NCAA VB Tournament Breakdown — TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 NCAA Volleyball Tournament Breakdown: Louisville’s Path to the Championship, ACC Teams, Possible Upsets and Dark Horses

As Daryl mentioned yesterday, Louisville volleyball is back in the NCAA Tournament. This time, the 2-seeded Cardinals will only be at home for the first two rounds as opposed to last year when Louisville never left the 502 the entire postseason.

Louisville is one of seven ACC teams in this year’s tournament, two shy of last year’s ACC showing. This tournament features 1-seed Pitt, 2-seed Louisville, 2-seed Stanford, 2-seed SMU, 5-seed Miami, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina. 

Three teams from Kentucky are dancing: 1-seed Kentucky, 2-seed Louisville, and Western Kentucky. All three programs have been strong volleyball programs for well over a decade. The Cards and Hilltoppers could meet in the second round, but Kentucky is on the opposite side of the bracket.

Nebraska Regional

Photo courtesy of NCAA

This is a tough regional. Texas A&M can easily run with anybody and might have been deserving of a 2-seed over Louisville. Outside of a loss to TCU, the Aggies’ other three losses came to 1- and 2-seeds in the tournament. Miami could be a 5-seed that gets out of opening weekend. The Canes have one of the best outside hitters in the country and their only questionable loss was to Cal.

While I like Western Kentucky as an unseeded team, I don’t think they can beat Louisville, who swept them in late September. There aren’t any unseeded teams I think can make much noise on this.

Nebraska has looked like the best team in the country all season. I still think they are. I think they go this whole regional and won’t drop more than two sets at most.

Texas Regional

Photo courtesy of NCAA

This is another tough regional. While I am not sold on Indiana as the 4-seed, I think 2-seed Stanford and 3-seed Wisconsin are both very good. I don’t think Penn State is worthy of a seed, but they are matched up with a South Florida team who wasn’t able to beat a tournament team all season.

North Carolina could be an unseeded team to make a little noise early on. The Tar Heels, like the rest of the ACC, fell victim to the power of Pitt, Louisville, Stanford, and Miami, but they did take down SMU. Three of the Tar Heels’ losses were in a four-game stretch.

Outside of dropping two to Kentucky, the Longhorns’ only other loss came to Texas A&M. They have had some calls in other matches including against Louisville, Stanford, and Tennessee. I think the Longhorns sneak out of this regional but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Wisconsin or Stanford work some magic.

Pittsburgh Regional

Photo courtesy of Pitt Athletics

Pittsburgh seems to have the easiest region. Outside of SMU, I don’t see much threat from anyone else. Both Purdue and Minnesota have storied programs but have had consistency issues the last couple years.

Florida as an unseeded team could be a sneaky dark horse, provided they can get past SMU. The Gators’ record doesn’t look good but they have a handful of ranked wins including taking down Pitt. They also took Kentucky to five sets, one of just a couple SEC teams to do so.

With home court advantage and having Olivia Babcock, I think Pitt gets out of this regional.

Kentucky Regional

Photo courtesy of NCAA

Kentucky doesn’t have a cakewalk but I also don’t think they have an overly difficult region either. Arizona State hasn’t impressed me to be a 2-seed, especially with them getting destroyed by Pitt and Texas. The Big 12 is down some in volleyball with a few solid teams such as BYU and Colorado, but the Sun Devils didn’t face much challenge in conference play. Creighton is dangerous as a 3-seed. They have not lost since mid-September and all of their losses are to seeded teams. They took Nebraska to the wire and got big wins against Kansas and San Diego, but they play in a weak Big East conference. USC and Tennessee are seeded teams that could make some noise.

I don’t think any unseeded teams will have much luck in this region other than maybe Georgia Tech upsetting 8-seed UCLA, but there could be some battles and upsets when seeded teams face each other. I think either Tennessee or Creighton has a good shot at taking down Arizona State.

Kentucky has had an excellent season highlighted by wins over Texas, Texas A&M, Louisville, and SMU. Outside of Nebraska, they have looked nearly unstoppable and last lost in early September. The only team I could see maybe challenging them is Creighton but this is a region that Kentucky should come out on top.

Having all 1-seeds advancing this year isn’t too surprising. While there continues to be more parity year after year, there has been a noticeable difference between the top four or five teams vs the rest of the ranked teams vs everyone else. I think we see Nebraska take down Kentucky to complete the undefeated season.

Photo by Jared

I think Louisville cruises through the first two rounds, sneaks by Texas A&M barely, and then falls to the Huskers in the Elite Eight.

We plan to have in-person coverage of the opening two rounds at L&N Arena this weekend.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

WBB crushes Bellarmine 100-37 -- VB 2-seed in NCAA tourney -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good Monday morning readers, and hello December!!!! 

Its the last day of classes and students are preparing for finals the rest of the week.  Winter commencement is scheduled for Friday 12/12. 

I, myself, am mentally preparing for the winter break and taking the opportunity to relax and reset for another new year.   And wow, how has it already been 11 months since the wedding?   Sheesh.   

Time just flies because I think about how this time last year, Louisville volleyball was hosting Penn St for the national championship.  And the Cards suffered hopefully their last loss of the year this past Saturday vs Stanford. 

Another Volleyball post season is upon us so let's jump on in... 

Volleyball Selection Show

The CARDS are dancing once again!!

Photo: Jared Anderson

Your UofL Cards drew a 2-seed in the Nebraska region (shocker).  Louisville will host the first and second round with Loyola University Chicago 30 min following the first match which is WKU and Marquette at 4pm at L&N FCU Arena.  

Your top 4 1-seeds are Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Kentucky and Texas.  

Check out the full volleyball bracket HERE



WBB

Final  Bellarmine 37 - Louisville 100

Photo: Jared Anderson

Louisville swept the MTE this weekend as the Cards picked up 3 wins to move to 7-2 on the season.   Imari Berry lead all scorers as she came off the bench to have 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a block. 

End of 1Q  30-6  Cards

FG %
12-21 57.1% Cards
2-19 10.5% Knights
Reb.  17-9 Cards
3-pt %
2-7 28.6% Cards
0-8 0% Knights


End of 2Q  28-7  Cards


FG %
11-22 50% Cards
2-17 11.8% Knights
Reb.  19-8 Cards
3-pt %
4-12 33.3% Cards
0-8 0% Knights

Photo: Jared Anderson

HALF   58-13  Cards



End of 3Q  23-16  Cards

FG %
7-17 41.2% Cards  
6-17 35.3% Knights
Reb.  14-8 Cards
3-pt %
4-8 50% Cards
4-7 57.1% Knights


End of 4Q  19-8 Cards

FG %
8-14 57.1% Cards
3-10 30%  Knights
Reb.  8-5 Cards

3-pt %
3-7 42.9% Cards
0-4 0% Knights


FINAL 100-37

Photo: Jared Anderson

FRED REPORT

Freddie Prinze Jr

FREE THROWS --  Louisville managed to make 11-15 from the free throw line for a good enough 73% to earn a letter by our ratings, however, I still think this area needs much improvement when it comes to bigger moments so I'll give it a lower case f 

REBOUNDING --  UofL nearly doubled up Bellarmine on the boards grabbing 58 compared to 30. Cards' Anaya Hardy lead all with 10.  CAPITAL R 


EFFORT/EXECUTION --  12 Cardinals played in this game with Reagan Bender and Anaya Hardy getting the most minutes on the floor in this one but not much together.   Reagan has been showing glimpses of being a 3 point spark when the Cards need some offense (not so much in this game) but she did get the start against the neighboring Knights.    CAPITAL E

DEFENSE -- Louisville held Bellarmine to 13 points in the first half and 37 in total.  They forced 9 steals and had 4 blocks.  BU was 0-16 in the first half from beyond 3 point range.  CAPITAL D



FINAL FRED TALLY: f_R_E_D

UP NEXT

Louisville vs South Carolina

ACC/SEC Challenge

Thursday December 4th

7:00PM ESPN

If you're going to this one, check your ticket to find what section you are sitting in and wear your sections respective colors to fit the STRIPE OUT theme!   

If you're in an even section wear WHITE and 

if youre in an odd section wear BLACK

Get tickets HERE!!!!

As always
Go Cards!
~Daryl

WBB wins over ETSU, VolleyCards fall to Stanford -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 WBB ROMPS EAST TENNESSSEE 88-50

The Louisville women's basketball squad got a very convincing win Saturday over ETSU at Bellarmine after a rather sub-par first quarter. ETSU led 14-12 halfway through the first quarter, but Louisville was able to finally wake up and go up 22-18 on two Imari Berry free throws left in the opening quarter. . Berry would go on to get 17 points in the contest,leading Louisville in scoring... one of the Cards in double figures in the game. Laura Ziegler had 16 and Elif Istanbulloglu finished with15 for Jeff's Walz's squad...who improved their record to 6-2. 

The Cards nearly matched that first qurter total in the second quarter, with 22 points...but the UofL defense was much more stingy...allowing just 11 ETSU points. The Cards went to the intermission with a 45-29 lead. 

Ten UofL student-athletes saw at least 12 minutes in the UofL victory.

The third quarter was Louisville highest scoring quarter...with 25 points and, once again...the defense did their job and limited ETSU to just 11 points. Up 70-40 after the quarters, Walz was able to look at a lot of different combinations on the floor in the final 10 minutes and the Cards won the battle of the fourth quarter 18-10.

(Chimp J.Fred Muggs...can you name the TV show he was on?)

THE FRED REPORT

F -- Free Throws -- 18-25 is 72% and s. Berry gets the thumbs up or her 6-6 marksmanship from the charity stripe. Anaya Hady needs to work on her touch with a 2-6 effort. 72% is over the mandated 70% we look for here to award a letter...so we give an "f"..but not a upper case F, since they barely got pat 70%. Score: f. 

R -- Rebouning -- The Cards were the kings of the boards with a 48-25 commanding advantage on board worl. Kudos to four Cards who grabbed six each. Glad to award a capital R here for the rebounding edge and the team effort in grabbing them. Score: R

E -- Effort/Execution -- UofL had 19 assists on 30 baskets, a not-so-bad 12 turnovers, 48.4% shooting on the night and was 10-21 from three-point win. Combine all that with the 38 ponit win and I can easily award a capital "E" 

D -- Defense --ETSU is not  VERY GOOD BSKETBALL TEAM -- DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF THNMING THEY ARE -- but holding them to 32.7%  shooting, 50 points and just two fast breaks and two second chance points the entire game is pretty strong stuff. No problem in awarding a capital "D" 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  f-R-E-D

The Cards return to the KFC YUM! Center tomorrow to face Bellarmine. It's a 2 p.m. contest and on ACCNX if you can't attend. 

#7 VOLLEYCARDS FALL IN FIVE SETS TO #5 STANFORD

A heroic effort that fell just short for Dan Meske's VolleyCards yesterday in the LNFCUA to #5 Stanford. The 25-17, 16-25, 22-25, 26-24, 12-15 loss was a thrill-a minute on campus...but in this top ten battle, the Cardinal defeated the Cardinals. 

Despite middle Cara Cresse reaching a milestone with 500 career blocks...the Louisville squad could not pull off the win in front of a packed LNFCU arena. 

The Louisville squad goes to 24-6, 16-4 on the season in a match where Chloe Chicoine had 17 kills and the the Louisville squad won the first set in seeminly easy 25-17 fashion...the wheels fell off the cards the attack the rest of the way and Stanford is yoru ACC champ

In the past two matches, the VolleyCards have run into a candidate of ACC (if not national) P.O.Y. in Olivia Babcock (Pitt) and Elia Rubin. (Stanford). 

I've no doubt that the Cards will receive a decent NCAA Tournament seed tomorrow, though and probably get to host a couple early tournament games. It's at 6 p.m. and you can watch it on ESPN. 

(Volleyball photos from UofL)

paulie

Cards Crush Panthers -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Elif Scores Career High in 91-38 Win

A three-pointer by Tiny Lewis cut the Eastern Illinois deficit to one at 13-12 with 3:27 remaining in the first quarter. The Panthers had held close to Louisville for the first portion of the opening stanza, but that would be the end of that. Louisville closed the first on an 8-0 run to win the quarter by nine and won each subsequent quarter by no fewer than 13 points. Louisville's offense was largely consistent quarter-to-quarter (21, 26, 22, 22), while the defense held EIU to fewer points each quarter (12, 11, 9, 6). All in all, it was an expected thumping, as the loss moved Eastern Illinois to 0-6 on the season and the win took the Cards to 5-2. 

After the first six minutes or so, Louisville was never really troubled in this one. It might even be fair to say that they weren't particularly troubled at the beginning, despite the surprisingly close score. Once the Cards settled in, they had it fairly well under control. Walz was able to clear the bench and play 12 players, and, for the second time this season, every player that saw the floor scored a point. What's more, every player scored a field goal. The Cards were led by Taj Roberts, who scored 13, while Elif Istanbulluoglu and Mackenly Randolph tied at second with 12. The 12 points were a career high for Elif, who added six rebounds, an assist, two blocks, and two steals. The total was also Randolph's season high, and it missed her career high by one point (13 against Duke last season). 

Reagan Bender also had a nice night. Her career high is also 13, and she only scored eight in last night's game, but she added five rebounds, four assists, and five steals. The phrasing ends up coming off as a bit of a joke, but being halfway to a quadruple-double is nothing to scoff at. Bender did all this in a career-high night in minutes, as she led the team with 24. In addition to minutes, last night set career highs in field goal attempts, makes, rebounds, assists, and steals. Anaya Hardy had another double-double in 21 minutes, putting up 12 rebounds to go along with 11 points. She also had two steals. 

All in all, there isn't a whole lot more to say. Eastern Illinois is not a good team, so winning by 50+ points shouldn't be a great surprise. Getting a solid performance from everyone is quite nice, though, and you look for that in games like last night's. That said, the team wasn't as locked in as they could have been, which we'll cover up next in The FRED Report, but they still had an enjoyable Black Friday and will be set up for another big day today. 

The FRED Report

F-Free Throws: If there was one spot Louisville came up short (other than turnovers), it was free throws. The Cards got to the line quite a bit, earning 25 attempts, but they hit on just 17 of those. Louisville had no perfect quarters, and Taj Roberts went 0-2 at the stripe. Those last two stats are just icing on the bad cake, since a 68% qualifies for no letter all on its own. 

R-Rebounds: Louisville may not have had the tallest player on the floor (EIU had someone at 6'10"), but the Cards were the bigger and more physical team on average. They showed it, cleaning up 46 rebounds, compared to 34 for the Panthers. Louisville had 20 offensive rebounds and scored 19 second chance points. They held EIU to just nine o-boards. Capital 'R'. 

E-Effort/Execution: The final point total is nice. It's hard to score 91 points, though maybe not incredibly difficult when the opponent gives you as many chances as EIU did. Still, Louisville shot 46% from the floor and 35% from three. They assisted on 20 of their 33 makes. The big issue here is the turnovers. Louisville had 15, and I can't give a capital letter for that. Lowercase 'e'. 

D-Defense: Louisville's defense, as I mentioned earlier, got stingier as the game went on. They allowed just 38 points, fewer than ten per quarter, and they picked up 17 steals. They also had three blocks and forced a total of 31 turnovers. Yeah, I'm gonna go with a capital 'D'.

If you're going to have an off night at the free throw line, it's best to do it when you win by a million points, I suppose, but the turnovers were unfortunate. Louisville finishes with a final tally of _-R-e-D. Daryl will love that, since her favorite Louisville chant is "Go Big Red." (Sarcasm very much intended.) The Cards will be back in action today when they take on East Tennessee State. Today's game will be at 3:30, and it will be held in Knights Hall on Bellarmine's campus. Because it's at Bellarmine and not hosted by UofL, this game will be on ESPN+ instead of ACCNX. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WBB faces Eastern Illinois today -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Good morning everyone and hello Black Friday!   Its been a nice holiday weekend so far, the Cards WBB squad is set to face three opponents around town these next 3 days as UofL and Bellarmine are cohosting the Louisville MTE event for UofL, Bellarmine, Eastern Illinois and East Tennessee.  

Basketball

EIU at Louisville 

 KFC Yum! Center 

Friday 11/28 at 7:00pm 

Photo: Jared Anderson

UofL is 4-2 on the season and 1-0 in the ACC.   EIU is 0-5 on the season coming off a 54-60 loss to Central Michigan last Saturday.  Before that, they lost to #22 Michigan State 101-53.  Louisville leads the series with the Panthers 4-0. 

Junior guard Ava Stoller leads the Panthers offensively averaging 14 points per game.  Redshirt sophomore and 6'10 Abbie Boulitier leads the rebounding efforts with more than 6.5 bounds per game.

As a team, the Panthers average 61.6 ppg and are giving up 83.2 to their opponents.   The average less than 6 three pointers per game and have been pulling down more than 32 rebounds a game.   Theyre also turning the ball over more than 18 times a game.   

As Always, 

Go Cards! 

~Daryl 

Cards Fall in Pittsburgh -- THANKSGIVING CARDINAL COUPLE

HAPPY TURKEY DAY

Many people consider Thanksgiving to be the day to finally take stock of what they've been grateful for over the last year, and there's nothing wrong with that. That said, my wife and I have recently begun trying to bring that thankfulness into more of our everyday lives. It's not some groundbreaking or revolutionary idea, but trying to verbalize three things we're grateful for each day has had noticeable impacts on our moods. 

The idea is pretty simple: every evening before bed, we just say three things we're grateful for that day. They don't have to be unique. They don't have to be profound. They just have to be something. I've found that it not only helps me remember the positives from even the toughest days, but it also helps me stay more positive throughout the day as I'm looking for those moments of gratefulness so I don't just repeat the same thing every night. 

So while everyone will rightfully look at the big picture items from the year that they're grateful for when sitting around the table, try to keep your eyes open to the smaller stuff as well. In today's (seemingly constantly negative) news cycle era, it's easy to lose sight of what's right in front of you. 

Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving. 

Volleyball Swept at Pitt

Louisville volleyball saw their hopes at a share of the ACC title all but disappear last night at the Petersen Events Center. The Cards can still beat Stanford on Saturday night to finish the conference season 17-3, but they'll need help for Pitt to fall to the same record. The Panthers play on the road at Georgia Tech, so there's a chance. If tiebreakers come into play, we can look at those later. 

Last night's final set score of 3-0 looks bad, but doesn't necessarily tell the whole story. Louisville had strong opportunities in the match, but the nearly 8,000 strong (mostly Pitt fans) on hand to watch the top-ten matchup pushed the Panthers in critical moments. Louisville ultimately fell by just eight total points in a 25-23, 25-22, 25-22 sweep. 

As I mentioned, the Cards could have been on top early and had multiple chances to extend the match. Louisville led 23-19 in the first set, 22-20 in the second, and 22-21 in the third. It just wasn't meant to be. The Cards finished with a .173 hitting percentage and were outblocked 10-6. Louisville committed five service errors with just four aces while Pitt committed the same number of errors but picked up seven aces. Many of those came in critical spots. 

Similar to the first matchup between the two teams, Louisville was unable to slow down Olivia Babcock, who finished with 22 kills and just three errors for a .404 hitting percentage. If the two teams meet again in the postseason, the Cards have to make someone else beat them. 

On offense, Louisville had three players in double-digit kills as Payton Petersen led the way with 13, Chloe Chicoine had 12, and Cara Cresse finished with 10. Petersen added 12 digs to earn a double-double, and Kamden Schrand led the team with 15 digs. Cresse had a strong night overall, as she had two solo blocks, two block assists, and two aces, leading the team in all of those categories. 

The Cards are back in action Saturday night in the season finale. First serve against the Stanford Cardinal is at 7PM, and this huge matchup has somehow been relegated to ACC Network Extra. The match will be in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

VolleyCards head to Pitt -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS LOOK TO ATONE FOR EARLY SEASON LOSS TO PITT 

There is a three-way tie at the top of the ACC Volleyball standings...and Louisville and Pitt are two of the squads in that tie...along with Stanford...at 16-4. And, the Cards and Pitt are 24-4 overall, while Stanford is 25-4. So, when the VolleyCards face Pitt tonight in the Fitzgerald Field House...there will be just two teams tied for first place. providing Stanford can handle Ga. Tech in Atlanta tonight. The Ramblisn Wreck is 11-7 in ACC play. 

Yes, it's conceivable that the Cards could be #1 in the conference if they defeat Pitt and Stanford loses to Ga. Tech...but let's not forget that Pitt came into Louisville and defeated Louisville back on Oct 19th . in the LNFCU. 

The Cards are 21-19 against Pitt since 1981..but keep in mind that Pitt has won four out of the five last meetings between the two schools. The two foes took a break in the rivalry from 1984-1991.

It'll be Dan Meske's second time facing the Panthers. Dan Fisher, Pitt's head coach, took over the Engineers program in 2013. 

The Cards will need to find a way to contain Pitt's Olivia Babcock. who has amassed 513 kills this season. Babcock had a eye-popping 41 kills against the Cards in the squads previous met this year...which went five sets at 20-25, 25-19, 25-20, 17-25, 11-15. 

Louisville four losses this season have been to Pitt, Texas, Kentucky and SMU. Pitt's four losses came against Nebraska, Florida, Miami and Stanford. 

This one will be a 7 p.m. contest and shown on the ACC NETWORK. 

WE'LL HAVE A FULL RECAP IN THE THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE. 

(Jared Anderson photos)

PAULIE

Cresse Drafted in 2025 MLV Draft -- NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cresse Drafted by Indy Ignite in First Round

Cara Cresse was drafted by the Indy Ignite with the fifth overall pick in the 2025 Major League Volleyball (MLV) Draft. Cresse joins former Cards Anna DeBeer and Elena Scott on the Ignite..

Cresse, a multi-time All-American middle blocker is on pace for another year of All-ACC and All-American honors. She ranks second in the country in blocks per set and ranks in the top 15 nationally in hitting percentage. She ranks fourth on the team in kills and has seen action in every match this year.

Only one Louisville player was taken in the 32-person draft, but the ACC was heavily represented with 25% of the picks hailing from the conference. Pitt and SMU each had two players drafted. Florida State, Miami, and Stanford each had one player drafted. 

Last season, Cardinal Couple was denied credentials multiple times by the Indy Ignite. We hope to have better success in the 2026 season... especially with three former Cards on their roster.

NCAA Women's Soccer Elite Eight

While Louisville women's soccer season has come to an end, the ACC still has strong representation. Nine ACC teams made the tournament and all nine advanced to the second round. 1-seeds Notre Dame and Virginia both suffered heartbreakers, allowing a last second goal and falling in a shootout, respectively. 1-seed Stanford, 2-seed Duke, and 3-seed Florida State remain.

The ACC continues to have strong representation in the NCAA women's soccer tournament, proving once again why they have a strong case as the best women's soccer conference. The ACC could also make that argument with the men's soccer tournament (nine teams in the 48-team field) and field hockey (five teams in the 18-team field).

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

VB Sweeps Clemson 3-0 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good morning readers, 

We are heading into the Thanksgiving holiday week so the 'Xmas tree doesnt go up till after Thanksgiving' crowd can give it a rest already.   We're going for another real tree this year and Lulu is looking forward to helping me do that this week  :D 

As far as work goes, we're pretty much at that point where its gonna have to wait for the new year... ha ha.  If my boss is reading this, i'm just kidding. 

Jared and I made it out to the Yum Center on Saturday for the unfortunate loss to that blue team we don't like.  It was a nice day to head downtown now that we are both feeling healthy again.   We left the arena feeling a little nauseated though...  

It's a short work week so let's get to a short recap of the VolleyCARDS who secured another dub !!

Volleyball

Photo: Jared Anderson

Louisville managed to earn a 25-16, 25-12, 25-21 sweep at Clemson on Sunday afternoon.   They are on a 10 match winning streak and move to 22-4 on the season, 16-2 in the ACC. 

Photo: Jared Anderson

Against the Tigers, Payton Petersen had 13 kills, hitting .393 with 13 digs and two blocks.   Cara Cresse added seven kills and a match-high nine blocks. Kalyssa Blackshear hit .400 with seven kills and three digs. Setter Nayelis Cabello had three kills, 35 assists and five blocks.  Clemson totaled 2 blocks in the match and committed 24 errors.

The Tigers were able to secure a single point lead on the Cardinals but it was very short lived as they gave it right back to UofL with 2 back to back errors committed early in the third set.   Louisville maintained the lead the remainder of the way.  

Photo: Jared Anderson

UP NEXT

Louisville at Pittsburgh 

Wednesday 11/26 at 7pm 

ESPN

Quick hits

The Cards lost to Pitt at L&N Arena back on 10/19 2-3. In that match, Chloe Chicoine led the Louisville offense with 16 kills, adding nine digs, two assists and one block.
Louisville wraps up its last week of the regular season at L&N Arena this Saturday vs Stanford.  




As Always, 
Go Cards

~Daryl 

Flat third quarter grounds Cardinals WBB vs. UK 62-72-- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

THIRD QUARTER COLLASPE DOOMS WBB CARDS VS CATS

In most cases, beating an opponent for three quarters is impressive, but you have to guard against getting blown out in the "other" quarter in the game. 

Louisville WBB outscored UK 56-52 when you look at the firSt, second and fourth quarters of the annual clash between the two commonwealth foes yesterday in the KFC YUM! CENTER...but a disastrously bad third quarter saw Louisville goes from trailing by two at half to down by 16 as the teams went into the fourth quarter. 

The Cards scored six points in ten minutes. No, that isn't a misprint. And, that...my friends...isn't going to win you any compliments or awards. With the score 57-41 UK at the end of the third quarter, I switched channels for awhile to watch Cardinal Football . That was another bad mistake, but, we won't go into that here..

And, sometimes...missing shots isn't necessarily bad, if you are getting rebonds and second chances to scores. But...nothing on the table for that for the Cards either, they got out-rebounded by the taller Cats 41-28. 

We won't dwell on the one too much...Louisville just got taken to the woodshed in that third quarter and had that rear end snacked. If you can't get fired up and play all four quarters in front of 10,000 screaming fans...against your biggest in-state rival.....it might be time to reassess your team's desire and motivation. And. you need someone else to show up beside Roberts and Ziegler. 

72-62 isn't a blowout...granted, but...to lose to in your in-state rival, in your house in front of your fans..leaves a pretty deep wound for the fan base. 

Teach your kids how to make baskets, Coach Walz. Less than 40% just isn't going to cut it. 

(Photos by Jared Anderson)

THE FRED REPORT

Fred Gwynne (Herman Munster) expresses the Cards fans feelings after this contest. 

F -- FREE THROWS.  The Cards only took seven and made six...so that's well above the mandated 70% we like to see in this stat and will eatn the Cards a CAPITAL F

R -- REBOUNDS.  As we discussed earlier a 41-28 loss on the rebounding stats isn't anything to be proud of. Yes, UK may have been a big taller, but any good eighth grade basketball lplayer learns how to block out an opponent so you can get rebonding advantage. This is a short clip on how toblock out when rebounding. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ls7IaGn7Q4.  NO LETTER HERE

E -- EFFORT/ EXECUTION. Let's look at three things here in effort...assists, turnovers and fouls committed. The Cards tied UK in assists, beat the Cats in creating turnovers. but had more fouls. The Cards simply couldn't put the ball in the bucket as good as UK. (52% to 39% in favor of UK) and that is a solid win in the execution department for UK...so I DON'T AWARD A LETTER HERE. 

D-- DEFENSE. UK blocked eight Louisville shots, UofL blocked one UK shot. UK had five steals, UofL 7. I guess the underlying factor here is the Cards being held to 3-20 shooting (15%) in the third quarter and six points. NO LETTER HERE

FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-_-_-_

 

A tough loss for the Cards in front of 10442 in the KFC YUM! CENTER. A lot of things to be studied and learned in the aftermath of this one. Time will tell if the lessons will be learned or not. 

paulie

Volleyball Wins at GT; WBB Battle of the Bluegrass -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Win 3-1 in Atlanta

Louisville volleyball hit the road this weekend to take on a Georgia Tech team that isn't quite as fear-inducing as they have been in years past. The Yellowjackets entered yesterday's game at 15-10 (10-5), but they were still ranked 40th in the RPI. With every match being critical in a race for the ACC regular season championship, dropping a game you should win on the road would be very bad. Louisville is still alive in the ACC, as no team has fewer than two losses. The Cards (14-2) are currently alone in third on the basis of having played one fewer games than Stanford and Pitt (15-2). SMU has dropped a third match and sits at 14-3. Louisville controls its own destiny in the league, as they play the Cardinal and Panthers next week and could seize the outright championship. 

Let's take it back to Atlanta, though. Before Louisville could worry about the huge opponents on next week's calendar, they needed to take care of business against a scrappy Georgia Tech team. GT jumped out to an early 5-2 lead and played with that lead for much of the set. Louisville clawed back to an 11-11 tie, but GT pushed its lead back to 15-12 and then 17-14. As the number of available points kept falling, Louisville finally put together a series to bring it level at 19 points. The Cards won the race to 20, but couldn't string together two in a row for the next few points. Louisville finally took a two-point lead at 24-22, and won the set on their second set point. 25-23 was nervy, but it counts either way. 

The second set was much less dramatic. GT hung with the Cards early on and used a five-point run to draw within one point at 13-12. The two teams largely traded points again, with Louisville only able to get to a 16-14 lead. Unfortunately for the Bees, Molly Wilson's service error to get them to 14 would be their last point of the set. Louisville won the next nine points to seal the set at 25-14. 

Coming out of the half, the third set looked a lot like the first, but with Louisville holding the arm's-length lead. Just like the first, the trailing team closed up late, and the two teams traded points in the 20s. Louisville was able to keep getting the side-out whenever GT would tie for many of the opportunities. Service errors kept GT in it, as the Cards committed them at 22-21 and 23-22. GT took a 24-23 lead and won the set on their first attempt at 25-23. 

Disappointed, but not dismayed, Louisville came out in the fourth and decided they were ready to be done with the match. GT held on early once more, but the Cards stretched to a 13-7 lead and never let the Bees get closer than five points afterwards. A 25-15 fourth set gave Louisville the 3-1 victory. 

Statistically, it doesn't seem like this match should have been as close as it was. Louisville hit .336 while GT was just .090. Part of the low Georgia Tech hitting performance came from the fact that Louisville finished with 21 team blocks. Yes, you read that right: 21 blocks. GT had only 35 errors, so Louisville was the direct cause of 60% of their errors, and the block was likely the indirect cause of many more. Louisville's service errors (12) were part of the problem, as the serving game really wasn't working for them with only three aces. GT had just four aces, but they limited the damage with just seven errors. 

Chloe Chicoine and Kalyssa Blackshear led the team with 15 kills apiece, and Blackshear totaled a double-double with ten blocks. Even with ten blocks, Blackshear was only second on the team, as Hannah Sherman put up an astounding 14. Cara Cresse narrowly missed a double-double herself, as she had eight blocks to go along with her ten kills. Payton Petersen was close as well, as she often is due to the full-rotation. Petersen was third on the team with 13 kills and added eight digs. If there was one thing GT did well, it was to limit Nayelis Cabello's sneaky offense. Cabello had just five attempts, and she had no kills and one error. That didn't deter her from putting up a great performance in her normal duties, though, as she finished with 47 of Louisville's 53 assists and added eight digs and four blocks. 

Louisville will also need to dispatch Clemson tomorrow, but a loss there would be stunning. After starting the season 12-0 in non-conference play, the Tigers are a woeful 4-13 in the ACC. Their wins came against two teams behind them in the standings (Cal and Virginia) and the two teams directly ahead of them (Syracuse and BC). Clemson has also been one of Duke's two wins and one of Virginia Tech's three. The Tigers took Notre Dame to five sets last night, but Louisville should still have a fairly straightforward outing. That match is at 1PM on ACC Network. 

Louisville Hosts UK at Yum! Center

As I noted in last week's soccer writeup, the Cards and Cats will face off twice more this month, with one of those meetings coming this afternoon. Louisville and Kentucky will get underway at 2PM on The CW in a fairly evenly matched game (according to the polls). This will be the 61st meeting between the two teams, with UK holding a 35-25 advantage. It will be a battle of trends this afternoon in Louisville. The Cards won seven straight in the rivalry game before last season, but UK won five straight before that. Will Louisville be able to win their fifth straight at home or will a new streak start for the Wildcats with their first win against the Cards in Louisville in over a decade?

I wrote a bit about UK's offensive output this season, but it will be interesting to see how the Cards manage the versatile Wildcats. Kentucky has four players averaging double figures, while two more are over nine per game. Clara Strack is the team leader in points with 16.8 per game. She was preseason second-team all SEC and leads the nation in double-doubles. Point guard Tonie Morgan is second in the nation in assists per game and the Cats are making 10 three pointers per game (tenth in the country). While Strack has made five of those, the shooters for the Cats are Amelia Hassett and Asia Boone. The two have combined to make 32 threes already this season on 34.8% shooting from beyond the arc. Louisville will need to be careful as Kenny Brooks goes to the bench as well. Lexi Blue is averaging just 11 minutes per game but she has already made eight three pointers on 42.1% shooting from range. UK also gets to the line consistently, and they're capable of knocking down free throws. I'm sure they'd like to be better, but they're shooting 75.9% from the stripe on an average of 18 attempts per game. 

