Happy Labor Day -- Sunday results -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS TAKE THREE ON SUNDAY

Wishing you a Happy Labor Day today! Whether you are taking it easy, at a picnic or working to take care of the needs of us who aren't working today, We hope you have a safe and relaxing day. 

A very good day for Louisville women's athletics on Sunday as the Cards won three  on the day. A three set Louisville Volleyball sweep over Texas, a shut-out for Louisville Field Hockey Michigan St. and Louisville women's soccer prevailed over Mercyhurst. Let's see how they went down

LOUISVILLE VOLLEYBALL DOWNS TEXAS IN THREE SETS

The two squads were in Nashville and playing in front of a nationwide audience on ABC and the Cards did not disappoint. Louisville won in straight sets in the event titled the Broadway Block Party. It went 25-12, 28-26, 25-16 for the Red and Black. 

SET ONE

The Cards fell behind 2-0 to start but rallied with a 8-2 run behind Hannah Kenny's serving. UofL pushed that lead to 12-7 on an attack error by Texas, then took off on a 11-3 rally to make it 23-10. Two Longhorn service errors gave the Cards the 13-point win. 

SET TWO

Louisville  jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but Texas responded to tie it at 8-8. Louisville edged ahead to make it 15-13 at the media break. Texas came back to garb the lead at 22-20 on a Henley Anderson kill, but the Cards were able to tie it at 25 on a Chloe Meester kill. Kalyssa Blackshear put the Cards up 27-26 on a slam and a Louisville block gave the Cards the 28-26 

SET THREE

The Cards jumped out 4-1 after a Payton Petersen service ace and went up 9-5 on a Texas service error. 13-9 was the Cards advantage after a Longhorn hitting error and the Cards pushed that to 20-12 on a Chloe Meester kill. A setting error gave the Cards the game at 25-16 and the match

LOUISVILLE FIELD HOCKEY BLANKS MICHIGAN STATE 4-0. 

The Cards and Spartans battled to a scoreless first quarter, but UofL broke into the scoring at the 19:17 mark of the game when Chloe Plumb found the back of the net. The 1-0 score took the squads into halftime. 

Louisville struck quickly to start the second half when Lauren Masters got in the scoring column just 43 second into the half. Six minutes later, Tyler Everslage took a Jaelen Perez pass and made it 3-0. At the 58:04 mark, Perez got another assist when she found Annabel Sep with a feed to make it 4-0

The Cards dominated the offense stat, taking 19 shots, 11 on goal...while the Spartans took just three shots, two on goal. Louisville had 12 penalty corner attempts, where MSU tried just two. 

LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SOCCER DOWN MERCYHURST 3-1

The Cards took a 2-0 halftime lead over the visitors and took  the contest 3-1 in Lynn Stadium. 

UofL got their first goal at the 21:43 mark on wha was just called a team goal. 

A minute later, McKalie took a pass from Abigail Cox and found the net to put the Cards up 2-0

Six minutes into the second half, Nicole Jodain got in the scoring column with the Cards final score, off an assist. Mercyhurst tacked on a late goal and the Cards captured the 3-1 win. 

paulie 

All three Uofl major fall women's sports in action today -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 WSOC, FIELD HOCKEY AND VOLLEYBALL PLAY TODAY

Sunday, Sept 6th is gong to be a busy day for UofL athletics. Not only does football kick off their 2026 season (against Ole Miss in Nashville) but Cards Field Hockey, Volleyball and Women's Soccer have events. Let's look at what the Cards women's squads have ahead of them. 

LOUISVILLE VOLLEYBALL VS #9 TEXAS

The serve and set Cards will also be in Nashville on Sunday as well. They'll face up against #9 Texas for a noon matchup in what is being called the Broadway Block Party that will be shown on ABC. 

Texas leads the all-time series against the #6 Cards 5-1. This season, Texas Volleyball is 3-2 with wins over Marquette, TCU and USC and losses to Arizona St and Nebraska. The big three kills artists are Abby Van Der Wall, Torrey Stafford, and Ayden Ames. 

Last time out the Longhorns took down the Cards 3-2 in 2025. 

LOUISVILLE FIELD HOCKEY VS MICHIGAN ST. 

Cards Field Hockey puts their undefeated record on the line when they travel to East Lansing to face Michigan St. The Spartans are 2-1 on the season, with wins over Ohio and St. Louis and a loss to Miami (OH). 

This will be the first home game for Michigan St. this season. The lifetime record of the schools against each other in Field Hockey is either 9-8 or 9-7, depending on which S.I.D report you want to believe....Louisville holding the edge/. 

Last time out, the Spartans fell to the Cards 6-1 at Trager. This one will be shown on the Big Ten Plus Network. It's a noon start. 

LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SOCCER VS MERCYHURST

The kickin' Cards host Mercyhurst for a 1 p.m. match that wil lbe shown on ACCNX at 1 p.m.

Louisville is 5-1 on the season and on a five game win streak. The Cards have allowed just seven goals this season, while scoring 22 goals. 

Mercyhurst comes into the game with a 1-5 record and and lost last time out at Morehead St. 2-1. They also have losses to Ohio, Toledo. Buffalo and Akron. 

We'll have the results for you tomorrow here at Cardinal Couple.  You can also follow Cardinal Couple on Facebook for updates and final scores. 

paulie

Fantastic Friday for Floyd St. Dwellers -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 VOLLEYBALL, FIELD HOCKEY GATHER WINS

A nice way to start the Labor Day weekend. 

Both Louisville Field Hockey and Volleyball won their matches on Friday. One in Louisville (Volleyball) and one in St. Louis (Field Hockey}.

