The Olympian -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 JOE BALDWIN WAS ON 1960 USA Olympic Rowing Team

So, how many of us can say we are related to an Olympian? In conversations with a cousin of mine last night, I was reminded of another cousin that rowed for the U.S.A. in the 1960 Olympics. His squad placed fifth in the event, breaking the U.S.A. win streak in the event from 1920-1956. The event was held in  Rome, Italy.

"Joey" as we called him, the was son of Joe and Irene Baldwin. Irene was one of my mom's sisters, and i can remember going to visit "Auntie Irene" as a boy, when they lived in Charleston, SC. Both have passed away now, but  cousin Joey is still alive and retired from being a pilot for Continential Airlines. He flew Navy Fighter jets, and was involved in the Vietnam conflct, from what i remember being told to me.  

Joey went to the US Naval Academy and was born in 1938 in Long Beach, California. I was not even in school yet, when he rowed, but remember seeing the paddle he used and the five circle Olympic crest in his parents' den. 

His was an eight man squad....made up mostly of midshipemen from Annapolis.  "Joey" is still alive and is now 85 years old, and I remember him as being a massive young man, strong and muscle-bound, who would pick me and the neighborhood kids up way over his head and play hide and seek with us when he would visit his parents and i happened to be visiting Joe and Irene with my folks at the same time. 

I lost touch with him as time went by.  I do remember getting a high school graduation check from him because it was one of the first personal checks i ever received in my life. I want to say it was for $25  but I can't confirm that. I had a checking/savings account, set up for me by my parents at the old Ciizens Fidelity bank in Fern Creek and I am pretty sure it ended up there. 

That bank later became PNC and one of my "high school crushes" got a job there as a teller at the old Citizens Fideilty. I also got my first loan there (cosigned by my parents, of course) to buy my first car, a 1969 Chevelle Malibu...I bought it used in 1972 from the old Tri City Olds and my salesman was Charlie Woodson. I became the terror of Fern Creek in that bad boy muscle car and the Jefferson County Police got to know me pretty well, pulling me over for speeding tickets or warnings on Bardstown Road.

 Ah, memories...right? 

And, that's my Olympic story and our Wednesday article. Enjoy the rest of the games and...go U.S.A. !!!

paulie

Love for the Olympics -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Every four years, the world gets to witness the best athletes in the word compete against each other in the Summer Olympics. For me, this has meant spending hours each day on the couch watching tv. It doesn't matter what sport is on, I'm gladly watching.

I always cheer harder when I see a Louisville athlete or Team USA competing. Team USA women's indoor volleyball fell in a tight five-setter yesterday that included former Kentucky player Avery Skinner. Over the weekend, Lee Keifer won gold in the women's fencing. Keifer is another Kentucky alum. Many of the Louisville alums have not participated in their respective sports yet other than Carlik Jones and South Sudan, who won their opening men's basketball game in pool play.

The public certainly has their favorite sports such as swimming and diving, track and field, gymnastics, and basketball, but there are plenty of exciting sports to watch. Over the last couple Summer Olympics, I have become quite interested in water polo, handball, and rugby.

You might hear well-known names such as Simone Biles (gymnastics), Coco Gauff (tennis), Katie Ledecky (swimming), and LeBron James (basketball), all who are favored to reach the podium for their respective sports.

Team USA has fared well so far in the overall medal count and leads all countries, but the gold medals have been sparse. The United States are several gold behind countries such as Japan, China, France, Australia, and South Korea. The Olympic Games are still in their youth for 2024 with two weeks to go, so we will keep an eye out how things play out. We will also make sure to share any news and updates of our beloved Louisville athletes competing in the games.

USA gold medal count:

-Lee Keifer, women's fencing

-Torri Huske, women's 100m butterfly

-Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong, and Caeleb Dressel, men's 4x100m freestyle relay

Happy Tuesday, Go Cards, and Go Team USA!

Jared

Conference changes and realignment --it's anyone's guess. --MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BRING FOR LOUISVILLE?

As we look forward to the fall sports and the new challenges for our Louisville women's sports squads, we also wonder how conference changes will affect how our teams do ...and if there are more conference realignments and changes ahead? 

I wonder how long the "Pac 2" will exist and who will eventually take the two remaining members  (Washington State and Oregon State). Will the Mountain West team up with them? What would you call such an alignment? Would they attract others? 

Will certain members of the ACC continue to rattle their swords and speak of leaving to join "so and so" or "those guys" and what will the newest members of the ACC bring and have success at in their initial season? It would sound weird to say Caiifornia dominated the Atlantic Coast...wouldn't it?

I read a interesting rant in one of the comments sections of a site I read occasionally...about how the nation should divide into seven regions for DI sports and create seven "super conferences". The Northeast, East, Southeast, Central, Midwest, Southwest and West. The idea is an intriguing one...there are 363 DI schools, so, obviously, there just might need to have subconferences with the conferences. And, how would independents Notre Dame, UConn and UMass react to this in football?  

