that is something we will more than likely need to remain competitive.
(Basically have been offline for the past day...getting caught up)
DeleteJared and Paulie have both analyzed this pretty well on who the personnel are and where they'll be contributing.
I'll add that we have a good freshman class coming in and some of them may step up and contribute as well.
As to 6'2" and smaller...yeah, that makes for a bit of a smaller team, but that's not a killer in Volleyball. Teams achieve great success with hardly any players above 6' at times (I recall Oregon going to the National Championship match when it was held in Louisville with almost no one above 6').
I think the Cards will have some power...we're not going to be a Texas, but there will be some power there... but look for the team to play a bit quicker and just absolutely frustrate teams by preventing them from getting shots down with great defensive play. With Sauer back for her swan song season, and Alexis Hamilton being every bit as good as Sauer, that's the core of a great defensive set. In that facet of play, I think the loss of Gabbie Wiley may be more impactful to the team than Tess Clark.
I'm truly excited for volleyball for this coming season. There's a lot of talent around the court (not just at the pins) and I think they're going to be a lot of fun to watch and I hope they make a great run for post-season.
In other volleyball news, "Team Dream" won the USA Volleyball Open Championship this week. This is a *big* deal open tournament up on by USA Volleyball.
DeleteA couple of items of note for it, the team included Erin Fairs, UofL Alumna, (also Kaz Brown that bedeviled us for some many years with her middle blocking and hitting at UK) was on the team.
Team Dream was also the first ever team in the USAV Open Championship comprised completely of African-Americans (or mixed race) players. Haley Eckerman, Texas alumna, put the team together, and *man* was there some serious talent on that team. Erin Fairs recorded the final point of the championship match with a fantastic block at the left pin.
https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Features/2018/May/29/Team-Dream-Makes-More-History-Winning-Womens-Open-Division
Lady cards have pretty good Arsenal coming off the bench and starting.
ReplyDeleteOpen question. I seem to remember an absolutely beautiful girl on Louisville Volleyball from a few years ago and I think I remember she was maybe from California or transferred from California? What happened to her?
ReplyDeleteHelp me out here guys.
My guess is you're referring to Ashley Pettibone. She's a Cali girl and transferred here after a season at Golden West. She never got the chance to play much. She's definitely pretty, though. I ran into her over the weekend at Churchill Downs. She was there with former Cardinal MBB player David Levitch, who now owns horses and puts out a horseplayer's sheet. I actually interviewed her a few years back at a Cardinal Volleyball banquet. She remembered. I did, too, because i kept wondering where I knew that "face" from.
DeleteHope that helps. If not, perhaps you'd like to try for what's behind the curtain Carol Merill is standing by? (Sorry, old Let's Make A Deal reference)
Paulie