Field Hockey, Volleyball Split Upsets -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

It was a night of upsets for Louisville athletics on Friday, with football taking the crown by knocking off #2 Miami in Hard Rock Stadium. Back at home, field hockey defeated Cal, who was ranked 19th. Unfortunately for volleyball, they weren't the underdogs Friday night in L&N Arena. Their upset wasn't huge, as SMU was ranked 8th, but the Cards fell in a 5-set thriller. Louisville women's soccer will look to continue the upset vibe tonight against #3 Virginia.

Field Hockey Beats Cal 3-1

Louisville field hockey flipped the script on how many of their games have played out last night by being the team to take control late. The Cards scored two goals in the fourth quarter to beat #19 Cal and earn their first ACC victory of the season. Last night's win moved Louisville to 1-4 in conference and got them back to .500 overall. Cal fell to 6-6 (2-4).

Louisville had all of the pressure early in this one, earning their first shot just four minutes into the game. The Cards would go on to have four shots in the first quarter and a penalty corner, but they could only put one on target, which was saved. Louisville won the shot battle 11 (6) to 5 (1) overall. Unfortunately for the Cards, Emily Young didn't earn a save, and Cal's only shot on target was a goal. 

Louisville's early pressure didn't pay off in the first quarter but they did find the back of the cage in the second. Izzy Bianco opened the game's scoring with her second goal of the season on a direct shot from a penalty corner. Gracie Potter sent the ball into play and earned the assist. The Cards looked like they'd head into the half with a 1-0 lead, but after holding the advantage for about ten minutes, Cal found a goal with just under a minute and a half remaining before the break. 

The two teams were scoreless again in the third, but this time Cal was able to keep the pressure a bit more balanced. The Golden Bears earned their first penalty corner of the match and prevented Louisville from scoring on two more chances. Both teams finished the third period with a pair of shots, and Louisville put one of those on target for a Cal save. 

In the final quarter, Louisville again applied early pressure. The Cards picked up the first shot of the quarter from open play with just over nine minutes remaining in the game, and it was another goal for Izzy Bianco. This one came off of an assist from Mary Wordelmann. Holding a one-goal lead is dangerous, so Rylie Wollerton wasted no time scoring her ninth goal of the season to give the Cards a 3-1 lead. That goal came just 18 seconds after Bianco's. Louisville had to survive two dangerous situations, one when Annabel Sep was shown a yellow card and Cal earned a penalty, and the other when Cal pulled their goal for the final four minutes. The Cards were content to maintain possession and not give up a potential counter attack, as neither team took a shot in that final four minutes. 

The Cards will get a week off now as they next face Virginia in Trager Stadium on Friday 10/24. 

SMU Beats Cards in Five

Louisville volleyball dropped the first set in last night's top-ten matchup, but they looked on course for a 3-1 victory after a tight third set. The Cards opened up a 14-11 lead in the fourth, but the Mustangs fought back and went on to win the set. Louisville fans were treated to extra volleyball in the fifth, but a three-point run after Louisville held match point doomed the Cards to a 3-2 loss. SMU ultimately won the match 25-22, 19-25, 24-26, 25-21, 19-17. 

Louisville's offense was figured out a bit in that pivotal fourth set, as the Cards had 11 errors, with five of those being blocks. The Cards had a combined 24 of their 30 errors in the three sets that they lost and SMU had 15 total blocks, with another four coming in the shortened fifth set. Whether that was a case of SMU adjusting to Louisville or the Cards just not being as crisp late in the match, it was definitely concerning. Louisville did win the block battle overall, 18-15. 

Another place that the Cards came up a bit short was in serve receive. SMU was extremely aggressive at the line, and it resulted in 16 service errors. It also resulted, though, in 10 aces. Kamden Schrand struggled particularly hard with the SMU serving game as she had five receiving errors. The Cards had just three aces and seven errors. While they were technically +3 in the net serving battle, giving up seven more aces than you hit is difficult to overcome from a momentum standpoint. 

The Cards were led offensively by the usual suspects, though no one for Louisville hit over .240. The Cards were .180 as a team. Payton Petersen led the way in kills with 18 on 47 attempts, but she also had 10 errors. Kalyssa Blackshear had the highest team hitting percentage and was second in kills with 17. She also led the team in attempts with 50. Chloe Chicoine hit .222 with 12 kills and Cara Cresse had 10 kills. SMU clearly keyed on Cresse in their preparations for this match. Louisville's star middle blocker had eight errors. 

Cresse and Hannah Sherman did what they normally do and led the way in blocks, with Blackshear close behind. Cresse had three solos and five block assists, while Sherman had 2/7 and Blackshear had 1/7. The other hitters didn't get involved in the block, but Nayelis Cabello had five block assists. While Schrand was bullied in serve receive, she was all over the floor defensively, as she had 23 digs. Chicoine was forced to defend her position as well, as she finished with 17. 

There's no rest for Louisville this weekend, as SMU's travel partner is Pittsburgh. The Cards will play another top-ten matchup on Sunday when the Panthers come to L&N. Tomorrow's match will begin at 1PM on ESPN. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have three again this week as we chat about the week that was. There were some nice wins and some other big games to be played, so be sure to tune in. You can check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case