Field Hockey tames the Nittany Lions, Volleyball sweeps Clemson. Softball vs. IU -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ASSUMPTION PLAYERS "ROCKET" FIELD HOCKEY TO 3-0 WIN OVER PENN ST. 

Biz Allgeier and Erica Cooper, Louisville Assumption High School alumnae, had two of the three Cardinal scores Sunday in the Cards 3-0 white-wash of Penn State at Trager Stadium yesterday. Add in an amazing Meche Pastor score and the Cards added another "no score for you" win to the record. 

Cooper got the Cards first score in the 12th. minute of action when she tipped in a shot by Mercedes Pastor on a penalty corner.  The Cards added to that when Mercedes Pastor got loose with five minutes remaining in the second corner and sent a spectacular shot past PSU goalkeep Brie Barrco into the net to give Louisville a 2-0 lead that they took into halftime. The Cardinal defense was solid in the first half...allowing Penn State just four shots two on goal and Hollyn Barr had two saves. 

After a scoreless third period, UofL struck again with six minutes remaining in the fourth and final quarter. This time, it was Allgeier corralling a deflected penalty corner shot from Bethany Russ and sending it into the net. 

Barr was spectacular in goal for Louisville, getting her third straight shutout and recording six saves against the Nittany Lions. Louisville is now 10-1 and ranked #6 in the nation. It is the best start in UofL Field Hockey history since 1977. 

Coach Sowry commented on the "W" after the contest. We don't have any audio/video of her remarks (that'll happen sometimes when you depend on someone other than yourself to obtain it) but, recapping what she said: 

"Just a great weekend overall. Today, in particular, when you come up against Penn State, a perennial power house with a legendary coach...I was really looking forward to playing them." 

Penn State may be the youngest team in the Big 10, with 12 freshmen on their 26-player roster. At 2-8 now, it's a rebuilding season for them. They did show a lot of energy and came out of halftime with a pressure defense that kept the Cards at bay for the first 24 minutes of the second half. 

Coach Sowry went deep into the Cards bench Sunday, playing 20 of the 24 players on the roster. A bit surprising to me that we didn't see redshirt-freshman Sam Minrath get any time in goal (for the third straight game)...but I won't question Sowry and the staff's methods when they're producing shutouts. 

I did catch audio of the former Assumption stars Cooper and Allgeier. A fun interview ensued. Link below: 


LINK:    ROCKETS ROCK THE POST-GAME 


It gets considerably tougher Friday Night for "the Flock" when #8 Virginia rolls into town for a 6 p..m. test at Trager. the Wahoos bring a 9-3 record to Floyd Street and defeated always-tough ODU in overtime Sunday afternoon . VA has lost to #1  UNC, #17 Boston College and #4 Maryland.


VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS CLEMSON 25-18, 26-24, 25-18 

Hello, Nena Mbonu! 

The freshman, who was originally considered a possible red-shirt this year, had 11 kills in the three game sweep for the VolleyCards Sunday in L&N FCU Arena. 

Cards are now 11-3 on the season, should be in the top 25 when the next rankings come out and aced the Tigers, but not without a couple of close scares. 

Louisville trailed in the first set before putting a 6-0 run together, sparked by a Mbonu kill.  Anna Stevenson used her third kill of the set to give this one to UofL by seven.

Set two was a set of runs. Louisville appeared to be in control after a 9-0 run put the Cards up by ten. Not so. Clemson roared back with a 14-2 response. Just when it looked like Louisville was finished, they somehow managed to crawl back into it and force the extended period of play...finally sealing the deal with a Aiko Jones (red-shirt freshman) kill to escape 26-24.

Set three saw the two squads exchange leads until a 5-0 UofL run helped put them up 21-12. Worried about a Tiger comeback? It didn't happen. Mbonu's sixth kill of the set and a Clemson serving error ended it 25-18 in favor of the Red and Black.

Melanie McHenry had a rather quiet night (for her) with 10 kills.  

It's good to see the freshmen stepping up and producing big results for Dani Busboom Kelly's squad. Add in redshirt sophomore Alexis Hamilton's 14 digs (she's an Assumption gal, too...by the way) and what we've seen out of Amber Stivrens and Alexa Hendricks (another Assumption grad) and Kelly has her own version of "the A-team" with Aiko, Amber, Alexis, Alexa, Anna, Akela Yuhl and Amaya Tillman.

WSOC at Volleyball. Allison Whitfield and her crew
getting in a little "down" time.  

Louisville hit .253 for the match, not bad at all, while holding the South Carolina visitors to .150 (not so good)...

The Cards take to the road for the next four. Duke, Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. Let's hope they return 15-3. 

The "serve and kill" Cards are 4-0 now in conference play. From what transpired yesterday, it would appear that they have enough middle blockers and outside hitters to supply two teams. 



SOFTBALL TAKES FIRST, LED IN SECOND OVER I.U. 

Fall ball results for softball are always a little sketchy and "iffy" since no official stats are provided...but we CAN tell you (thanks to our photographer/writer Jared Anderson) who was there for most of the action...that UofL won the first game 3-0 and was leading 5-1 in the second game against IU, before the clouds opened up and we got some much needed rain in out area. 

We do know that Taylor Roby was in the circle for the win and  Danielle Watson was pitching in the second. We're also pretty sure Celene Funke was creating her own brand of excitement and fireworks out at Ulmer. 


This concludes fall exhibition ball for the Softball Cards. Head coach Holly Aprile and her staff now have a pretty good idea of what strengths they have to build upon for the spring. 

The Cards have pitching a plenty, led by Roby and Watson and some solid returnees in Funke, Roby, Watson, Maddy Newman, Caitlin Ferguson and Rebecca Chung. 

They'll figure the rest out.  Some talented freshmen and transfers will fill in the gaps, along with a (hopefully) healed Charley Butler. We also expect big things out of the other returnees...plus the Greenwood and Schindler sisters. Jordyn Wolfe created a lot of excitement at the end of last season and we've heard good things about Eden Mayo. 

Ulmer should be "the place to be" this spring and we're excited about Aprile's second season. The Cards looked good in previous exhibitions against Eastern Ky, Bellarmine and Kentucky this Sept. and Oct. and are learning the styles and techniques of "Hollyball"  

(Thanks to Jared Anderson for triple photography and coverage duties Sunday. I'm still thinking there's probably two or three "clones" of him doing all this coverage.) 


Have a marvelous Monday! 


paulie
xxxxx