Volleyball Looks to Set a Record - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Volleyball at Duke to Set a Record

Good morning from Durham, NC. 

 As was talked about on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast yesterday, I hit the road after the show and drove to Durham and will be attending the UofL Volleyball match against Duke here this afternoon.

The Cardinals are 20-0 on the season so far with half of those being conference match-ups.  That ties the 2005 volleyball squad for the best "start" to a season for the UofL Volleyball program ever.  Does it make sense to still be calling it a "start" when it's three quarters of the way through the season?  Regardless, the 2021 Cards have the chance to take hold of that distinction alone today.

Duke is a low-to-mid tier team in the ACC this year.  13-9 overall, and 4-7 in ACC play has them tied with Syracuse for 9th place in the conference.

Notable non-conference match ups for the Blue Devils are a five set win over Iowa, a five set loss to Michigan, and being swept by UNC, and yes, that last one was non-conference.  Duke was scheduled to play Michigan State after Michigan, but the match was cancelled, perhaps for Covid reasons, so UNC and Duke decided to play a non-conference version of their rivalry match.

Duke has also played a conference version of the UNC match and were swept again.  They'll also play again as the season finale for the teams.  Otherwise, the conference results are about what you'd expect.  Getting swept by Syracuse is a bit interesting given how similar the team records are.

The other interesting data point was Notre Dame's match with them on Friday which went five with Duke coming out on the victorious side.  This one is mostly interesting because of the utter enigma that Notre Dame is this year.  The Irish are the "box of chocolates" team this year, you never know what you're gonna get.

Who are the threats on Duke's squad?  Ade Owokoniran (6'3") is the kill leader on the team, with just north of 3 kills per set, on par with Anna DeBeer.  Owokoniran is listed on the roster as both a middle and an outside.  I think they've been lining her up outside, but I'm not certain of that.  Otherwise, watch for Gracie Johnson (6'0") and Moorea Woods (6'2"), both outsides tallying just a little over two kills per set.

Feeding the hitters should be Alex Springate (5'9") controlling the offense from the setter position, although Camille Nazor (6'1") stepped into the role Friday evening against Notre Dame.  And the libero for the squad I expect to be Mackenzie Cole (5'10").  5'10" is fairly tall for a libero, though she does get over 4 digs per set, compared to just a little under 4 per set that 5'9" Elena Scott gets.  Scott's numbers may be slightly off because of the great Louisville block keeping fewer balls from getting to her to begin with.

The prognosis for Louisville is good here in Durham.  The Cards should be well rested with Friday off, and the Dukies are coming off of a five set marathon with Notre Dame.  Again, as has been common this season, the Cards are the more talented and more poised team with a squad that has not had radical changes in composition for nearly two years, now.  They were challenged last time out by a very good Pitt squad who were able to bring some minor flaws to the surface and have now had a week of practice to work on those improvements.  

Check this live stream out on ACC Network Extra at 1pm.  Hopefully you'll get to hear some of the C-A-R-D-S cheer on the telecast.  We're expecting some area alumni to make an appearance as part of an Alumni Association event going on here this weekend, so hopefully the Cardinal crowd can spook the Blue Devils.

Tennis Hosts the Cardinal Classic

Tennis was the only women's event on the calendar yesterday, with the Cardinal Classic described as a "hidden-dual" format.  I'm no tennis expert, but my understanding is, unlike typical tennis squad matchups in Division 1 where the team will play doubles on three courts and then singles on six courts against the same team, in a hidden dual, the team will play the double courts against one team, and then switch to playing against a different team for the singles courts.

Four teams are playing in the Cardinal Classic, with DePaul, Ball State, and Middle Tennessee joining the Cards.

In action yesterday, the Cards picked up seven court wins (there's no overall match scoring due to the hidden-dual nature of the format).  They swept DePaul on the double courts, won two of the three in doubles against Ball State, and then picked up another two of the six in singles action against Ball State.

The schedule for the event only shows UofL playing against MTSU on singles courts today at noon, so you can head out to the Bass-Rudd if you'd like to check that out.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Everything was back to relative normalcy for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast, if anything with Paulie involved can ever be described as "normal".  Four of us on the call, with Case, Jared, Paulie, and myself.  We covered the big volleyball match vs Pitt on Sunday, the close of the Soccer season, more Field Hockey success in the form of a conference title, and the Women's Basketball Tip-off Luncheon.

We were also able to air Paulie's always-entertaining Tip-off Luncheon interview, which apparently  also doubled as an audition, with the unflappable Sam Purcell.

You can check out the CCRHP at its live recoding at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5lFfp2UTR0 

you can also catch a lightly edited version at its native anchor.fm site at:

https://anchor.fm/cardinal-couple 

It should also be available at all of your favorite podcast apps and sites.

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Breaker: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

JMcA 

FH Clinches ACC Title -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Hold on to Beat Cuse 2-1

Louisville entered yesterday afternoon's match with a share of the ACC regular season title in hand, but the number one seed in the ACC tournament--and the bye that comes with it--was still up for grabs. As the last home match of the regular season, yesterday marked Louisville's Senior Day. The Cards honored Alli Bitting, Erica Cooper, Mackenzie Karl, Sam Minrath, Camryn Pichea, and Katie Schneider. Outside of Minrath, every other senior earned a start. In a big game for the team and the players, the Cards responded with a big win.

The top-ten matchup was expected to be a tough one, as Syracuse was nearly undefeated in the ACC just like Louisville, though they dropped their last match against Virginia. As expected, it delivered with a close match in the end. The two teams hounded each other offensively, with both registering double-digit shots. Louisville turned fifteen shots into nine on target, while the Orange put six of eleven toward goal. Both goalies were up to the task as well, as they combined for 12 saves. Though Coach Justine Sowry lamented her defense sagging a bit in the second half, the Cards were stout when it mattered, keeping Syracuse out of goal on all five of their corner attempts in the first half and not allowing them to earn any in the second half.

Of those five corners Syracuse earned, four came in the first quarter. In fact, all four came in a row. Just under four minutes in, the Orange worked their way into the circle and fired a shot toward the cage that was blocked by a defender. The block gave Syracuse a corner, and the sequence began. Their first corner came to nothing, though it was put out for another opportunity. The second resulted in a shot, and Mila de Kuijer was up to her first test. The ball wasn't cleared, however, and another corner was given. Third time wasn't the charm, as again it came to nothing but another corner. On the fourth opportunity, Louisville again prevented a shot, this time finally clearing the ball to end the threat. To recap, Syracuse had four corners in 30 seconds and turned them into one shot, which was saved. Bravo to the Cards.

After that, it was Louisville's turn. A couple of minutes later, Charlie van Oirschot found herself with an opportunity on goal and fired a shot that was saved. She'd recover the ball and get another chance, but that shot went wide. Shortly after that sequence, Sowry went to a round of offensive substitutions, and they paid off. Nine minutes into the quarter, five minutes after Syracuse's barrage, Louisville found themselves in position to run the offense. That opportunity resulted in Aimee Plumb finding Filippa Niebuhr in the circle. Niebuhr fired a shot to the right side, and the Cards led 1-0. Syracuse would grab two more shots in the first quarter, but neither were on frame, and Louisville took their lead into the quarter break.

In the second quarter, it was the Cards that came out firing, and it looked as though they may be able to extend their advantage. Mattie Tabor put the first shot of the quarter towards goal just 40 seconds in, but the shot was wide. A couple of minutes later, Louisville started a sequence similar to the one Cuse had in the first quarter. Tabor again got a shot off in open play, and this one was one target but saved. The save resulted in a corner, which saw Emilia Kaczmarczyk have her shot blocked. For the second corner, Aimee Plumb turned the ball over to Alli Bitting to play in. Bitting returned the favor by sending it back to Plumb, who fired a shot on goal, only to have it saved. Bitting recovered the rebound, but her second effort was wide of the cage. After a pair of traded green cards, Syracuse got another chance with a pair of shots, one coming from a corner, but de Kuijer responded with a pair of saves to keep the score line at 1-0 as the teams hit the locker room.

As we have often seen with this team, they come out of the halftime break with intensity. Yesterday was no different, as Louisville found themselves in attacking position just a couple of minutes into the half. After earning a corner, Karl had her shot saved, but another corner was awarded. This time, it was Kouijzer who took the reception, but she passed it instead of firing a first time shot. This proved quite fruitful, as Erica Cooper fired a shot towards goal, and the Syracuse defender who tried to block it away succeeded only in deflecting it past the goalie. Cards led 2-0.

It would be nice to say that the Cards coasted off into the sunset to collect their ACC trophy after that, but then I would be lying. With five minutes left in the quarter, Syracuse worked their offense forward to put a shot on target. This one snuck past de Kuijer, but a defender's stick managed to find the path and earn a defensive save. Unfortunately, the joy was short lived, as the rebound went right back to Syracuse, who knocked it into the cage. 2-1 Cards. On the sequence, Bitting earned a yellow card, giving Syracuse a player advantage and a bit of momentum. They used that momentum to work out another shot a couple of minutes later, but de Kuijer was back on form to pick up the save. A Syracuse yellow card evened the field once more and the score remained as the quarter ended.

Louisville opened the fourth quarter with a flurry of activity. After a couple of minutes to get their feet under them, the Cards went on the attack. Over a minute and change, Louisville grabbed five total shots and two corners, resulting in three saves and a block. Ultimately, the fifth shot was wide and the threat was ended, but it was clear that Louisville was not satisfied with the one-goal lead. Two minutes later, it appeared they would get another opportunity to widen the gap when Syracuse saw a yellow card, but Louisville could do nothing with the advantage as Minna Tremonti got the same treatment 18 seconds later. Syracuse would go on to get one more shot in the match, but it was blocked. Unlike UNC, Syracuse did not gamble with an early goalie pull. They would employ the tactic, but they did it with four minutes left. It would prove to be too late, as the Orange could not even put up a shot with the extra attacker. 

Here's what Sowry, Bitting, and Cooper had to say after the win:

Justine Sowry Postgame Interview

Alli Bitting Postgame Interview

Erica Cooper Postgame Interview

Louisville's 2-1 victory gave them 16 wins on the season. That mark ties the school record for most wins in a season, and the Cards will certainly be hoping to break that record as early as next week. I'm sure they'd love to blow it out of the water by winning their remaining five potential games to snag the ACC and NCAA tournament titles, neither of which the Cards have ever claimed. Louisville will get the winner of the BC and UVA game on Friday at 1PM, as they automatically advance to the ACC Semifinals. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Jeff is back this week so the live YouTube portion of the show should return. We'll see about that, though, as we've been haunted by technological issues recently. At any rate, we'll have four in the house to recap the week that was. Volleyball was off yesterday so we'll have plenty of time to talk about the big win over Pitt from Sunday, the field hockey regular season title, and the wrap up of the women's soccer season. If there's time, we'll look at the WBB Tip-off Luncheon, which Paulie will cover in more detail next week. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Breaker: Link

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Overcast (free account required): Link

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Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

WSoc Falls to Duke 1-0 -- FH Senior Day vs #9 Syracuse -- More WBB Watch lists; FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL


Hello Louisville and hello Halloween weekend!

I cannot believe we are here at the end of fall sports season with Senior Days being held across campus and the kickoff to the winter holidays! Do you have your costume together yet? As of Thursday evening mine went from IL to NY with an expected delivery date of Nov 10 :| So, not looking great on that front.

I do have a back-up plan, however... it'll work out!

Onto the Cardinal news and notes of the land..

WSOC Falls on Senior Day 1-0 Duke

A rainy day in Louisville managed to clear out as the UofL Women's Soccer program began its scheduled events.  I believe Jared and Paulie were out there for coverage and to get pics.. if security let them in.  

Louisville moves to 7-7-2 on the year and 3-6-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.  It was a defensive battle between the two ball clubs as #2 Duke managed only 11 shot attempts on the night.   The Cards were down 0-1 at the half when Michelle Cooper found the back of the net. She had another chance at scoring in an open goal but it went wide.

 

UofL almost tied it up in the 82nd minute when Ruthie Jones left the net, Nina Nicosia had a shot but it was blocked by Duke defender, Katie Groff.   The Cardinals had 6 shots on the nights, one on goal.  Gabby Kouzelos finishes with 257 saves in her career. 


FH Senior Day vs #9 Syracuse

The #5 Cards FH squad is back at Trager Stadium for its regular season finale hosting Syracuse today at 3 p.m.  The Cards haven't played a home match since October 4th. 

UofL will honor seniors Alli Bitting, Erica Cooper, Mackenzie Karl, Sam Minrath, Camryn Pichea and Katie Schneider prior to Friday's contest versus the 'Cuse.  Cooper, Minrath and Pinchea are Louisville natives. 

