Cards FH defeat California in Overtime -- SATURDAY CARDINAAL COUPLE

 LOUISVILLE GETS THE 3-2 WIN TO GO TO 2-0 IN ACC

it was Aubreigh Uba's goal with 11:43 gone in the first overtime period that gave the Cards the win out at California . Her score ended the contest and it was the only time in the entire contest that Louisville ever lead against Golden Bears. 

#12 UofL had only nine shots against UC defense while Cal fired away at the Cards19 times

After Cal's first score, Uof L countered with a goal from Tyler Everslage.  Cal went up 2-1 a minute later but the Cards equalized it again when Mary Wordelmann tied it. 

The Cards will face UC Davis Sunday. The Cards are now 7-2 and on a three game win streak. 

pauie

VOLLEYBALL, FIELD HOCKEY IN ACTION ON FRIDAY -- FRIDAY CARDIAL COUPLE

VOLLEYCARDS AT SYRACUSE, FIELD HOCKEY GOES TO CALIFORNIA

#4 LOUISVILLE VOLLEYBALL TO FACE THE ORANGE.

The Louisville vs Syracuse rivalry used to be a "thing" when Leonid Yelin was coaching the Syracuse squad.. And , just because the Orange aren't in the top 25 anymore, Syracuse fans won't stay away and can still be to show up and boo against the Cards when they show up for the game tonight. Bakeer Ganesharatnam is their head coach. He is in his fifth season. You figure out how to pronounce his name, I'll just call him Coach B.

The Cuse is 5-4 on the season and this will be their first ACC game. They opened in a tournament in Illinois and lost to Cincinnati and the Illini. Wins over Howard and Albany followed, though..before losing to Arkansas in four sets. 

Canisius and FDU fell to the Orange before Buffalo swept then in straight sets. 

Kiernan Stamey is the clear kills artist with 117.

It'll be a 6 p.m. start and ACCNX will have the coverage. 

FIELD HOCKEY ON WEST COAST

Justine Sowry's 6-2 and #12 Louisville Field Hockey is ranked #12 and will face the #17 Cal Bears today at 5 p.m.. 

The Bears are 5-1 with just a loss to Michigan State. Louisville enters 6-2.

They show a start time of 5 p.m. Out there, you never know 

Cal's leading scorer is Liz Klompmaker is the leading scorer for Cal with six goals. Cal is coached by co-head coaches Tara and Steve Danielson, husband and wife team in their first year of coaching the Bears

It's another one set for ACCNX. 

paulie

 

Who's Next? THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 WHO'S NEXT? 

It is a question we get asked from time to time, here at Cardinal Couple, when it comes to the contests ahead for the Louisville women's sports squads. If I am in a playful mood. I wiil respond:

"Yes, an excellent release by the Who with classics such as "Baba O'Riley, "Bargain", "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" I believe the release date was summer 1971. Who can ever forget the opening chords by Pete Townsend on "Won't Get Fooled Again" once you have heard them (A,G,D) and Roger Daltry's screaming opening?" . 

After I finish ny recap, and see they are staring at me with blank eyes, I then ask them if they were referring to UofL women's athletics events. 99% percent nod yes. I apologize forr the answer, letting them know it was just a bit of old man's humor. 

Let's look at the next four days for UofL women's sports we cover and feel free to air guitar along as you listen to WHO'S NEXT

THURSDAY 9/24

All three squads we cover the most in fall sports are off. Field Hockey, Women's Soccer and Volleyball

FRIDAY 9/25

Volleyball is at Syracuse, Field Hockey is at California. WSOC still off,

SATURDAY 9/26  

All three are off.

SUNDAY 9/27

Volleyball is at Boston College, Women's Soccer hosts FSU and Field Hockey goes up against UC Davis. 

We'll have recaps and observations for you as the events come up. 

paulie

FH's Emily Young named ACC Co-Defender of the Week

 YOUNG HAS ALLOWED JUST NINE GOALS IN EIGHT GAMES

Most coaches will tell you, you need to have a solid defense to win games. When you allowed just eight goals in eight games, your goalie...in Field Hockey...is going to get a lot of the praise and credit along with her defensive unit. Louisville is (6-2) and the squad is now 10th in the latest rankings. Emily Young does the net duty and has for four years, the senior out of Houston, Texas climbed up thru the Cards ranks to be where she is today. It's the second time this season she has Defender of the Week shared honor

Young redshirted her first season on campus in 2023. She was a backup to Merljin van der Vegt. In 2024 she was the keeper in Cards wins over American University, Cornell, Ball St. and UC Davis. As the starter in 2025.she got a little better

6-2 and 4-0 so far this year .We'll take in, especiilly since the losses are against #1 Northwestern and #2 Iowa.

Keep sending them back without scoring, Cards defense and let the offense maneuver and drive. 

paulie

Where are Volleyball, WSOC and Field Hockey ranked? -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 HOW ARE THE WSOC, VB AND FH RANKED FOR CARDS?

We know all three are having good season Louisville i DI NCAA Sports..but just where are they ranked nationwide? I thought we'd take a look this Tuesday

LOUISVILLE VOLLEYBALL

In the NCAA's AVCA (Coached Poll) rankings in DI, the VolleyCards check in at #4. They basically traded placed with UK after UK got the best of them In Memorial Barnyard Coliseum in Lexington. To be quite honest, when I was up covering WBB with Sonja and Jared for Cardinal Couple a few years ago,, the place looked incredible after the renovation. Yeah, they were still serving cold Papa John's Pizza to the media and some kinda chicken...and visitor media parking puts you almost in Georgetown. but our sight lines were top notch for game viewing. Can't thank their media folks enough for assigning a couple college kids to escort the old folks around. Susan Lax, in her 30th year as director of Athletic Communications and Media Relations, is simply best in field. And a very personable and friendly lady. She's scoring goals every tine, Louisville's ex-Director of Media goon couldn't even find the ball to kick it. This guy's mode o operation was to run off home media and deny, them everything. And, no, I am not talking about K.K....

The DI committees top 16 poll has Louisville currently in sixth. 

LOUISVILLE FIELD HOCKEY

The NFHCA (Coaches Poll) puts Louisville Field Hockey at #16 in their top 20. They are one of seven ACC school in the top 20. The Stick Girls are #16 in the NCAA Committee Tournament Rankings as well. At 6-2 the Cards FH gals have played a nails tough slate against Miami, Indiana , St. Louis, Michigan, Northwestern, Boston College and St. Joseph's and. Michigan State. 

Plenty of Field Hockey left to play. Sory will get them in the top 10 and better by tournament time. Losing to #1 and #2 in the nation isn't exactly underperforming

LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SOCCER

The Kickin.women Cards are 8-1-1 and not in the top 16 in the United Soccer Coaches poll or top Selection committee's Top 16. 

They have an RPI of #31. 

Admittedly, I do not know a lot about ranking in WSOC, but 8-1-1 and #31 and not in the top 16? Scratches head, walks into kitchen more more coffee. Something seems amiss with this. 

They ya have it, have a great Tuesday!  Today is the first day of fall, someone tell the temperatures that, OK? 

WSOC ties California, Volleyball falls in four at UK -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 WSOC gets first tie of the season

Louisville battled a stingy Golden Bears in women's Soccer yesterday out on the Cal campus but could not push by them for a win. Instead, they gained a point with a1-1 tie...to start out the Cards action for the day.

Louisville, now 8-1-1, struck first off a corner in the 36th minute. Eefje Botjer earned her first goal of the season and second of her career when she headed the ball into the back of the net...following up on a Amelia Swinarski shot-on-goal. 

That 1-0 lead held thru the first half. 

California would tie it with 63 minutes played when Amelie Hoppe got her first goal of the season. And, the tie remained until the 90 minures has expired. 

The Cards had 14 shots, with three on goal. Cal took eight shots wth one on frame 

Cal goes to 2-4-4 on the season. 

Louisville returns to action Sunday when they will host FSU. It is scheduled for a noon start and will be shown on the ACC Network, if you are unable to attend. 

VOLLEYBALL LOSES IN FOUR SETS TO UK IN MEMORIAL

Louisville Volleyball took the first set 25-19 against UK, but the luck went south after that. 

