Goal for Fall Sports -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I enjoyed a rare day off yesterday. Katy and I spent the weekend traveling for a wedding and baby shower and then got to celebrate our first anniversary yesterday. It's crazy it's already been a year!

We still have a couple months before fall sports start up, but after having a month off already, I'm ready to get back into the swing of things. The three major fall sports we cover at Louisville are volleyball, field hockey, and soccer. Each of these three sports is in a different chapter of their respective programs and therefore should have different goals for the upcoming season. Here's what the goal for each team should be. Also, keep n mnd that Daryl is going to be doing extensive women's gold coverage too. 

Women's Soccer

Photo courtesy of GoCards

Louisville women's soccer is coming off a 4-9-5 season where they failed to make the ACC Tournament or NCAA Tournament. They have not finished above .500 since 2019 and have three winning seasons in the last decade. They qualified for the postseason in two of those years but failed to win a conference tournament game either time. The Cards did win one NCAA Tournament in 2019, but that has been their best season since leaving the Big East.

The 2024 schedule was just announced yesterday but the roster hasn't been fully updated yet. Karsyn Cherry, Lizzie Sexton, and Erynn Floyd are the top performers returning from last season. With a lack of recent success, the goal for women's soccer is as simple as it can get: advance to the postseason. Asking for both ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament births should be pretty simple, but let's start with at least one or the other for now.

Field Hockey

Photo courtesy of GoCards

Louisville field hockey has found plenty of success under head coach Justine Sowry. Louisville has won 12 games or more dating back through the 2012 season. Field hockey typically plays between 18-20 games in the regular season and the Cards typically have a top 15 strength of schedule, so that type of performance and success is hard to have year after year. Louisville has one Final Four appearance back in the slightly-altered 2020 COVID-19 season. Typically, Louisville has struggled in the NCAA Tournament, falling in the opening round more times than not.

We are waiting for the 2024 schedule to be released, but the roster is pretty much solidified with the exception of the incoming freshmen class. Key returners include Aimee Plumb, Chloe Plumb, Mia Duchars, Izzy Bianco. With plenty of veteran leadership on this team, asking for at least one win in both the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament is a reachable goal.

Volleyball

Photo courtesy of GoCards

Since the arrival of Dani Busboom Kelly, Louisville volleyball has reached new heights. The Cards have made three straight Elite Eights and a pair of Final Fours in the last three years. Louisville continuously finds themselves hanging out in the top five rankings. Even before the DBK days, Louisville was no stranger to ACC titles or making the NCAA Tournament, but we've reached the point of bowing out early in the tournament would be considered a letdown.

We already know the fall schedule and team roster. Nearly the entire regular rotation returned from last year. The schedule is once again brutal with matches against Pitt, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Nebraska, Stanford, Tennessee, Florida State, Creighton, and Wisconsin. Sink or swim is the theme this season. Louisville opens the season at the KFC Yum! Center in the AVCA First Serve Showcase. They could easily close out the season in the same arena. If the Cards can earn one of the top four seeds in the NCAA Tournament, then their entire path to an NCAA Championship would be downtown at the Yum!. In fact, with the success of the program the last few years and the talent of this year's team, a national championship is the goal without question.

We plan to have plenty of coverage for these three sports when August rolls around.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared