WBB pushes past NKU 89-61 -- VB 3-1 over WF -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good Monday morning,


It's a cold one in Louisville to start the week which means basketball season is back to help us get through it. 

The WBB squad opened up at home on Sunday afternoon.  I had some recent car troubles so I couldn't make it down to the Yum against the Norse. But Jared was able to get some great snaps from the action.

Basketball

NKU 61 - Louisville 89

Photo: Jared Anderson

After a relatively close first three quarters, Louisville outscored NKU 33-13 in the fourth to secure a 89-61 win over the neighboring KY foe. UofL moves to 1-1 on the season with Colorado coming to town on Wednesday night.

Tajianna Roberts led all scorers with 23 points, which tied a career high. She was 10-16 from the floor, 3-4 from 3 point range and scored 17 of her 23 points in the second half.  

Reyna Scott scored in double figures for the first time with 13 points on 6-8 shooting. 

Laura Ziegler led the team with double-digit rebounds for the second-straight game with 11 boards and she added a team-best five assists to go with 9 points. 

Elif Istanbulluoglu added 9 points and 7 rebounds.



Recap

Photo: Jared Anderson

End of 1Q 20-17  Cards

FG %
8-17 47.1% Cards
7-13 53.8% NKU
Reb. 9-7 Cards
3-pt %
3-8 37.5% Cards
3-4 75% NKU

Reyna Scott went 3-3 for 7 points in just 4 minutes on the floor in the quarter.  Ziegler and Makenley Randolph both pulled down 3 rebounds 


End of 2Q 15-15


FG %
5-12 41.7% Cards
6-13 46.2% NKU
Reb. 8-7 Cards
3-pt %
0-3 0% Cards
2-5 40% NKU

UofL went 5-6 at the free throw line with Randolph leading the efforts with 3-4.  NKU shot 50% in the first half while the Cards only 45%. The Cards had 11 turnovers where the Norse had 9 points as a result.



HALF 35-32

Photo: Jared Anderson

End of 3Q 21-16 Cards

FG %
10-18 55.6% Cards
6-18 33.3% NKU
Reb. NKU 12- 9
3-pt %
1-3 33.3% Cards
2-11 18.2% NKU

Roberts went off 5-6 from the field to score 11 of her point total and put the Cards in a position to pull away. 


End of 4Q 33-13 Cards

FG %
13-18 72.2% Cards
5-18 27.8% NKU
Reb. 12-7 Cards
3-pt %
4-5 80% Cards
3-10 30% NKU


The Cardinals had 18 points in the paint and 16 off the bench in the final quarter.  The Norse seemed to run out of gas as they shot just 28% from the field down the stretch. 

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Colorado

11/12/25

7pm ACCNX

FRED REPORT

FREE THROWS --  Louisville went 9-13 at the line which just barely missed the 70% minimum requirement for a letter in the category for the first time this season..   However I really dont feel like it was a bad night at the line when two players only missed one and another went 1-3.. so im giving it a lower case f

REBOUNDING --  The Cards out rebounded the visitors 38-33 with Laura Ziegler leading for Louisville two games in a row.. she had 11 and almost a double double.  Capital R

EFFORT/EXECUTION --  It was cold morning in the Ville and UofL saved the warm up for the second half but were extremely efficient by the end of the match.  I give this one a Capital E 

DEFENSE --  UofL's defense forced 18 turnovers and had 25 points off of them.  Their ability to turn it up in the second half to detain NKU's efforts merits a Capital D



FINAL FRED TALLY: f-R-E-D


Volleyball

Photo: Jared Anderson

It took 4 sets (25-16, 20-25, 25-18, 25-17) to put the Demon Deacons away on Sunday afternoon as Louisville moves to 20-4 overall, 12-2 in the ACC.


Kalyssa Blackshear had 18 kills to lead all scorers and 6 blocks to boot. She had a .412 hitting percentage while the Cards hit .302 as a team.  UofL more than doubled the blocks of WF with 16-7 including 6 aces while committing almost half as many errors.


