Roby Back and Cards in the Classroom -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

We're a bit out of order again this week as weekend events will have me out on Saturday. I've swapped with Jared this week, so he'll bring you the article before Saturday's podcast recording.

Taylor Roby Officially Announces Return

We've hinted at it many times while discussing the future of Louisville softball on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast, but Taylor Roby made it official yesterday: she will be exercising her additional year of eligibility to play for Louisville in 2023. The Mt. Washington native returns to the team looking to cement her name in Louisville history, having already made her mark in the record books. She is just two home runs off of tying the career record, and Louisville will be in trouble if she doesn't break that easily. In the circle, she is in the top-10 in saves, wins, innings, appearances, and starts. She'll look to have a bit more help in the circle in 2023, though, as she pitched more than half of the team's total innings in 2022. While an ace softball pitcher can do that on many teams, it can be a lot to ask of the player you're also having bat third in the lineup.

Roby's accomplishments are acknowledged outside of Louisville's records as well. She's a two-time recipient of All-ACC and NFC All-Southeast Region honors, having earned both in 2021 and 2022. A player of Roby's caliber does not come along frequently, and for Louisville to get the opportunity to have one more year with her is fantastic for the team. 

Though the ending may be a little bit spoiled, the announcement video that the team released on Twitter is extremely well done and worth the minute it takes to watch it. Roby Announcement Video

With an entire calendar of fall and winter sports on the horizon, it's hard not to already get excited for Louisville softball next spring.

Tennis and Track&Field Academic Honorees

The academic awards for the final spring sports have been announced and Louisville has made the list for both. 

Louisville women's tennis was named an ITA All-Academic Team and six individual players were named ITA Scholar-Athletes. Neither award is a competitive one, as both are quantitative, but that doesn't take away from the recognition the players deserve. We've talked frequently about the rigors of being a college athlete and trying to balance school at the same time. For each of these six--Joy Callwood, Dina Chaika, Sasha Gorchanyuk, Tyra Richardson, Chelsea Sawyer, and Tatiana Simova--that balance meant finishing with at least a 3.5 GPA for the academic year. Though not every player on the team is on this list, the rest of the team is still doing well enough in the classroom for the All-Academic team award, which requires teams to have a collective 3.2 GPA for the season. It was a great year all around for tennis in academics: 1,517 players earned the Scholar-Athlete distinction and 250 programs were awarded.

The Louisville women's track and field team continued their run of academic excellence, having earned the team award for the 18th consecutive year. Unlike the tennis award, the USTFCCCA awards do carry an on-field performance requirement as well. In addition to the 3.25 cumulative GPA required for the season, the team must have top-96 status in the indoor season or reach an NCAA Championship event (preliminary events count) in the outdoor season. Louisville's honorees include a pair of two-sport athletes in Morgan Bentley and Emily Scott, as well as Soledad, Gabriela Leon, Synclair Savage, Auriane Viola, Brooke Weimer, and Aliyah Welter.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case