With a 5-0 mark in ACC play, Louisville has clinched at least a share of the 2021 ACC regular season championship, marking the second straight regular season title for the Cardinals.  Syracuse (9-3) is second in the ACC standings with a 4-1 record in conference play.  A Louisville win would guarantee the outright regular season title and the top seed in the conference championship, while a Syracuse victory would result a tie for the regular season championship and a No. 1 seed for the Orange.   The ACC tournament is being hosted by Syracuse next weekend. The Orange will be fighting for a bye on their home turf. It will be a tough match!

Syracuse has six different players with 4+ goals this season.  They are led by Pleun Lammers with eight. Graduate student Quirine Comans has a team-high 22 points with seven goals, second on the team, and eight assists. Defensively, the Orange have held opponents to 1.0 goals per game on 6.1 shots per game while averaging 3.43 goals per game and 19.4 shots per game on the offensive front.

The game will be televised on the ACC Network.

WBB Kick-Off Luncheon being held Friday afternoon 

The hype is real for this squad!  The annual Kick-off Luncheon is being held in Downtown Louisville this afternoon.  Coach Walz celebrated his 50th birthday earlier in the week and talked about being with the Cards for 15 years.. in combo with another contract extension with UofL, it's been a good week for a coach who's obviously excited about his team. 

Olivia Cochran Named as 2022 Katrina McClain Award Candidate

University of Louisville women's basketball sophomore forward Olivia Cochran is one of 20 watch list candidates for the 2022 Katrina McClain Award.

Cochran was named to the All-ACC Freshman team last season after playing in 29 games with 25 starts, leading the team with 6.9 rebounds per game. She averaged 20.9 minutes, 9.9 points and 0.8 blocks.

Named after the two-time All-American and 1987 National Player of the Year, the annual award in its fifth year recognizes the top power forwards in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.

Volleyball at Duke Sunday 1p.m.

The Cards will spend Halloween battling the Duke Blue Devils.  The gang will cover this one more on Saturday's recording. TV says it is on the ACCNX. 

(Photos by Jared Anderson) 

Have a great holiday weekend, yall

Go Cards

~Daryl 

WSOC HOSTS DUKE TO END REGULAR SEASON -- AIMEE PLUMB -- EMILY ENGSTLER -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

(Editor Note:  It seems Jared, who you would normally read here today, broke the Internet and can't use his computing device to get us a article today. He was not keen about the idea of me just putting his phone number up here and letting readers call him to get the latest Cardinals women's sports news -- so I'm taking his day.  -- Paulie) 

WSOC ENDS REGULAR SEASON HOSTING DUKE

Louisville Women's Soccer ends their regular season Thursday -- bringing in Duke for an ACC match. It's Senior Day for Louisville and the Cards will say "Good Bye" to seven players. 

Hanna Wise, Cassie Amshoff, Mikayla Hampton, Kiana Klein, Taylor Kerwin. Gabby Kouzelos and Delaney Snyder will make their final appearance on the Lynn Stadium turf for Louisville. It's always sad to see them graduate and go, and, Louisville women's Soccer is a better squad because of the contributions they've made to the squad.  

For the Cards (7-6-2, 3-5-1) chances of making the six-team ACC Tournament disappeared on Sunday when they tied Clemson at Clemson. A win for Louisville would give them 13 points on the season, but not enough to pass Clemson, who is in sixth place with 16 points and owns the tiebreaker. And, UNC (15 points), Virginia Tech (14 points) and NC State (12 points) are all in front of the Cards, as well. 

The Thursday schedule in the ACC also has Clemson at BC, Virginia Tech at Syracuse, NCST at Pitt, Wake Forest at Notre Dame, Virginia at FSU and UNC at Miami. 

A Duke win would give them 22 points and improve their record to 13-2-1 and 7-2-1 in conference, so they are safely in the six-team tournament even if the Cards beat them. They are in third place in the ACC behind Virginia (25 points) and FSU (22 points). They are #1 in the nation in RPI and are coming off wins over FSU and Notre Dame -- so beating them will be no easy tsk for Louisville. 

As far as the NCAA WSOC Tournament goes, the Cards are 59th in RPI in the nation. 64 teams will make the tournament, so, technically -- the Cards still have a chance of getting invited to the NCAA Tournament, depending on who you talk to -- especially if they can beat Duke. 

Game time is 5 p.m. and will be shown on the ACC Network.

EMILY ENGSTLER NAMED AS CHERYL MILLER AWARD CANDIDATE. 

Emily Engstler is one of 20 NCAA DI WBB student-athletes name to the Cheryl Miller Award Watch list.

The award is for the best small forward in WBB and Miller was certainly a superb one during her time at USC, scoring over 3,000 points in the early 80's. 

Engstler joins the Cards after three seasons at Syracuse. She was named the ACC's Sixth Player of the Year last season, and averaged 10.5 p.p.g and 9.1 r.p.g..

Most expect Engstler to move into a starting role for Louisville this season. 

AIMEE PLUMB NAMED NFHCA OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

A very nice honor for the Cards sophomore in the NFHCA award -- she had been named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week the last two weeks. 

Plumb scored twice in Friday's win over UNC and had the game winner with 10 seconds left in overtime. On Sunday, she had the only goal in the game for either team against James Madison, getting the winning goal four minutes into overtime. 

The Cards are ranked #5 in the nation and have the sixth best RPI in the nation. 

Louisville closes out the regular season Friday, when Syracuse comes to town for a 3 p.m. match. Louisville Field Hockey is 15-2 overall and 5-0 in the ACC.. This one is scheduled to be shown on the ACC Network. #1 in conference vs. #2, it should be a good one -- Daryl will have more on this one tomorrow. 

Have a Tremendous Thursday!! 

paulie

 .  

LOUISVILLE WBB MEDIA DAY -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 "OUR STYLE...IS TO WIN THIS YEAR." -- UOFL WBB 

Tuesday was the annual Louisville women's basketball media day and it also happened to be the day before Jeff Walz's 50th birthday. As he gathered to meet with media representative in the media room of the Kueber Center Planet Fitness practice facility, he was pleasantly surprised by his 2021-22 squad with a small birthday cake, singing of "Happy Birthday" and funny glasses to wear. You may say Coach was a bit surprised,  genuinely pleased and caught a bit off guard. 

 

As for the nearly 30 minute questiion and answer session that ensued after the birthday celebration, Walz addressed a variety of subjects. You can hear the entire presserr at the link below: 

LINK:  JEFF WALZ AT 2021 WBB MEDIA DAY

Some of the topics Walz covered: 

-- Coming to Louisville 15 years ago with newly appointed director of operations Becky Bonner, who he brought with him from Maryland, staying in the Galt House and wondering to himself "just what have I got myself into?". Wondering how to change the culture of a team that had never been to a Sweet Sixteen.

 -- The contract extension. Having seven years is a huge benefit to recruiting -- being ableto tell prospective high school recruits and the parents that he'll be there for their entire collegiate time and how grateful he is to have the contract extension. 

-- The depth.  Walz spoke of how recent additions Chelsie Hall, Peyton Verhulst and Emily Engstler will add to the already deep squad and that they'll need to see significant minutes on the court. On Hall, he spoke of her ability to not only score, but get the ball to other players where they can score. He and the staff were impressed with her skills at Vandy, but even more impressed now that she is a Card.

-- NIL.  He sees it as a great opportunity for the players who will play in front of fans who own or run businesses as potential opportunities' for them to connect. Granted, there isn't much he can do as a coach, per NCAA regulations,  but there are some very influential season ticket holders in the fan base.

-- Hailey Van Lith. He sees the sophomore as the hardest worker on the team and the expectations go up on her to have an even better season than her break-out freshman year. It's a challenge she's eagerly accepted...now it's  time to put expectations and hopes into results and positive ones.

-- Mykasa Robinson. She's shooting well and scoring more in practice  She and Emily  Engstler are glad to be on the same team instead of having to guard each other another year.

-- The need to have four or five players who can consistently contribute 15+ points a night.

The presser is a good and informative one, and I recommend you take the time to listen to it. Walz goes into much more than the few topics I've highlighted in today's recap. 

It's getting closer. The WBB luncheon takes place Friday at The Galt House. It's nice to have events like these back, after last year, when COVID curtailed them. 

Have a Wonderful Wednesday! 

paulie

Hailey Van Lith -- Vball Rankings -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Hailey Van Lith Named to 2022 Lieberman Award Watch List

Louisville Women's Basketball continues to bring in plenty of promising preseason news. Most recently, sophomore Hailey Van Lith was named to the 2022 Lieberman Award watch list.

The Lieberman Award, named after 1996 Class Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman, recognizes the top point guard in women's basketball. A national committee has narrowed the list down to 20 players based on floor leadership, playmaking abilities, and ball-handling skills.

The list will be shortened to 10 players in late January with the five finalists being named in late February. The committee will the announce the winner in March following the conclusion of the regular season.

