Volleyball survives in five at Cincy -- Women's Golf at Franklin -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS OVERCOME JORDAN THOMPSON'S 41 KILLS TO WIN

It was a spike-fest in Cincinnati yesterday, the Louisville Volleyball team winning in five sets 25-18, 27-29, 25-23, 24-26 and 15-13 against a unwilling-to-quit Bearcat squad. 

Louisville (7-3) weathered the ferocious attack of Cincy senior Jordan Thompson and her 41 kills, countered with a career-high 30 kills from Melanie McHenry and took the battle of I-71 in their final non-conference match of the regular season. 

One wondered how UofL would bounce back from the three-set drubbing in Lexington Friday night from UK. The Cards appeared to have shaken that defeat off in the first set, pushing a 13-11 lead to 19-11 behind the steady serving of Aiko Jones. The Bearcats would get no closer than seven the rest of the first set and McHenry's six kills led Louisville to the 25-18 set win. 

UC wasn't ready to toss in the towel, however. 

The Thompson-led Bearcats kept UC close in set two, took a 11-10 lead and led 23-22 before a Cardinal timeout. No one had amassed more than a three-point lead in the set and the Cards held a 25-24 lead before UC scored twice and eventually grabbed the victory 29-27 behind Thompson's powerful arm. 

The Cardinal emerged from the break very strong and dominated early third set action at 7-3 before the Queen City spikers forced their way back to a 12-12 tie. A 5-2 run pushed Louisville back into the lead after a Cardinal timeout. UC, though, battled back to even things up at 18-18. Tori Dilfer's service ace gave UofL some breathing room at 21-19 and McHenry kills were responsible for the Cards 23rd and 24th points. A UC hitting error end the wild third set at 25-23 in favor of Coach Dani Busboom's Cards.

Once again, the Bearcats weren't ready to surrender. 

Cincinnati was the aggressor in set four and forged to an early 11-8 advantage before the Cards got a timeout and returned to the floor. UofL steadied the ship at 11-11 and completed the 7-0 run to soar to a 15-11 edge. It was the Bearcats turn to snap off a streak and they did just that to tie the set at 18-18. UC would continue the assault behind Thompson and she got them to set-point with two straight kills at 22-24. The Cards responded with a Jones kill to even it up at 24-24, but UC called on Thompson again...she delivered a kill and the Cards had a hitting error to give the Bearcats the 26-24 set win. 

To the fifth set we go. 

Using Thompson's incredible swing, the Bearcats battled Louisville with intensity and the teams were knotted at 12-12 before McHenry delivered a kill for a Cardinal edge at 13-12. UC committed a hitting error to give the Cards a two point lead, but here came Thompson again, with a resounding kill, to make it 14-13. It was Emily Scott providing the winner for UofL, delivering a kill that UC couldn't respond to...the Bearcats helplessly watching a dig attempt fall silently to the floor in open space. 


The frenzied crowd of around 1000 sat in shocked belief, trying to come to grips with the tough defeat. 

Cards win! 15-13.

A fifth set that could have gone either way. The "Five in Fifth" (referring to UC's Fifth-Third Arena) ended up falling in Louisville's "W" column but the Cards may have faced the best individual effort from an opponent they'll see all season and have to feel fortunate to head home victors in this classic.  

NUMBERS OF NOTE

Louisville Kills: (64) McHenry 30, Jones 16, Nena Mbonu 8
Cincy kills: (76) Thompson 41, Maria Mallon 13, Damjana Cabakapa 9

Louisville Blocks:  Anna Stevenson 7, Emily Scott 5, Tori Dilfer 4
The Cards dominated in the block stat 16-3. 

FOR THE RECORD BOOKS

Thompson's 41 kills came within four of tying an NCAA record for a 25-point match setting. The 41 were her second-highest of her career, she totaled 44 against Wichita State last year.  Thompson set a record number of kills by an individual against the Cardinals. 

McHenry set a personal record with her 30 kills. 


If the Cards back defensive line woke up last night from nightmares of seeing #23 Jordan Thompson hovering over their beds getting ready to slam one down...it would be unsurprising. She put on a performance that Michael Jordan would have approved of. 

Expecting our Volleyball guru Jeff McAdams will chime in later on the match, he was in Cincinnati watching the action. Whether he got any game action photos or not remains to be seen. He's usually too busy cheering. 

The VolleyCards come home to start ACC play next weekend when they host NC State on Sept. 27th at 7 p.m. and North Carolina on Sept. 29th at 1 p.m. 



WOMEN'S GOLF FINISHES NINTH IN TENNESSEE

Lauren Hartlage led the Cards on the Vanderbilt Legends Club - North Course for the third straight day in the Mason Rudolph Championships with a 1-over-par 73.

The Cards finished ninth out of 15 in the tournament. 

Hartlage finished the Franklin, Tennessee event tied for 14th. She recorded a 54 hole score of 218. 

Mairead Martin toured the 54 holes with a 223. Lauren "Tibby" Thibodeau completed the three days one back of Martin at 224. One back of Thibodeau was Hana Ryskova and Delaney Shah tied for 56th place at 228.

Have a marvelous Monday!


paulie
xxxxx 

Cincinnati being naughty?...Softball loses to BC 3-1 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

QUESTIONS OVER BEARCATS WBB AND VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULING

The University of Cincinnati's Fifth-Third Arena...home to both Bearcat basketball squads and the volleyball team...is undergoing a major renovation. So, when the 2017-18 season rolls around for the sports, they will be displaced from their home court. For Mick Cronin's men's team, the new venue will be at Northern Kentucky's new built BB&T Arena...a facility that holds a little over 9,000 people. The men average 8865 a game, so it will be tight in there for some games...but doable. 

The women's squad, under Jamelle Elliott, and volleyball team will perform in the St. Ursula Academy high school gym...which holds around 1000. A high school facility. The WBB Bearcats averaged about 800 a game last year..but had three occasions where they pulled in over 1000...including the UConn game that brought over 4400 into the Fifth-Third Arena. Volleyball averaged over 650 per home contest and had two events that drew over 1000. 

Here's the rub of the grin. UC Athletic director Mike Bohn made the decision to downgrade the women without consulting head women's basketball coach Elliott or head Volleyball coach Molly Alvey. Elliott states: 

"I was told this is what it's going to be. The decision is out of my control." 

Supposedly, the women's squads could not be fit into the BB&T because of the complexities of scheduling, practice...so on and so forth. 

Balderdash.

Anyone ever head of double-headers? I would think that the NKU women's basketball and volleyball programs would gladly share court space with the UC gals and a combined night of two matches/games might significantly drive up attendance at BB&T...the Norse brought in around 300 for Volleyball and almost 1800 for hoops. 

Let's call this what it really is. Inequality. 

Cozy new temp home for UC WBB? Or return to high school?

St. Ursula is about two miles from the UC campus...which was pointed out when the designation of facility was made. Admission to all UC WBB and Volleyball events will be free....as it was last year at Fifth-Third.  Parking is free as well. 
That's nice...but it doesn't take the sting out of the discrimination. 

A college athlete accepts a scholarship under certain conditions and atmospheres. For some, the venue of participation is important. These 30+ student athletes that comprise the UC WBB and Volleyball rosters are basically being sent back to high school for a year. Other venues were supposedly checked out but St. Ursula supposedly was the best fit. 

I say, fire the seamstress. 

St. Ursula does hold more that where the Cards Volleyball squad will play next season, though...Cardinal Arena. North Carolina State WBB and Volleyball spent a season at Broughton High School's Holiday Gym in Raleigh, NC a couple of seasons ago when Reynolds Coliseum went under renovation...but there are differences there. Holiday Gym held over 3,000. The women's didn't share Reynolds with the men..it was their own specific facility. 

Another slap, or roundhouse punch...if you will at Title IX. 

BB&T Arena on the NKU campus. Guys get this option. 

The argument is this, as well.  
It is legal, not to mention fair, to give the men a better facility because they bring in more revenue and sells more ticket? 

Absolutely not. 

How much solace can the women student-athlete take in knowing they by sacrificing their home court for a year will lead to the eventual betterment of their facility in the long run..when you're not getting the same "relocation benefits" as the men? We have this nice new SUV for you to drive, guys...while your car is under repair. Haul out the 1991 Toyota Pickup for the girls. 

This, from a school that ran off Bob Huggins and has never regained basketball prowess or success since. From a school, much like Louisville, with an inner-city campus and community that has managed to maintain a viable entity in competing with a larger "state school" up the Interstate a few hours. Stumbling into the prom with their tux on backwards and bringing a goat for a date. 

UC...shame on you for the slight. Even in 2017, women's athletes are still being treated as second-class citizens in Cincinnati. Spin it however you want, Mike Bohn...but you're basically sitting baby in the corner here. 

And you wanted to be considered for the ACC ?  


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SOFTBALL FALLS 3-1 TO BOSTON COLLEGE

Lackabatitis. 

It isn't an official word...but it describes the situation yesterday in Chestnut Hill, MA...where the softball Cards fell to Boston College 3-1. 

Four hits for Louisville. Two of them by Jordan McNary...who has been cleared from concussion protocol and who was responsible for the only RBI in the game. McNary was also poised to be a run-scorer as well later in the game. A bunt turned into a chance for advancement on a throwing error but McNary was tagged out when trying to stretch it out to third base. 

One inning later,  BC's Jordan Chimento broke the 1-1 tie with a two run tater to left. 

Credit strong-arm Maryssa Becker for doing all she could from the circle. Three runs allowed would normally get a "W" next to her name in the typical Cardinal boxscore. This was not the typical Cardinal offensive performance, though...Louisville having trouble against pitcher Jessica Dreswick. The Boston College pitcher seemed to get better against the Cards the more she faced them. On Saturday she held Louisville to two runs after giving up five to them on Friday. 

Louisville heads home to prepare for a Wednesday night "Battle of the Bluegrass" against UK. And, to research a cure for "lackabatitis". 


paulie
xxxxx

Victory for Volleyball -- Friday Cardinal Couple

Volleyball Gets it Done in the Queen City

The UofL wide netters got the job done in Cincinnati last night, winning the match against Cincinnati 3-1. Another example of offense by committee with Maya McClendon getting 12, Tess Clark with 11, Janelle Jenkins put down 13, and Erin Fairs rounds out the double-digit kills with 11. Jasmine Bennett made her first collegiate start, plays significant time, and ends the evening with 7 kills.

This one started off a bit rough for the Cards. They started out with a good lead, but Cincy cut it back down to within one point. The Cards went on to win 25-20, but I thought UofL looked a bit sluggish and flat. Despite that, they still managed to execute on plays fairly well.

The wheels really fell off the cart at the start of the second set, with the Cards not able to execute on seemingly the most basic of plays. They were able to get back into the game and even get into a little bit of a lead approaching the 25 point mark. They couldn't quite maintain that lead, though, as Cincinnati came back to tie it up and push the set into extra point. It was a back and forth affair for a while, and when UofL ran out of substitutions, the lineup included Katie George and Lindsay Palmer next to each other in the rotation. When they came around the rotation and ended up in the front row together, the Bearcats took advantage of the lack of hitting and blocking and finished the set out 30-28.

After what was without a doubt a...let's call it "spirited"...set break speech by Coach Kordes, The Cards came out raring to play and looked like a new team. To be sure to avoid the out-of-substitution situation of the second set, Molly Sauer began serving for Tess Clark, leaving Jasmine Bennett in to serve instead. And, while Bennett probably isn't going to win us many points at the service line, she also didn't cost us any in service errors. The newly reinvigorated Kordes Krew cruised to an easy 25-11 third set win.

The fourth set was more of the same with the Cards playing good team ball, with Katie George feeding the hot hands...mostly Tess Clark and Janelle Jenkins...when possible, but also distributing the ball well to others to keep Cincy from being able to really key on one player. UofL claimed the fourth set, 25-15, and with it, the match.

So why did Jasmine Bennett get so much playing time? Well, Maggie DeJong, our other typical starting middle, didn't dress because of having had an injection of a healing agent that requires four days of not playing or practicing. She should be back in the lineup Sunday at Kentucky. Bennett took advantage of the situation and played well and even claims the highest hitting percentage of the night (seven on 12 attempts with only a single miscue for .500), but I expect she didn't take away the starting position from Maggie.