Defensively, UK is also stout. Their competition hasn't been the most stellar, but they've held their last five opponents to fewer than 50 points and less than 30% from the field. They're first in the country in blocks per game (10), scoring defense (43.5), and field-goal percentage defense (26.9%). They've won their first two true road games by 30+ points (Buffalo and Marshall), a feat they haven't accomplished since the 1999-2000 season. With Louisville showing a propensity for getting out to a slow start, they could be in trouble if UK gets the chance to put the clamps on. 

The Cards are coming off of a bit of a get-right game. They are undefeated since the opener against UConn, but you could almost say, "that's not for a lack of trying." Louisville has had to pull some second-half performances out of the bag to meet that mark, but they were able to put a fairly complete game together on Thursday. Anaya Hardy and Reagan Bender had career nights, while Elif Istanbulluoglu matched a career-high in points. Laura Ziegler scored in double figures for the fourth time this season, and Taj Roberts scored double-digit points for the fourth straight game. 

The Cards will need to take care of the ball against the difficult UK defense. Louisville is averaging 11 turnovers per game. That could be dangerous, considering the Cats are forcing 17.5 on average from their opponents. Clean offense from the Cards will go a long way, as they'll have to find good shots, likely from the outside, to put up points this afternoon. 

All will be revealed in a few hours. Paulie will have the recap tomorrow. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WSoc comes up short 3-1 vs KU -- VB vs GT preview -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Good morning readers, 

I left work and was heading home from the UofL President's holiday party Thursday afternoon when the WSoc match kicked off but I was able to join in right after the Cards put one into the net.   

Ive actually crossed paths with Gerry Bradley a few times this semester.  I attended the inauguration and not long after that he visited my building for a podcast episode and I got to introduce myself and he mentioned that meeting on the recording.  

And then again today when I went to the SAC for the gathering, he walked by me as I was waiting at near the entrance and I said hello.  He then walked around each table of the ballroom and said hello to the staff and faculty.   It was a rainy afternoon on campus but it was a nice outing. 

Soccer

Photo: Jared Anderson

The 2025 season has come to an end for the WSoc squad as they suffered a 3-1 defeat at the (feet) of the #3 Kansas Jayhawks.  

I was able to get home just after the Cards netted their only goal in the match.  It was a hard earned one too as a corner kick was put in play by Amelia Swinarski where it was then sent into the box but deflected by KU and  that was deflected away by the Blue Devils keeper. Karsyn Cherry got to the loose ball and her header deflected off the top crossbar but came back in play. Maddox was first to the ball and volleyed it into the back of the net to give the Cards an early 1-0 lead.

Kansas was able to equalize just a few minutes before the half after putting in a player with fresh legs.  It was a shot near the right side of the box where Erynn Floyd wasnt able to deflect and the supporting defense just wasn't there.  Which would end up being the case again in the second half when the Card gave up its second goal of the match in the final 10 minutes of play.    The third KU goal was scored when Floyd came out too far from the net and it rolled right into to close the door for a Cardinals' comeback.   

It felt great to be up 1-0 on the #7 Jayhawks there for a minute.  The Jayhawks possessed the ball much of the time offensively.  They totaled 17 shots with 7 of them on goal.  Floyd made 4 saves in the match.   The Cards only managed 6 shots, 3 of them on goal.  KU had 10-0 edge on shots in the final 10 minutes of play.  

Louisville finished the season 13-5-3 overall, their most wins in a single season since 2019. The Cardinals advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 and made it to the second round for the third time in program history.

Volleyball

Photo: Jared Anderson

Louisville is on the road at Georgia Tech for a Friday night clash with the Yellow Jackets.

Georgia Tech volleyball is 15-10 on the season and 10-6 in the ACC. For some reason, they are coming off two back to back sweeps of the Clemson Tigers as the two played home and away over the past week.

GT hasn't won more than 1 set on a ranked team all season.

Anna Fiedorowicz earned Freshman of the week honors for the first time. In the first meeting with Clemson she had with 16 kills along with a career high .500 attack percentage as well as a career high three solo blocks. In the recent match between with the Tigers, she finished with a team high 28 kills, averaged 4.67 kills per set, at a .479 attack percentage along with 13 digs, two assists, and one service ace.

Also for GT, Mimi Mambu leads in kills (258) while Fiedorowicz just behind her with with 213 kills. Bianca Garibaldi owns a team high .417 attack percentage, good for a third place ACC ranking and a 19th place national ranking. DeAndra Pierce joins Garibaldi in the rankings for attack percentage as her .394 attack percentage ranks her fifth in the ACC.


You can watch it on the ACCNX at 7p.m.

As Always,
Go Cards 
~Daryl