Chloe Chicoine joined Blackshear in double digit kills with 15, adding 10 digs and three blocks. Cara Cresse had 10 kills and five blocks. The defense was led by Kamden Schrand's 13 digs and two aces along with Hannah Sherman's 10 blocks.

UofL returns to the Ville for a pair of matches at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. The Cardinals will face Florida State on Thursday at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.





As always
Go Cards!
~Daryl

WBB, Volleyball on Sunday Menu -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 WALZBALL HOSTS NKU, VOLLEYCARDS TRAVEL TO WAKE FOREST. 

If the NFL isn't quite your bag...you hava a couple of nice options today on the Louisville women's sports side...Laura Ziegler and crew wait for one of the "KU's" to arrive (NKU) and the Meske Maraders go to the town named after two cigarettes (or was it vice versa) to play net games with the tall guy in the hat who calls himself a deacon. and a demon one...at that. 

WBB  

A 2 p.m. tip for the Cardinal hoops gang against Jeff Walz old alma mater when Northern Kentucky travels down 1-71 to face the #20 ranked Cards. NKU (0-1)  visited Marshall to begin their season and fell to the Thundering Herd 68-53. I know, Thundering Herd doesn't really seem like an appropriate name for women's basketball players but they don't have any other nicknames they go by. 

Cards fans might remember Lindsey Duvall graduated from Bullitt East to join Louisville, left Louisville to go to NKU. Well,  she graduated and is now the Director of Basketball Operations for the Norse.  If you go far enough back in the annuals of Cardinal Couple articles...you'll find an interview I did with her and her Bullitt East head coach Chris Stallings. 

Her Norse leaders after one game are guards Taysha Ruston (11.0) and Mia Jordon (10.0) a game after one game.

NKU participates ni the Horizon League and were picked to finish sixth in it in a preseason coaches poll. The Norse head coach is Jeff Hans and he is starting his second season at NKU.

Laura Ziegler

The Cards are led by St. Joseph transfer Laura Ziegler with 16 points a game. Other Cards in double figures are transfer Skylar Jones and Imari Berry. 

If you can't make it down to the KFC YUM! Center for this one, it is available on the ACCNX and Nick Curran will have the play-by-play on 93.9 FM and 970 AM. Curran returns as the Cards WBB radio play-by-play guy and Sara White handles Internet analysis duties.

Enjoy the game, we'll recap what we saw here at Cardinal Couple tomorrow.

VOLLEYBALL

Cards Volleyball gets the first start of the day for women's squads at Louisville with a 1 p.m. contest at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. .

The VolleyCards are ranked #7 in the latest NCAA DI poll and 19-4 on the season continue ACC play against the Demon Deacons. Wake is 5-8 in conference and 11-13 overall .

This one can be found on ACCNX as well 

The Cards are on a five-game win streak since the Oct 19 five set loss to Pitt and 11-2 in the ACC...good for third place in the conference standings. 

We'll also recap this one in the Monday Cardinal Couple.

paulie

 .

Cards Sweep Wolfpack in Raleigh -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Chicoine Leads All Hitters in Win

After a home-and-home series with Notre Dame last week, the Cards and Irish returned to North Carolina for their second ACC travel weekend in the Tarheel State in a row. After facing Duke and UNC last time, the two teams face NC State and Wake Forest this weekend. Louisville continued the brief run of sweeps they are on (after sweeping ND twice last week) by taking care of the Wolfpack in three sets. The win moved Louisville to 19-4 overall and 11-2 in the ACC. NC State is struggling this season, and the loss pushed them below .500 overall at 11-12 (4-9). 

Despite leading nearly wire-to-wire in all three sets (minus a few early points here and there), Louisville never really distanced themselves in the way that might have been expected over an outmatched team. The final scores were 25-19, 25-18, 25-20, which seems quite surprising given that Louisville hit .343 in the match compared to .169 for NC State. Even in a second set in which Louisville had no errors and hit .567, NC State played fairly clean with .367 (three errors) to keep it close. Part of the issue may have been that Louisville wasn't blocking nearly as much as they usually do against a team that they should dominate. The Cards had just nine blocks on the night. 

