Delayed Cardinal Couple SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Sunday Slumberings

First things first.  I'm on the road and forgot that I had today's write.

Oops.

I'm up and at 'em again, though, so let's see what's happening in the land of Cardinal athletics.

Field Hockey

Field Hockey hosted Longwood at Trager yesterday.  The Cards come away with the 4-2 win in this one with a consistent offensive effort throughout the game.  Goals for the Cards came with a pair in the 1st quarter, and scores in the 3rd, and 4th quarters.

Freshman Minna Tremonti got the scoring started in the 10th minute on a rebound off the Longwood GK pads.  With about a minutes left in the 1st quarter, a pair of freshmen connected, with Mattie Tabor finding Margot Lawn for the goal.

In the 3rd quarter, the sole non-freshman score was accomplished when senior Whena Munn redirected a swing from junior Alli Bitting into the goal.  And finally, in the last frame, freshman Camryn Pichea found the goal in a scrum in the space right in front of the cage.

Longwood would get a pair back, but it wouldn't be enough even up the game.  Hollyn Barr played between the pipes or the Cards and only faced 3 shots in the game.  Only two were on frame, and, alas, both made it past the junior.

The team will be back in action today at 1pm, against a shockingly good Iowa team.  The Hawkeyes have only dropped 3 all season, and they were all to current or former ACC teams, UNC, Duke, and Maryland, so there is no shame in any of those loses.  They've got wins over Wake Forest, Indiana, Michigan State, Penn State, and Ohio State, among others, so there are some decent wins among that mix.

Coach Sowry comments on the win below:

COACH SOWRY ON LONGWOOD WIN

Volleyball

Volleyball had Friday off, so they should be fairly well rested coming into what is typically a single-
day-of-rest Sunday match.  Their last match was, of course, against Notre Dame in South Bend on Wed.

The big news from that one, besides a thrilling 5 set win, was the loss of Melanie McHenry for the season, and the rest of her collegiate career.

McHenry was the foundation of this team's play, and it will take a little bit of time to adjust to not having her in the line-up.  Fortunately, Dani Busboom Kelly has depth galore in the hitting positions, and plenty of competent defense to fill that hole, but it will take a little bit of time to integrate the new interactions.

Fortunately, today's match is against Virginia Tech.  I've got nothing but love for the Hokies, but, well, they're just not very good in Volleyball.  They're winless in conference, and have taken out of conference loses against some thoroughly mediocre teams like VCU, Liberty, Arkansas State, and Charlotte.

This match should give the Cards time to get settled into adjusted roles and substitution patterns, and give the opportunity for some players that we haven't seen as much of this year, to step up into the limelight.

First and foremost, look for Claire Chaussee to be just about a direct replacement for McHenry.  Chaussee has had some control issues, but it looks like she's starting to tame the wildness.  The coaching staff has had her pull back on her serves, so we're not seeing the big booming serves that are oh so impressive, but also oh so dangerous.  Chaussee is a competent passer, so she alone can largely fill the hole in full rotation that McHenry leaves.  There may be some confidence lacking, and maybe a few more miscues than we're used to with McHenry, but I think Chaussee will generally do admirably.  And if she finds herself struggling at any particular time, there's the option to shift to Amber Stivrins in the role as well.  Stivrins, too, can play full rotation, again, maybe not quite with the polish and finish of McHenry, but between the two of them, Stivrins and Chaussee, I think we'll do ok with McHenry on the sidelines.

Volleyball also gets underway at 1pm, and like Field Hockey, will be available on ACC Network Extra.

Golf

The golf squad continues the Cardinal Cup at the UofL Golf Club in Simpsonville.  Freshman Hana
Ryskova is tied for the lead in the overall tournament after two days, with the team in a tie for 2nd place.  Sophomore Mairead Martin sits just a stroke back, tied for 3rd.

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Between football start times and travel (Hello, from NYC!), there was no Cardinal Couple Radio Hour yesterday.  I believe we will be back with you next week.  Alas, this is the challenge of doing a live show in the timeslot that we are, sometimes there are just unavoidable conflicts.

-- 

JMcA