As a freshman, Van Lith averaged 11.2 points per game, 5.2 rebounds per game, and 2.1 assists per game. She was viewed as one of the country's top freshmen and was a crucial part of the team's ACC regular season title, ACC Tournament runner-up, and Elite Eight appearance.

(Photos by Jared Anderson) 

Volleyball Rankings

Louisville Volleyball remained #2 in the latest AVCA Poll, sitting behind the only other undefeated team in the country Texas. The Cards did receive three of the 64 voters' first place votes.

Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, and Kentucky remained in their spots at 3-5. Nebraska moved up to #6, giving the Cards victories over the current #4, #5, and #6 teams, as well as #12 Purdue and #14 Georgia Tech.

At 20-0, Louisville has tied a program record for best start to a season. The 10-0 conference record gives the Cards a two-game edge over second place Pitt, Georgia Tech, and Miami. Louisville currently holds a tiebreaker victory over all three teams.

The Cards will face Georgia Tech again on November 12 at the L&N FCU Arena. This one falls on Jeff's birthday so hopefully they'll be giving him a broom for his birthday. They also will have a rematch against Pitt the day before Thanksgiving at Fitzgerald Field House.

Also remaining on the schedule includes Duke twice (3-7 in the ACC), NC State (6-4), North Carolina (6-4), and Notre Dame twice (6-4).

Louisville has three remaining home matches, all on Friday nights. As of right now, none of the matches are sold out so I highly recommend you get some tickets to check this team out in person.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

BUSY SUNDAY FOR LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SPORTS -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 VOLLEYBALL, FIELD HOCKEY GET WINS ON SUNDAY

A busy Sunday of activities for three UofL women's sports squads ! #2 Louisville Volleyball got a huge win over #4 Pittsburgh at the LNFCU, Field Hockey pulled out an overtime win at James Madison, and Louisville women's soccer battled Clemson at Clemson to a two-overtime tie. 

Let's get in to it...

VOLLEYBALL 

This match went as far as you can go....in terms of Volleyball matches.

 A wildly exciting, edge-of-the-seat, five set match between the visiting Panthers (18-2, 8-2) and the now 20-0,10-0 Cardinals squad.  A packed house at the LNFCU saw a 19-25, 25-20, 27-25, 22-25,15-13 UofL win. The attendees got their money's worth and after the intense battle, the Cards emerge alone and atop the ACC Volleyball standings.

SET ONE:  

It wasn't the best of starts for the Cards. Pitt jumped out to an early 4-2 lead. The Cards settled down a bit, though, after that and battled back behind Anna DeBeer and Claire Chaussee to go up 8-7. After the squads traded a few points back and forth, Pitt went on a five-point run to give them a 15-11 lead, using the kill capability of Serena Gray. The Cards would get no closer than two the rest of the set and a kill from Pitt hitter Chinaza Ndee propelled the Panthers into a 23-18 edge. Pitt looked to Leketor Member-Menah to close the set out, and her two kills gave the Panthers a surprising, but convincing 25-19 win. 

The Panthers were ready to bring the fight to the Cards and they hit a eye-popping .714 hit average in the set. 

SET TWO: 

Louisville regrouped and got it back together in the brief break between the sets, Using three kills from Anna Stevenson and four unforced Pitt errors, the Cards went on a 10-0 run and took an early 13-3 lead over the visitors. This looked like a undefeated, #2 in the nation squad during this stretch. The Cards kept the 10-point edge advantage going an a DeBeer kill set the tally at 18-8. Pitt was not ready to give up just yet, though and a 3-0 Panther run cut the Cardinals lead to 18-11 and necessitated a UofL time out. The Cards pushed the advantage to 20-12 after the time-out, but Pitt roared back behind Member-Menah to make it 21-17. At 24-20 Cards, DeBeer closed out the set and half with a kill to even things up at one set apiece. 

SET THREE: 

The Cards used an early 3-0 run out of the break to take a 5-2 lead behind DeBeer and Chaussee kills and a couple more Pitt errors. Louisville would hold the lead, alternating between two and four points, until the score reached 14-11 after another Pitt error. The Panthers then made it very interesting and pushed to Cards to a 17-17 tie. Louisville saw Pitt tie it at 24-24 after a Cardinals attack error, but the Cards took the set 27-25 behind Chaussee and Anna Stevenson kills.   

The hopes were that the Cards coud close this one out in four sets, but, the gut was telling me that a five set match was probably going to ensue. Always trust the gut-feeling, right? 

SET FOUR: 

A very competitive, back-and-forth set that produced five ties and three lead changes in the first 17 points. Pitt held a 9-8 lead that grew to 17-14. The Cards took a timeout at that point and two Anna Stevenson blocks helped give the Cards a 21-20 advantage. Could it end in four sets? 

Pitt answered with an empathic "No". A 3-0 run helped give the Panthers a 23-21 edge and the Cards called a second timeout. A DeBeer kill cut the lead to 23-22 but (there's that girl again, mama!!) Member-Menah came up with a resounding kill and then sent a service ace over the net to take the set 25-22 and tie the match up at 2-2.

SET FIVE: 

The set went back-and-forth early, in terms of lead changes. The Cards were close, trailing by just one at 7-6 after a DeBeer kill, but Pitt pushed it to 8-6 after a Cards service error. 

It was here where the Cards took control. A Pitt service error and Pitt attack error that resulted in a huge blok from Amaya Tillman and Tori Dilfer tied it at 8-8. Another Pitt attack error gave the Cards the lead and a Tillman kill pushed it to 10-8 Cards. Chaussee's kill made it 12-10 Cards and a DeBeer kill set the score at 13-11 UofL. 

Pitt had one last run in them. They tied the set at 13-13 on a (guess who?) Member-Menah kill and big block after that. Would one of the "A" team Cardinals step up here? Or would it be Member-Menah or Ndee for the Panthers? 

Hello, Anna Stevenson! Her kill made 14-13 UofL and her and Dilfer's block on a Kayla Lund kill attempt gave the Cards the "W". 

Set and match to the Cards. A classic that Volleyball fans will not forget for a long time.  

Chaussee and DeBeer led the Cards with 17 kills. Stevenson added 13 and Tillman came up with 12 kills and eight blocks. 

(photos by Jared Anderson) 

                                                           ****************************

A bit of a break for UofL before their next match -- they'll travel to Durham and the Cameron Indoor Stadium to battle Duke on Sunday. 

FIELD HOCKEY

Cardinal Couple writer and photographer Jared Anderson saw this one as a "trap" game for Louisville. Thank goodness it didn't turn out that way, but it was another Sunday nail-biter

#4 Louisville Field Hockey and #25 James Madison engaged Sunday in a defensive battle that the Cards won 1-0 in overtime on an Aimee Plumb goal. 

The Dukes and Cards had just one shot each on goal in the first half. 

JMU increased the attack intensity in the second half, but the Cards defense and goalkeeper Mila de Kuijer held firm. A penalty corner as time expired gave the Dukes a chance to win, but the Cards denied the attempt. 

In the overtime, the Cards drew a penalty corner four minutes into action and it was Plumb who collected a Julie Kouijzer feed and sent it into the net from the top of the circle

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It's bad enough that this one was stuck on pay-per-view -- but the statbroadcast feed died at the end of regulation and I eventually had to contact Field Hockey S.I.D Lori Korte to find out the final outcome. 

The C.A.A. conference isn't the ACC, I get that, and maybe Field Hockey isn't a big thing in Harrisonburg or on the JMU campus, but the days of gouging interested viewers who can't get to the game are getting old. You want to draw attention to your program? Put it on a platform where people can watch. 

In postgame remarks, Coach Sowry felt the Cards were lucky to win the game against an opponent that took them out of the style and set Louisville plays. 

The Cards come home to end the regular season against Syracuse on Friday. An important match for both, in conference standings and ACC tournament rankings. 

The win puts the FH Cards at 15-2 on the season. 

WOMEN'S SOCCER  

Louisville women's soccer fought the good fight against the Clemson Tigers for 110 minutes yesterday and ended with a 1-1 tie against the Tigers. 

Louisville trailed the Tigers 1-0 after one half, but the Cards wasted no time in tying it up in the second half. 20 seconds into the final half, Ravin Alexander caught up with a Delaney Snyder venture into the Clemson box and beat the goalkeeper to the ball -- tapping it in for the equalizer. 

A tie doesn't put the Cards into the six-team ACC post-season tournament. The Cards will end the regular season hosting Duke on Thursday -- and then hope the NCAA smiles down on them for the post-season NCAA Tournament. 

(Sorry about the late article today. A power outage this morning in my area killed the internet for me) 

paulie