Imagine the conferences haggling over border lines for placement. Imagine UofL and UK in the same division but IU and Purdue in different ones? I know, too much thought requests for a Monday morning, right? 

Schools used to take pride in their number of conference title wins and domination over other conference foes. All that might be erased, down the road. Imagine Virginia Tech and Virginia in two seperate conferences...imagine Maryland and West Virginia being matched up again with the regional rivals they used to have. 

I guess all we can do is cheer for our favorite team and hope that they do well in whatever conference they might end up in down the road. For Louisville, who began years ago in the MVC and made strides thru various conferences until they reached the ACC, the thought maybe isn't as weird as Kentucky fans getting used to being in something other than the SEC. 

Interesting times ahead.,,,stay tuned and let's review it five years from now...shall we? Or maybe five months...

paulie

What Impact Roster Caps - Sunday Cardinal Couple

What Impact Will Roster Caps Have?

Case brought coverage of House vs NCAA tentative settlement yesterday, and by the way, the "House" in the lawsuit title is not the US House of Representatives (as I've seen reported a few times).  It is, instead, Grant House, who was a swimmer at Arizona State.  The other named plaintiff on the case is Sedona Prince, who played basketball originally at Oregon when she first poked the NCAA bear on social media about inequitable treatment at the NCAA tournament between men and women.  Prince will be playing her last season of eligibility this season at TCU.

A lot of the response to this settlement has, quite understandably, been about the provisioning of scholarships, as it will result in quite an increase in the number of scholarships available for just about every sport.  What has been less looked at is the impact that roster caps will have on teams.  Mostly this is because the roster caps are generous enough that it's just not too much of a factor.  But I thought it would be good to look back through some past teams and see where some of these roster caps might have had an impact.  In other words, have some of our UofL sports teams had rosters in years past that are larger than the roster caps in the settlement?

Basketball

Case mentioned a roster cap/scholarship limit of 15 for WBB, and you don't have to go back too far to find where Walz topped that number.  In 2019-2020, the squad had 16 with Yacine Diop, Kylee Shook, Jazmine Jones, Jessica Laemmle, and Bionca Dunham leading the way.

Volleyball

You don't have to go quite as far back to find Volleyball exceeding what will be the roster cap, just to 2021.  This is, certainly influenced by the special Covid rules that happened, as we had Anna Hall (nee Stevenson, and Tori Stringer (nee Dilfer) were playing their 5th, Covid, year of play tipping us over the edge to 19 players on the roster.  Otherwise, Volleyball tends to hang around right at 17 or 18 players.

Lacrosse

You don't have to go far back to see a Lacrosse roster that tops the 38 slots they'll get, indeed just a few months back to the 2024 squad that listed 40.  They also topped it in 2021 with 39.

Softball and Field Hockey

Neither Softball or Field Hockey, in the recent large handful of years that I looked at, exceeded what will be their roster cap.

So, generally, it looks like the proposed roster caps are quite reasonable in comparison to the team sizes that are common today and in recent years, even accounting for the Covid years where roster sizes tended to be slightly larger than normal with players getting a 5th year of eligibility.

Coach Teeter may need to keep an bit of a closer eye on his recruiting, as the only multi-year "offender", with DBK and Walz maybe needing to keep the caps in the back of their minds.  Coaches Sowry and Aprile have consistently been several slots short of what their roster caps will be, so they probably have nothing to worry about.

Ultimately, this settlement is, first and foremost, about scholarships, as it should be, but the roster caps do put a slight wrinkle into managing these teams that coaches will need to keep in mind.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

The crew, Case, Jared, Paulie, and myself, chatted about things on a broader scale, and how they impact UofL sports, even going to the international level with the Olympics, but also spending some time on the tentative House vs NCAA settlement and scholarship implications. Daryl was out, trying on wedding dresses with someone. Paulie openly wondered how you could get two in  wedding dress, without being pregnant.   We also got to hear about Case's travel woes (which did sound pretty heinous) this week, and we're glad he made it back home safely. That's what you get for booking anything through or in Charlotte. Good luck ACC in your move there. 

Check out the great discussion at Spotify or any other location podcasts are found:

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/Cardinal-Interest-in-National-Topics-e2mh3qg

 

-- 

JMcA

NCAA Looks to Eliminate Scholarship Limits -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Max Scholarship Count to Match Roster Size

This one is a bit off the beaten path, I'll admit, but today's headline is relevant to the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics. Many of the sports we cover are some of those impacted most greatly by the draconian rules of scholarship limits. Earlier this week, according to the reporting of many, the NCAA Board of Governors agreed to eliminate the rule setting scholarship limits for each sport. This is, of course, part of the antitrust settlement issues the NCAA is facing with the United States legislature. 

The diamond sports look to be among the largest gainers in this shift, as both baseball and softball will more than double their allowable scholarships. Softball, which has a maximum roster size of 25, could previously only offer a combined 12 scholarships. That will increase by 13 (quick math on a Saturday morning) and could make a big difference to a lot of players. Volleyball will also move from its previous max of 12 scholarships to 18. Baseball sees the largest jump, going from 11.7 maximum scholarships to 34. 

For the remainder of the sports, there are still significant increases. Field hockey increases to 27 (from 12), lacrosse to 38 (12), rowing to 68 (20), soccer to 28 (14), swim and dive to 30 (14), and track and field to 45 (18). Women's basketball is an outlier, as the scholarship limit already matched the roster limit at 15. 

Schools will not be obligated to utilize their scholarship limit; in fact, they never have been. It will be interesting to see how coaches and programs choose to utilize their money. If anything, this will provide additional opportunities to increase the funding for partial scholarships or grants for walk-ons that were not available before. The potential negative is schools making difficult decisions around "non-revenue" sports. Many will see dollar signs available by increasing the scholarships to sports like football and basketball and will choose to reduce funds to some other programs as a result. Title IX will still play a factor in these decisions, but we may see more cases come to the forefront as a result. 

Schools like UofL shouldn't face that issue. When men's basketball is competing at the level that is expected of them, Louisville has one of the most profitable athletics departments in the country. Athletics frequently paid money back into the general fund at the University. That has tipped a bit in recent years, due to outstanding financial obligations and reduced revenue from performance, but it seems likely that the athletics department will reach the light at the end of the fiscal tunnel soon. That means more money available for the new scholarship limits. 

How these changes will be implemented and the impact they'll have on the teams we cover here at Cardinal Couple will become clear sooner rather than later. The proposed changes are set to take effect in the 2025-26 school year. I expect it to be an evolving situation, much like the rest of the college athletics scene as the NCAA's "amateurism" model continues to unravel. We'll be here to support the Cards regardless of what comes next. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Should be a fun show today. You get the opportunity to hear Jeff rant about the NCAA. What could be better than that? We'll have four, as Daryl galivants about at fine clothing establishments. Topics will include the NCAA, the Olympics, and whatever wild tangent we find ourselves chasing this week. 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

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Jeff Walz Presser 7/25/24 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 WALZ PRESSER 7/25

Sometimes, in the summer months, it doesn't always go as one intends or plans here in our Cardinal Couple coverage . Or in UofL's planned events. 

When we got the news that Walz was having a presser at noon on Thursday, July 25th, my first reaction was, "Well, that sucks..." Not because it was Walz or a presser, but because of the time frame...I had already committed to a cardiologist check up to see how my heart replacement valves were doing and trying to get medical appointments rearranged and changed in the last inning are akin to climbing Mt. Everest in a speedo and coming off a three day drunk .  So, i did the next best thing, I floated it out to our excellent writing staff here at Cardinal Couple at Daryl stepped forward and took the assignment. And that's the end of Act I.  

Act II begins with Daryl looking at her wrist watch and realizing Walz is late and she has to to return to work. So, Daryl has to leave before the coach appears. Hey,  it happens... We get it. Walz was busy recruting. I'd rather see him get good players than talk to us morons in the media any day of the week. I'm sad Daryl ddid't get to be a part of it. I loved her interview with new assistant Amanda Butler and think she really has a knack for these things. Maybe it's because Daryl had her own radio show and is great with people. But.,"them's the breaks",,. as they say, and the presser did eventualy take place sans Ms. Foust. . 

I was able to find it on You Tube. Thnks to Matt Paras (WBB SID) for mentioning it would be posted there and letting me know. He even sent me an email with the link. I like this guy, he's on the ball and ever too busy too take my call. 

So the interview link is posted below. And that starts Act III. 

The Walz presser is about 15 minutes long and Walz covers several things, mostly his time with Elif Istanbulloglu (he calls her "E"), his family and the Turkiye team in the tournament. 

He also talked about the Cards upcomng season opener in Paris, France against UCLA that will take place Nov. 4th. and how the team is doing.  He also answered variious questions from the media that were still in attendance. He even knows one French phrase....care to guess what it is?

You'll have to listen to the presser to find out, but,  I will tell you it isn't "deja vu", "au revoir" or "Julian Leparoux".

The Walz presser a fast 15 minutes and well worth the listen. I recommend you give it an ear. Even pay attention during it. 

That ends today's three act play about Louisville women's sports in th summer months. Kindly return you chairs to an upright position and exit in an orderly fashion. See ya again, ya hear?  Y'all come back to Cardinal Couple. 

WALZ PRESSER 7/25/24

paulie

Women's Tennis Signs Two -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Add Lila and Otis

Louisville women's tennis added two new players for the 2024-2025 season, head coach Mark Beckham announced recently. Alice Otis and Elisabeth Iila (iila) both signed with the Cards this summer.