Per usual,we won't offer a lot of commentary or stats on a loss, especially when it comes against UofL's in-state rival. The 7,000 in Memorial Coliseum were loud, pumped and cheering on their 7-2 Cats. The Cards go to 10-2

Brooke Bultema got a block to give Louisville the first set 25-19 win.

In the second set,UK and UofL played extra Volleyball but the Cars ended up on top 29-27

Set three had the Cards rally late but could not catch UK's early lead and lost 25-21

The final set was UK's 25-19.

Louisville stays on the road and will play Syracuse Friday. 

paulie

Three major UofL women's sports in action today -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 VOLLEYBALL, WOMEN'S SOCCER AND FIELD HOCKEY PLAY TODAY

It isn't often we get the three major UofL fall sports in action on the same day. 

With Volleyball at UK, Field Hockey hosting St. Joseph's and women's soccer going against against California on the west coast, there will be plenty of Cardinal action to track 

With St.Joseph on Trager Field against the Cards at 10:30 a.m., Louisville and Kentucky Volleyball at 3 p.m. and WSOC facing Cal at 4 p.m. EST...it will be a busy day to track them all. 

FIELD HOCKEY VS ST. JOSEPH'S 

Annabel Sep

St. Joseph comes to town with a 3-4 record and coming off a win yesterday at St. Louis against the Billikens 2-1, they can not be ignored or underestimated. They also have wins over Lehigh and New Hampshire and losses to Maryland, Drexel, Liberty and UConn. 

Louisville is 5-2.

They are led by Cat Arenitz with four goals and they have scored 12 goals this year while allowing 29. We'll watch on ACCNX.. 

VOLLEYBALL AT U.K.

Chloe Chicoine

Scheduled for a 3 p.m. start and to be shown on ABC, the Cats are 7-2 on the season, only losing to SMU in the Bahamas and at Pittsburgh. Their wins are impressive. The Cats have clawed Wisconsin, Utah St. South Florida, UCLA, Penn State, North Carolina and Houston. 

Louisville has wins over Texas A&M, Dayton, Indiana, TCU, Texas, Missouri, Rice, Creighton, Northern Iowa and WKU. Their loss was at Wisconsin. 

The two will face at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. Word is, it's sold out. It just might be loud, too...

WOMEN'S SOCCER AT CALIFORNIA

The Cards go into the California match with a 8-1 record. The only loss was to Nebraska. This one will be on ACC Network Extra. (ACCNX) at 4 p.m. EST. 

California is 2-3-3 with wins over LMU and Columbia. losses to Pepperdine, San Diego and North Carolina. They played Cal Baptist, Santa Clara and  Cal Poly to ties. 

Let's hope the Cards women's sports squads can go 3-0 today. 

paulie

Cards FH take Boston college 1-0 -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 RAIN DELAY DOES NOT DETER STICK GIRLS IN 1-0 WIN

You can ask most student-athletes who participate in sports that apply...the rain delay haltage of action is a fact of their sport they probably dislike the most. Everybody gets the premise, safely first and no one wants to see a teammate or an opponent get zapped  by a bolt of electricity.

The dreaded rain delay came into play last night when the Cards Field Hockey squad was facing visiting Boston College. The #16 Cards were going up against the ACC's version of a bear, a squad that was fast, physical and dangerous, and the 2-4 record wasn't really an indication of how good a team the Eagles are. They were playing their fourth, top 25 ranked opponent on the road, and this battle of birds looked to be a tough, defensive struggle on paper. 

If it ever got started...or finished. 

Two rain delays came into play, one that delay the start of the contest and a second one that halted action for 92 minutes in the third period The old adage is..."If rain comes to play, and lightning is in the air...postpone and delay. and get the hell out of there"

As far as offense, it was Chloe Plumb...the senior forward from St.Lawrence College and Ramsgate, England who tailed the only goal, in the fourth quarter. She talks about it, in the video below. 

https://gocards.com/news/2026/9/18/field-hockey-no-16-louisville-tops-boston-college-1-0-in-acc-opener

Justine Sowry also chimed in on the "W": 

https://gocards.com/news/2026/9/18/field-hockey-no-16-louisville-tops-boston-college-1-0-in-acc-opene

I will inject a little commentary here...the interviews that Jared and I used to do post game were a lot clearer, direct and informative. You probably heard that if you listened. 

Louisville plays their "children's aspirin" game of the year next, when they take on St, Joseph's. Take two friends, and call me in the morning...

paulie

Cards WSOC pulls off upset at #6 Stanford -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 PEAT'S SCORE THE DIFFERENCE IN 1-0 WIN

Louisville women's soccer recorded their eighth win in a row last last night with a brilliant defensive effort against #6 Stanford "on the Farm" late last night when Karina Peat scored after just 3:17 played. The score was enough to give the Cardinals the 1-0 win over the Cardinal and bump their record to 8-1. 

It was a classic defensive struggle and Stanford actually out shot Louisville 19.8. The UofL squad totalled five saves and Stanford didn't hv any to save..

The loss dropped Stanford to 6-2 on the season and both their losses have come in conference. It'll definitely bring them down from their #6 ranking. 

A pretty incredible win for Hunter Norton's squad. To travel across the nation, play at a time (10 p.m. EST ) when they are normally getting ready to go to bed is a humongous accomplishment. 

Louisville stays out on the west coast and will visit California next. Louisville is one of three teams in the league at 2-0, along with Wake Forest and North Carolina. 

paule

WKU swept by Cards Volleyball -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS VOLLEYBALL DOWNS WKU IN THREE SETS

A big night for Louisville Volleyball,  down in Bowling Green. The Cards protected their #3 ranking with a straight set sweep of WKU 25-15, 25-19, 25-19. 

SET ONE

Louisville jumped out to a 8-3 lead on the Toppers and extended that to a 15-11 advantage at the media timeout break on a WKU setting error. It was 20-13 Cards on a Chloe Meester kill and the Cards took the win 25-15 on a WKU service error. 

SET TWO

The Hilltoppers scored the first four points of the second set. but UofL battled back to tie it at 5-5. The Cards built an 11-8 lead, but EKU rallied to tie it 12-12. Louisville regained the lead on a 3-0 run and led at 20-16 on a Chloe Meester kill. Louisville was up 24-17 but WKU cut that lead to 24-19 before Meester ended it with a kill to give the set to UofL 25-19.

SET THREE

The Cards took an early 5-2 lead on a Blackshear kill. WKU battled back to get within one at 9-8. The contest was still close at 15-12 after a Payton Petersen service ace, and the Cards increased that to a 19-12 edge. Louisville was ahead 24-17 before WKU made one last run, but a WKU service error gave UofL game, set and match 25-19. 

Blackshear and Chicoine led Louisville in kills with 12 and 11 each. 

Louisville faces UK next...in Lexington.  They'll play Sunday, Sept 20th. in Memorial Coliseum. It's scheduled for a 3 p.m. and ABC will have the feed. 

Cards VB to face WKU at WKU today -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 HILLTOPPERS ARE 5-4 COMING INTO THE LOUISVILLE MATCH

Louisville Volleyball travels to Bowling Green to face WKU today and the contest is, unfortunately..not going to be shown anywhere on cable except for ESPN+. That's right,kiddies..pay per view strikes again. 

The match is scheduled for 6 p.m. central time, which means 7 p.m. in Louisville. 

The Toppers are 5-4 and their losses have come to Oregon, Wright State, Ball State and EKU. They have defeated SEMO twice, Pepperdine, Wright State and James Madison. 

The WKU roster has a local talent that people in Louisville might remember. Camilla Adams came out of Providence...right  across the river from "The Ville".   

I'll probably follow the action on stat tracker and we'll have the report for you in our Thursday edition. 

paulie

Newest Cards WBB assistant coach -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

SELIM ALDAG NEWEST CARDS WBB ASSISTANT 

The Cards have had some very good assistants on their staff in the eff Walz era, some who have gone on to become head coaches at major DI NCAA women's basketball programs. Remember the days pf Cam Newbauer, Sam Purcell, Beth Burns, Adrienne Johnson, Shay Robinson and Amanda Butler have found success (and sometimes...hot water) after leaving Louisville for other schools. 

When you lose an assistant, you search for and hire an assistant. Louisville has announced they have added Selim Aldag to the coaching staff. They didn't have to go far to find him, he was a graduate student at UofL and is now an assistant coach and director of video analytics and graphic design.  

