#4 ranked VolleyCards to face #2 Texas -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

MATCHUP IN FT. WORTH WEDNESDAY NIGHT 

Yes, it is very early in the NCAA DI Volleyball season for such an important matchup but #4 Louisville faces a tough test when they  face the #2 Texas Longhorns on Wednesday night in the Shiners Children's Showdown at 9 p.m. ET. 

The match will be shown on ESPN. The natch will be in Dickies Arena, The arena holds 14,000 for Volleyball. 

The two haven't locked horns (sorry, bad pun) since they met for the 2022 National Championship match that Texas took in three straight sets. All told, in five meetings between the two powerhouse programs, the Longhorns hold a 4-1 edge. The Cards got their lone victory in their first ever Elite eight...back in 2019. 

Jerritt Elliott

While Dan Meske is in his first year as the Cards skipper, Texas head Volleyball coach Jerritt Elliott is in his 25th season as the Texas head coach. The record for Elliott is impressive at 611-121.  He also has three national championships. The Longhorns are located in Austin, so they'll have a three hour trip to Ft. Worth (flight time one hour), but nothing like the 861 mile trip for the Cards (flight time 2 hr. 30 minutes).

Nya Burton (on right)

Nya Burton is on the Texas roster as a middle blocker. You might remember her from Louisville Manual, where she was the 2022 Ms. Kentucky Volleyball and a AVCA First Team All-American.

Stafford

Torrey Stafford leads Bevo's bunch in kills...Volleyball fans will remember her from Pitt. She has 63 in 15 sets. 

The Longhorns are 4-0 on the season...with wins over #12 Creighton, #8 Wisconsin, Rice and #6 Stanford. The won their first two games in Madison,WI. and then returned to Texas to beat Rice in Houston before taking the home opener over Stanford in a close 3-2 match.

Ella Swindle is the assists leader with 118. 

Vander Wal

The Horns also have Abby Vander Wal, an outside hitter out of Elmhurst, IL. She was the 2024 Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year.

Here is a great clip about Vander Wal. The Cards and Nebraska were high on her, but Texas eventually got her. She has a brother who plays basketball at Furman. 

Payton Peterson

For the Cards, Payton Peterson leads the way with 49 kills. Nayelis Cabello has 117 assists in 10 sets and they are are 4-0, winning 13 of the 14 sets they have played. Match wins were against Auburn, Morehead St. St. John's and Illinois

This should be a good one and Case will have the recap in the Thursday Cardinal Couple. 

paulie

Weekend Photo Galleries -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Weekend Photo Galleries

We had another busy sports weekend here in town- a little less busy than Labor Day Weekend, but still busy. Women's soccer earned a pair of wins on Thursday and Sunday and volleyball took a win on Sunday. The men's sports saw some wins too (congrats to football on beating James Madison and men's soccer on upsetting #1 Stanford) but we won't share any of those pictures here. 

Women's Soccer vs Kent State

Volleyball vs Illinois

Women's Soccer vs Dayton

We do get a few days of rest before any teams head back home. Volleyball and women's soccer both hit the road. Field hockey returns home from a 1-1 road trip to host a preseason #1 Northwestern squad.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

WSoc 2-0 over Dayton -- VB 3-1 vs Illini -- FH beats IU 5-4 MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Good morning readers,  

Another new week ahead of us and a busy few days on Floyd Street over the weekend.  Sunday particularly was jam packed with Cardinasl action where Jared and Case made it out for the night cap at Lynn Stadium.  

So lets get right into the action.. 

Field Hockey

Photo: Jared Anderson

Louisville 5 - Indiana 4

Five different players scored for Louisville in the winning effort to move to 3-1 on the season.   The Cards outshot IU 17-7.

The Hoosiers got the scoring started about 7 minutes into the action before the Cards were able to respond with a goal of their own about 3.5 minutes after by Annabel Sep.  She totaled 6 shot attempts on the day.  At the start of the second quarter, IU retook the lead under 1 minute back in action.  Louisville would need more than 10 minutes to even it up at 2 all. Gigi Edwards put it in the back of the net before the half.

Chloe Cuzzupe and Aubreigh Uba would score back to back in the 39th and 40th minute, just about 20 seconds actually, for Louisville's first lead of the day and a 3-0 scoring run.  

In the 4th quarter, UofL secured more insurance when Izzy Bianco netted her first goal of the season in the 50th minute to make it 5-2.  IU would manage to score 2 more goals just as time expired but it would not be enough to surpass the Louisville lead and the Cards secured the battle of the border. Sophia Parker delivered three assists to lead the Cardinals offensively. Emily Young earned the win and secured a single save.    

UofL hosts a big one on Friday evening when they welcome the reigning national champs, Northwestern to town.  

Volleyball

Louisville 3 - Illinois 1
(25-19, 25-22, 20-25, 25-18)

#3 Louisville dropped a set for the first time this season but move to 4-0 on the season.  On Sunday afternoon they cruised to a 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 20-25, 25-18) win over Illinois at the KFC Yum! Center in front of a crowd of about 6,300.

Payton Peterson lead all scoring efforts when she had a career high 20 kills, 11 digs and an ace. Outside hitter Chloe Chicoine notched a season-high 17 kills while stacking on 11 digs, one block and two assists while surviving 10 service errors. Cara Cresse, Nayellis Cabello and Kalyssa Blackshear each posted five blocks on the day. 

As a team, the Cardinals hit at a .288 clip. 

      from gocards


Set 1: Louisville 25, Illinois 19
The two teams traded points to begin the match with neither team able to take more than a one-point lead. Louisville used a 6-0 run to take a 10-5 advantage forcing Illinois to use its first timeout. Out of the break, the Illini started to gain momentum with three-straight points, but the Cards put a stop to their run with back-to-back kills. Louisville used a 8-4 run to push their lead to 20-13. Illinois attempted to rally scoring six of the final ten points, but Cresse won the set for the Cards with a kill assisted by Cabello.

Set 2: Louisville 25, Illinois 22
After a back-and-forth set, Louisville started to pull away with a 12-7 run before Illinois rallied to tie the match at 13-13. Chicoine scored three out of four of Louisville's points in a row, but Illinois matched the momentum, bringing the score to 20-20. Back-to-back kills by Peterson forced Illinois to take a timeout, but the Cards outscored the Illini 4-2 to take the set, capped off by a block by Cabello and Cresse. UofL hit .382 in that set as a team.

Set 3: Louisville 20, Illinois 25
Neither team was able to claim more than a two-point advantage over the other until Illinois took a 14-11 lead. The Illini used their momentum to go on a 9-6 run, forcing Louisville to burn a timeout late in the third set with the score at 23-19. Peterson notched another kill, but it wasn't enough as Illinois took their first set of the match 25-20 with a block and kill by Ashlyn Philpot.

Set 4: Louisville 25, Illinois 18
With the score close at 5-4, Louisville went on a 6-0 run that featured four different players with kills and forced Illinois to take an early timeout. Illinois used a 13-7 run to bring the score within one point at 18-17. This forced a Cards timeout, but UofL was able to bounce back and win the set with six straight points including the final two points coming on blocks, one from Blackshear and one from Cresse.



Soccer

Photo: Jared Anderson

Louisville 2 - Dayton 0

Well, they did it!  The kicking Cards managed to go 6-0 in the previous homestretch and are heading into ACC play with a 7-1 record.  The visitors were more defensive than those prior when they only gave up two goals against Louisville. 

Emerson Jennings struck first in the 25th minute, Amelia Swinarski secured the insurance goal at the 73rd minute marker.  UofL out shot the Flyers 20-3 in the match, Erynn Floyd recorded 3 saves in the victory. 

Up next, the Cards head to Tallahassee for a match with the Seminoles at 7pm on the ACCNX.  

As Always
Go Cards! 
~Daryl

FIELD HOCKEY FALLS TO DREXEL -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 1-0 LOSS TO DRAGONS IN BLOOMINGTON FOR THE FLOCK

The Louisville Field Hockey squad took to the road Saturday for a couple of games at IU and lost their first one to the Drexel Dragons. The visitors from Philly defeated the previously undefeated Cards 1-0. 

The teams battled to a scoreless first half, but Drexel put one in the net with 5:19 left in the third quarter. A shot from outside the circle bounced off one of the goalpost and the ball fell in front of a Drexel player who guided the ball past the Cards goalkeeper. 

Justine Sowry had this to say about the loss:

"Credit to Drexel, they were the better team today. I though they pressed and defender very well and completely took out game away from us. When you get that defensive pressure, you have to have poise on the ball and you have to be able to reshape and move and demand the ball to get out of the dangerous pockets...and we were unable to do that."

The loss sends the Cards to 2-1 on the young season. Sowry and her players will take on IU today. IU defeated Drexel 3-0 earlier on the schedule. It'll be shown on the Big Ten Network Plus. 

VOLLEYBALL AND WSOC IN ACTION TODAY ON CAMPUS

Floyd Street on campus today will be busy with both Volleyball and women's soccer in action

Viewing for these will be on the ACC Network Extra if you can't make it down to campus to view the evens. 

The  #3 in the nation Louisville Volleyball squad will face Illinois at 3 p.m....whle farther south on Floyd Street, WSOC brings in Dayton for a 7 p.m. match.. 

paulie

Field Hockey Takes on Drexel -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Faces Drexel at 11AM

In a somewhat unusual scheduling set up, I'm left with a Saturday column with no games to recap. Volleyball had yesterday off, and field hockey's round robin event in Bloomington sees them play today and tomorrow instead of the traditional Friday and Sunday games. The Cards will take on the Dragons of Drexel University today before playing the hosting Hoosiers tomorrow. Today's game will be at 11AM, but no video is listed. 

Louisville and Drexel have met just one other time in history, with the Cards falling 2-1 at the hands of the Dragons in 2011. That one was a home match for Drexel, who were 8-4 at home that year. They struggled on the road, going just 1-4 and finished the season 10-9 overall. The Cards were a similar team that year, also going 10-9 and being much better at home (7-2) than they were on the road (2-6). Louisville's schedule back then was quite similar to this season. They also faced Michigan State, Indiana, Northwestern, Ohio State, California, Wake Forest, and Syracuse. Louisville will be looking for a better outcome against Drexel and on the season overall.

Drexel is coming off of a 3-0 loss to Indiana yesterday. The result moved the Dragons to 1-2 on the young season after they won their opener against Central Michigan and lost to Lafayette in game 2. Drexel has scored two goals and given up six so far this season. If Louisville's offense can do anything like what it did in the first two games, Drexel might see some problems. The start is not what Drexel had in mind. After a 14-5 season last year, a season in which they were undefeated in regular season Colonial Athletic Association play, Drexel would have been looking for a hot start to help avenge the sting of losing in the CAA tournament to Monmouth and missing the NCAA tournament. The Cards should try their best not to be the momentum starter for the Dragons this year. 

So far this season, Louisville's offense goes through Rylie Wollerton. The senior leads the team with five goals through two games and is one of just three players so far to record both a goal and an assist. Lauren Masters is second on the team in points by way of scoring two goals, and Izzy Bianco leads the team in assists with three. Gigi Edwards and Gracie Potter have each scored and assisted once. 

Defensively, the Cards have a full-time warrior in Annabel Sep. Other than Emily Young in the cage, the junior from The Netherlands is the only player to have recorded 120 minutes so far this season. Sep also has a goal on five shots. They must be very well conditioned in Holland, as Trijntje Herfkens has earned the second-highest minutes total among field players with 104. 

Louisville is looking to return to its winning ways. Prior to last season, Louisville had not failed to start the season at 3-0 since 2018. The Cards have had a lot of success under Justine Sowry, and everyone wants to be reassured that last season was a blip. Conference performance has been relatively steady at around .500 since joining the ACC, but last season's 1-7 mark was a black eye. While Drexel isn't the strongest opponent, this is Louisville's first test away from Trager Stadium, so a win today would help build their confidence for a tougher match against Indiana tomorrow. 

Best of luck to the Cards as they continue their season. We'll have results and an IU preview tomorrow. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

It's three on board again this week with Jared on the road. Paulie, Daryl, and I will recap exciting results for all three fall sports before looking ahead to tougher matches on the horizon. You can check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WSoc Flushes the Golden Flashes 8-0 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Photo: Jared Anderson

GoooooooOOd morning readers and welcome to another weekend. It's GAMEDAY for football fans so I am EXTRA excited to get off work today and take the walk down Floyd Street to get some tailgate time in and hope the weather cooperates. Today is also EXTRA special because it is Thomas' and I's 10 year dating anniversary.  

Soccer

Louisville 8 - Kent State 0 

Photo: Jared Anderson

It was another shot party for the Cardinals over at Lynn Stadium on Thursday evening as they move to 6-1 on the season and are now on a current 5 game winning streak.  

throwback to the LMFAO song from 2009

Jared made it out to the park and Katy and Bentley joined for the second half for Pups at the Pitch night. That means Bentley got to see a total of 3 UofL goals including two of them coming from Amelia Swinarski, who had a hat trick in the match against the Golden Flashes. I hope there weren't any golden flashes from Bentley in excitement out on the pitch! 

Jared and Katy's puppy Bentley!

Louisville netted its first goal in the first 10 minutes of play on a Karsyn Cherry penalty kick. After that the Cardinal offense put together a string of 3 more goals in the following 10 minutes when Betsy Huckaby (11:24) Swinarski (13:11) and Liza Suydam (19:15) each put one on the board. Huckaby's was a result of a penalty kick that was saved by the Kent State keeper, but Huckaby followed her shot off the rebound and tapped it in.

Suydam would also score in the 67th minute of the match. As a team, UofL had 33 shots, split pretty evenly between halves and 16 of them on goal. Kent State received a red card just before halftime in the 41st minute and had to play the remainder of the match down a player. Mackenzie Geigle added to her scoring campaign when she put UofL ahead 5-0 heading into the break.

Photo: Jared Anderson

The Cards added the final trio of goals in the second half. Swinarski's big hat trick moment came with about 63 seconds left in the match. After going up 8-0, Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes called off the dogs.  

On defense, the Cards split goalkeeping duties between Erynn Floyd and Brielle Baker with each getting a shot to stand there and enjoy the fresh air... KSU managed just 3 shots on the evenings none of them on goal. 

Photo: Jared Anderson

Jared was out there representing Cardinal Couple and got a chance to talk to Amelia Swinarski following the match. The hat trick is the first by a Louisville player since 2018. You can watch that here.

The Cards continue to lead the country in goals and assists.

UP NEXT 

Louisville vs Dayton 

Sunday 9/7 

Lynn Stadium 7p.m.

ACCNX

As Always, 
Go Cards!
~Daryl

WSOC Set to Face Kent State -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Host Golden Flashes at 7PM

After a run of beautiful weather, Louisville women's soccer may have their first chance to play on an "off" field this evening. Although the forecast shows the weather clearing up mid-afternoon, consistent rainfall overnight and through the morning will put Lynn Stadium's drainage capabilities to the test. Despite how well the field itself does, the berm and other grassy areas inside the stadium are unlikely to clear the water very well after the first major rainfall in weeks. That's unfortunate for tonight's Pups at the Pitch event. I foresee lots of folks with damp pants. 

Louisville is looking to maintain a strong run of form against Kent State. Despite Sunday's somewhat down night offensively, the scoring outburst from the Cards since beginning the homestand has them leading the NCAA in goals, assists, and total points (two points for a goal, one for an assist). Amelia Swinarski, who we talked a lot about taking a bigger role in the offense this season, has definitely done so. Swinarski leads the country in assists with nine. On top of leading the country, she's flying high in the ACC, as the second-leading assist getter in the conference has just four. 

Louisville has spread the love from a scoring perspective. While the team leading the country in goals and points, Swinarski and Mackenzie Geigle (team leaders in points at 13) are just ninth nationally as individuals. Geigle's five goals is just 11th in the country. The Cards have been getting it done on the offensive end, but Sunday night's match could hint at some concerns if it creates a playbook for how to slow this offense down. That said, I don't expect Louisville to play every match without four of their opening day starters. It will be interesting to see who is able to return for the Cards tonight. 

Kent State went 9-7-3 last season and finished 5-4-2 in MAC play. After defeating 5th-seeded Miami (OH), the Golden Flashes fell 4-1 at the hands of Western Michigan in the MAC Tournament to end their season. Kent State had a sparkling 7-2 record at home, with losses coming only to Miami and Western Michigan, but their road boots didn't work quite as well. The Flashes were 2-5-3 away from Dix Stadium, with the only wins being against Colgate and Toledo. 

Kent State is off to a similar start this season, as they are 2-1-2 through their first five matches. Interestingly, their only loss came against Duquesne in their home opener. The loss came after a 1-0 win on the road at Cleveland State to open the season. The Flashes have found a bit of momentum since then. They followed up the loss by stealing a draw against Northwestern in Evanston. After that, they returned home to crush Youngstown State 5-1. They're coming off of a 1-1 draw at Cornell on Sunday, which isn't saying a ton, but it's still back-to-back results on the road.