Otis transfers in after one year at South Carolina and one year at Denver. During her freshman campaign with the Gamecocks, Otis earned four singles victories while playing in the five and six spots. She then transferred to Denver, where she went 20-11 on the season. She was named to the All-Summit League Team and was named 2024 Summit Newcomer of the Year.

Iila is set to begin her college career this fall, coming in from Tallinn, Estonia. In her young career, Iila has made a name for herself in both the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior rankings and ITF rankings. In the junior division, Iila has been ranked as high as #168. In the ITF World Rankings, Iila has been ranked as high as #1342 and currently sits at #1381.

The 2024-2025 schedule has not been released yet but the Cards look to improve off of last year's season, which saw plenty of struggles.

Walz noon presser today

Jeff Walz will hold a presser today at noon to discuss program updates and the 2024 Aflac Oui-Play  game in Paris vs. UCLA.

He'll be speaking from the media room at the Planet Fitness Kueber Center. 

We are working on having someone cover the presser and will review it in the Friday edition of Cardinal Couple. 

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Jayden Ulrich Pre-Olympics Press Conference -- WBB announces season opener -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Wednesday! 

Its Daryl checking in midweek with you... no, the Bats aren't in town, but since I do work on campus it is a perk to be able to pop over to a mid-day press conference every now and then and that's what I did Tuesday for the Louisville Track and Field program, the announcement of the first athlete to represent the Cardinals in the Olympics.

Discus thrower Jayden Ulrich answered media's questions and did a couple throws before practice Tuesday afternoon. 

Q: What was the moment like when you got the call that you made the team? 

Jayden: I was so excited, almost disbelief, but I'm happy I did. All the work I've put in is paying off right now.

Q: How big of a role is being on this team at UofL and getting you here to this point? 

Jayden:  A lot. All of the coaches have truly been helping me, being a transfer student it could be hard in my first year but they made it super easy. Being a part of the Louisville team has been super great.

Q: Did this come as a surprise to you? Was a dream/goal?

 

Jayden:  It's definitely been a longtime dream of mine but Id say its become more realistic these last couple of years its been something ive worked really hard for.

Q: What are you looking forward to the most?

Jayden: Getting out of the country, it's my first time abroad.

O: How are you feeling about Paris?

 

Jayden: Just excited for it.

   

O: Do you have a favorite type of throw? 

Jayden: Whatever is working for me at that time is my favorite.

Q: Do you have any superstitions of gameday rituals to get yourself ready to compete? 

Jayden: Nope, nothing!

Q: A lot of success at the NCAA level, has your preparation for the Olympic games been different at all?

Jayden: No, I really kept the same routine this year. Me and this coaching staff established the mental routine of getting ready for meets and mentally being prepared when im going to bigger championship events and I feel like ive got that down right now so it wont be much different. You could be a great thrower but if you don’t have the confidence or the drive, it’ll get you every time.

Q: What is your focal point physically at tiis time? . 

Jayden: 'Right now I'm working on my ab muscles because they play such a major role.'

Q: Theres so much fanfare that surrounds the Olympics do you think it will take you a few days to adjust?

Jayden: It will probably take the first three days for me to realize that ‘Omg Im really here at the Olympic games, its crazy!’

SPEAKING OF PARIS!!!!   

The UofL Women's basketball program announced on Tuesday afternoon they would be participating in the Aflac Oui-Play Event in Paris. The Cardinals will square off with UCLA on Monday, November 4 at the Adidas Arena in Paris, France. The Cardinals and Bruins will be part of a doubleheader with Southern Cal and Ole Miss to begin the 2024-25 season. Game times for the doubleheader will be 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. ET with the game designations to happen at a later date.

"We are thrilled to announce our participation in the 2nd annual Aflac Oui-Play in Paris, France," said head coach Jeff Walz. "This enriching experience allows our players and fans to immerse themselves in a unique environment, all the while playing in a fiercely competitive game against UCLA to kick off the 2024-25 season."

Grab your passports, Cardinal fans!!

As Always

Go Cards, 

~Daryl 

Welcome to the ACC, Cal -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

California (Cal) Golden Bears

Another school we get to welcome to the ACC this season is the University of California, Berkeley. Another common name is UC Berkeley, but most people refer to them as California or Cal. The Golden Bears have departed the Pac-12, which continues to hang around with just two schools remaining.

Cal recognizes a long list of varsity sports- 27 total, 14 women's teams and 13 men's teams. The sports that Cal offers that you cannot find at Louisville are women's gymnastic, women's beach volleyball, men's gymnastics, men's water polo, men's rugby, and men's rowing.

Women's Sports Offered

-Basketball: Cal went 19-15 last season and struggled in the Pac-12. They had an early exit from the WNIT.

-Beach Volleyball: Cal went 22-14 last season and earned the 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament, falling to eventual runner-up UCLA. Florida State and Stanford are the other schools in the ACC.

-Cross Country: The Golden Bears finished eighth in the Pac-12 and earned a bid to the NCAA postseason, but did not make it out of the NCAA Regional.

-Field Hockey: Last season, Cal went 12-8. They took down Albany/UAlbany in the America East Championship to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. They fell in the opening round to Maryland.

-Golf: Cal finished 9th in the Pac-12 and earned a postseason bid. They did not make it out of the NCAA Regional round.

-Gymnastics: A 20-3 season and a 4th place finish at the NCAA Championship helped highlight one of Cal's strongest programs. They will join the newly-founded ACC Gymnastics alongside NC State, North Carolina, Pitt, Stanford, and Clemson.

-Lacrosse: The Golden Bears struggled last season and finished 5-10.

-Rowing: Not much is known about the Golden Bears in rowing other than they were an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

-Soccer: Last season, the Golden Bears finished 7-6-6 overall and 4-3-4 (fifth place) in the Pac-12. The Pac-12 did not play a conference tournament.

-Softball: Cal finished the season 37-19 and 9-13 in the Pac-12. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament but bowed out in the NCAA Regional.

-Swimming and Diving: The Golden Bears claimed the Pac-12 title and finished 4th in the NCAA Championships.

-Tennis: Cal posted strong results last season with a runner-up finish in the Pac-12. As a team, the Bears fell in the NCAA Super Regional. Three individuals fell in the opening round of the singles tournament.

-Track and Field: Cal struggled in conference play and finished 9th. A few individuals received invites to the NCAA Regional but none advanced further.

-Volleyball: The Bears posted a 16-15 finish last year with a 5-15 mark in conference play. The Pac-12 did not play a conference tournament and Cal did not make it into the NCAA Tournament.

-Water Polo: Cal went 19-7 last season, one of the best marks in the country. They earned the #3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and fell in the championship to #1 UCLA. The only other school in the ACC to carry women's water polo is Stanford.

Men's Sports Offered

-Baseball

-Basketball

-Cross Country

-Football

-Golf

-Gymnastics

-Rowing

-Rugby

-Soccer

-Swimming and Diving

-Tennis

-Track and Field

-Water Polo

Cal brings strong programs across several sports. For sports such as field hockey, lacrosse, and gymnastics, they help add depth to a small, but growing conference. Cal seems to have played second fiddle to Stanford in a majority of their sports during their Pac-12 tenure and hope they can flip that around as both schools join the ACC.

We will cover Stanford and the sports they bring with them within a couple weeks.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Field Hockey Schedule To Be A Challenging One For Cards -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 LOUISVILLE FIELD HOCKEY FACES CHALLENGES IN 2024 SLATE. 

One thing you can say with certainy, Justine Sowry doesn't avoid a challenge . A look at the 2024 Louisville Field Hockey shows that. .. out of the 17 teams lined up to play the Cards... five of them make up the five best teams in the country and seven more of the opponents were in the top 20.  at the end of 2023.

The always-loaded ACC has four of the top eight teams in the NFHCA poll and Louisville is playing four ACC opponents (Stanford, Boston College, North Carolina and Duke) at Trager stadium.

 

The Cards lost seven games last year, and five of the teams that beat them return to the 2024 schedule. 

Louisville starts the season with two exhibition scrimmages... hosting Bellarmine to open the 2024 opponents and then going to Bloomington to face IU in a scrimmage. The Cards will go on the road for their first two regular season match-ups, a couple of top 25 matchups against Maryland and American...before returning home for five in a row --- Princeton, Penn, Northwestern, Cornell and Stanford.. September ends with UofL at Ball St., hosting Boston College and travelling to Ohio State. 

October begins with two in a row on the road, trips to play Syracuse and Virginia. Louisville then returns home to play UNC before travelling to Wake Forest. The Cards will have their final home contest hosting Duke...before ending the season at California and at UC Davis. 

The ACC Tournament will be held at Winston-Salem on the Wake Forest field from Nov 5-8.

It is noticlable that Iowa is not on this year's opponents list,  nor are Northeastern, VCU, JMU, Liberty, App. St., or Miami. 

The Cards return 16 players from last year's roster, with only one freshman and one red-shirt freshman listed on the roster. Aimee Plumb, who led Louisville in points, is back...along with her sister Chloe  for the Cards, but they do lose their goalkeeper...Merlin van der Vegt. Emily Young is on the roster at goal and was on the roster last year but did not see action as a freshman.  

The Bellarmine scrimmage is Aug. 23rd (Friday).  We hope to see you out at Trager. 

paulie

Flooring - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Flooring

 

Didn't you hear?  Cardinal Couple is pivoting, we're now going to be an internal decorating advice column.

 

I'm kidding of course, but we do have a little bit of a flooring review today, with Volleyball unveiling their new floors that they will be using at LNFCU Arena as well as downtown at the KFC Yum! Center Arena.  The program announced the new flooring a couple of weeks ago, but this week they were able to get pictures to post on social media of the flooring in place.

 

The KFC Yum! Center floor installed as it will be
for matches.

I believe the flooring is Teraflex, a brand used by many volleyball programs at many levels, it's a rubbery sort of material, I'd estimate roughly an eighth of an inch thick.  The rubbery  characteristics creates just a little bit of give in the material which helps protect athletes from injuries.  The floor is made in long wide strips of material which can be rolled up for storage and to move it around more easily than moving the whole floor at one time.

The two floors that UofL will be using only have one difference between them, although that one difference is pretty significant.  For both floors, the inbounds area of the court is a wood grain, and both have a large retro "Walking Cardinal" logo at center court.  The boundary and other court lines are white, and "Louisville" and "Cardinals" are written in UofL's official font along the baselines.

The LNFCU Arena floor, installed as they use it
for practice, cross-wise in the arena.  This would
be turned 90 degrees and centered for matches.

 

The significant difference between the two is the color of the "out-of-bounds" area of the flooring.  At the KFC Yum Center, this area is red, with black highlights around the edges of the "Louisville" and "Cardinals" lettering.  While at the LNFCU Arena, these colors are reversed, with a very striking black "out-of-bounds" area and red highlighting around the lettering.

The extra black for the LNFCU floor combines with the black seats and stands to create a very stark and striking visual environment.

I'm looking forward to seeing these floors in person.  The first opportunity to see either of them will be on August 17th for the annual Red and Black intra-squad scrimmage at LNFCU.  Entrance for this event is first-come, first-served, and with the small size of LNFCU arena, you'll want to get there early to be sure to get a seat.  It's less than a month away!

The first opportunity to see the floor at the KFC Yum! Center will be the AVCA First Serve Showcase event that kicks off the overall volleyball season, not just UofL's, on August 27th.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

The CCRHP was a great survey and preview of all of the fall sports at UofL that we mostly cover: soccer, field hockey, and volleyball.  Case, Paulie, and I were on the call and had a good discussion over the course of the hour.

Check out the podcast at your favorite podcast directory, or directly at it's origination site which is now part of Spotify:

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/A-Mini-Fall-Sports-Preview-e2m8j8o

-- 

JMcA

Geigle Set for USLW Championship -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Mackenzie Geigle and NC Courage Vie for Title

Earlier this summer I wrote an article about the Louisville players representing local teams on club rosters. The information was a little hard to come by, and it seemed potentially incomplete. In what I have to assume was a direct troll of my lack of information, Louisville Women's Soccer made an Instagram post later that week about all of the players competing for professional clubs over the summer. Gee, thanks...

One of the players I missed was Mackenzie Geigle. Geigle is a rising junior from Raleigh, North Carolina, so it makes sense that she would play for her hometown NC Courage. She has competed with the club's development program since high school. Last season she played in 16 games for Louisville with one goal in 567 minutes. Geigle has the potential to be a key contributor going forward, so I'm excited to see her take the next steps. 

In the USLW season, the Courage have been unbeatable... literally. The team was top in the South Atlantic division with 34 points. They drew their first game of the season before going on an 11-game win streak. In the regular season, their goal difference was +50. The Courage weren't the only undefeated team in the league. The Florida Elite Soccer Academy bested NC by posting a 12-0-0 season for 36 points. Unfortunately for that squad, they bowed out in the first round of the playoffs. 

Geigle and the Courage will host the Colorado Storm (not to be confused with the California Storm or the South Georgia Tormenta or the Northern Colorado Rain; a fair amount of weather event names in the USLW) in Raleigh for the Championship match this evening at 6:00 PM. Geigle has played in all 12 games for the Courage this season and has started eight of them. She is averaging 49 minutes per game and has scored seven goals while tallying two assists. As I mentioned, she could be due for a big step up in contribution for the Cards this year. We wish her the best of luck in the final. 

For some additional background on the USLW Season, the Valley Division (which only played 10 games each) saw Indy Eleven finish top with 23 points. Racing Louisville and Lexington SC finished tied with 14 points. I haven't quite figured out why, but Lexington is listed above Racing, despite the squad in lavender posting a better goal differential. Either way, neither team made the playoffs. Like I said the other day, I'm excited to see this squad get back together and get to work next month. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll be without Daryl or Jared this week, so you'll have a return to the days of the basement on Crescent Hill with Paulie, Jeff, and myself. There's plenty to cover despite the late summer slump, and we'll be happy to bring it to you. 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

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WGolf releases 2024-25 schedule -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Good morning and happy weekend everybody! Its been perfect golfing weather this week and funny enough, the Cardinals golf program announced its schedule for the 2024-25 season earlier this week as well. I've been trying to play as many rounds as possible while also planning a wedding. Were about 23 weeks away from the big day!

The start of the new school semester is quickly approaching too which means the annual Press Box Scramble should be coming up... I wonder if my invite got lost in the mail...

WGolf

The University of Louisville schedule features eight regular season tournaments and one match play event over the fall and spring seasons, including two tournaments the Cardinals will host. In the spring, they will host the eighth annual Moon Golf Tournament in Florida and in the fall, the Cardinal Cup returns for the first time since 2019.

After the Cardinal Cup in mid September, the Cardinals will take a trip to Arkansas and then to North Carolina for the Tar Heel Invitational.

The final tournament of the fall brings the Cardinals to Huntsville, Alabama.

The first tournament of the spring season will be the preveiously mentioned eighth annual Moon Golf Invitational, hosted by the Cardinals at the Suntree Golf Club in Melbourne, Florida.

A trek to the Lone Star state is up next as the Cardinals will head south to Austin, Texas.

The final regular season tournament will take place in Clemson, South Carolina.

The 2025 ACC Championships will be hosted at the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina.

I look forward to following the Cardinals out on the course next season! 

As Always, 
Go Cards!

~Daryl 

Soccer Roster Takes Shape -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Return 14 from Last Season

Louisville women's soccer fans will have their work cut out for them this season when it comes to learning new faces and names. That's because the roster of 27 players includes just 14 returners from last season and sports 13 newcomers. The Cards are looking to recover after a string of tough years, and they've turned to the transfer portal in addition to the recruiting class to make that happen. Like softball last season, there were some surprising departures by players that were expected to be key contributors going forward. Louisville will have their work cut out for them to get on the same page, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Today is about starting that familiarization process. 

Departures

It wouldn't be fair to roll right into the new roster without covering who we lost. The roster was 26 last year, so that means an even dozen players won't don the red and black be Cardinals play for Louisville this year. Addie Chester, Louisville's top points earner last season, will continue her career at Ball State, indicating that it probably wasn't the aesthetic of UofL that she wasn't vibing with. 

In addition to Chester, Louisville looks to replace all but four players that tallied a goal or an assist for the squad last season. Emma Hiscock, Ravin Alexander, Lucy Roberts, Savina Zamborini, and Autumn Weeks all graduated. Fiona Gaiꞵer has returned to Europe to pursue her professional career, and Hayley Howard joined Chester in choosing to transfer. Like Chester (Muncie, IN), Howard (Brentwood, TN) returned closer to home(ish) by opting to play for the Tennessee Volunteers. 

Howard (1372) tallied the most minutes of any Cardinal not named Erynn Floyd (1575), and Chester (1152) was eclipsed by only Karsyn Cherry (1334) and Betsy Huckaby (1297). Seeing only a few minutes and joining the departures list were a pair of transfer goalkeepers. After being named as the best club goalkeeper in Quebec in 2018, Alyssa Zalac will move on to her 3rd school having not played any competitive minutes since 2019. After Vanier College's 2020 season was canceled due to Covid, Zalac redshirted at Ole Miss before transferring to Louisville and sitting for two seasons. Malene Nielsen decided that her year of backing up Floyd, which saw her earn just one half of play time, was not in her best interest and left Louisville after one season. 

Louisville also graduated Morgan Bentley and Maddy Ellsworth. Ellsworth was a transfer from Oregon State who started at right back and played 1031 minutes. Bentley was a four-year Cardinal who started in 11/12 games as a freshman before seeing her minutes decline. She played 336 minutes over 14 games last year with one start. 

Returners

While there are a lot of losses, especially on offense, Louisville does return 40% of their minutes from last season. That said, if goalkeeper minutes are excluded, that number falls to 33%. They bring back 64 field-player starts out of a possible 180. A fair amount of turnover was inevitable; Louisville was not a young team last year. They bring back just three sophomores from last year's team (there are six on the roster, but we'll get to the others later). I've mentioned Betsy Huckaby as a major contributor, and she's joined by Molly Cochran and Viktoria Wik. 

The rising junior class is large. Headlined by Floyd and Cherry, the class includes Mackenzie Geigle, Maya Maxwell, Lizzie Sexton, Hadley Snyder, Emma Kate Schroll, and Emersen Jennings. The Cards return just three players set to graduate this season: Amber Jackson, Ava Nielsen, and Brooke Dardano. 

The Transfers

Joining those last three on Senior Day will be just one senior transfer, Jolie St. Louis. JSL comes to the Cards from UAB after spending one season with the Blazers. Hailing from Atlanta, the forward started her career at Seattle. (Let me chime in here to say that the roster and player pages no longer include positions. I have no idea why. It's irritating, but we endeavor ever onward.) St. Louis also represented Trinidad and Tobago at the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers, playing in three matches and starting one. She led UAB in goals and points last year, scoring five goals in 748 minutes over 13 games. She played in 23 matches over two seasons at Seattle. 

Replacing the outgoing goalkeepers is Kailey Kimball. Kimball is a junior from Danville, California who played two seasons at Purdue. Kimball saw 810 minutes over 10 games as a freshman but struggled to find her footing. She allowed 21 goals over those games, giving up a score in all but one appearance (45 minutes in what was ultimately a 3-0 loss to Northwestern). Seemingly losing the position battle, Kimball played in three games in 2023, allowing one goal in 144 minutes (ironically, against Northwestern). She had a complete game clean sheet on the road at Maryland that finished in a 0-0 tie. 

The other three transfers are all sophomores. Berkley Patterson is a midfielder from Austin, Texas who comes to Louisville from Texas Tech. She played 148 minutes over six games and had two shots. She earned just five minutes in conference play, coming on in a 3-0 win over Cincinnati. While Patterson seems to be leaving home, the other two sophomore transfers went to school far from their hometowns and will stay rather far from them.

Gianna Angelillo is fairly familiar with Louisville, having played 37 minutes against them last season. The midfielder from Glastonbury, Connecticut started her career at Miami. She played 432 minutes over 11 games, earning three starts. She scored one goal on five shots, netting the game-winner against Syracuse. 

Ella Kane is also probably familiar with Louisville, although the Cards and Cats didn't play last season. Kane, from Macomb, Michigan, played 13 games for UK last year, primarily in reserve situations. Kane had 197 minutes and scored her only goal in her longest outing: 33 minutes against Belmont. If you exclude games in which she played fewer than 5 minutes, her average goes from 15.1 minutes per game to 24.1, a fairly large jump. She played 20 minutes against Florida, her largest showing in conference play. 

The Freshmen

That leaves just one group. If you're keeping track at home, 14 returners plus five transfers means that we have eight freshmen rounding out the 27-player roster. It feels like deja vu all over again to be talking about these freshmen, which tells me I'm pretty sure I've covered them before. We'll do a quick refresher in number order. Fun fact, Louisville's jersey numbers are nearly a clean count. The Cards wear 1-30 with 16, 19, and 29 excluded. (Ava Nielsen wore 29 as a freshman before switching to 13. I'm not sure why, since 13 was available at the time.) The freshmen this year are numbers 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 17, 20, and 24.

Grace Maddox is a defender from Statham, Georgia. Despite playing defense, she broke the school record for goals when she scored 29 as a freshman. She was a captain for six years with her club team. 

Piper Davidson comes from a town Cards fans might have heard of before: Wenatchee, Washington. The forward/midfielder scored 62 goals and had 46 assists in her high school career. She was all-conference with her club team. Funnily, Davidson wore #4 in promo photos before changing to #6 to yield the number to Jolie St. Louis. 

Lauryn Contini will inherit the mantle of the #10. The midfielder from New Philadelphia, Ohio was the 2023 district player of the year and was voted as Ohio's second best girls soccer player of the year. Contini won the Golden Boot in Ohio in 2022, scoring 55 goals in her junior campaign. 

Amelia Swinarski is another Ohioan, hailing from Madison. Swinarski is a midfielder that scored 30 goals and had 23 assists in her two years playing at Madison High School and was twice named first team All-Conference. 

Avery Oergel is a defender from Fulton, Maryland. As a lefty, it will be interesting to see whether she plays her dominant foot to the inside of the field or if Lizzie Sexton swaps sides. Oergel traditionally plays left back and her speed is an asset. She was a two-time first team All-Conference selection in the North Atlantic Conference of ECNL.

Brooklyn Lee and Davidson will have to remind each other of the Pacific Northwest. Lee, from Tacoma, will give Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes options for who to pair alongside Karsyn Cherry in the middle of the defense. Lee scored 20 goals and had nine assists from the back as a senior. She and Maddox could also be options to take over in the defensive midfield, replacing Howard and allowing Huckaby to move forward.

Fina Davy amassed a hefty number of accolades at Olentangy Berlin High School in Delaware, Ohio. The forward/midfielder holds the school record for career goals, career hat tricks, and season assists. As a senior, she was first team All-Conference after a 20 goal, 18 assist year. 

Last, but certainly not least, comes the Louisvillian: AG Gibson. Gibson played high school ball for Assumption where she was twice named first team All-State and 7th Region Player of the Year. She clubs with Racing Louisville. Throughout her career at Assumption, the midfielder tallied 56 goals and 53 assists. AG fulfills a lifelong dream of playing for Louisville and we'll do our best to avoid comparisons to another highly touted Louisville native who played a commanding midfield position. 

The season is just a month away, and I'm looking forward to seeing the new look squad in action. Join me and the rest of the crew at Lynn for the season opener against Bellarmine on August 15th at 7:30. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case