Before he got to Louisville, Selim was coaching with the Turkey Women's National teams. In the summer of 2025, he and Jeff Walz were coaching on the Turkey senior women's national team. 

They were on the team that competed in the 2025 Eurobasket in Greece. The squad finished seventh overall. Elif Istanbulluoglu was on that squad. 

paulie

Cards Fall in Field Hockey, Get the sweep in Volleyball -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 A SUNDAY SPLIT FOR CARDS WOMEN'S ATHLETICS

No, the title does not imply that the UofL women's sports squads went to Dairy Kastle, Dairy Del or Dairy Queen for a delicious, hot summer day treat. What we are inferring here, in specifics, is that Volleyball gained a three-set sweep over Northern Iowa in Houston and Field Hockey fell 4-2 to Iowa in Evanston, Ill. Let's see how it went down. 

CARDS VOLLEYBALL ROLLS ON WITH THE U.N.I .WIN

Louisville Volleyball made short work of UNI in Houston Sunday afternoon with the three set sweep of the Panthers 25-11,25-17, 25-23. Here is the story by set: 

SET ONE

Louisville jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the opening set and was still in control at the set break with a 15-6 advantage. The Cards took the last five points in the set and Chloe Meester delivered the killing blow to end it with the Cards ahead 25-11

SET TWO

UNI and Louisville stayed fairly close early in the set, with the Panthers actually leading 3-2. It was a 9-8 U.N.I lead when Louisville finally hitched the horse to the cart and pulled away to a 12-9 advantage. It was 15-10 Cards at the media break and 20-13 after a Blair Thiebaud kill. U.N.I would get no closer than six the rest of the way and Hannah Kenny's ace service set the final at 25-17 UofL.

SET THREE

The squads were tied at 4-4 early and at 8-8. Louisville went on a 3-0 run but U.N.I rallied to go up 17-15. U.N.I.had a 23-21 edge on the Cards but Louisville ran off the next four points to get the 25-23 win on a Brooke Bultema kill. 

The Cards return to action on Sept. 16th when they visit W.K.U. 

FIELD HOCKEY FALLS TO IOWA 4-2

What's just as tough as having to play #1 in the nation on their home field? Having to play #2 there a day later. That was the scenario for Louisville field Hockey this weekend when Sowry's Cards faced Iowa Sunday after playing M.S.U Saturday .Louisville competed with the Hawkeyes but eventually lost 4-2. 

Iowa (6-0) got on the scoreboard first in the eighth minutes of play but Louisville tied it two minutes later on a penalty corner than went from Chloe Plumb to Jaelyn Perez to Annabel Sep. That's how the first quarter ended...at 1-1. Iowa regained the lead early in the second quarter and they went in ahead at halftime 2-1. 

The Hawkeyes struck first in the third quarter but the Cards climbed back within one with another penalty corner score when it was Plumb who knocked in her shot on goal. It was 3-2 after three quarters and anyone's contest. 

Iowa put the final goal of the contest on the scoreboard early in the fourth quarter and the Cards were unable to counter for the 4-2 loss. Louisville (4-2) plays Boston College next at home on Sept 18th.   

"Strength grows when you choose to use it instead of hide it."  -- Eleanor Roosevelt

paulie

 

Cards Volleyball and Women's Soccer gather wins -- SUNDAY CARDNAL COUPLE

WIDE NET AND KICKIN' CARDS WOMEN POST "W"'s

Success on campus and in Houston for two of the UofL women's athletic squads. Volleyball rolls past Creighton in 4 sets and Women's Soccer opens the ACC slate with a win over Pitt at Lynn Stadium on campus. Let's look at how they did what they did... 

VOLLEYBALL TAKES FOUR SET WIN OVER CREIGHTON

# 5 Louisville Volleyball got strong efforts from Chloe Chicoine (21 kills) and Kaylyssa Blackshear (18 kills) and downed #15 Creighton 25-22, 27-25, 23-25, 25-16 yesterday in their second day in the Rice Invitational. 

SET ONE

The Cards broke out to a 5-1 early lead and shortly followed that up with a 9-3 jaunt to lead 14-6. Creighton, however, staged a rally and fought back to trail by just two at 24-22. Blackshear closed the door on the BlueJays with a kill, though, for the 25-22 first set "W". 

SET TWO

The two squads were close early, Creighton holding a slight advantage at 9-6. UofL rolled off five straight to go up 11-9, but Creighton roared right back at the Cards and grabbed a 15-14 lead at the TV timeout. Chicoine produced four straight kills to tie the affair at 21-21. The Bluejays were at set point at 25-24, but UofL got 3 of the next four points and a Chloe Meester block gave Louisville a 27-25 win

SET THREE

Creighton was unstoppable early and built a 10-3 lead. The Cards rolled off 7-2 response and Creighton answered to make it 15-12 at the break. It was Creighton's turn, and they soared to a 23-17 advantage, Louisville refused to quit, though, and their 6-1 run set the tally at 24-23 Blue Jays. The Iowa based school got the final point of the set and took a closely fought 25-23 win. 

SET FOUR

The Cards opened with a 6-2 run and took a 15-8 lead at the break. Chicoine was a killing machine and Louisville was at 24-13 before Creighton tried a comeback with three straight ponts. The Cards closed this "battle of the birds" with a block and a 25-16 set win. 

Louisville plays again today at 1 p.m. in the fina; day of the Rice Invitational, this time facing Northern Iowa. It's scheduled for a 1 p.m. start and it'll be shown on ESPN+ again. 

SOCCER DEFENDS LYNN WITH 4-2 WIN OVER PITT

Louisville women's soccer got their seventh win in a row with a ACC opening win over Pitt 4-2 Saturday night in Lynn Stadium. As Bob Weir might have belted on stage with the Grateful Dead..."One More Saturday Night.." 

Grateful Dead "One More Saturday Night"

Liza Suydam got the party started for the Cards in the 10th minute of action, when she took a pass from Karina Peat and booted the ball home. Pitt would respond halfway through the first half and that's how it stayed...a 1-1 tie...going into halftime.

The Cards took a 2-1 lead after five minutes of second half play when Peat was on the scoring end, on a nice assist from Grace Maddox. At the 62:19 mark, Louisville made it 3-1 when Amelia Swinarski gathered a missed A.G. Gibson shot off the cage and sent it past the Pitt goalkeeper. 

Pitt benefitted from the rare "own goal" when a Cards player tried to send one out of bounds near the UofL net and put it in the net instead to make it 3-2 UofL. With three minutes left in the contest, Louisville put the final score of the match on the board when Brooklyn Lee fed Liz Eddy for a score and the 4-2 Cards edge held until the end of the game. 

UofL heads to the west coast next to face Stanford on Thursday. 

paulie

Cards VB devourers Rice, FH downed by Northwestern -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 #5 STAYIN' ALIVE IN TEXAS, #14 FALLS SHORT IN EVANSTON

Two of the women's athletic teams we cover here at Cardinal Couple were road tripping yesterday and met with mixed success. We'll catch you uomon the Volleyball victory and the Field Hockey failure below. 

RICE DISPOSED OF IN FOUR

No, Louisville Volleyball was not clearing the table after dinner yesterday in Texas, but they were putting an impressive disposal down on Rice University in the opening day of the Rice Invitational in Houston. 

The Cards won the match in four sets 25-14, 25-17, 24-26 25-12. Rice did show brief sign of life in set three to avoid the sweep, but UofL quickly regrouped and ended the match thanks to the efforts of Chloe Chicoine (14 kills), Kalyssa Blackshear (13 kllls) and Chloe Meester (11 kills) 

SET ONE

UofL led early 9-6, then unleashed a eight-point run to silence any thoughts of a Rice upset set win. That progressed to a 21-9 lead and Louisville kept that pace until they reached 25 points and a 11 point win. 

SET TWO

Rice came out and gave the Cards a stiff battle for about half of the set, tied at 11 with them. Louisville responded to the challenge by unleashing a 9-2 run to be the first team to get to 20 at 20-13. Rice would get no closer than seven the rest of the way and the Cards had a 25-17 set victory. 

SET THREE

Rice was not pleased with the idea of being swept by UofL and stormed back with a 8-4 lead to open the third set. They were still serving strong and getting some nice kills to push that lead to 15-11. The Cards battled back and took a 17-16 lead, but Rice answered back to go up 22-20. Louisville was at set point with a 24-23 edge but Rice took the next three points and the set win 26-24.