The Cards will need to keep their wits about them this evening if they don't want their good vibes to come crashing down by way of an upset. Weather is the great equalizer, and an off field makes it difficult for a "higher quality" team to do what they want with the ball. Louisville has made a lot of their offensive progress this season with speed and long ball movement. The short passing game has been there, but it hasn't been as effective, especially against Coastal Carolina. The Cards won't be able to get away with being so easily dispossessed tonight if the field doesn't allow them to get out on the break. 

After tonight's match, Louisville's long homestand will come to a close on Sunday against Dayton. The Cards would very much like wrapping up the non-conference schedule with an undefeated record in home non-con play, but they have to get through Kent State first. Tonight's match is scheduled for 7PM and will be available on ACC Network Extra. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Women's Basketball Tipoff Luncheon -- Monday Oct 13th -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 LUNCHEON AT NOON AT GALT HOUSE

Word is out that the annual UofL women's basketball Tip-Off Luncheon will take place on Monday, Oct. 13th in the Grand Ballroom of the Galt House Hotel.

As in past years, doors open at 11:30 and the event begins at noon. 

Ticket are $50 this year and can be purchased at: 

GoCards.com/WBBTioOff

Seats are on a first come, first serve basis. 

The actual season does not begin until November 4th., when the Cards will travel to Ramstein, Germany to face UConn in the 2025 Peraton Armed Forces Classic. 

The home opener will occur Sunday, Nov 9th. against NKU in the KFC TUM! Center. The Cards will have 19 home games in all and will participate in the ACC/SEC Challenge against South Carolina on Thursday Dec 4th.

The squad has six newcomers this season (three freshmen and three transfers). They are freshmen Yevheniia Putra, Peyton Bradley and Grace Mbugna and transfers in Laura Ziegler (St. Joseph's) Reyna Scott (Oklahoma) and Skylar Jones (Arizona). 

paulie

VB Concludes Cardinal Classic with Win -- Weekend Pics -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Beat St John's to Open Season 3-0

Louisville volleyball concluded the Cardinal Classic with their third win, this one coming against St John's University 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-19). The Cards cap off the weekend 3-0 as they prepare to jump into a bumpier portion of the schedule in a couple weeks.

SJU went 0-3 on the weekend, taking just one set the entire outing, so it came as no surprise that new coach Dan Meske shook up the Louisville lineup some. Molly Wilson and Reese Robins got the nod at setter and opposite side hitter today as Nayelis Cabello got a rest day and Kalyssa Blackshear saw very few reps. The rest of the starting rotation remained the same but we saw plenty of reserves see valuable playing time today.

Ava Utterback and Alanna Bankston played outside hitter roles, Molly Urban get a few reps in the back row and setting, and Addison Makun play a majority of the match at middle blocker. The only player to not see any time this weekend is freshman Chloe Meester, who is now rumored to be taking a redshirt year.

Louisville saw very little resistance from the Red Storm as the Cards were hitting over .500 after the first two sets and finished with a mark of .362. Payton Petersen had a match-high and tied her career high with 12 kills and Kamden Schrand had a career high 18 digs while also adding three service aces. 

On the defensive end, the Cards held SJU to a .062 hitting mark and recorded 12 blocks. Much of that work came from Sherman and Robins. 

The Cards get a little bit of a break before returning to action next Sunday against Illinois at the KFC Yum! Center.

Weekend Photo Gallery

Despite the holiday weekend, there was no rest for me, as I shot seven games from Friday-yesterday: three volleyball matches, two field hockey matches, one women's soccer match, and one football game. While I may not be as youthful as I once was, it was rejuvenating to be on campus with my camera.

With so many games over the weekend, especially ones we cover here at Cardinal Couple, so I thought it would be good to share a mini photo gallery from the weekend. Having a day off from work today helps too as it afforded me a little more time to catch up on editing and prepare galleries.

Field Hockey vs Michigan State

Volleyball vs Auburn

Field Hockey vs Ohio

Volleyball vs Morehead State

Women's Soccer vs Coastal Carolina

We will continue to provide coverage to the 'Big Three' of fall sports on the women's side as their respective seasons progress.

(All photos today provided by Jared)

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared