Monday, September 15, 2025
VB, WSOC Win; FH Doesn't -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
Sunday, September 14, 2025
VOLLEYBALL BESTS NORTHERN IOWA -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
#4 CARDS GO TO 6-1
i was ready to start today's article with the sentence "Cards knock off UNI" but then thought it sounds like "you and I" have played the Volleyball and so, I thought i might talk about the two CC's
Mind you, this is not about the Cardinal Couple's (sometime referred to as C.C.) two major forms of communication (internet articles and podcasts) but a shorten reference to Cara Cresse and Chloe Chicoine who led Louisville Volleyball with 13 kills each in their Saturday night win over The University of Northern Iowa in Omaha, Neb. at the Bluejay Invitational.
Setter Navelis Cabello had 42 assist and 15 digs for the Cards and Louisville held UNI to .167 hitting.
The match was also contest between the two Petersen sisters, Payton (UofL) and Jayden (UNI). Keeping it a family affair, their mom (Bobbi). Bobbi has done pretty well as a Volleyball head coach, amassing a record of 583-209. She also played at UNI.
SET 1
Louisville took control early at 14-9 and was able to stretch that to 19-12, and despite three UNI blocks late in the game, was able to win the first set 25-18.
SET 2
The Cards flew out to an early 7-4 lead, but UNI rallied and got back to an 8-8 tie. The Panthers led 11-10 before Louisville went up 15-13. UNI would not say die, though, and tied it agains at 15-15. The regained the lead at 21-20..but after a Cards time out, the Birds finished the set with a 5-3 advantage and took Set Two 25-23
SET 3
This set was a close one the majority of the way with ties at 10-10, 13-13 and 19-19. UNI grabbed a 22-19 lead, though...and ended up winning 25-21.
SET 4
Louisville established a large 9-5 lead early on a 5-1 run, and pushed that out to a 15-10 edge. The Cards went to a 23-16 lead before taking game and match 25-17.
The Cards will have Rice for their next opponent (and we don' t mean Uncle Ben, Minute Rice, A Roni or that boil-in-the-bag stuff) today at noon. This one is also in Omaha as a part of the Bluejay Invitational. It's a 1 p.m. affair and will be shown live on YouTube. I've not tried watching a Louisville Volleyball event before on YouTube, so we'll see how that goes.
The link is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO4hQPstTME
It looks to be busy day for UofL women's sports today, with Field Hockey and Womens Soccer also in action.
Have a great Sunday
paulie
Saturday, September 13, 2025
Volleyball Wins; FH Drops Stunner -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
Cards Snap Blue Jays Streak in 3-1 Win
FH Falls Late to Northwestern
No CCRHP This Week
Friday, September 12, 2025
UofL Offense Goes Silent in Loss at Florida State -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
Cards Shut Out For Second Time This Season
Photo by GoCards |
Louisville women's soccer opened up ACC play with a 2-0 loss at #7 Florida State. It was Louisville's first loss since losing at then-#17 Vanderbilt 2-0 on August 17.
Florida State split their goals with one coming in each half. Their first goal came in the 24th minute on a penalty kick. Karsyn Cherry was called for a foul at the very top of the box. The play went to review to determine if the foul occurred before entering the box or as soon as the players entered the box. The officials were unable to come to a true decision and let the play stand. Erynn Floyd went left on the penality kick but the shot went right down the middle to the back of the net.
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Photo by Jared |
The second goal for the Seminoles was a true earned goal, coming in the 86th minute, effectively closing the lid on the match. Louisville has momentum taking them towards the FSU goal, but the header was saved. Florida State immediately went for a counter attack and beat the defense down the pitch.
While Louisville's offense was silenced, much of that goes to the strength and effectiveness of the FSU defense. The Seminoles played tight on defense and used speed to prevent Louisville from attacking from the sides. Louisville still tried to remain aggressive and their offense had their best showing against Florida State in ages. Louisville managed just one shot on goal.
On the defensive end, outside of the one hard-earned goal and the freebie goal, Florida State was limited on scoring opportunities, recording just one other shot on goal on the night. The Seminoles were averaging 4.0 goal per game entering the match.
Louisville returns home with a 7-2 record and will host Virginia Tech on Sunday. Florida State is now 5-0-1.
Photo by Louisville Tourism |
Daryl will hopefully be back here in about a week and a half once we get through music festival season here in Louisville. Bourbon and Beyond is going on this weekend with Louder Than Life following suit next weekend.
Friday 13th
Oh..it is Friday 13th...as well. Avoid strange black cats, don't spill the salt, avoid walking under ladders, don't break any mirrors, don't step on cracks in the sidewalk and don't open an umbrella indoors. Off you go, enjoy the day...
Happy Friday and Go Cards!
Jared
Thursday, September 11, 2025
Cards Fall in Texas -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
Volleyball Drops 5-set Heartbreaker
Soccer Opens ACC Play with FSU
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
#4 ranked VolleyCards to face #2 Texas -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
MATCHUP IN FT. WORTH WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Yes, it is very early in the NCAA DI Volleyball season for such an important matchup but #4 Louisville faces a tough test when they face the #2 Texas Longhorns on Wednesday night in the Shiners Children's Showdown at 9 p.m. ET.
The match will be shown on ESPN. The natch will be in Dickies Arena, The arena holds 14,000 for Volleyball.
The two haven't locked horns (sorry, bad pun) since they met for the 2022 National Championship match that Texas took in three straight sets. All told, in five meetings between the two powerhouse programs, the Longhorns hold a 4-1 edge. The Cards got their lone victory in their first ever Elite eight...back in 2019.
Jerritt Elliott |
While Dan Meske is in his first year as the Cards skipper, Texas head Volleyball coach Jerritt Elliott is in his 25th season as the Texas head coach. The record for Elliott is impressive at 611-121. He also has three national championships. The Longhorns are located in Austin, so they'll have a three hour trip to Ft. Worth (flight time one hour), but nothing like the 861 mile trip for the Cards (flight time 2 hr. 30 minutes).
Nya Burton (on right) |
Stafford |
Torrey Stafford leads Bevo's bunch in kills...Volleyball fans will remember her from Pitt. She has 63 in 15 sets.
The Longhorns are 4-0 on the season...with wins over #12 Creighton, #8 Wisconsin, Rice and #6 Stanford. The won their first two games in Madison,WI. and then returned to Texas to beat Rice in Houston before taking the home opener over Stanford in a close 3-2 match.
Ella Swindle is the assists leader with 118.
Vander Wal |
The Horns also have Abby Vander Wal, an outside hitter out of Elmhurst, IL. She was the 2024 Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year.
Here is a great clip about Vander Wal. The Cards and Nebraska were high on her, but Texas eventually got her. She has a brother who plays basketball at Furman.
Payton Peterson |
For the Cards, Payton Peterson leads the way with 49 kills. Nayelis Cabello has 117 assists in 10 sets and they are are 4-0, winning 13 of the 14 sets they have played. Match wins were against Auburn, Morehead St. St. John's and Illinois
This should be a good one and Case will have the recap in the Thursday Cardinal Couple.
paulie
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Weekend Photo Galleries -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
Weekend Photo Galleries
We had another busy sports weekend here in town- a little less busy than Labor Day Weekend, but still busy. Women's soccer earned a pair of wins on Thursday and Sunday and volleyball took a win on Sunday. The men's sports saw some wins too (congrats to football on beating James Madison and men's soccer on upsetting #1 Stanford) but we won't share any of those pictures here.
Women's Soccer vs Kent State
Volleyball vs Illinois
Women's Soccer vs Dayton
We do get a few days of rest before any teams head back home. Volleyball and women's soccer both hit the road. Field hockey returns home from a 1-1 road trip to host a preseason #1 Northwestern squad.
Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!
Jared
Monday, September 8, 2025
WSoc 2-0 over Dayton -- VB 3-1 vs Illini -- FH beats IU 5-4 MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
Good morning readers,
Another new week ahead of us and a busy few days on Floyd Street over the weekend. Sunday particularly was jam packed with Cardinasl action where Jared and Case made it out for the night cap at Lynn Stadium.
So lets get right into the action..
Field Hockey
Louisville 5 - Indiana 4
Five different players scored for Louisville in the winning effort to move to 3-1 on the season. The Cards outshot IU 17-7.
The Hoosiers got the scoring started about 7 minutes into the action before the Cards were able to respond with a goal of their own about 3.5 minutes after by Annabel Sep. She totaled 6 shot attempts on the day. At the start of the second quarter, IU retook the lead under 1 minute back in action. Louisville would need more than 10 minutes to even it up at 2 all. Gigi Edwards put it in the back of the net before the half.
Chloe Cuzzupe and Aubreigh Uba would score back to back in the 39th and 40th minute, just about 20 seconds actually, for Louisville's first lead of the day and a 3-0 scoring run.
In the 4th quarter, UofL secured more insurance when Izzy Bianco netted her first goal of the season in the 50th minute to make it 5-2. IU would manage to score 2 more goals just as time expired but it would not be enough to surpass the Louisville lead and the Cards secured the battle of the border. Sophia Parker delivered three assists to lead the Cardinals offensively. Emily Young earned the win and secured a single save.
UofL hosts a big one on Friday evening when they welcome the reigning national champs, Northwestern to town.
Volleyball
Louisville 3 - Illinois 1
(25-19, 25-22, 20-25, 25-18)
#3 Louisville dropped a set for the first time this season but move to 4-0 on the season. On Sunday afternoon they cruised to a 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 20-25, 25-18) win over Illinois at the KFC Yum! Center in front of a crowd of about 6,300.
Payton Peterson lead all scoring efforts when she had a career high 20 kills, 11 digs and an ace. Outside hitter Chloe Chicoine notched a season-high 17 kills while stacking on 11 digs, one block and two assists while surviving 10 service errors. Cara Cresse, Nayellis Cabello and Kalyssa Blackshear each posted five blocks on the day.
from gocards
Set 1: Louisville 25, Illinois 19
The two teams traded points to begin the match with neither team able to take more than a one-point lead. Louisville used a 6-0 run to take a 10-5 advantage forcing Illinois to use its first timeout. Out of the break, the Illini started to gain momentum with three-straight points, but the Cards put a stop to their run with back-to-back kills. Louisville used a 8-4 run to push their lead to 20-13. Illinois attempted to rally scoring six of the final ten points, but Cresse won the set for the Cards with a kill assisted by Cabello.
Set 2: Louisville 25, Illinois 22
After a back-and-forth set, Louisville started to pull away with a 12-7 run before Illinois rallied to tie the match at 13-13. Chicoine scored three out of four of Louisville's points in a row, but Illinois matched the momentum, bringing the score to 20-20. Back-to-back kills by Peterson forced Illinois to take a timeout, but the Cards outscored the Illini 4-2 to take the set, capped off by a block by Cabello and Cresse. UofL hit .382 in that set as a team.
Set 3: Louisville 20, Illinois 25
Neither team was able to claim more than a two-point advantage over the other until Illinois took a 14-11 lead. The Illini used their momentum to go on a 9-6 run, forcing Louisville to burn a timeout late in the third set with the score at 23-19. Peterson notched another kill, but it wasn't enough as Illinois took their first set of the match 25-20 with a block and kill by Ashlyn Philpot.
Set 4: Louisville 25, Illinois 18
With the score close at 5-4, Louisville went on a 6-0 run that featured four different players with kills and forced Illinois to take an early timeout. Illinois used a 13-7 run to bring the score within one point at 18-17. This forced a Cards timeout, but UofL was able to bounce back and win the set with six straight points including the final two points coming on blocks, one from Blackshear and one from Cresse.
Soccer
Go Cards!
~Daryl
Sunday, September 7, 2025
FIELD HOCKEY FALLS TO DREXEL -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
1-0 LOSS TO DRAGONS IN BLOOMINGTON FOR THE FLOCK
The Louisville Field Hockey squad took to the road Saturday for a couple of games at IU and lost their first one to the Drexel Dragons. The visitors from Philly defeated the previously undefeated Cards 1-0.
The teams battled to a scoreless first half, but Drexel put one in the net with 5:19 left in the third quarter. A shot from outside the circle bounced off one of the goalpost and the ball fell in front of a Drexel player who guided the ball past the Cards goalkeeper.
Justine Sowry had this to say about the loss:
"Credit to Drexel, they were the better team today. I though they pressed and defender very well and completely took out game away from us. When you get that defensive pressure, you have to have poise on the ball and you have to be able to reshape and move and demand the ball to get out of the dangerous pockets...and we were unable to do that."
The loss sends the Cards to 2-1 on the young season. Sowry and her players will take on IU today. IU defeated Drexel 3-0 earlier on the schedule. It'll be shown on the Big Ten Network Plus.
VOLLEYBALL AND WSOC IN ACTION TODAY ON CAMPUS
Floyd Street on campus today will be busy with both Volleyball and women's soccer in action
Viewing for these will be on the ACC Network Extra if you can't make it down to campus to view the evens.
The #3 in the nation Louisville Volleyball squad will face Illinois at 3 p.m....whle farther south on Floyd Street, WSOC brings in Dayton for a 7 p.m. match..
paulie
Saturday, September 6, 2025
Field Hockey Takes on Drexel -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
Louisville Faces Drexel at 11AM
Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast
Friday, September 5, 2025
WSoc Flushes the Golden Flashes 8-0 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
FRIDAYS WITH DARYL
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Photo: Jared Anderson |
GoooooooOOd morning readers and welcome to another weekend. It's GAMEDAY for football fans so I am EXTRA excited to get off work today and take the walk down Floyd Street to get some tailgate time in and hope the weather cooperates. Today is also EXTRA special because it is Thomas' and I's 10 year dating anniversary.
Soccer
Louisville 8 - Kent State 0
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Photo: Jared Anderson |
It was another shot party for the Cardinals over at Lynn Stadium on Thursday evening as they move to 6-1 on the season and are now on a current 5 game winning streak.
Jared made it out to the park and Katy and Bentley joined for the second half for Pups at the Pitch night. That means Bentley got to see a total of 3 UofL goals including two of them coming from Amelia Swinarski, who had a hat trick in the match against the Golden Flashes. I hope there weren't any golden flashes from Bentley in excitement out on the pitch!
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Jared and Katy's puppy Bentley! |
Suydam would also score in the 67th minute of the match. As a team, UofL had 33 shots, split pretty evenly between halves and 16 of them on goal. Kent State received a red card just before halftime in the 41st minute and had to play the remainder of the match down a player. Mackenzie Geigle added to her scoring campaign when she put UofL ahead 5-0 heading into the break.
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Photo: Jared Anderson |
The Cards added the final trio of goals in the second half. Swinarski's big hat trick moment came with about 63 seconds left in the match. After going up 8-0, Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes called off the dogs.
On defense, the Cards split goalkeeping duties between Erynn Floyd and Brielle Baker with each getting a shot to stand there and enjoy the fresh air... KSU managed just 3 shots on the evenings none of them on goal.
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Photo: Jared Anderson |
Jared was out there representing Cardinal Couple and got a chance to talk to Amelia Swinarski following the match. The hat trick is the first by a Louisville player since 2018. You can watch that here.
The Cards continue to lead the country in goals and assists.
As Always,
Go Cards!
~Daryl