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 a fter 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 te 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