The Cards also had a decent night at the serving line, hitting six aces and only eight errors. They were net +2 in that battle, as NC State had just two aces and six errors. Nevertheless, Louisville came away with the win and did so in the minimum number of sets. Chloe Chicoine led all hitters in the match with 15 kills. She had just two errors and added two assists and eight digs. NC State had just one player in double-digit kills with 13. Kalyssa Blackshear was Louisville's second player in double-digits with 11. Blackshear had just one error, but NC State avoided her defensively. Somehow, Blackshear finished with no blocks. 

Cara Cresse showed out in the middle with nine kills on 11 attempts and no errors for an .818 hitting percentage (Blackshear was second in the match with .526). Cresse also had two solo blocks and three block assists. Not to be outdone, Hannah Sherman had four solo blocks. Payton Petersen (2) and Ava Utterback had the other block assists. NC State may have read their scouting report on Nayelis Cabello. Cabello had a strong 39 of Louisville's 41 assists, but she was 0-11 on attack attempts with one error. We don't really want our setter to have a negative attack percentage, but if she's the only one on the team doing so, it's not the end of the world. Kamden Schrand and Hannah Kenny both had strong nights with a pair of aces each and 16 and 11 digs, respectively. 

Louisville returns to play against Wake Forest tomorrow at 1PM. The Demon Deacons just moved ahead of Notre Dame in the conference by way of a head-to-head victory last night. Wake won 3-1 to move both teams to 5-8 in league play. Wake Forest is 11-13 overall, with non-conference losses to Cincinnati, Michigan, George Mason, Alabama, and East Carolina. They split the home-and home series with NC State a month ago. The Cards should be able to take care of business before returning home for a tough weekend against the Florida schools. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Join us this week for a special episode of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast. With the happenings in Louisville women's athletics and news around town, there will be plenty to discuss. The show will appear on our YouTube Channel and all of the regular podcast haunts around 1PM after recording. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Volleyball at NC State preview -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 


Hello again readers, another weekend ahead!  Good to be back home.

A week like this one was a happy and sad reminder of how anything could change in a second.  I'm so grateful to be able to travel around the country and enjoy sporting events and see new exciting things with the people I love.  It was a wonderful weekend out west.   And luckily, we returned home <3 

(speaking quickly on this weeks crash at the airport)

Also, a very tragic event hit very close to home for me as me and my friends/family all live near the airport and I work and frequent the UofL campus that my heart goes out to this community.  

My view from the plane Monday 11/3

UofL and UPS have a long partnership with one another and they are about 2 miles away from each other.   Its also known that UPS will cover tuition costs for students to work there.  Do you know how many UPS planes go directly over the campus every day?  I know its rare, but when it does happen, it has a lasting effect.  Hug your people.  

A beautiful fall morning on campus

Volleyball

Louisville at NC State 

11/7/25 

7:00PM on ACCNX 

Photo: Jared Anderson

About NC State

NC State holds an 11-11 record 9-4 at home and 4-8 in the ACC.   

It'll be the 3rd home game in a row for the Wolfpack coming off a 3-1 win vs California.

Louisville leads the series 10-2, all meetings coming since the Cards joined the ACC expect the UofL program recognizes a match in 1992 that NC State didnt have on record online. 

In the 2024 meeting between the two programs, Louisville swept the Wolfpack 3-0. The last time the Cardinals visited Reynolds, the Pack stunned the #5 Cardinals in four sets.

As a team, the NC State defense ranks third in the conference with 14.70 digs per set.

Middle blocker Talia Francom is 12th nationally and second in the ACC with 1.42 blocks per set. Senior Outside hitter Courtney Bryant is 5th in the conference in attacks per set with 10.61. She has 13 matches this year with 10+ kills, 3 with more than 20. In their match against Cal Freshman outside hitter Rebecca Ring posted a career high 22 kills.

The Wolfpack is led by Megan Wargo-Kearney. This will be the first meeting between the two head coaches as both were elevated from their roles with the programs to head coach last season.

Photo: Jared Anderson

As Always 
Go Cards

~Daryl    

Soccer Lands 3 on All-ACC Teams -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cherry, Swinarski, and Jennings Honored

Louisville women's soccer tied a program-best for players on All-ACC teams in a single season with three this year. Karsyn Cherry, Amelia Swinarski, and Emersen Jennings were among the players honored by the ACC for the 2025 regular season. Cherry and Swinarski were named to the second team, while Jennings was named to the third team. Louisville had no players appear on the preseason All-ACC team and were picked to finish 14th in the conference, so the Cards definitely exceeded expectations.

Karsyn Cherry finished her senior year as part of a defense that recorded 12 overall shutouts and went undefeated at home. The Cards gave up 0.63 goals per game overall, but yielded just 0.37 goals per game in conference. Of their seven goals allowed in conference play, Louisville yielded just one at home, which came in a 1-1 draw against then #3 Virginia. Though she didn't tally a point in conference play, Cherry also had three goals and three assists during the season. Cherry finished ahead of two FSU defenders in the voting to land on the second team. 

Amelia Swinarski did much of her work in the non-conference, but the super sophomore had a stellar second season. She finished with nine goals and ten assists, ranking her fourth all-time in UofL history for single season assists. Despite a much lower output in conference play, Swinarski did still co-lead the team in goals with three and had an assist. Part of her reduced production was a significant focus on her by ACC opponents. Swinarski had just ten total shots in conference play, placing four of them on target and converting three. 

The other co-leader...along with Swinarski's... in conference goals was Emersen Jennings. Jennings scored a career-best five goals this season, with three of those in conference. She also had four assists in non-conference play. Jennings scored the game-winning goals against Virginia Tech, Miami, and SMU. Jennings exceeded her previous career high in minutes by roughly 40% and played in all 19 games, while starting a career-high 14 games. It was fantastic to see her make the most of her opportunities in an expanded role. 

One player I feel may have been a bit snubbed was Erynn Floyd, though she may have been a victim of the team's stellar defensive play. She finished with only 26 saves in conference play. Floyd was beaten to the third team by Valentina Amaral of Wake Forest who had 43 ACC saves. However, Floyd gave up half the number of goals as Amaral and had a higher save percentage (.788 to .754). Nevertheless, I won't forget how well Floyd played this year, keeping Louisville in many of their games and making the ACC tournament possible. 

Louisville finished the season as the 6th-ranked team in the conference, making their first conference tournament since 2020. They were knocked out by Duke in a tight 1-0 match on Sunday, but they are a virtual lock for the NCAA tournament and are well-positioned to host a first round game, if not more. The ACC tournament semifinals will be played today, with #2 Notre Dame vs #3 Duke and #1 Stanford vs #5 Virginia. The final will be on Sunday at noon. Louisville will learn their NCAA fate during the tournament selection show on Tuesday November 11th. 

ACC Field Hockey Championship Update

Due to Tuesday's tragedy, play was suspended in the ACC Championship at Trager Stadium. As a result, the tournament schedule was adjusted. The quarterfinal games were completed Wednesday, and the semifinals were moved to today rather than the teams having a break between the semifinals and final match. The final will be played on Friday at 3PM. Syracuse spoiled the top-4 party by upsetting(?) Wake Forest 3-1, so the 6th-seeded Orange will face #2 Virginia at 1:30 today. That match will be preceded by #1 UNC vs #4 Duke at 11am. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Tough Tuesday for two Louisville women's sports squads -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 FIELD HOCKEY FALLS TO UNC...WBB DOWNED BY UCONN

(Note..Our hearts go out here at Cardinal Couple to those affected by the horrible UPS airplane crash Tuesday after at the Louisville airport)

LOUISVILLE FIELD HOCKEY KNOCKED OUT OF ACC TOURNAMENT BY #1 UNC

A tough loss for Cards Field Hockey Tuesday afternoon...s the StickCards fall 2-1 to #1 in DI UNC in the first round of the ACC Field Hockey Tournament.

UNC opened the scoring midway in the second quarter when Reese Anetsberger recorded her fourth goal of the season off a feed from Dani Mendez . The two squads went into the halftime break with UNC still holding that 1-0 lead. The Cards came out of the halftime break, though, with a goal two minutes into third quarter action...when Rylie Wollerton picked up her 11th goal of the season that tied the contest up at 1-1. 

