Women's Tennis Serves Up Two Wins -- The WBB in ACC -- RADIO -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( NORMALLY, YOU WOULD FIND CASE HOSKINS' SATURDAY COLUMN GREETING YOU HERE AT THE SITE ON THE DAY BEFORE SUNDAY. HE, HOWEVER, IS DEALING WITH A HUGE WORK PROJECT AND INDICATED HE'D BE LIVING IN HIS OFFICE, SLEEPING IN HIS DESK CHAIR AND ORDERING TAKE OUT THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. SO, PAULIE CLIMBS OUT OF THE DUGOUT, GRABS HIS FAVORITE BAT AND LUMBERS INTO THE BATTER'S BOX. JUST WANT TO MAKE CONTACT, IF IT LANDS ON THE DOG WALK BERM, THAT'S OK, TOO. PLAY BALL!) 

WOMEN'S TENNIS FINDING NET SUCCESS

Hola and Ole', Ola ! 

We don't normally have Louisville women's tennis as our lead story here at "The Couple", but when a squad keeps winning and does it convincingly -- it's good enough for us. 

That's what Mark Beckham's squad has done and did yesterday. One of those "two opponents in one day" scenarios, and the "Serve and Score" Cards started the day with a convincing 6-1 win over another group of Cardinals -- the Ball State variety -- over at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. 

Ola "Grandma" Mally took honors as the #1 seed (or racquet, in this case?) and produced a two set 6-2, 6-2 win over her Muncie counterpart. Five of the six singles matches went the Cards way and they took two of the three doubles contest to compile the six points. 

Dina does it.

Of note, recent campus arrival Dina Chaika saw her second-time action as a Cardinal and won as the #6 seed in singles, plus a winning part of the #2 seed in doubles with teammate Nikolina Jovic. Dina is from Lemontov, Russia and had been a part of the Russian National team. 

Coach Beckham reviews the win with post-match comments:  HERE

In the afternoon/early evening session, the Cards faced Northern Kentucky and continued the voluminous volleying success by blanking the Norse 7-0. Louisville won all six singles matches and the three doubles contests. 

Huge efforts by UofL #2 seed Raven Neely and her 6-0, 6-1 win and #4 seed Diana Wong, who covered her match with a 6-0, 6-2 set performance. 

Raven and her racquet

Coach Beckham also reviewed this one and previewed the next match:  HERE

At 4-0, the Cards return to action on Sunday at the "Rudd" when they bring in a talented Cincinnati contingent.

Best of luck to the "Beckham base-liners" in the rivalry match. 

WHAT SAY YOU, ACC WBB? 

As the ACC women's basketball schedule approaches the halfway mark, let's take a look at what we know, what we think might happen and who the hot teams are. Everyone has played at least six games (the Cards, Miami and Clemson seven) and there are still two schools who haven't lost an ACC match yet: Notre Dame and N.C. State. Those two head to a potential ACC #1 vs. #2 showdown on Feb. 18th. (Monday 7 p.m.) in Raleigh. N.C. State will be tested prior to that game, with FSU and Syracuse to face...both on the road.

Jeff Walz's bunch are tied in conference play with Miami at 6-1. The Canes fell to Clemson in ACC play 67-76 and have four season losses (Iowa St., Purdue and Central Michigan). Emese Hof, Laura Cornelius and Mykea Gray lead the way for Katie Meyer's Ibus flock and they'll leave sunny south Florida to take on Louisville on Sunday, Feb 17th. 

Rounding out the top half of the standings, and squads that are .500 or better are Clemson (5-2), FSU (4-2), Syracuse (4-2) and Ga. Tech (3-3). Louisville has wins over two of the four (Ga. Tech and FSU) and will bring the other two into the YUM! (Syracuse and Clemson) for action in early February. 

Everyone else has work to do. 

BIGGEST SURPRISE TEAM SO FAR: I think most would agree that it is Clemson. They gave N.C.State all they wanted in Raleigh on Thursday and have grown leaps and bounds from the one-win conference record in 2017-18. Head coach Amanda Butler has installed a "never say die" attitude in these Tigers and players Simone Westbrook, Danielle Edwards, Kobi Thornton and Aliyah Collier could start or see significant minutes on any ACC squad. They get a week to prepare for visiting Notre Dame  (Thursday,Jan 31st.) with no other games in between and that one is one that will be a true test for them. 

If you were looking for N.C. State in this category, they ran a close second. We'll do this analysis again in a few weeks and see where Ms. Wuf's pack stands. 

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT TEAM SO FAR: What in the world is going on at Virginia Tech? 

They are "0 for ACC" at 0-6, they do have a 13-6 overall record, but Hokie fans are "raising cain" (and not in a good way nor chicken-finger related) about head coach Kenny Brooks.

They've had two overtime losses (at NC State and hosting Syracuse), got bombarded by Notre Dame, lost close ones against Miami and Virginia...but the 12 point win by North Carolina over them (in Blacksburg) last time out was unexpected. 

The talent is there. Regan Magarity is one of the ACC's best. Emery Taylor averages almost 19 points a game. Dara Mabrey is a top flight freshman (and she's the younger sister of Notre Dame's Marina Mabrey). They can grab significant half-time leads (see Virginia and North Carolina) but fail to finish. Here's hoping the remainder of their season is a good one (except for the Louisville game, of course). They are better than they are showing.

SO, WHAT IS THE PAULIE PREDICTION FOR REGULAR SEASON CHAMP? 

OK. Out-on-a-limb time.

I do not think N.C. State will remain undefeated. I think Wes Moore has done a wonderful job, but with Notre Dame, Louisville, FSU and Syracuse still to play on the Wolfpack's schedule, I can see some dents on the fender. Nope, I'm not picking them. 

The Cards "grew up a lot" in the win at Tallahassee last time out. If the rebounding woes are finally solved, they'll be dangerous. They're going to need some help, though, since Notre Dame did beat them earlier. Honestly, it's hard to see another Louisville loss on the remainder of the regular season conference schedule...except, maybe...to NC State. And, that one is in Louisville. Is it Louisville as my choice? Hurts me to say it, but, nope. 

Notre Dame will, I predict, assume the sole possession of the top spot in the conference after packing up the Wolfpack and they may well roll through the rest of the conference regular season undefeated.

That last sentence was hard to type, and hurts like all "@$#%" to say it...but they are my pick as the regular season champ. I hope I'm wrong. But, unless UConn is suddenly added to the ACC from the AAC...the Irish seem to have the best shot. 

THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

We will gather at the magnificent media mansion on Mellwood this morning at 11 a.m. to communicate over frequency modulation devices and provide Facebook viewing for those who have an interest. Yes, it's THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR, and joining Jeff and I in-studio is River City Cards Mike Gilpatrick. He's the editor-in-chief over there and senior women's basketball correspondent. 

Guess what we'll be talking about? 

Mike is a senior finance major at UofL and was the captain of the swim team at Shelby County High School. He was also on the rifle squad, which brings the unique dual, potential sequence of his ability to shoot something and then either swim away from the scene or jump in and swim out to retrieve what he shot. We like to joke about his "five first names" and he can put away a prodigious amount of Italian sausages if presented with the opportunity. 

Should be fun! Join us, won't you? We're at WCHQ 100.9 FM. Facebook LIVE. Your link below:

LINK: www.wchqfm.com

Have a Super Saturday, stay warm and cheer on UofL athletics this weekend. We hope to see you at the Louisville WBB vs. Pitt game Sunday at the Arena by the River!

paulie

xxxxx