SET FOUR

The Cards came out strong to start the set with a 6-0 lead. Rice would briefly respond to make it 7-4 but UofL pushed that Rice response aside with a 4-0 run that made the tally 11-4 with a couple of Chicoine kills. The Cards continued to play strong and won going away with a 14-8 finish and the 25-14 set win to end the match. 

The Cards will face #18 Creighton today in day two action of the Rice Invitational and the squads will first serve at  2 p.m. This one will be on ESPN +. 

FIELD HOCKEY FALLS AT NORTHWESTERN

The battle of the 4-0 squads went to the home team yesterday as #1 Northwestern battled their way to a 3-1 win over # 18 Louisville.

UofL did manage a fourth quarter score. 

The Wildcats registered the first score of the contest at the five minute mark and were able to add an additional goal in the first 30 minutes for a 2-0 halftime advantage.

Louisville did manage a fourth quarter score against Northwestern, trailing 3-0 when Lauren Masters set up Tyler Everslage with five minutes left to play.  

The Cards were outshot 18-10 and had just five penalty corners, compared to Northwestern's seven. 

The Cards return to action against #2 Iowa on Sunday. 

paulie

Big days ahead for Field Hockey and Volleyball today -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 RICE AWAITS VOLLEYBALL AND NORTHWESTERN HOSTS FIELD HOCKEY

SEPT 11TH is a day most of us will never forget, but to maybe add a little diversion to the horrible thoughts involving that day, Louisville Volleyball and Field Hockey will be on the road  at tournaments. 

# 14 Louisville Field Hockey travels to Evanston, Ill to face #1 ranked Northwestern in a 3 p.m. match that will be shown on the Big10+ network. Both are undefeated at 4-0, and the Wildcats have downed VCU 2-0, Lafayette 1-0 in Evanston, Duke 4-3 in Chestnut Hill, MA in overtime and Boston College there as well, 2-0. 

The Wildcats are #1 ranked in the NCAA Coaches poll and received 220 votes. 

#5 Volleyball travels to Houston to go up against unranked Rice in the Rice Invitational. They'll also face Creighton and Northern Iowa while in town for the three days. 

                                        ***********************************************

Most of you who read this column will still remember where they were on 9/11/01. I was working at a salesman for the now defunct Wallingford Coffee Company and was making sales calls out in the Prospect, KY area when it happened. .I had walked into a pharmacy to see if they wanted to carry our 12 oz bagged coffee line and several people were gathered around a TV set up on the cosmetics counter. I walked over and asked a young man what the attraction was and he looked at me and told me that New York City was under attack. I stood there for about a hour watching with the others and then left. I had an attractive young woman ask me if I wanted to go to her house and watch it unfold on television...she did not want to be alone today ... but I politely declined the offer  .I finally decided today would not be a good day to sell coffee...and went home and watched the rest of the day unfold on TV. 

paulie

 

Cards VB downs Missouri in 4 sets -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 DIFFERENT VENUE, SAME RESULTS

Louisville Volleyball was in their second home last night, the spacious KFC YUM Center, to face Missouri, and ...although it is vastly oversized for the 5,000 or so who showed up, it was a rollicking venue for Cards fans who can never acquire seats in the on campus LNFCUA. 

The school needs a 5-7,000 arena on campus. Those wide open spaces adjacent to soccer's Lynn Stadium is there, but since the program is 30 million dollar in debt. that lot is probably going to stay vacant or a place to rent out for Ford to park excessive cars. 

But, enough on financial woes, let's talk wide net, shall we? 

The Cards won in four sets -- 25-21, 22-25, 25-15, 25-17 --and looked pretty dominant in doing so. Missouri isn't ranked yet, like the #5 Cards are...but they are a squad that could pull some serious upsets come tournament time. Let's see how the VolleyCards got this one done. 

SET ONE

It was 3-3 early before the Cards went on a 7-1 run. Missouri did battle battle with their own The Cards led at the TV break 15-11 and maintained the advantage the rest of the set and got the 25-21 win.

SET TWO

Missouri fell behind early at 7-2 but battled back at tied things at 11-11-  That went to 15-15 before The Tigers built a 21-17 edge. Louisville could not recover from it and dropped the second set 25-21.

SET THREE

It was "All Cads, all the time" in set three. The early 7-1 early expanded to 15-3 at the media timeout. Missouri never gave up the fight the rest of the set, but time and points did them in, with the Cards romping 25-15.

SET FOUR

The Cards continued the beatdown in the final set, jumping out to an 8-1 advantage. They pushed that to a 15-5 lead at the pause and were able to coast in with a 25-17 win to take the set and match. 

Next up, UofL heads to Houston for the Rice invitational. No, it's not a three day dining spree featuring the tasty grains varieties, it'll be volleyball with UofL facing Rice, Creighton and Northern Iowa. That begins on Friday, Set 11th., when UofL will play the Owls. 

 

Field Hockey Unbeaten at 4-0 -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Field Hockey unbeaten going into difficult stretch

They have stepped on the field four times this season for contests and, so far, have walked off with four wins. Miami (OH), Indiana, St. Louis and Michigan St. Although only one (Miami) was ranked in the top 20, the wins were still quality ones and showed that Justine Sowry's squad is equally adapt at road wins and wins at Trager. 

The road is considerably tougher, though...in the next couple of contests. A trip to Evanston, IL to face Northwestern on Friday Sept 11th will put the Cards up against the #1 team in the NCAA DI Coaches Poll. And, two days later, the Cards will face #2 in the nation Iowa on the Northwestern Field. Both opponents are 4-0 on the season. 

Louisville is currently ranked #14 in the DI poll.  That...in itself... is a bit puzzling since there are eight schools ahead of them in the latest D poll who have at least one loss already and two of them (UNC and Duke) have two losses. Parity? Nope, such coaches voting without researching. 

Lauren Masters

The Cards have put up 11 goals in their four wins and allowed just two. Four Cardinals are tied for the scoring lead with two goals each...Gigi Edwards, Annabel Sep, Tyler Everslage and Lauren Masters.

The goalkeeping effort of  Emily Young needs to be recognized as well. She has had 23 stops in four games. Her backup, Katie Hume has one stop in just 15 minutes of acton this season. 

We hope the Cards can pull off a couple of upsets in the next two contests. Playing #1 and #2 in the nation back to back with just one day of rest in between is certainly a task I doubt any DI coach would be ecstasic about...but with the sometimes eyebrow-raising scheduling assignments being put out there these days, I suppose you just tell your squad to play the best they can and never give up the fight. 

paulie

Meester, Cabello Earn Honors for #5 VolleyCards -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 MEESTER ACC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

I just wanna know if there are any more like her back home in Mt .Vernon, Iowa and can the Cards kindly reserve their future services if there are? 

After sitting a season observing and learning, Chloe has hit the Cards Volleyball courts like an impending hurricane slams into a tropical island. 

The 6'3" sophomore outside hitter could easily win a beauty pageant if she were to take a notion to enter, but on the volleyball court she is a scary, menacing Godzilla that I think Blue Oyster Cult wrote a song about...foreshadowing her dominance and skills . 

In six matches, she has 67 kills and five service aces. To switch the Buck Dharma lyrics around to tailor the subject. 

"With a purposeful and a terrible sound...she slams the orb into the center of the crowd. Helpless opponents in D1 games scream "My God!" as she side outs on them." 

If you see her headed your way on the sidewalk, move to the grass or turn around and take a different path. Ask Texas. In Nashville she led the Cards with 13 kills and posted a .565 hitting average. The Horns got hooked, in straight sets and probably walked out of Bridgestone Arena like a cartoon character with the circle of question mark over the head. The ACC award of offensive Player of the Week is well deserved. 

Louisville Volleyball has won their last four matches...each one in three game sweeps. 

And, a big reason for Meester's success has been Navelis Cabello. The Cards setter and team captain provides the bread for the outside hitters to turn into toast. She was the ACC Volleyball Freshman of the Year in 2025 and 62 assists against Marquette in the NCAA Tournament last year. And, she is also the ACC Co-Setter of the Week. 

There's no telling how far this squad could go this season, but if you ask them, a NCAA Title is the prime objective.  

Don't count them out. 

paulie

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