Monday Cardinal Couple-- Cards Down ND in Volleyball

Soccer Drops One to Boston College

Boston College got on the board early with a goal in the fifth minute to take the lead over Louisville's women at Lynn Stadium.  That's all it would take for BC to go back to Boston with the win.  The goal was scored by Hayley Down after she dribbled her way through most of the Louisville defense.

Boston College came out strong and Louisville played scared in the first half, according to coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes.  At the end of the first half, BC had out shot Louisville 4-2, as well as holding a 3-1 advantage in corners.  Kari Weinland did make the BC goalkeeper earn her position with a long shot from the right side of the goal, but the BC goalkeeper made a leaping save.

The Cards did come out more aggressively in the second half and had a promising play in the 58th minute when freshman Darby Schwarz got a pass forward to Weinland, but here shot one-on-one against the BC goalkeeper sailed high.  By the end of the second half, UofL had improved their stats to outshooting BC 9-8, and in corners 4-3.  Alas, in the most important stat, BC maintained the 1-0 lead in goals scored.

Cards Soccer will be back in action Wednesday evening, the 15th, at 7pm against Northern Kentucky.  The match will be at Lynn Stadium as well.

Volleyball Powers Back Against Notre Dame

After a disappointing loss Friday to one of the top teams in the country in Florida State, the Volleyball Cards came back with a decisive win over a familiar foe in Notre Dame.

This Notre Dame team is just not a very good team this year.  They are 4-13, and only 1-5 in conference.  Only winless (in conference) Syracuse keeps The Irish off the bottom rung of the conference standings.  Notre Dame was coming off of another loss at Pitt on Friday.

This match was never in very much doubt.  Starting out with an 11-1 lead in the first set, it was clear early on which team was the better team.  ND was able to put together a 6-1 run, but the Cards were able to settle back down and got back to playing in their system and got back to scoring, winning the first set 25-14.

The second set was a closer affair, though still not in much doubt.  Notre Dame's closest approach to the lead (beyond the first point of the set) involved several traded points from 10-9 through 12-11 before The Cards got three straight points to get some separation and roll on to the victory of 25-19.

The third and final set was much like the first with a 6-0 lead being attained by Louisville before Notre Dame was able to even get on the board.

Everyone played for The Cards in this one, with Gabbie Wiley getting on the floor in the second set, while Brooke Betts, and Eleni Georgiafandis came in at the end of the third set.  Leni got to serve for match point thanks to a Notre Dame attacking error and was credited with a dig.

Overall, I would say that The Cards played well in Volleyball this weekend, despite the loss on Friday to Florida State.  There were times in both matches when our passing became a bit ragged and as has been the case all season long, the results are seen in scoring.  A real positive is that, in both matches, after hitting those rocky patches passing, that the team was able to settle back down and get back into an in-system groove.  Janelle Jenkins continues to play amazing volleyball, wherever she may be on the court and whatever roles she's filling at the time.  Maggie Dejong has come back off of her time injured and is playing well, and complements Tess Clark in the other middle spot.  Clark continues to absolutely dominate the middle in her half of the rotation, including scoring the first three of four Louisville points of the match, with the other being a Notre Dame service error.

Volleyball is back in action Friday at Syracuse at 7pm.  Syracuse is last in The ACC with an overall record of 7-11, and no wins in conference.

JMCA


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Thursday Cardinal Couple -- Previewing the ACC

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Previewing the ACC:  Boston College


Louisville joins the ACC in July. We've been getting e-mails and inquiries on how the women's sports programs at the various conference member schools are doing. So, we decided to take a look. We're going to do these in alphabetical order...so Boston College starts us off. 

Boston College or "BC" as it is often referred to is a private, Catholic Jesuit college located in Chestnut Hill, MA...a suburb of Boston. It is not related to Boston University. It is not related to the comic strip named BC or the headache powder named BC. BC is also a common initialling for the term "before Christ". Like Christ, some of the BC women's athletic squads have been crucified and nailed to the cross. We doubt there will be a resurrection. 

The school was founded in 1863 and has 9088 undergrad and 4898 graduate students as of 2014. 

Boston College's nickname is the Eagles and their mascot is known as Baldwin the Eagle. His name derived from the combination of the words "bald" and "win". Baldwin the Eagle is not related to the acting brothers...but is widely considered to have superior acting skills.

BC joined the ACC in 2005, leaving the Big East. They play in the Atlantic Division of the conference. Notable athletics include Doug Flutie, NFL star and sports commentator and Matt Ryan, current quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons. 

Other notable alumni are John Kerry, former presidential candidate and Senator and Tip O'Neill, former Speaker of the House. 

The Eagles compete in 16 women's sports. Basketball, Cross Country, Fencing, Field Hockey, Golf, Ice Hockey, Lacrosse, Rowing, Sailing, Skiing, Soccer, Softball, Swimming and Diving, Tennis, Track and Field and Volleyball. It is doubtful UofL will add fencing, ice hockey , sailing or skiing so they can compete with BC in these sports...

How did they do this year? We'll look at eight of the sports that the Cards could face them in:

WBB:  BC went 12-19 overall and 3-13 in conference play.

The Cards are 1-1 against them lifetime, losing to them in Louisville on 12-28-85 by a score of 74-68 and winning on a neutral court 61-60 on 12-8-91. They appear to be the ACC's version of Houston in women's college hoops.

FIELD HOCKEY:  The Eagles were 12-8 overall and 1-5 in conference play. They did not make the NCAA Tournament, the only ACC team in 2013 that didn't. Louisville head field hockey coach Justine Sowry coached at UMass before taking the Louisville job...but we're not sure what her lifetime record is against BC.

LACROSSE:  Boston College is 15-5 so far and went 3-4 in conference play. They are still alive in the NCAA Tournament but face powerhouse Syracuse on Saturday. Syracuse is one of the top seeds in the tourney.

ROWING:  BC will be competing in the ACC Tournament on May 17th. They have home matches on the Charles River and won a couple of regular season regattas there. Which leads to the query on why Louisville can't have regattas on the Ohio River? Or Beargrass Creek? Or at the Ralph Wright ?

SOCCER:  The Eagles were 13-10-1 overall and 6-6-1 in conference. They made the NCAA Tournament and got to the 4th. round before losing to Florida State. Louisville has never faced BC in women's soccer. Probably a good thing that they didn't this year.

SOFTBALL:  Boston College went 30-23 on the season and posted a 12-14 conference record. They lost their first round ACC Tournament game to Notre Dame 3-0. They were not selected for the NCAA Tournament.

TENNIS:  Overall, they finished with a 14-10 record and were 6-8 in conference. We're pretty sure Fellerhoff and Shine would have beat them.

VOLLEYBALL:  The Eagles wide-netters had a rough season with a 9-23 record and 1-19 in the ACC. They appear to be the Cincinnati of the ACC in volleyball. I guess eagles probably can't set or spike so well because of the talons and wings...

Paulie Remembers:

My favorite BC memory is when they brought their football team to the old Cardinal Stadium back in 1990. The Howard Schnellenberger Cards were finishing up a great season and were 8-1-1 when the Eagles came to town on Nov. 10th.

BC caused quite a commotion at halftime when they sent their punter and placekickers out to warm up while the UofL Marching Band was still performing. 

The Crunch Zone Crazies gave the Beantown boys the business and they beat a hasty retreat back to the locker room until the band was finished.

Louisville won that final game of the regular season 17-10 in front of a sold out Cardinal Stadium and went on to win the Fiesta Bowl 50 days later over Alabama 34-7.

paulie