Rankings -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

We hope everyone had a relaxing Labor Day. Unfortunately, for many of us, it's back to work despite the wishes of another day or two off.

With no women's games yesterday and none on the schedule for a couple days we don't have any recaps or previews to give today. If you follow some of the men's teams you may have been up late last night watching a beating sponsored by Target, but I think you can discover the results of that game on your own... eek...

However, we do have some positive news on updated rankings for one of our Cardinal squads.

Volleyball

After improving to 6-0 on the season Louisville volleyball has moved from #12 up to #10 in the AVCA Poll. Minnesota dropped form 10th to 13th and Baylor dropped from ninth to 17th.

Not only did Louisville go 3-0 at home at the Cardinal Classic this past weekend, they went a perfect 9-0 in sets. The VolleyCards have now won 18 of 20 sets so far this year. No matter who you play, ranked or not, a 90% win percentage in sets and carrying and undefeated record is impressive.

Pitt climbed from seventh up to #4 in the latest poll, making them the top ranked ACC team. Georgia Tech rounds out the three ACC schools in the Top 25, coming in at #21. The Yellow Jackets dropped a few spots after a loss over the weekend.

Purdue, the next opponent on the schedule for the Cards, is ranked #6 with a 4-0 record. Xavier, the host of the Xavier University Tournament, carries a 3-3 record. Louisville then returns home to host Kentucky, who dropped a few spots but remains highly ranked at #8. To add to the toughness of the schedule, a road trip to Nebraska is after that and the Cornhuskers are #3.

Louisville has looked good, great actually, but they'll have their hands full with three of their next four opponents being ranked in the Top 10. 

Field Hockey

The new field hockey rankings won't be out until later today, but Louisville should move up based off what's happened among the top few teams.

#4 Northwestern is fresh off a loss to #7 Boston College and holds a 3-1 record, all against ranked teams. #3 Iowa improved to 4-0 including a pair of victories over ranked teams. #2 Michigan is 3-0 on the year now with two wins coming against ranked opponents. #1 North Carolina found their first wins of the year with a pair of victories over the weekend to improve to 2-2. The Tar Heels lost to Michigan and Iowa to start the year.

At worst, the Cards should move up to #4. The question surrounds how far UNC will fall after losing to #2 and #3 back-to-back.

Women's Soccer

Any chance of women's soccer joining the rankings disappeared after their loss to Western Kentucky. Still, at 4-1, one loss to a solid team doesn't hurt much. The Cards were not ranked or in the receiving votes category in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Poll.

As of the most recent poll, six ACC squads were ranked. Florida State, North Carolina, and Virginia hold the top three spots, respectively, with Duke close behind at fifth. Clemson is ranked 15th and Pitt rounds out the ACC schools at #20.

With plenty of home games this coming weekend, we will try our best to get out to cover as many of them in person as possible. Friday has three different teams playing within a 2.5 hour span so we get to play the fun game of "Where's Jared".

On a side note not pertaining to women's sports, the first Battle of the Bluegrass rivalry of this season is tonight when men's soccer hosts Kentucky at 7:30 p.m. 

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared