WBB Cruises Past New Hampshire -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Blows Past New Hampshire

It may not have been the most exciting Sunday from a basketball standpoint, but Louisville women's basketball took care of business, defeating New Hampshire 94-43.

Most eyes were turned to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament and the College Football Playoff selections and bowl selections as was apparent by only two non-UofL photographers at the game. I gladly sat next to my photographer friend who shoots for USA Today and we had our fair share of elbow room. The crowd wasn't much better as the attendance was a little over 6,000.

Louisville dominated in every aspect of the game, especially on the defensive side. The Wildcats were limited to 14 first half points and just four in the first quarter. New Hampshire committed 21 turnovers, which the Cards converted into 40 points off turnovers.

No starter saw more than 19 minutes as Jeff Walz chose to rotate through his entire available roster for the game. Taj Roberts and Skylar Jones powered the offense with 15 points each and Mackenly Randolph added 11 points. The big news of the game was Laura Ziegler hitting the 1,000 career rebound mark.

Louisville shot just shy of 50% from the floor and 40% from three. They had 44 points in the paint and the bench contributed 47 points. The Cards limited their own turnovers to just eight.

All around, it was a dominant performance by the Cards in a game where they were expected to win big. Winning by 51 is a bit more than most people expected, but in today's day and age of trying to impress the NCAA Selection Committee, sometimes you need to win by painfully large margins.

FRED Report

Former SNL cast member Fred Armisen

Free Throws: 14-21 for 66.67% is not an ideal number to have, but the Cards did turn a couple missed free throws into second chance points, which we will give credit for an reward a lowercase "f".

Rebounds: UofL won the rebounding battle 48-32. They only gave up eight offensive boards. Six Cardinals had four rebounds or more. Capital "R".

Effort/Efficiency: In a game like this, you don't need much effort to win, but based on some of the stats provided earlier with shooting percentages, points off turnovers, and points in the paint, the Cards were incredibly efficient. Capital "E".

Defense: Holding a team to 43 points, single digits in a quarter, and only 14 points is enough to earn high scores. New Hampshire shot 29% from the floor and 21% from three. No question on the capital "D".

I'll gladly take a score of f-R-E-D but I would like to see the free throw shooting improve before conference play begins. The 60% free throw shooting against South Carolina was a factor in the loss.

Louisville improves to 8-3 on the year. They stay home at the KFC Yum! Center for a late 9:00pm tip against Ball State this Wednesday.

Happy Monday and Go Cards!

Jared

VOLLEYCARDS ADVANCE IN NCAA TOURNAMENT -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Louisville takes Marquette in Five Sets

Louisville Volleyball moves on to the round of 16 with a four set win over the Marquette Golden Eagles in the LNFCU Arena Saturday night. 

The sets.went.21-25, 25-11, 23-25, 25-19, 15-12. 

The Cards were led by Chloe Chicoine's 28 hills. Others in double figure kills for Louisville were Payton Peterson (19). Cara Cresse (13) and Kalyssa Blackshear (11) Chloe did not have the most ills in the match, though, as Marquette's Natalie Ring delivered 29.

SET ONE

The Cards had a early 9-7 lead after a Marquette attack error...but the two squads were tied at 13 after a Natalie Ring kill. It was 19-18 Marquette and the Cards were still close late. .trailing 22-20, but the visitors got three of the next four points to take the set 25=21 

SET TWO

Louisville jumped out to an early 6-3 lead on a Hannah Sherman kill...then went on a 6-1 run, taking a 12-4 on a Chicoine kill. The Cards doubled the score at 16-8 after another chicoine kill and led 21-9 after a Petesren kill.and outscred Marquette 4-2 the rest of the way to win 25-11.

SET THREE

UofL looked awful early and fell behind the Golden Eagles 8-1 to start the match. It was 11-5 Marquette after a Emma Park kill. The Cards did come back to tie the match at 19-19 on a Cresse kll....and led 23-22 on another Cresse kill...but lost the final three points of the match...two Marquette point coming on ring kills...for a Marquette 25-23 win. 

SET FOUR

The Cards jumped out to a 5-1 lead and stretched it to 8-3 on a Kalyssa Blackshear kill. The Cards had a 16-11 advantage on a Sherman/Petersen block and stretched the lead to 22-14 on a Cresse/Petersen block.  A Blackshear kill ended the fouth in favor of the Cards 25-19.