It was still 1-1 going into fourth quarter...the Cards turning away lots of UNC shots (UNC outshot Louisville 20-2 in the match), 

Seven and a half minutes into the fourth quarter, UNC scored the fnal goal of the contewst when Isabel Boere connect off a feed to put the TarHeels ahead to stay. 

We'll see if the Duke vs UNC contests goes off as scheduled in the semifinals tomorrow...based on the horrific tragedy of the UPS plane crash. We did received word that those at the Field Hockey complex were safe, sheltered in place in the Louisville Track and field facility and no one at Trager was injured 

WBB DOWNED BY UCONN 79-66

A tough beginning for Louisville WBB this afternoon in the Peraton Armed Forces classic versus UConn in the Navy Alumni Hall in Annapolis.

The Huskies jumped out to an early 14-1 first quarter lead over the Cards...Louisville not scoring a basket until Reyna Scott got a rebound basket after a missed Cards jumper. Louisville trailed 18-4 with 4:39 left in the first quarter and ended the first ten minutes trailing 25-9. 

UConn stretched that lead to 34-18 halfway through the second quarter and held a 44-23 lead at halftime. 

UConn still had the 21 point lead at the end of the third quarter at 61-40...the Cards did make a bit of a rally in the fourth quarter and cut the UConn lead to 73-63 with 2:22 remaining in the contest, but were outscored 6-3 from then until the final buzzer.

Laura Ziegler led the Cards with 16 points and 18 rebounds. Imari Berry and Skylar Jones were the other Cards in double figures with 13 points each. 

Sarah Strong has 21 points for UConn and Azzi Fudd ended up with 20 points. . 

The Cards were doomed by poor first half shooting (9 of 34) for 26.5%. 

paulie

Two Louisville Teams Play #1 Today — TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Two Louisville Teams Play #1 Today- Field Hockey and Women’s Basketball

It's field hockey and basketball time!

It’s not often we see two Louisville teams play a national number one team on the same day, but that happens today. Women’s basketball opens the 2025-2026 season against #1 UConn while field hockey squares off against #1 North Carolina in a match they must win to keep their 2025 season alive.

Field Hockey Plays in ACC Tournament

Louisville field hockey opens up the ACC Tournament this morning at 10:00am ET. I am hoping to take off work and cover this game since it will be held at Trager Stadium.

The Cards had a bumpy season, going 8-9 on the year and 2-6 in the ACC. They earned wins over rpi #20 California and #10 Syracuse to secure the eighth and final seed in the tournament.

Louisville was on the wrong end of several one-goal differential matches, going 3-5. They allowed three goals or more three times this season while shutting out opponents three times. UofL scored three or more goals seven times, all resulting in wins. 

UofL faced North Carolina on October 12 during the regular season. The Tar Heels took the win 3-0 in Chapel Hill, scoring in the first three quarters before pulling back down the stretch.

The Cards will continue to be without defender Emily Eaton, who is recovering from a fracture in her left hand. Eaton started a majority of the matches this season on defense. Forward Chloe Plumb, sister of alumna Aimee Plumb, continues to be out with a leg injury.

This game will begin at 10:00am on will be aired on ACC Network.

Women’s Basketball Opens Season in Neutral Site Game vs UConn

Photo courtesy of Go Cards

Louisville women’s basketball and UConn are no stranger to playing each other as they have played each other 23 times, most recently in December 2024. The Cards last won in December 2021.

UConn is the reigning NCAA Champions. They took down 1-seeds USC, UCLA, and South Carolina en route to their 12th title.

The Cards enter the season ranked 19th/20th depending on the poll after falling in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year.

Louisville returns several key players from last season such as Tajianna Roberts, Mackenly Randolph, Imari Berry, Elif Istanbulluoglu, and Isla Juffermans. A couple big new faces to note as senior transfers Laura Ziegler and Reyna Scott and junior transfer Skylar Jones.

This game will begin at 5:30pm ET and will be aired on ESPN.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Weekend Photo Galleries -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Monday! Daryl is off on a trip out west so I am filling in for her until she returns. We saw a few women's teams in action at home this weekend dating back to a big time Thursday night win for women's soccer. Field hockey had a crucial win Saturday at lunchtime and volleyball wrapped up that evening with a sweep.

