Midseason Standings -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Midseason Standings

Would you believe we have reached the halfway point of the fall season?  It's pretty hard to believe, but we are there. Field Hockey has played four of nine games.  Women's Soccer has played four of eight games.  Volleyball has played three of seven (hopefully eight) games. There is the possibility that these squad will also get to engage in some spring of 2021 action as well, we'll know more on that later.

Now that we have reached the halfway point perhaps we should take a look at the ACC standings.

Field Hockey

After a great weekend that included halting North Carolina's 47-game win streak, the Cards are 4-0 overall with a 3-0 conference record.  They hold the only perfect record with everyone else having 1-3 losses already.

All of their games have been at home that include 3-0 and 3-1 victories against Duke, a 3-1 victory over North Carolina, and a 2-1 thriller over Boston College.

Virginia is second with a 3-1 overall record and 2-0 conference record.  North Carolina is the only other team with a win in conference play with a 1-1 mark and 2-1 overall.  Wake Forest is 0-1 overall but has recorded a win with their 1-2 record.  Boston College and Syracuse are both 0-1 in conference play although Syracuse has two losses in their season.  Duke sits at the bottom with a 0-3 overall record and a 0-2 ACC record.

The remainder of the fall season for the Cards includes two-game series against both Wake Forest and Virginia and a single game season finale against Syracuse.

The ACC is the only field hockey conference playing right now.  Because of this, there are no national rankings currently being tabulated for the sport. Last season had the ACC teams listed as follows: North Carolina, Virginia, Louisville (#5 overall), Boston College, Duke, Syracuse, and Wake Forest.  With their hot start and victories over other top teams, it's safe to go ahead and claim the #1 ranking for Louisville.  The Wahoos, who have a blemish on their record already, would be the only team that could come up with half an argument otherwise.

With more conferences and schools setting their sites on playing spring Field Hockey in 2021, we would guess that the Cards would come up with some sort of schedule . We'd like to see a mix of conference and non-conference matches take place -- Louisville Field Hockey has had some great matches in the past against Indiana, Ohio State, Northwestern -- just to name a few.

A look back at the 2019 schedule had UofL Field Hockey playing Indiana, UMass, Kent State, Michigan State, UC Davis, Providence, Stanford, Longwood and William and Mary in non-conference contests. 

Women's Soccer

Only 13 teams are playing in the ACC this year with NC State electing to sit out.  Georgia Tech does not field a Women's Soccer team.  The Cards are 3-1 overall and sit at third in the ACC.

Louisville began the season with a 3-0 win at Miami before falling on the road to Florida State 1-0.  They opened the home season with a 3-0 win against Syracuse and are fresh off a 2-0 win against Boston College.

Florida State and North Carolina both have 12 points overall, each with a 4-0 record.  Louisville is tied with Notre Dame with nine points and a 3-1 record.  Virginia is next in the conference with seven points and a 2-1-1 conference record.  Clemson is sixth in the ACC with six points and a 2-2 record.  Duke has five points with a 1-1-2 record.  Wake Forest rounds out the top eight with four points and a 1-2-1 record.  Pitt and Virginia Tech each have three points with 1-2 and 1-3 records, respectively.  Boston College, Syracuse, and Miami all have goose eggs with 0-2, 0-3, and 0-4 records.

It is interesting to note that Pitt is 6-2 overall.  They have played five non-conference games so far with another later in the year.  While the rest of the schools in the ACC will have played 8-10 games, Pitt will finish the year with 15.

The Cards travel to Virginia and Virginia Tech next.  They wrap up the season at home against Notre Dame and North Carolina.

The most recent poll to come out was Sept. 29.  It had UNC at #1, FSU at #2, Clemson at #3, Virginia at #10, Duke at #11, and Pitt at #14.  There is a possibility the Cards move up to the 15-team rankings.

Volleyball

Volleyball is a little behind after having to postpone a match against Notre Dame.  Despite the eight-match season in the fall they are expected to continue into the spring, allowing for a longer season.

The Cards opened the season with a loss against Notre Dame, getting swept at home.  They turned around and swept Boston College in their first match and won the other 3-1, putting their record at 2-1.

Duke and Notre Dame are both 3-0 atop the ACC.  Miami is next in line at 3-1 with Louisville sitting fourth at 2-1.  Syracuse holds a 2-2 record for a fifth place spot.  Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina are all tied for sixth at 1-1.  Virginia is 0-1 while Boston College, NC State, Pitt, and Wake Forest are all 0-2.  Neither Clemson nor Florida State have played a match yet.

Volleyball has a pair of home matches against Syracuse and then will hit the road for two matches against Pitt.  They are currently hoping to make up the match against Notre Dame.

The NCAA rankings for Volleyball have not been updated since Sept. 29, which had the Cards ranked 11th at 0-1.  It's safe to assume they will move up.  Like soccer, the rankings only go to 15 teams this year.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared