Sunday Cardinal Couple - Volleyball Sweeps the Weekend

Straight Sets over IUPUI

UofL Volleyball finished off the weekend 9-0 in sets, not dropping a single set on the season, yet.  That doesn't mean that the match went without any adversity, though.

The first set made it look like match would be all Cardinals, jumping out to the lead immediately and never relinquishing it for a 25-14 win.  Early in the second set, there was a hint that IUPUI could provide a challenge if the Cardinals didn't stay on top of their game.  UofL was down by 3 points early in the match, but then righted the ship and cruised out to a 25-12 win.

The third set is where the drama occurred.  IUPUI largely controlled the set early, stretching out to an 18-11 lead.  Sometimes in volleyball circles, you'll hear "first to 18 wins", meaning that if a team has a significant lead (and 18-11 qualifies) when they reach a score of 18, it's very rare for the opponent to come back and win.  The Cards pulled it off, though, finishing out the third set 25-23, to take the match and finish the first weekend of volleyball without a set loss.

On the stats front, Megan Sloan and Amanda Green led in kills with 10 and 11, respectively, Green also contributed 6 digs, a solo and 4 shared blocks.  Melanie McHenry, the ever consistent contributor for the Cards, registered 7 kills and 8 digs.  Molly Sauer, unsurprisingly, topped the dig list with 19, but two other Cards also chipped in 8 digs, Wilma Rivera, and Kelly O'Neil.

In more subjective analysis, Megan Sloan really demonstrated the power in her swing, and Jasmine Bennett continues to shine when the team is in need.  Also in the middle, we're seeing Piper Roe and freshman Emily Scott split some of the playing time, why this is, isn't exactly clear, but both are contributing well and are excellent options on the other side of the rotation from Bennett.

Akela Yuhl, who goes on my list of one of the most improved players on the team, is getting some real time out on the court.  She has shown herself to be composed, aware, and really have a great vision for court placement and coverate as she's been playing.

This weekend didn't provide a great deal of high level competition for the Cards, 3rd set scare against IUPUI aside, but next week, things get serious.  UofL will be heading for Gainesville, Florida, with the first matchup of the weekend being 4pm against UCF.  UCF is not ranked, but can't be overlooked as a solid opponent.  Even bigger challenges await, however, with Saturday at 5pm seeing a matchup against currently 7th ranked Florida, and then on Sunday at 1pm with currently 10th ranked Southern California.

To put a little bit of context around UF and USC, Florida upset number 2 Nebraska in a matchup Friday evening, while USC upset number 5 Kentucky later that night.  Those matchups were part of a topsy-turvy first day of the Volleyball season with another significant upset being number 13 Creighton also defeating Kentucky (meaning UK was a 5 ranked 0-2 team after the first day of play).

Obviously, the weekend in Gainesville will provide a strong early test for this team, with 2 top 25 ranked teams and another providing solid competition.

A quick injury report.  As reported previously Alexis Hamilton is out for the season with an ACL tear.  Also, Marijke van Dyke went down in the evening match Friday with an ankle injury.  We have no word on the extent or how long she is expected to be out, but she was in a boot and seemed to show signs of a limp, though how much of that can be contributed to just the awkward gait required in a boot is unclear.

Today's Action

Field Hockey hosts Ohio State at Trager Stadium on Floyd Street with a start time of 1 p.m, and
Women's Soccer will get underway against Michigan in Ann Arbor at 2pm.  If you can't make it out to Trager, you can catch Field Hockey on the ACC Network Extra, and for those of us not in Ann Arbor...well, the UofL Women's Soccer twitter account usually does a pretty good job of keeping up to date on major points of action during the game.  You can catch those updates in the Twitter updates down in the right side of the site.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We took to the airwaves at the magnificent, majestic media mansion on Mellwood known as WCHQ 100.9 FM (and Facebook Live) yesterday morning to provide our weekly update on the joy and excitement of Uof L women's athletics/ Three knuckleheads present (Case, Jeff and Paulie) and one absent ...turning quarters into nickles and dimes (Jared).

A great show that encompassed soccer, volleyball and field hockey. You can see the replay below:


https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/541036066337335/


In Memorandum

One of Paulie's good friends and excellent horse-racing handicapper Scott "Scotty" Harris passed away Saturday morning.

Scott was a regular on WCHQ 100.9 FM's  Handicapping Heroes...a show that Paulie hosts

Scott came up with the Handicapping Heroes idea, format and was last with Paulie and Archie three weeks ago on the show with his analysis and picks for thoroughbred racing here in Kentucky and around the nation.

He loved his friends, family, horse-racing, playing pool, WCHQ and life.

He will be greatly missed. He will always be remembered.   -paulie-







   

JMcA