Women's Soccer

Field Hockey

Volleyball

Women's Soccer at Duke

Louisville women's soccer fell on the road in the ACC Quarterfinals to 3-seed Duke 1-0 last night. The 10th-ranked (Coaches Poll) Blue Devils scored a goal midway through the first half and that was all that was needed. 

The Cards outshot Duke but could not get one into the back of the net. The heavy run throughout the match slowed the pace down and caused the Cards to pull back a bit compared to normal in their aggressive nature.

Still, a single goal loss on the road to a top-10 team shouldn't hurt much when it comes to rankings and the NCAA Selection Committee. The RPI places Louisville in the top 16, but the Coaches Poll has them lower. The latest Selection Committee ranking is outdated from October 11.

Women's soccer awaits their destination for the NCAA Tournament for now. With their RPI and Coaches Poll ranking, there is no question that they will hear their name called, and their opponent and location will be announced during the Selection Show next Monday.

Field hockey prepares for the ACC Tournament, where they will face top-seeded North Carolina tomorrow morning.

Volleyball still has a few more weeks of their regular season remaining.

Happy Monday and Go Cards!

Jared

Volley Cards and Field Hockey Cards get Saturday wins -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 A nice pair of wins for two Louisville women's sports squads Saturday...as volleyball swept the Irish  in straight sets in the LNFCUA and Field Hockey held on to down #9 Syracuse 3-2 at Trager.. 

Let's look at the action. 

FIELD HOCKEY

A "must have" win for Louisville field Hockey...if they wanted to participate in the ACC Field Hockey Tournament...which will be held in Louisville this week. They earned the #8 seed in the tournament, which begins Tuesday at Trager Field with the win over the Orange. The Cards will face the #1 seed in the event...the UNC Tar Heels... at 10 a.m. 

The Cards head coach Justine Sowry spoke about the "W": 

"We knew the importance of today's game. Obviously, if we win, we are in the tournament and if we lose we are hosting a tournament we are not in. We really tried to stay focused during the week and it was all about the process and playing Louisville field hockey. We had some strategies about how to play against a really talented Syracuse lineup" 

The Cards were the only squad to score in the first half...when the Cards Aubreigh Uba scored on a penalty shot early in the second quarter. Louisville came out of the halftime break and scored just 89 seconds into action when Rylie Wollerton picked up her 10th goal of the season on a pass. 

After a Syracuse goal, the third quarter had the Cards on top  2-1. The fourth quarter had the Cards scoring at the 47 minute mark when Tyler Everslage knocked a rebound off a shot past the Syracuse keeper to make it 3-1. The 'Cuse picked up their second goal with 8:22 left in the contest and monited a serious late match rally to get the equalizer but coudn't get one past the Cards staunch defense. 

Best of luck to Louisville in the ACC Tournament...our Jared Anderson will be on site for the Cards vs. Heels match Tuesday and I'll have the recap in the Wednesday Cardinal Couple edition.

VOLLEYBALL

The #8 Cards hosted Notre Dame Saturday in the "little home" of Louisville volleyball...the L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. It was a successful afternoon for UofL...as they swept the Irish 25-11, 25-20 and 27-25. 

In the first set, the Cards got out to an early 11-0 lead and never looked back. The Irish looked a step slow and not quite ready for the onslaught the Cards were putting on them. The Cards won the kill battle 12 to 9 and made just one error, compared to Notre Dame's 10. 

Set two was much closer.  There were 11 ties before either team reached 15 points...the Cards getting there first at 15-14. The Cards slightly pulled away from there...making it 20-17 and then 24-19 before getting the winner on a Cabello dump kill.

It looked like the Cards might lose set three early on...they traailed 8-7. The match stayed close the rest of the way...Louisville was at match point at 25-22, but UND battled back to send it into extra volleyball before the Cards closed it out on a block from Cresse and Cabello.

The Cards travel to North Carolina next, where they'll play NC State Friday and Wake Forest Sunday.

Dan Meske talks about the win HERE

(photos by Jared Anderson)

  paulie