SET FIVE

Louisville took command of the final set early at 5-1 on a MU hitting error. Marquette battled back ti geet within one at 8-7...but the Cards regrouped to go out to a 11-7 lead. The Cards clung to a 13-11 lead but benefitted from a Marquette service error and Chiocine kill to take the set and match.

Want to see that dramatic fifth set again? Or for the first time? Go HERE 

So, the Cards advance and will face Texas A&M next...Friday, Dec 12th. @ 7 p.m. ET.

A&M knocked off TCU, who the Cards have not faced this season. 

 

A hard fought win against an opponent that may have been overlooked in a lot of circles, but Marquette  came in with nothing to lose and fought valiantly 

WBB

Louisville women's basketball faces New Hampshire today at noon in the KFC YU!M! Center. It'll be on ACCNX if you can't attend

All photos from Jared Anderson. 

paulie

Cards Cruise in NCAA Opener -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Sweeps Loyola Chicago

There wasn't a ton of drama in last night's match, as Louisville opened their 2025 NCAA Tournament with a relatively easy win over the visitors in L&N FCU Arena. An easy win was desperately needed for Louisville, who were coming off of a pair of difficult losses to the other front-runners in the ACC to end the season. That includes a loss to Stanford in this building their last time out. The Cards appeared to have shaken those demons, as they won with a 25-17, 25-9, 25-12 romp of the Ramblers. 

Loyola came out with some intensity in the first set, keeping up with Louisville for about the first 20 points of the match. After a Loyola kill made it 8-10, though, Louisville rattled off the next seven points to make it a 17-8 advantage for the Cards. Louisville would go on to hit .400 in the set, while Loyola finished with a .121 hitting percentage in the first. 

Unfortunately for Loyola, that .121 was their best hitting percentage of the match. Even worse, it was the only set in which they weren't negative. They finished the match with an .011 overall percentage. Louisville certainly had something to do with that, as they finished the match with 12 blocks, which accounted for 60% of Loyola's errors. Moreover, part of the problem was that Louisville just defended well. The Cards had 39 digs, nearly double the 21 kills totaled by Loyola. 

Offensively, the Cards had 43 kills and only eight errors. Three of those were Loyola blocks, so Louisville was pretty crisp, with just five unforced errors. Louisville's .400 in the first set was under their overall percentage of .417, as they hit a whopping .588 in the second, before coming back down to earth with a .351 in the third set. The Cards were incredible across the board on offense, with three players tying for second with nine kills behind Kalyssa Blackshear leading the way with 10. Cara Cresse, Chloe Chicoine, and Payton Petersen were the three with nine apiece, and none of the four hit more than two errors. Chicoine had the lowest hitting percentage of the four, and it was still a stellar .381. 

Defensively, it was (who else) Hannah Sherman joining the party. She, Cresse, and Blackshear all had four block assists each and Sherman added two solos. Blackshear had one, as well, as it was a big night for the freshman. If there was one spot to still complain for Louisville, it was the service line, as there is some cleanup to do. The Cards had five aces, with Cresse leading the way with two, but they had nine errors. Despite that, they did still win the service battle with a net +3, as Loyola had seven errors and no aces. 

It was critical for the Cards to make quick work of Loyola, as they have a short turnaround with the second round match taking place tonight. Louisville's opponent also had the benefit of a sweep, as Marquette surprised the 7th-seeded Hilltoppers by sweeping WKU yesterday in L&N. As noted in the gocards writeup, tonight's match will pit sister against sister. Freshman Hannah Kenny's older sister, Calli, is a sophomore for the Golden Eagles. Tonight's match will get underway at 6PM. If you weren't able to secure a ticket, you'll be able to catch the match on streaming. It isn't listed officially just yet, but it is most likely to be carried on ESPN+. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

SC escapes Cards WBB 79-77 -- VB preview -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL



Gooooood morning readers and hello if you’re new here!

Hoping finals went well for studenst.  I know it must've been sooooo hard to want to get out of bed when there's several inches of snow on the ground.  I must say, campus is absolutely gorgeous coated in a blanket of snow.  It really makes the Cardinal birds stand out.  

Speaking of Cardinal birds standing out, I'm actually not too upset after last nights rumble with the Gamecocks of South Carolina.  We will go ahead and get into the recap since there's so much to cover today.  



WBB 


Louisville 77  - South Carolina 79 

Photo: Jared Anderson

The visiting #3 South Carolina Gamecocks escaped the Louisville Cardinals when a 3 point attempt by Taj Roberts was just a little too strong and bounced off the rim as time and hope expired at the KFC Yum! Center on Thursday night. 10,012 attended this one... which was high effort and excitement from start to finish.  Coach Walz complimented in the post game the squads ability to put four full quarters together and take the #3 team down to the wire.  Elif Istanbulluoglu had 15 points and 9 rebounds and Taj Roberts had 20 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.   

End of 1Q. 27-25 SC

FG %
12-19 63.2% Cards
12-19 63.2% Gamecocks
Reb. 9-5 Cards
3-pt %
1-5 20% Cards
2-4 50% Gamecocks

Cards win the tip and strike first on a bucket from Anaya Hardy after she got her first career start.  No early jitters for the national runners up as they quickly respond.  Scoring next for UofL, Mackenly Randolph making it look like Louisville may have quite a night too.   Louisville outrebounded SC 9-5, but both went back and forth trading baskets.  Elif went 3-4 for 6 points and 2 rebounds.  The Cards were unable to connect on a 3 in the first quarter until Imari Berry hit one with just under 3 min left in the quarter.  It was a relatively high scoring one where SC had a 27-25 lead.   

Photo: Jared Anderson

End of 2Q  18-14 SC


FG %
5-12. 41.7% Cards
6-11 54.5% Gamecocks
Reb. 6-7 Gamecocks 
3-pt %
3-6 50% Cards
2-3 66.7% Gamecocks


The Cardinals could not score a bucket until there was 6:07 left in the half when Reyna Scott chucks up a prayer and hits 3 as time expires to make it 30-29 SC.   But the gamecocks respond with one of their own. 

Please believe me when I tell you that Elif was the absolute motor of the first half where she had 12 of her 15 points and looked like one of the best players on the floor.   At one point on a SC miss she coralled the rebound and  dashes back on defense to prevent a fast break bucket when SC took it away from Laura Ziegler.  

When SC hit another 3 to go up 5, Elif hit a 3 pointer to pull it within 2 at 36-34. 
Not long after, a 3 pointer from Taj Robert to tie up before SC went on a 6 point run in 52 seconds forcing Walz to call a timeout.  

Out of the time out, Elif scores a bucket underneath and SC calls a timeout of their own.  A late turnover by the Cards allowed SC another offensive opportunity and they took advantage heading into the halftime break.  

Photo: Jared Anderson

HALF  45-39



End of 3Q Cards 23-18

FG %
9-16 56.3% Cards
6-14 42.9% Gamecocks
Reb. 7-9 SC
3-pt %
2-4 50% Cards
3-6 50% Gamecocks


Unlike previous games where the Cards struggled in the third quarter, Louisville managed to turn things around.  After a bucket by Skylar Jones to make it 50-47 Elif takes the charge forcing a SC turnover.  Jones gets fouled but goes 0-2 at line.  SC attempts the 3, gets their own rebound and up and in to make it 52-47.  Jones gets back to the line 1-2.  A Reyna Scott layup 54-50 and SC inbounds violation gives it back to Cards for another opportunity.  The Cards got it within 1 but couldn't get over the hump yet.  



End of 4Q 16-15 SC

FG %
5-18 27.8% Cards
6-17 35.3% Gamecocks
Reb. 13-12 SC
3-pt %
3-8 37.5% Cards
1-3 33.3% Gamecocks




At this point in the game, I had gone to the bathroom and the Cards secured the lead while I was in there.  I definitely considered spending the rest of the game in there.... 

Cards were still up when I returned to my seat, 67- 63.  And not long after SC started putting some points on the board.  We had already seen them go on a couple 6 point spurts here and there.  And they did that when they scored a couple buckets to go up 68-67.  Elif rebounds off a missed SC three attempt, goes down to make one of her own and put the Cards up 70-68 with just under 5 minutes left in the game.   With the mojo in the Cards favor, another bad forward pass in Hardy's direction but ultimately in the crowd resulted in another turnover for the Cards.   A Taj 3 makes it 73-68 with 4:11 to go forcing SC to call a timeout.   A block call from the refs and then shot clock violation gave SC the chance to go ahead and they did on a fast break layup to go up 73-72.   But as the clock wound down, and the two traded blows, two huge layups from SC's #11 to put them ahead for good.  Elif attempted another 3 pointer but it was no good with 1 minute left.  Walz calls a time out with 34 left on the clock and what looked like a foul behind the 3 point line by SC on Berry was overturned to be a 2 point FT attempt and keep the Cards from possibily tieing it up at the line.  Where she made both attempts and got it back within 1 point at 78-77.   SC called a timeout and it was a fouling game until the very end when with 7.7 seconds left, the Cards got the shot they wanted.  It just didnt go in by Taj Roberts.  And she had to be consoled by her teammates afterwards as she was visibility upset as the clock wound down. Actually Louisville did get one more possessiont when after 2 missed FT attempts from SC's #11 the Cards have less than 3 seconds left but Hardy was not able to get it down the floor for a good shot attempt.

UP NEXT

Louisville vs New Hampshire

Sunday 12/7 12pm

ACCNX

FRED REPORT

Freddie Mercury

FREE THROWS -- This was probably the one area we can groan about from this match for Louisville where they went 6-10 at the FT line which does not earn a letter by our standards. Skylar Jones went 1-4 at the line in back to back trips. no letter

REBOUNDING -- to my own surprise, the Cards matched SC on the rebounding efforts with 34 total. Elif lead for the Cards with 9 of them.  Anaya Hardy got her first career start and pulled down 5 of them.  She came up huge in some big moments.  CAPITAL R 


EFFORT/EXECUTION --  From start to finish, Louisville fought.  Both squads threw punches back and forth and it was a helluva battle between both.  Coach Walz was extremely candid in his post game about his team's efforts with #3 SC.  About the last shot from Roberts and the realty of being the one to be in that moment.  He was super impressed with the way the team set up the shot.. it just didnt go in this time.   "If you wanna take that shot, You gotta be prepared for it not to go in. If she makes it, she was happy."  CAPITAL E

DEFENSE -- Defensively, Tessa Johnson for SC was open.. way too often.  And she made the Cards pay for it.  She went 4-7 from 3 point land.   Aside from that, I thought UofL put up an impressive defensive effort.  6-6 Okot was practically unstoppable too.  She just had to put it up on the glass to score a layup practically at will.  CAPITAL D



FINAL FRED TALLY:   _R_E_D


Volleyball

Photo: Jared Anderson 

Louisville plays Loyola Chicago Friday evening following the first round matchup with WKU and Marquette at 4pm.  All at L&N Arena.  

Louisville begins its post season holding a 24-6 record, 16-4 in the ACC.  


from loyolaramblers.com

Loyola won its third A-10 championship in four years and second straight after beating #6 Duquesne in the semifinals and #4 VCU in the championship. The Ramblers beat both in five sets.

Ann Marie Remmes was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, while Kaitlyn Burke and Emma Henry were on the All-Championship Team.  Remmes totaled 36 kills while hitting .425 over the two matches. She added 10 digs, seven blocks, and two aces. She had 19 kills in the win over Duquesne and followed up with 17 against VCU.  Burke went for back-to-back double-doubles in the tournament. She had 21 kills and a career-high 28 digs vs. the Dukes. Against the Rams, she had 20 more kills with 11 digs.  Henry racked up 115 assists, averaging 11.5 assists per set. She had 57 in the win over Duquesne and 58 more vs. VCU. She recorded a double-double vs. the Dukes with 14 digs.

•Loyola has played 128 sets this season and 12 five-set thrillers. In seasons 2023, 2023, and 2022 combined, the Ramblers only saw five sets 12 times.
• The Ramblers rank in the NCAA top-20 in the following categories: eighth in total assists (1,527), eighth in total attacks (4,570), 10th in total kills (1,637), 11th in total digs (1,935), and 16th in total blocks (306).
• Avary DeBlieck broke the single-season block record that previously stood at 144 during the final weekend of regular season action. She has 168 and counting this season, which ranks fifth in the country. DeBlieck is averaging 1.41 blocks per set, sitting 23 in the NCAA.
• The Ramblers won their first ever tournament game last year in the first round over #24 BYU, 3-0.
• Head coach Amanda Berkley is in her eighth season at the helm. Her overall record with the Ramblers is 153-92.



