A WIN AND LOSS ON FLOYD STREET -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS SPLIT WITH FSU SUNDAY

Floyd Street, on the UofL Campus, was the place to be -- if you are a UofL women's sports fan. Or FSU fan, I suppose. Two of the Cardinals women's sports squads were engaged in action Sunday afternoon on campus. Women's Soccer was facing #1 FSU in Lynn Stadium and #5 Louisville Volleyball had the FSU Volleyball squad in for a match at the LNFCU. Both events began at 1 p.m. (and we heard plenty about that, from fans who wanted to watch both) but such is the way of scheduling at times. So, how did the Cardinals do? 

WSOC FALLS TO NOLES 3-0 

We'll start with the bitter pill first.

Give Louisville women's soccer credit for coming out, giving their all, and keeping the FSU squad scoreless for the first half....in fact, the first 53 minutes of the match. Back in a defensive designed to slow down the potent Seminoles attack, the Cards were able to do just that. FSU got off only two shots in the first half, neither were "on goal" and the squads went to the locker room tied in a scoreless affair at the end of the first half. 

When you play a defensive type off game strategy like the Cards did, your chances of generating much offensive go down pretty significantly. But, the hopes for a possible transition goal were possible in that kind of deployment were possible. It just didn't happen, with the ball staying in the Cards area and FSU on attack for the majority of the first 45 minutes.

FSU was being patient and that paid off early in the second half when they were awarded a free kick. A shot toward UofL's goal eventually found the noggin of Besta Olsson, who "headed" the orb past Cardinals goalkeeper Gabby Kouzelos for a score.

When a squad sees their defensive efforts thwarted by a score, it can sometimes lead to a bit of deflation on their psyche.. And the Noles took advantage of that, adding two more scores over the next 12 minutes to build what looked like a insurmountable 3-0 lead with 25 minutes left in the contest. And, it was. That 3-0 margin held for FSU the remainder of the way. . 

The Noles ended up with 10 shots in the match, four of them on goal and three resulting in scores. The Cards had three attempts at trying to get one in the goal. 

There is certainly no disgrace in losing to #1 in the land and the Cards won't face anyone tougher than FSU the rest of the season. Virginia and Notre Dame remain undefeated in conference play, though, and Louisville has to face both of them on the road -- so tough tests do remain for Karen Ferguson Dayes squad -- now 6-2-1 on the season.

 

Louisville's offensive productivity needs to reintroduce themselves to the turf --the Cards have tallied just seven goals in their last six outings. 

Our Jared Anderson (with his fiancée Katy accompanying -- she's a Noles grad and fan) was on hand and got the WSOC pictures you see here today. 

Next up? Wake Forest at Lynn on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Demon Deacons are formidable as well, with a 10-1 record overall and 1-1 in ACC play.  

 

VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS FSU

On the north end of campus, Louisville Volleyball put their #5 ranking and 11-0 record on the line against FSU Volleyball. The Noles looked to be somewhat formidable, with a 7-3 record and a upset win over Florida -- but this version of FSU athletics turned out to be a paper tiger.

Dani Busboom Kelly's squad got the sweep against the visitors, 25-13, 25-16, 25-19 were the set results, as the Cards got 14 kills from outside hitter extraordinaire Claire Chaussee to take care of business. 

Louisville hit .439 as a team and that's an extraordinarily excellent stat -- while FSU had 11 service errors and .186 hitting numbers. 

Chaussee wasn't the only UofL net-protector having a big time in the LNFCU. Sophomore Anna DeBeer added 11 kills and produced three blocks. Aiko Jones was responsible for nine kills and torrid Tori Dilfer facilitated 43 assists.  Freshman Elena Scott continues to impress -- with 22 digs. 

The Cards fell a bit behind in the first set, but, soon rallied and led and built a 19-10 lead. They also scored the final five points of the set for the twelve-point win. In set two, FU clawed their way to an early 7-6 lead, but saw that negated -- as UofL stretched a 15-13 lead to 21-13 late in the set.  In the final set, FSU tried to stay close to the Cards and had a bit of success with that, trailing 15-11 at one point in the action. The Cards remained steady, though, and out-played the Noles 10-8 the rest of the way to take set and the match. 

Louisville takes a southeast sojourn for their next two -- starting at Clemson this Friday and then heading to Georgia Tech for Sunday action. The Yellow Jackets are current #18 in the polls. Louisville will undoubtedly climb up from their #5 ranking, due to some upsets that happened Sunday. Penn State knocked off #3 and previously unbeaten Ohio State and #2 Wisconsin fell earlier in the week to Maryland. 

Our writer Jeff McAdams was on hand, leading the crowd in C-A-R-D-S cheers and running the steps. Sign that boy up for a marathon. 

So, the Cards went 2-1 overall against the Noles over the last two days. An impressive, if nerve-wracking football win, a domination in Volleyball and a brave, but, losing effort in WSOC.

FIELD HOCKEY TODAY

Louisville Field Hockey was not in action on Sunday, but they'll head up I-71 for a Monday match against the Ohio State Buckeyes. 

OSU is a tough foe at 6-2, despite losing their last match to Virginia in Columbus. They #19 in the latest DI poll and seem to always give the Cards a run for their money. 

Louisville -- now #4 in the nation and sporting a 7-1 record, is coming off a 1-0 win at Duke last time out. 

This one gets underway at 4 p.m. It's available on-line at BTN+, a pay-per-view setup. Last time I checked, it's $14.95 a month. They do have a free trial available, but you can only "try" it once. I got shot down when I tried to "try" again this morning, if that makes any sense....since I access it during hoops season earlier this year and then cancelled it. Live stats are free, though, so I'll track it that way.

Have a meaningful Monday,

paulie