FIELD HOCKEY

Field Hockey began the Cards action, with a 11 a.m. start in the Arch City. The Cards put two shots in the net in the second quarter for a 2-0 lead and added one in the fourth quarter for the 3-0 shutout. With a win, the Cards improve to 3-0 on the season, sending St. Louis to their third loss in three games. 

Gigi Edwards started the Cards scoring with her second goal of the season, at the five minute mark of the second quarter. At the nine minute mark, it was Tyler Everslage taking a pass from Sophia Parker and scoring a second goal.for the Cards. The defense continued to keep the Billikens from scoring and the 2-0 Louisville margin led the squads into halftime.

It was still 2-0 until the final seconds of the contest. UofL earned a penalty corner and Annabel Sep took the shot that made it 3-0. 

The Cards defense was spectacular on Friday. They allowed just one shot by St. Louis the entire 60 minutes, while Louisville had 25 with 10 of them being shots on goal. Credit the Billiken goalkeeper, she had 11 saves.  

Louisville stays  on the road and will travel to Michigan St. next for a Sunday match. 

VOLLEYBALL 

The set and slam Cards faced TCU in the LNFCU later in the day at 4 p.m. and also on a nationwide ACC Network broadcast. 

The #6 Cards pulled off the three set sweep 25-23, 25-14, 27 over the #18 Horned Frogs. Here's how it went down:

SET ONE

The Cards fell behind early to TCU at 2-0 and 6-2 before uncorking a 8-2 run to go up 8-4 .TCU was ready to contest the affair, though, and tied it up at 8-8. The Cards regained control and built a 16-11 lead after a Chloe Chicoine kill. Stubborn TCU battled back again and trailed 19-18 late in the opening set. It was 24-21 after a Kalyssa Blackshear kill and she also ended at 25-23 with another kill. 

SET TWO

The Ville controlled the early action, going up 6-0 after Payton Petersen served an ace. Louisville stretched that out to 13-4 on a Blackshear kill. A TCU service error made it 15-5 and UofL doubled the score at 20-10 off a Chloe Meester kill. Blackshear ended the second set as well,  with a kill to make the final 25-14 and send the squads to the halftime break. 

SET THREE

The teams started the final set closely match, TCU led early 6-4 after a Meester hitting error. TCU went on and took a 10-6 lead after former Cardinal Reese Robins got a kill. TCU still led 16-13 when they blocked a Meester klli attempt. Louisville battled back, though, to tie the contest at 19-19 and TCU called a time out to talk about it. The strategy failed, though, as the Cards edged ahead 22-19 on a Chicoine kill. The Cards had a chance to win it, leading 25-24, but a Brooke Bultema service error sent the squads into extra volleyball. A Blackshear kill and TCU hitting error gave UofL the 27-25 win and the sweep.  

Chicoine and Blackshear led the Cards with 17 kills each. Louisville will face Texas next, in Nashville on Sunday. 

paulie

Cards WSOC wins Battle of the Bluegarss over UK 2-1 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 KARINA PEAT'S TWO GOALS THE DIFFERENCE IN LEXINGTON. 

Louisville women's soccer jumped out to an early 2-0  lead over UK and then battled to stay in front when UK added a late goal to curt the lead in half. In 90 degree, humid weather...both teams looked tanked as time expired, but visiting Red & Black outlasted Blue & White on a Thursday night in Lexington. 

The Cards got their first goal with 22:45 gone in the match, or roughly half of the first half gone when Amelia Swinarski and Liza Suydam set up Karina Peak in front of the UK goal and she booted it into the net with her right foot. 

The Cards didn't have to wait much longer before their final goal of the match. At the 26 minute mark, Nicole Jodain found Peak open and set her up for a shot that got by the UK keeper and gave Louisville a 2-0 lead. And, that's how the first half ended. 

In the second half, both teams had great opportunities to score but the ball was going wide or off the top of the goal. UK, getting close to desperation mode, finally came across with their lone goal of the contest when Juliette Rayo kicked one in with 7:58 left in the contest. 

The Cards go to 5-1 with the win. the Cats take their second loss of the year, also being beaten by Ohio St. 

Louisville took 14 shots in the game, with seven on goal, while UK had 10 shots with five on goal. Each squad had four saves and took five corners. The Cards were whistled for infractions six times and UK got two penalty calls on them. 

Louisville returns to action next on Sunday, when they host Mercyhurst. And , who is that, you might ask? They are a private Catholic University in Erie, PA   James "Buster" Douglas, a heavyweight boxer that defeated Muhammad Ali attended Mercyhurst on a football scholarship. We seriously doubt he'll be o the pitch when the two schools face each other. 

Cards win, Cards win!

paulie

Elif Istanbulluoglu Named to Turkiye National Team -- Thursday Cardinal Couple

 Senior Forward will play for Turkiye 2026 World Cup Team

Most of our readers are well familiar of how Elif blossomed into one of the Cards WBB best players in the 2025-26 season. She's also been a stellar player in her home country of Turkiye and will be on the 2026 Turkiye National team to compete in the World Cup games. She'll be one of twelve on the squad. 

Last summer she was named a co-captain on the Turkiye squad that competed in the FIBA Eurobasket playoff in Greece. Last year she had the luxury of having Jeff Walz as an assistant coach. She also played on the FIBA U20 squad that played in the Eurobasket cup in Greece for Turkiye.  She led that squad with 17.9 p.p.g and 11.1 rebounds a contest 

The experiences came in handy when she returned to play for the Cards last season. She went from 3.0 p.p.g to 10.1 p.p.g. and was third on the UofL squad with 5.1 rebounds a contest. 

Turkiye will compete in Group C in the World Cup games, along with Belgium, Australia and Puerto Rico. In order to advance to advance to the quarterfinals. A team must finish in the top three of their Group. They;ll play each member of their group once, beginning with Puerto Rico on Sept 4th. 

All of Turkiye's games will be shown on HBO Max. The bundles begin at $10.99 a month. 

paulie

Three UofL women's fall sports are 9-2 so far this year -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 FIELD HOCKEY, WOMEN'S SOCCER AND VOLLEYBALL OFF TO GREAT STARTS. 

With the college fall sports season in it's early stages, let's look at the three main fall women's sports on the UofL campus. Field Hockey, Women's Soccer and Volleyball. We certainly hope golf and tennis don't take any offense to us identifying what we believe the three main fall sports are...a lot of the decision to just use these three comes from the responses on what you follow in the fall and like to watch and read about. 

These three sports have had a total of 11 games or matches so far this season. The early results are quite impressive. They re a combined 9-2

Louisville Field Hockey is 2-0 so far. They have wins over Miami (OH) by a score of 2-1 and Indiana by also 2-1. They are ranked 18th or 19th in the nation, depending on which ranking service you follow. Next up for them is a Sept 4th visit to St. Louis. 

Louisville Women's Soccer is 4-1 to open the season. They fell to Nebraska to start the season by a 3-1 margin. Since then, they have defeated Indy-IU 5-1, Belmont 5-0, Dayton 4-2 and Akron 5-0. Their 4-1 record is impressive so far. NCAA Women's Soccer has not released a top 25 ranking yet. They face Kentucky next, on Sept 3rd. 

Louisville Volleyball is 3-1. They started the season with a win over Texas A&M three set to one. Wisconsin was next and the Cards took an "L" there, losing in three sets. Indiana ferried in to play the VolleyCards next and it was a 3-0 sweep for UofL. Dayton visited next and was grounded with a 3-0 set sweep. TCU comes in next on Sept 4th. 

ACC play awaits the three soon and we'll see if these non-conference wins spur the squads on to ACC wins. We haven't seen a 2026-27 ranking poll yet for D1 volleyball, Louisville is 23rd in the NCAA WSOC rankings, and Field Hockey hasn't released a current top 25 yet either. With Justine Sowry, you expect excellence each year out of the Field Hockey squad. What is impressive is that relatively new head coaches in Hunter Norton (WSOC) and Dan Meske (Volleyball) are doing so well. It should be remembered, though, that both were assistants in the programs for a long period of time to two very good head coaches. 

Here hoping for the best for each program as the fall season progresses.  

paulie

Cards Volleyball disposes of Dayton in three sets -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 FLYERS GROUNDED IN LNFCUA

The Dayton Flyers came to visit the Louisville volleyball squad Monday night for a match in the LNFCUA, but might have been well advised to just stay home and save the travel expense. Louisville took down the Flyers in three sets -- 25-14, 25-14 and 25-11. 

In the process, UofL set a new record for team hitting percentage (.487). Here's a brief recap:

SET ONE

Dayton did get the first two points of the set, but Louisville came back aggressively and took a 7-2 lead. The Cards continued to keep up the attack and a 8-3 run had them up 15-5. After the media break, Dayton did their best to keep pace with Uofl, and just narrowly lost the final segment 10-9. Louisville showed out for an appreciative home crowd and took the opener 25-14. 

SET TWO

Dayton was able to stay pretty close to open the second set...playing to a 3-3 tie early on.  That may have raised an eyebrow or two among the Louisville fan base. Chloe Meester decided she wanted to get in on the party, though, and had six kills in a 12-3 stretch that had the Cards up 15-6 at the media break. Addison Makun impressed with two kills to close out the second set -- giving UofL another 25-14 win. 

SET THREE

After the halftime break, the Cards decided to flex a bit and scored the first seven points of the set. Dayton did try to battle back as best they could and the ensuing 8-6 Louisville advantage  set the score at 15-6 at the media timeout. Chloe Chicoine decided to slam a few across the net, and UofL took the final segment 10-5 and end the match. A  25-11 closing set. 

A good workman-like effort by the Cards against the A-10 foe, and Dan Meske remarked after the match: 

"It was a great match. Dayton is a really good program that plays teams tough .and to play the way we did against a program like that was really impressive. It's nice to get a lot of people involved. It's always the plan to play our best, and if we have opportunities to get people some chances ,we'll take advantage and today was a great day for that. We had a lot of people get extended time, and that was nice."

Louisville, now 3-1 on the season, will host TCU next in the L&N on Friday. Sept 4th.

paulie 

CArds WSOC and FH sweep Sunday -- MONDAY CARDINALCOUPLE

 ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL SUNDAY ON FLOYD STREET

A fun afternoon of watching UofL women's sports on Sunday via the ACC Network Extra for me. If you made the drive down to campus to watch any or all of the action, i hope you have rehydrated and had a great time. 

Starting it off, Louisville women's soccer met the Akron Zips and pulled them down and exposed their weaknesses. To end the day, Cards Field Hockey battled a very good IU squad tooth and nail and finally prevailed in overtime. Let's look at the wins a little closer, shall we?

LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SOCCER 5 - AKRON WOMEN'S SOCCER 0 

Louisville struck early in the match at Lynn Stadium, getting a score 11:47 into the contest when Liza Suydam took a feed from Nicole Jodoin and discovered net success. The Cards offense was the show pretty much all of the contest, and tacked on another goal about six minutes later when Amelia Sinarski got into the act after getting set up by Suydam and Jodoin. Two minutes later, Swinarski picked up another goal, this time on a pass from Karina Peat. It was 3-0 after 20 minutes of action. The Zips looked lost on the pitch. The Cards would not score again the rest of the half but got four more attempts off and a stubborn cross bar on the goal prevented the score from being 4-0 going into the mid-match break. Still..3-0 was a formidable lead and gave coach Norton a chance to explore some other combinations. 

UofL got four shots off in the first seven minutes of the second half and the one from Karina Peat , off a Jodoin assist, got by the Zips goalkeep to make it 4-0. The Cards would add their final goal in the 73rd minute of the 90 minute game...Abigail Cox getting an unassisted score.  It is the third time this season the Cards have scored five goals in a match. 

The stats indicated the rout. Louisville had 22 shots, 10 of them on goal. Akron attempted 2 shots with one of them on goal. The Cards had a 9-1 corners advantage and used 18 players..All of them got at least 37 minutes except for one. 

Next up for the Cards WSOC is a trip to Lexington to face UK on Thursday. 

LOUISVILLE FIELD HOCKEY 2 - iNDIANA FIELD HOCKEY  1 

The squads went thru a scoreless first period where  IU actually looked to be the more aggressive squad on offense. The Cards got off only three shots, two of them coming with less than a minute to play in the quarter and IU countered with five. Neither of the squads scored in the first 15 minutes. 

In the second quarter, the scoreless affair continued until the Cards got on the board when Lauren Master got her first goal of the season on an assist from Aubreigh Uba at the 26:43 mark of the contest. That lead lasted the rest of the first half and the Cards went to the locker room carrying a fragile 1-0 edge. 

A scoreless third period followed the halftime intermission . The Cards took only  two shots in the quarter, while IU had seven attempts.  That fragile 1-0 UofL lead was still in place but IU was getting way more shots off and you had to wonder just when they were going to finally connect on one. 

Almost eight minutes into the final quarter, IU got a tying score. The goal came only 18 seconds after IU had pulled their goalie to increase their scoring chances. Neither team was able to score the rest of the way, and the Cards were headed to their second overtime game in two contests. 

A ten minute overtime session ensued. 

Uba got checked rather roughly driving to the goal for a shot in the extra time and the refs awarded her a penalty stroke attempt against the IU goalie after a long review.  It was a golden opportunity for the Douglasville, PA native to end the contest and she did just that in her one-on-one contest...scoring her first goal of the season and giving the Cards the "W".  They are now 2-0 on the season.

UofL travels to St. Louis next...for a Friday, Sept 4th contest. 

paulie

Cards Field Hockey and WSOC return to action today on campus -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 AKRON AND INDIANA SCHEDULED TO FACE CARDS SQUADS TODAY

Both Louisville Field Hockey and Women's Soccer will return to play today, with the "Kicking Cards" going up against Akron at 1 p.m. and the "Stick Cards" engaging in a match with IU at 2 p.m. The ACCNX will show the soccer match...according to one source i found..and another source reads that the field hockey match will be on ACCNX..so I guess we'll know for sure when 1 p.m. rolls around.. . 

LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SOCCER VS AKRON

This will be the first meeting ever between the two squads. The Zips come into town with a 2-1-0 record and most recently fell to Duquesne 2-0. 

Rachel Wenzel leads the Zips in scoring with two goals and the squad has scored five goals in three contests. 2025 was a rebuilding season for Akron...going 5-9-4 and posting a 2-7-3 record in MAC Conference play. 

The two Akron wins this season came against Oakland (3-0) and U.S.I. (2-1)

The Cards are now 3-1, after their win over Miami (OH) and, hopefully...won't be looking too far ahead to their upcoming match against UK in Lexington on Thursday, Set 3rd .  

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LOUISVILLE FIELD HOCKEY VS INDIANA

Last year the Cards and Hoosiers played to a 5-4 Louisville win in Bloomington. The Hoosier are 0-1 so far this season, losing to Miami, OH 2-1 Saturday at Trager Stadium.

IU has three players back who scored against the Cards last season. Junior forward Charlotte Glasper, sophomore midfielder Molly Shutte, and senior midfielder Inez Garcia Prado.

The Cards lead the series all-time with a 19-7 record. They are 11-2 against the Hoosiers at Trager and 8-5 in Bloomington. 

This one is a 2 p.m. start at Trager and is listed to be shown on ACCN.X

paulie 

UofL Field Hockey, Volleyball Pick Up Friday Wins -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 HOME TURF, COURT DEFENDED IN CARDINAL WINS

Two UofL women's sporting events on campus on the same day? And two wins? Yes, it did happen Friday down on the Belknap campus...as #18 Louisville Field Hockey started it off with a dramatic shootout victory over #10 Miami (OH) 2-1 and #7 Louisville Volleyball thumped the visiting IU Hoosiers all over LNFCUA in three sets....25-20, 25-12 25-11. 

FIELD HOCKEY UPSETS #10 MIAMI (OH) IN OVERTIME

On the Trager turf, the Justine Sowry coached Louisville Field Hockey squad had a defensive battle with Miami (OH)  in a match that saw Cards goalie Emily Young pick up eight saves in a affair that ended in a tie at the end of regulation play, and then went through two overtimes before a shootout ended in the Cards favor .

Sowry breaks down the win HERE 

Gigi Edwards scored the Cards lone regulation goal in the second quarter. Edwards took a pass from Annabel Sep with 3:43 left in the first half and drove to the goal to put in a shot which put the Cards up 1-0. Miami tied it up in the third quarter and the teams kept up the defensive pressure on each other the rest of regulation and thru two overtimes. 

In the best-of-five shootout, it came down to the final players taking attempts against the opposing goalkeeper. Both teams had recorded a shootout goal, Tyler Everslage sank her attempt to end it after Miami (OH) missed a go-ahead effort. 

The Cards return to Trager Sunday to face IU. A 2 p.m. affair, and ACCNX will show it.  

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VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS INDIANA

Louisville got a good battle from IU in the first of three sets in the LNFCUA Friday night before winning 25-20, then made the final two sets look pretty easy in the sweep over the Hoosier squad. The Cards offense recorded 39 kills and posted a lofty .346 hitting percentage.

Chloe Chicoine led UofL with 11 kills, Chloe Meester added 10 kills and Kalyssa Blackshear was good for nine. 

IU led once in the contest, on the opening serve. The Cards scored the next four points, and then went up 10-4. UofL stretched the advantage to 22-15 late in the first set, before IU rallied back for three straight points and closed the Cardinal edge to 23-20, but two Chicoine kills closed the book on the first set. 

In the second set, IU hung close early at 6-5, but a 13-3 UofL run put the Cards up 19-6. Louisville coasted in for the 25-12 eventual second set victory

After the halftime break, a 5-0 opening Cardinals run to start the third set indicated that the Cards weren't looking to "play four" last night and they eventually stretched the lead out to 15-4. That lead increased to 20-9 and the Cards finished with a 5-2 run to grab a 25-11 third set win and end the match. 

The VolleyCards return to action Monday night when they host Dayton in the LNFCUA. A 6 p.m. start for this one and ACCNX will handle the broadcast. 

Enjoy your weekend!

paulie

 

Cards WSOC Grounds Flyers 4-2 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 SCORING FLURRY PUSHES LOUISVILLE PAST DAYTON

This one was 1-1 with 17 minutes gone in the second half and one had to wonder if the next goal by either team would be the winning goal. Then, Louisville remembered..."Hey, we're the team that scored five goals in each of our last two games"...and unleashed a three goal scoring flurry in a seven minute period and coasted in for a 4-2 win at Dayton. 

Four different players scored for the Cards..and one of them wasn't Amelia Swinarski..which was a mild surprise...to push the Cards to a 3-1 season mark. 

The Flyers were the first ones to find the back of the net in the contest...when they scored off a throw-in 21 minutes into the match. Louisville would counter with 37:28 gone in the first half when Swinarski set up Trista Morris with a feed and the sophomore defender from the Brown School here in Louisville got her first collegiate goal of the season with a nice plant from the left foot into the bottom center of the net. 

That tied it 1-1 and that's the way the squads went into the half. 

At the 62:17 mark of the second half, the Cards took a 2-1 lead when Grace Morris took a pass from "you know who" (Swinarski) and headed it in. The Cards added a third goal six minutes later when Abigail Cox picked up her first goal of the season off a pass from Brooklyn Lee and just a minutes or so later the Cards made it 4-1 when Liz Eddy drilled one into the back of the net. 

Dayton would end the scoring in the game when they climbed back within two with15 minutes to play...to make it 4-2 and that's it how it ended. . 

The Cards will return home and host Akron on Sunday. It'll be a 1 p.m. kick back and ACCNX will broadcast it. 

paulie

WSOC faces Dayton at Dayton tonight -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 1-2 FLYERS HOST 2-1 LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SOCCER

Louisville Women's Soccer heads north tonight to face the Dayton Flyers in Dayton, OH at Baujan Field. It's scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. Live streaming will be available on ESPN+ and live stats at the Dayton Flyers website. ESPN+ is a "pay for" service that runs $13.99 a month 

Last time out, the Flyers hosted the UK Wildcats but got grounded 5-0 by the Big Blue women.  UD opened the season at West Virginia and fell 2-0, then returned home and won over Toledo 2-1. 

Scoring the two goals this season for the Flyers this season are Olivia Baca and Lauren Contini, with one each. If the name Lauren Contini sounds familiar, she started her studies at UofL back in 2024 and is now starting her second second as a Flyer. 

Louisville began season action hosting Nebraska and fell 3-1. Since then, the Cards have won two in a row at Lynn Stadium, downing IU Indy 5-1 and Belmont 5-0.

Tops in scoring for UofL after three contests are Liza Suydam and Amelia Swinarski with two goals each. All told, nine different Cards have scored for the Red and Black this season. 

Dayton has only one player from Kentucky...junior forward Laney Smith, out of Ft. Thomas Highlands. 

The Cards have six players that hail from Ohio. Suzie Roginski, Norah Roush, Amelia Swinarski, Avery George, Fina Davy and Ella Bard. 

Eric Golz is the Flyer head coach, assuming the role back in 2016. 

We'll recap the action in the Friday Cardinal Couple, so be sure to come back at check out the results here on the only site we know of that likes to mix their black eyed peas with mashed potatoes and serve them on Zwieback crackers...usually to bewildered consumers. 

paulie

Walz adds another...Amiya Joyner -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 EX ECU, LSU STAR JOINS CARDS WBB

Jeff Walz continues to stock the pantry with goodies. 

He has brought aboard 6 foot 2 forward Amiya Joiner, who spent three years at East Carolina and a year at LSU. 

From Farmville, NC. she averaged 9.2 ppg and 7.2 rebounds last year at LSU and will add experience, depth and skill to a Cards front line that already has Mackenly Randolph, Carys Baker, Elif Istanbulluoglu, Grace Mbugna and Ayse Melek Demirer. 

Fifth year eligibility movement strikes again.  

Her numbers at ECU her junior year are even more impressive. She averaged 15 points a game and 9.2 rebounds. 

She joins a squad that is already bursting with top flight talent and impressive incoming freshmen. Back for the Cards are proven talent like Imari Berry, Mackenly Randolph, Elif Istanbulluoglu, and Taj Roberts.

Joyner was one of 30 student-athletes that received temporary eligibility for another year from the NCAA and access to the transfer portal. Jeff Walz jumped at the chance to bring her onboard the Cards roster. 

Joyner's career high point total was in 2024 when she put up 32 against Howard when she was at ECU. 

Welcome aboard Amiya and shoot and score! 

paulie

 

Volleyball brings three in to end August and start September -- TUESDAY CARDINA COUPLE

 VOLLEYCARDS FACE THREE IN THE LNFCUA

Chloe when she was a Boilermaker

Louisville Volleyball will bring in three opponents to close out August and start September. Being a squad that has two home courts, these next three will be at the smaller venue for Cards Volleyball, the on-campus L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. 

First up is Indiana on Friday, August 28th. The Cards lead the all-time series 9-8, but the two haven't faced each other since 2008, when IU won 3-2. The Cards are 4-2 overall against IU when UofL is the home squad. 

Next is Dayton on Monday, August 31st. Louisville leads the series 10-6 all-time and is 6-2 when they are the home squad. They last met in 2024 and the Cards won in five sets.  

Then, it's TCU on Friday Sept. 4th. The Cards are 5-0 all-time against TCU and this one will start at 4 p.m. on the Labor Day Weekend. 

There aren't any official Volleyball rankings at this time, although TV was showing the Cards as a #6 ranked team, I'm not sure who was doing the ranking. 

The Cards are 1-1 on the young season, defeating Texas A&M and losing to Wisconsin in Milwaukee. 

Louisville women's soccer blanks Belmont 5-0 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS FLY PAST BELMONT WOMEN'S SOCCER

Good to be back with everyone after a nice, restful vacation watching the water rushing by our scenic accommodations viewpoint in Gatlinburg. Despite there being Jeeps everywhere we went, we we able to get away from the go, go, go pace of life in Louisville and relax, rejuvenate and restore. Always good to catch up with acquaintances down there and dine at some of our favorite spots. 

Meanwhile.... 

Louisville women's soccer got out to an early lead on Belmont and never looked back, picking up a 5-0 shut out on the Bruins on Sunday night at Lynn Stadium. 

Louisville had a 27-2 shot advantage over the Nashville school and held a 12-2 shot on goal edge. 

The Cards opened the scoring when Brooklyn Lee found Amelia Swinarski with a set up ten minutes into first half action. UofL tacked on a second goal 25 minutes into the contest when Lee got a goal off a set up from Liz Eddy. Those two goals completed the first half scoring. 

In the second half,  the teams went almost 30 minutes without a goal...finally Swinarski found A.G.Gibson for an assist and the Cards were 3-0  leaders. Less than three minutes later, UofL struck again, this time when  Nicole Jodain sent a long shot toward the Belmont goal and it seemed to catch the defense by surprise and the goal made it 4-0 Cards. 

The Cards picked up their final score with about four and one half minutes to go in the contest when Kiley Peat set up Taylor Wilson for the closing score of the game. 

Louisville is now 2-1 on the season and will face Dayton at Dayton next on Thursday. 

paulie

Annabel Sep gets pre-season ACC Field Hockey honors. -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 SENIOR DEFENDER FROM NETHERLANDS IS ALL-ACC

Annabel Sep

Annabel Sep had a tremendous junior season in the Louisville field Hockey defensive backfield in 2025 and will be looked upon to bolster the Cards ball-stopping efforts in the 2026 season. 

She made the second team National Field Hockey All-West Region in 2025 and All-ACC Second team honors as well. She also did a bit of scoring for UofL Field Hockey with four goals and two assists.  

Justine Sowry recruited her and used the international student-athlete recruiting agency SianStox to help facilitate the transition to the States from the Netherlands. 

Minout "Minnie" Mink ...one of my favorite UofL field Hockey players of all-time

Louisville has had a fair modicum of success going the Netherlands route in past years. Julie Kouilzer and Charlie van Oirschot are two that come to mind immediately, although van Oirschot ended up going to play at Duke as a junior and was a three year starter in 59 games for Pam Bustin. Other former "Dutch" Cards include Tatum Kroon and Minout Mink. 

Louisville field Hockey goes against Bellarmine in an exhibition contest on Wednesday and will also scrimmage Ball State (on the 22nd) before officially getting the season underway against Miami, (OH) on August 28th. 

paulie

 

CARDS WSOC STORMS PAST IU INDY 5-1 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS SCORE ALL GOALS IN FIRST HALF IN WIN OVER JAGUARS 

In a game that was delayed by almost two hours because of thunderstorms in the Louisville area, it was the Louisville Cardinals women's soccer team who emulated the storm and thundered past IU Indy early and often in the 5-1 win at Lynn. 

Louisville scored 52 seconds into the contest when Karina Peat set up Liza Suydam with a pass and the goal that followed by Suydam made it 1-0 Cards. Louisville dominated the offense for almost all of the first half and got their second goal at the 11:38 mark after Liz Eddy and A.G.Gibson assists found Peat for a goal and a 2-0 lead. 

Louisville maintained the offensive attack pressure and Ella Bard got into the scoring at the 16:04 mark, this time Suydam supplied the assist and the rout was pretty much on with almost 30 minutes left in the first half. Five minutes later, Amelia Swinarski got into the goal scoring club when Peat picked up her second assist of the night. 

UofL picked up their final goal of the half, and for the game, when Abigail Cox connected from the passing of Fina Davy and Betsy Huckaby....with seven minutes left in the first half. The 5-0 halftime lead was a clear case of one-sided domination and superiority. 

IU Indy did pick up a score in the second half against UofL reserves, but the Cards worked on a lot of things with a lot of different personnel. Louisville used 21 players in the contest and none of them saw less that 15 minutes on the pitch. 

Stats wise, the Cards had 30 shots, compared to the Jags four.  UofL had 18 of those on shots on goal while IU Indy had just one. The Cards took 18 corners, where IU Indy took just one.  

Give IU Indy credit, they didn't continue to fall apart in the second 45 minutes and actually. won the scoring battle 1-0...but UofL got back to a .500 record on the young season with a dominant win after a stormy start to the evening. 

paulie

Former Card Sydney Taylor A Pleasant WNBA Surprise for Sky -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLEThe numbers were impressive, but

TAYLOR PUTTING UP EXCELLENT NUMBERS FOR CHICAGO SKY

Although she only spent a year playing basketball at UofL, Sydney Taylor's numbers were significant as a Card and she is now having a rags-to-riches success story come to life in the WNBA.  

Taylor is averaging 14.7 p.p.g. a game for the Chicago Sky. What's the back story on the 25 yr. old rookie in the league? 

She spent her first four years of college at the University of Massachusetts, after helping high school team St. Joseph's (NY) to four straight CHSAA championships and a state title her senor year.  

At UMass, she built a solid career. In her senior year, she was Atlantic 10 First Team All-Conference, scored over 1000 career points and put up 30 against Dayton. Her number were impressive but not quite WNBA type of numbers...so she took a fifth year of eligibility and came to Louisville. 

She arrived with the Cards in April 2023, after a nice stint playing USA U23 basketball and going to places such as Chile, Mongolia and Canada. She also was named the GLOBL JAM MVP after hitting the game-winning three against Canada to win the gold medal for  the USA. 

That graduate year was very significant in Taylor's basketball development...in no small part because of the Cardinals coaches. She lead the squad in the 2023-24 season with 57 made threes and was second best i scoring with 10.8 p.p.g.  She celebrated Paulie's birthday by scoring 31 points against Georgia Tech on Feb. 22nd., 2024.  Walz, Norman, Pineda and Robinson knew they had lightning in a bottle

But, she went undrafted in the WNBA draft that year. She tried the Euro circuit. Spent time in Lithuania and won a championship in 2025, then went to MB Zaglebie Sosnowiec in Poland to start 2026.

She was playing ball in the EuroLeague in 2026 for that same Polish team but had not given up her WNBA dreams just yet. and wrangled an invitation to Chicago on a training camp contract. 

"I'd been dreaming about it ever since early in my college career. I really believed it could happen, even when i was overseas and I was, like, I'm gonna get there." 

In a preseason game with the Sky, she scored 21 points and made the Sky roster, as a spark off the bench.  Her drive, desire and determination was paying off. She put up 27 in a loss to Toronto...then 30 in a loss to the Indiana Fever. It's was looking like she was "Taylor made" for the Sky. 

"Sydney knows what she is capable of. She comes in, she wants to make an impact and she does that." Sky coach Tyler Marsh has said about her. "The gravity she holds as a scorer impacts itself even when she is not scoring. People now know what she is capable of doing, nd that in itself holds some weight when she is pout there." 

Marsh moved her to the starting lineup on June 17.  

She is now a highly touted candidate for rookie of the Year in the WNBA along with Olivia Miles (Minnesota) and Azzi Fudd (Dallas). Although everyone is ready to hand the award to Miles, never count out the girl from Long Island ,who overcame long odds to get to the WNBA. 

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If anyone attended the Red & Black volleyball Scrimmage and would like to leave a synopsis or account of what you saw, please leave a comment in our comments section. All we can find out is that Black won, and that the players played on both teams. Thanks. 

paulie

Cards FH Eighth in ACC Preseason Poll -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Plenty of room for UofL to surprise in ACC Pre-Season Field Hockey Poll

Field Hockey season kicks off in two weeks for the nine ACC school participants In a league that is probably the best in NCAA DI Field Hockey...chock full of traditional powerhouses like North Carolina, Duke, Virginia and Wake Forest....the Cards have been selected to finish 8th in the league, with 19 points. Only California, with 17 points was selected lower than the Cards. 

So, Louisville could play the role of spoiler in a lot of ACC contests.  The Cards will have two exhibitions before the regular season begins...facing Bellarmine on the 19th of August at Trager and at Ball St. (in Muncie) on the 22nd before starting regular season action against Miami (OH) on the 28th at Trager. 

What are the standings? To explain, first, points are awarded depending on how high the voter thinks the particular school will finish. For the 2026 ACC Poll the voting was: 

1. North Carolina 73 (with four first place votes)                                                                              

2. Virginia 68  (with two first place votes) 

                                                                                     

T-3. Duke 64 (with one first place vote)                                                                                          

T-3. Wake Forest 64 (with two first place vote)                                                                                

5. Syracuse 42                                                                                                                                

6. Boston College 31                                                                                                                      

7. Stanford 27                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

8. Louisville 19                                                                                                                                

9. California 17                                                                                                                                

No surprise that the three newest teams to the ACC are the bottom three ranked.  Each team plays eight conference games and there is a ACC Field Hockey Tournament at the end omthe season. 

Louisville certainly has one of the best facilities around for field hockey out at Trager and the overall success of women's sports on campus would indicate Louisville can be successful in the highly competitive ACC. Since joining the league, though, Louisville field Hockey is 30-43 against other ACC schools.  

Here's hoping the Cards can turn things over .500 in conference play this season. The 2-6 conference mark last season needs a shot of adrenalin.   

paulie                                                                                                                        

 

Louisville Softball Adds Three to Roster -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 TILL, DEWATERS & SITARSKI JOIN HIT AND RUN CARDS

The 2027 Louisville Cardinals Softball squad will have a trio of transfers joining the roster. Coming into join the squad are Abbie DeWaters, Kaidance Till and Mak Sitarski. 

Abbie DeWaters

Abbie DeWaters was a freshman catcher last season at the University of South Florida. She batted .206 in 19 games played for the Bulls. She hails from Tobe Sounds, FL where she played for South Fork High School. 

Dewaters thoughts on becoming a Cards Softballer? 

"After visiting campus and meeting the coaches, I knew Louisville was the right place for me. The culture they have built and the energy around the team made me feel at home and it just seemed like the perfect fit." 

Kaidance Till

Kaidance Till redshirted last season at Ole Miss and hails from Metamora Township High School in Germantown Hills, Illinois. She is an infielder and was on four All Coference squads and NFCA All-American in 2025. 

What she said about joining the Cardinals ranks: 

"From the start, the coaches were amazing I felt very welcomed the moment I stepped on campus. The culture of the team was exactly what I was looking for. The coaching staff is genuinely a dream come true. I'm so thankful for the opportunity the coaches are giving me and the trust they have in me to become a part of their program." 

Mak Sitarski

Mak Sitarski is an outfield who heads to Louisville after a freshman season at Toledo. She is out of Allen Park, Michigan and was a three time All-Michigan selection at Allen Park High School. 

In her lone season with the Ole Miss rebels, she played in 29 games and made 13 starts in left field. 

"I chose Louisville Softball because of the speed of the offense and their unpredictability at the plate. " she said, about transferring to the Cards. "I love the aggressiveness on the basepaths and the overall grit of the team. The coaches made me feel one of the family beginning on Day One."  

L's up and a hearty welcome to the three newest Cardinals. Hit 'em where they ain't and catch everything hit your way!  

paulie

Huskers Shuck Cards WSOC 3-1 -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 NORTON ERA BEGINS WITH A STUBBED TOE 

The start of a new Louisville women's soccer season. A team that was coming off a very successful season last year and had played two impressive exhibitions. Bringing in a Nebraska squad that had not done too well in their season opening exhibition. 

What a difference a change in venue and opponent can make. Let's use the term "Husker Du" ...not referring to the American punk rock band that churned out memorable songs like "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely" and "The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill". but the positive showing the women's soccer squad out of Lincoln, Nebraska had in the city known for bourbon. 

Scoring right off the bat,  with just three minutes off the clock in the first half, when Nathalie Lewis broke free on a jail brealk and planted one in the net past UofL goalkeep Kailey Kimball for the first goal of the match. 

LINK: Lewis scores on Louisville  

Nebraska would add a second goal, a long attempt...seemingly from the Louisville Lacrosse stadium to take a commanding 2-0 lead into the half-time locker room.  

The Huskers would add a third score in the second half before Louisville managed to get on the board with just 12 minutes left in the contest, when Liz Eddy found Liza Suydam on a pass for the final score of the game. 

Maybe this stat best exemplifies the Cards frustration on the pitch last night...the Cards had 18 shots and one goal.  

So...the Norton era at UofL women's soccer starts out with a stumble. The Cards kickers will get a chance for redemption and to even the season record when they bring in IU Indy to Lynn on Saturday. 

paulie

Cards WSOC opens 2026 season against Nebraska tonight --WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CORNHUSKERS VS CARDS TONIGHT AT 7:30 

Kayma Carpenter Univ. of Nebraska

We finally get into the UofL women's fall sports schedule...when Louisville women's soccer takes on Nebraska tonight at Lynn Stadium on the UofL campus at 7:30 p.m.

The Nebraska squad comes into Louisville to open their regular season as well. The have had an exhibition game, against Colorado St. but fell to the Rams 3-1. The contest will be shown on the ACC Network Extra. If UofL had an exhibition contest, it ws not made public. 

The Hunter Norton era begins at UofL with the retirement of long-time coach Karen Ferguson Dayes. Norton, a long time assistant at UofL...was named the head coach of the Cards in February, after "Coach Karen" retired after 26 years as the Cards skipper. She began in the year 2000 and amassed 224 wins. 

Nebraska head coach John Walker enters his 33rd. year as the Cornhuskers skipper. 

Who to watch for Nebraska? Kayma Carpenter, Ella Guyott and Ella Rudney are considered to be the best of the lot in Lincoln. . 

Carpenter had 15 points as a junior for Nebraska. She is a senior out of Lincoln, Nebraska. 

Ella Guyott is a senior midfielder/forward who sat out her junior year due to injury but was a solid sophomore for Nebraska and was named a Big Ten Player to Watch for the 2026 season.

Ella Rudney

Ella Rudney started every game for Nebraska last year as a midfielder and had 15 points. 

Admission is free for UofL women's soccer games. 

Good luck to the Cards for the start to their season! We'll have the recap tomorrow here at the site. 

paulie