Other stats of note, Tess Clark had her usual big night with .474 hitting with 11 on 19 attempts and two errors. Janelle Jenkins hit .267 with 13 of 30 and 5 mistakes. Maya McClendon got 12 out of 31 with 5 mistakes for .226. And, OK, technically Katie George had a higher hitting percentage on a mistake free three of five for .600, but that's not really a fair comparison. The other hitting of note came from freshman Aniah Philo, who wasn't central to the offense, but was there when needed and came up with four key hits on 11 attempts and only a single miscue.

Defense was also well rounded, led by Katie George with 13 digs, and a huge single block after a Cards overpass to win what, by rights should've been an easy Cincy point. McClendon got four digs, a big solo block and helped of four blocks. Roxanne McVey had eight digs, Tess Clark got in on 3 blocks and had a solo, Jenkins got in on three blocks and had six digs, Bennett really did have a fine night at the net participating in five blocks, Molly Sauer had nine digs, Erin Fairs shoveled 10 and helped on a pair of blocks, Lindsay Palmer got a pair of digs, and Aniah Philo again wasn't flashy but got six big digs when they were really needed.

We saw Gabbie Wiley play a brief stint in the second set to bolster the then-floundering defense, and redshirt freshman Kali Eaken came in for some mop-up play in the fourth set to get a few minutes running the offense at setter.

Coach Molley Alvey continues to rebuild this Cincinnati team from an almost complete reboot of the program four years ago. They are playing respectable volleyball at this point and their 7-3 record reflects it. They aren't playing the cream of the national volleyball crop in the AAC and their non-conference schedule, but they are playing decent teams and getting better all the time.

JMcA

Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Volleyball remains undefeated in AAC

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Volleyball sweeps Bearcats on Senior Night in YUM!

The VolleyCards may only be a participant in the American Athletic Conference, AAC, The American or whatever you want to call it for a year...but they well may be setting a record that no future volleyball teams in the league will ever match.

They've played 16 conference games. They've won all 16. It's the type of dominance that Louisville football hoped they would achieve in the conference this season. It's a goal for both basketball teams on campus to try and mirror. Sandy Pearsall will hope for similar results this spring...but, for now...Anne Kordes' wide net killer are "all and 0" in the league.

The Year of the Cardinal is alive and strong in the YUM! practice facility, Cardinal Arena and the KFC YUM! Center when it comes to serve, dig, set and kill.

Cincinnati was the latest victim of the Cardinal blitzkrieg Friday night in the KFC YUM! Center. It was senior night and senior outside hitter Emily Juhl gave the fans a show to observe with 13 kills in the 25-12, 25-15, 25-22 sweep by UofL.

We've read our columnist Jeff McAdams lofty praise and kudos for the Louisville native and she earned all the accolades and more Friday night...along with senior teammates Brooke Mattingly, Caitlin Welch, Hannah Kvitle and Carly Sahagian.

The first game was tightly contested until Louisville used a 11-1 run to break open a 7-6 score and command a 18-7 lead. The Cards got back-to-back service aces from Welch and Mattingly's improbable flip shot over the net while on her knees was the final nail in the 13-point win.

UofL took a 5-1 advantage early in the second game but UC rallied to get within two at 12-10. Louisville responded with 12 of the next 16 points to put it out of reach and Mattingly
produced the game winner again to give Anne Kordes a ten point triumph.

The Bearcats roared out to a 5-1 lead in the final game but Juhl and crew responded by winning 12 of the next 15 points to build a 13-8 advantage. Cincy stayed close the rest of the way...down by two when Emily Juhl slammed home the game, set and match winner.

Louisville plays their final two in cozy Cardinal Arena before awaiting their NCAA verdict. UConn comes in for the beatdown Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

The AAC didn't get around to scheduling a conference tournament this season. Can you really blame them for not subjecting the Cardinal opponents to more abuse and slaughter? The other nine schools participating in the leagues' volleyball schedule must be getting awfully tired of the Cardinal set and kill dominance.

What started out as a learning curve with a few bumps and bruises has turned into a season that's become a very speedy expressway with  the ladies who hang out on Floyd Street behind the wheel.

Although the Cards are ranked 30th. in the latest NCAA poll, consider this...the squad has only lost one match in two months. Twenty opponents have faced them and UofL has hung a "L" on nineteen of them. Kentucky (who defeated the Cards very early in the season on two horrible SEC officiating calls during the final stages of the fifth game in Lexington) is 6th. in the nation.

Bring on the rematch...NCAA. Time for a little payback.



-paulie

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Volleyball rolling through the Big East

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

***********SPECIAL REPORT**************

LOUISVIILE VOLLEYBALL WINS THE BIG EAST TOURNAMENT!!!!

The Cards are the 2012 BIG EAST Volleyball Tournament Champions with a straight set defeat of Marquette 25-19, 25-23, 26-24. Both Lola Arlansbekova and Gwen Rucker with double-digits kills in the win! The NCAA Selection Show is next Sunday at 4 p.m. on ESPNU . We'll have a full recap of the action later here at CARDINAL COUPLE.

CONGRATULATIONS to the 2012 BIG EAST Regular Season and Tournament champs....your UofL VOLLEYBALL TEAM!

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( Jeff McAdams gives us the who,what,where,how and why of Cardinal Volleyball as they roll through the BIG EAST Tournament)

 

Big East Tournament recap

The Louisville Volleyball team has shown no signs of weakness to speak of in the Big East tournament so far.  With sweeps of first St. Johns and now Cincinnati in dominant performances, they have advanced to the Big East title match to be played Sunday at the Al McGuire center in Milwaukee, WI.

Cincinnati defeated UConn in the 4 seed vs 5 seed match to meet up with the Cards in the semifinals.

The Cards will now match up against Marquette University who handled the USF Bulls in the other semifinal match to make also make it the Big East Championship.  South Florida provided the only upset of the tournament so far as they overcame Notre Dame in their quarter-final matchup.  Marquette beat 7th seeded Pitt in their opening match.

So, the stage is set for UofL to achieve the double Big East championship...both regular season and tournament...all they have to do is beat Marquette.  They've done so twice in the past, but...of course, there's always that age-old wisdom that its hard to be a reasonably competitive team 3 times in a season.

The match will be televised on ESPNU at 2pm EST.

Quarterfinals

The match against St. Johns was never really in any doubt.  When the score hit 7-1 in the first set, and UofL already had 4 blocks, I figured it wasn't going to be too much of a match.  Paul already mentioned Gwen Rucker's hitting percentage in his recap yesterday, but she also had an amazing 9 blocks...almost a double-double with blocks.  That's kind of like getting a double-double in basketball with one of the stats being steals.  It happens occasionally, but its pretty rare, and if you see it happen, you've usually watched a really amazing match...or really amazingly awful match if you're cheering for the other team.

On the other side of the semi-final bracket...played before the UofL match...Cincinnati and UConn engaged in a great struggle, taking the match to 5 sets before Cincinnati was able to pull out the win over the Huskies. It's always great to have your opponent go to 5 sets in the match before they play you as the compressed tournament format of a match played every day, leaves little recovery time from a long, hard-fought match like that.

Semifinals

One of the classic matchups of teams in the Big East Tournament is UofL vs Cincinnati.  These two teams are usually among the class of the conference, and frequently meet in the Final match.  Cincinnati has been off their game this season, however and only came up with the 4 seed, putting them on the same side of the bracket with us.

Again, the match wasn't terribly competitive, with the first two sets coming in at 25-16.  Gwen Rucker continued her impressive play, hitting .765 (15 of 17, with 2 errors) with good contributions from others.  This UofL team just has so many weapons, it can be any player that steps up to have a good match, and sometimes several do.

Cincinnati started to pull it together a bit towards the end, making a real competition of the last set, forcing the Cards to come from behind to take the set and match at 25-23.

Finals

So its down to Marquette and UofL.  This will, of course, be the third matchup of these teams this season, with UofL coming out victorious in both previous meetings.

Marquette is a team to be reckoned with an RPI ranking of 33.  While UofL has demonstrated that they are the better team in general, you still have to play the game to see who comes out victorious on this particular day.

Around the NCAA

An epic battle occurred this week between Oregon and Washington.  #6 Washington won a slight upset over #4 Oregon, with a fifth set score of 25-23!  The normal 5th set winning score is 15.  It doesn't really have much implications for rankings, but I would've loved to have seen that match.

We'll likely have a change in the #1 position this week as #1 Stanford lost to #8 Southern Cal.

Otherwise no upsets yet that would give Louisville the opportunity to move up another spot in the coaches poll.  There's still another day of play in this week, though, so its still possible.

At this point, I don't know all of the details of the math behind the RPI, but it seems very unlikely that we could drop enough with the remaining two matches to not host 1st and 2nd rounds.  Losing to Marquette wouldn't hurt us much in the RPI, but losing to Belmont...who upset Morehead State to claim the OVC's automatic NCAA bid, as well as the opportunity to play Louisville next weekend at Cardinal Arena...would hurt, I don't think it would do so enough to drop us out of hosting range.

It does torpedo my idea of having a sub-regional of all Kentucky teams at the KFC Yum! Center for the first and second rounds, though.  I was kind of hoping for first round matches to be Louisville vs Morehead, and Western Kentucky vs Kentucky.  With Morehead not getting the bid, its quite possible that Belmont will get sent to Knoxville and the land of orange, and another team would get brought in to Louisville, likely from further north...like Purdue.  The selection committee can do just about anything, of course, but Louisville vs WKU, and Purdue vs Kentucky, for first round matchups could be what happens.  I suppose it would be better to play Purdue on our home turf in the sub-regionals, than to advance and play them on their home turf in the regionals, though.

All this ultimately just amounts to speculation, of course, and we'll just have to wait and see what transpires...there could be other shakeups, yet.

( Best of luck to the VolleyCards...as they look for the BIG EAST Tournament title today against the Golden Eagles in Milwaukee! As mentioned, the Cards are on ESPNU at 2:00 )

Finally, today we leave you with the "Three Stooges Moment" in college football this year video. Watch at the 45 second mark, as Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville pulls a "Moe" on an unsuspecting assistant coach following a botched attempted play. Anger management issues? Yeah, you betcha...

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Big East Volleyball Tournament

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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Big East Volleyball Tournament Live Streaming

-WBB: Cards sign 3 for Class of 2013


-Down goes Griner...Baylor loses to Stanford 71-69

The Big East Volleyball Tournament is being live streamed by the Big East.  The stream is available via the Big East website at multiple links, but I found it at:

http://www.bigeast.org/Sports/WomensVolleyball/2012VolleyballChampionshipCentral.aspx

Click on the green "Live Stream" bar.

UPDATE #1....THE CARDS DID WIN IN THREE SETS AND FACE CINCINNATI TOMORROW AT 2 p.m.

UPDATE #2....WBB UPSET!!!!! STANFORD HAS KNOCKED OFF #1 BAYLOR IN HAWAII 71-69.


RUCKER KEY IN CARDS VICTORY OVER RED STORM

The #10 VolleyCards easily handled St. John's in BIG EAST VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT quarterfinal play yesterday in Milwaukee, WI...zipping to a 3-set 25-15, 25-23, 25-17 win over the Red Storm.

Senior middle blocker and All-BIG EAST First Team selection Gwen Rucker had 13 kills in 15 attempts for a .867 hitting percentage. This sets a new record in the BIG EAST.

BIG EAST Player of the Year Lola Arslanbekova added 13 kills for the VolleyCards, who have won their last 10 matches in a row.

Who's next for Anne Kordes' machine? The UC Bearcats, who escaped with a five-set battle with Connecticut earlier in the day. The Cards defeated Cincinnati twice in regular-season conference play.

Game time is 2 p.m.

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CANNON, HENDERSON and BREEDLOVE SIGN LOI'S

As expected, Jeff Walz received letters of intent from the three to comprise the 2013 recruiting class for the Lady Cards.

The Cards get a strong paint prescence and two talented point guards to complement the already deep and strong Cardinal roster for next year.

Louisville leaves Sunday for three games in Mexico.

First foe is future BIG EAST member Central Florida. They play Tuesday at 7 p.m. (E.S.T.)

We lament the fact that there will be no TV for the Cards conquest but you can follow the action through the radio broadcast on 790 AM WKRD...or Gametracker...on the GoCards.com Super Scoreboard.

We'd love to be with the team covering the action live but will still try to provide you with updates on how the Lady Cards "south of the border" soiree goes. The Cards, at #8 in the polls, are 3-0 on the season...with wins over Texas A&M, Portland and Austin Peay.

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STANFORD KNOCKS OFF #1 BAYLOR IN HAWAII

Early season speculation about the women's college basketball season involved quite a bit of discussion on whether Baylor could go two seasons in a row unefeated.

Nope.


Griner and the Baylor Bears take a upset loss at the hands of Stanford 71-69. 

"The failure to communicate this important event is illogical,
Captain Kirk."

It's a shame this one wasn't on national television because it was quite the exciting game. The Stanford feed was choppy at best, I couldn't get any audio and there were no screen graphics. The camera guy would show the overhead scoreboard during timeouts...but keeping track of who was in the lead was a chore most of the game.

ESPN will show Friday night football featuring two mid-majors but can't pick up this important women's college basketball contest? 

C'mon, man...

It's just another example of how the four-letter network serves their own agenda and does whatever the he!! they want, when they want to and everybody else can either watch it or not.  

The days of kings, dictators and monopolies are no longer in fashion. J.P. Morgan, Carnegie, Idi Amin and Hitler are dead.  ESPN still believes they are the only dog barking on the block, that's why we welcome the advent of other broadcasters (CBS, NBC, Fox) expanding on their college sports broadcast networks.

Football may be the revenue magnet but it doesn't mean that it's the only game in town. Last night's Stanford vs. Baylor WBB game should have been shown nationwide.

At least the ESPN guys delivered a pretty good post mortem.

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Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Portland vs. Louisville in WBB

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Portland to face Cards in the KFC YUM! Center today.

-Volleyball finishes regular season agains Cincy in Cardinal Arena.

Unfortunate timing today with both Volleyball and Basketball on the wood at noon today. Both squads coming off big wins Friday.

Portland travels to Louisville after loss to Cal-State Northridge

Kari Luttinen will look to lead the Pilots over the Cards

For 20 minutes of hoops Friday night, it looked like the Portland Pilots would open their season 1-0. They jumped out to a 5-0 lead on Northridge and held the advantage in the first half, going up by 10 after back-to-back treys from freshman Ellen Nurmi and junior Alexis Byrd.

That lead increased to 14 early in the second half before the Pilots suddenly lost direction and saw Northridge take over the contest...winning going away 70-51.

Kari Luttinen led Portland with 14 points and Byrd added 13 in the road loss.

One might understand if Portland may be stretching and yawning a bit at the start of today's game, having to play at 9 a.m. P.S.T. and after catching a cross-country flight to face the Cards.

LOUISVILLE comes into today's game after knocking off #12 Texas A&M 47-45 in a thriller Friday night. A quick turnaround for the Cards as well, minus the 3,000 mile flight...Sara Hammond began her sophomore season with a 20-point effort against the Aggies and Monique Reid resumed her basketball career with a strong 10-point performance.

Louisville defeated Portland 71-42 last year in Portland, Becky Burke with 17 and Shoni with 14 in the win. Nita Slaughter had eight rebounds against the Pilots last year in the Chiles Center.



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Volleyball hopes for shot at BIG EAST regular season title today against Cincinnati.

After a three-game sweep of Marquette Friday afternoon in the KFC YUM! Center, Louisville Volleyball looks to end the regular season in contention for the regular season champions title with a win over Cincinnati today. The Cards defeated the Bearcats earlier this season in Cincy in three games...but will need a little help from Marquette today in order to claim the crown. 

The Golden Eagles host Notre Dame in volleyball and need to knock off the Irish in order for the Cards to finish first. An Irish win, would leave Louisville and them tied at the top of the standings...and since Notre Dame gave Louisville their only conference loss...ND would get the regular season title. 

CARDINAL COUPLE will be back later this afternoon with reports on both hoops and kills (and the latest news on the Justin Bieber/Selena Gomez breakup...OMG!...)

GO CARDS!

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