Softball

Softball announces its 2026 schedule. You can see the spring slate in the following link. We will break it down further another day 2026 Softball Schedule

Make it a great weekend!!!

As Always, 
Go Cards! 

~Daryl 

WBB Hosts South Carolina -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Take On Gamecocks in ACC/SEC Challenge

Louisville will play one of the marquee matchups in the final day of the women's ACC/SEC Challenge tonight, as the #22 Cardinals bring in the #3 South Carolina Gamecocks. The ACC did not have a great night in the first of the two gamedays in this year's version of the event, with the league coming away with just one win in the seven competitions on Wednesday. Syracuse beat Auburn 66-60. Stanford gave Tennessee a good run, but ultimately fell 65-62. NC State took #9 Oklahoma to OT in Norman before losing 103-98. Vanderbilt, UK, Georgia, and Texas A&M beat Virginia, Miami, FSU, and Georgia Tech, respectively. Making matters worse for the ACC is that the undefeated Wake Forest lost at home to William & Mary while Boston College was thumped at home by Quinnipiac. 

While there weren't any ranked vs ranked matchups last night, there will be three big ones tonight. Louisville and SC are in the early slate of games, along with #2 Texas hosting #11 North Carolina. In the 9PM slot, #13 Ole Miss hosts #18 Notre Dame. Clemson takes on Alabama, just as they did on the men's side of the challenge, coincidentally. VT hosts Florida to start the evening at 5PM, Pitt travels to Mississippi State, SMU hosts Arkansas, Duke hosts LSU, and Cal heads to Missouri. The ACC has to win eight of tonight's nine games to win the challenge. That will be a tall task. 

South Carolina is 7-1 in the early going, with their only loss coming in their last game. That was against Texas in the Players' Era Tournament in Las Vegas. Not a bad loss by any stretch of the imagination. They're scoring 89.5 points per game and beating opponents by an average of 36.1. Louisville cannot afford another slow start like they have seen in numerous other games this season. The Cards risk being run out of the Yum! Center in the first half against a team like South Carolina. 

The Gamecocks are led by Joyce Edwards and Ta'Niya Latson, who average 19.6 and 17.1 points per game, respectively. SC has four players averaging double figures, with Madina Okot and Tessa Johnson joining the other two. Raven Johnson, the fifth starter, averages 8.8. The Gamecocks don't go terribly deep in their bench, with their sixth player having just 131 minutes. If Louisville can play fast (but controlled), they may be able to wear down the opponent. 

Louisville is promoting tonight's game as a Stripe Out. I'm not usually a big fan of these, especially when Louisville has struggled to get its fans to take part in full color promotions. The easiest thing to do is provide the shirts, but so it goes. The simple way to put it is that if your ticket is in an odd-numbered section, wear black. If your ticket is in an even-numbered section, wear white. More information is available at this link: Stripe Out Page

Tipoff tonight will be at 7:00PM, and the game will be carried on ESPN. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

CARDINALS VB HONORS -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 KALYSSA BLACKSHEAR ACC FRESHMAN OF YEAR, THE "THREE C'S" NAMED TO ACC FIRST TEAM

A good showing for the VolleyCards in the annual ACC Volleyball awards. Kalyssa Blackshear has been a huge performer for the Cards with 305 kills so far this season. Out of Lomita, CA, Kalyssa is a 6'5" hitter for the Cards. Lomita is about 20 miles south of Los Angeles.

Blackshear has also been named to the USA Volleyball U19 National Team. 

The Cards also landed Cara Cresse, Chloe Chicoine and Nayelis Cabello on the ACC First team. Olivia Babcock (Pitt) was named ACC Player of the Year. 

The Cards will open NCAA Tournament play at home, against Loyola, Chicago on Friday Dec 5th. They are the #2 seed in the Nebraska bracket. 

paulie

  

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