Cardinal Couple - Just Keep Driving

On the Road Again

After upwards of 24 hours of traveling over a 3 day period, to spend less than 20 hours in Minneapolis, I'm back in the 'Ville.  I'm tired, disappointed in the outcome of events in Minnesota, but oh so very glad I made the trip.

EDITOR NOTE:  Jeff was nice enough to join us on the radio yesterday while watching his Tesla drive him back to Louisville, I haven't heard if he picked up beer cheese or Huber Beer yet...but you CAN hear the show HERE

VolleyThoughts

The UofL Volleyball playing year has come to a close with a disappointing 1st round NCAA
tournament loss to a surprisingly good Northern Iowa team.

My thoughts about the season are still all a-jumble, but I want to try to get some down here.

First and foremost, if you take anything away from my chaotic thoughts, take this one away.  This team over-achieved compared to what was expect of them...by a lot!  Picked in pre-season to finish 8th in the ACC, which would likely have left them on the outside of the NCAA tournament looking in (again), with a new coach...not only new to UofL, but new to being a head coach altogether, this team put together an amazing later season run through the conference only losing two matches, and taking the co-championship with Pitt and earning the NCAA automatic qualifying bid for the conference.  Drawing an NCAA tournament draw that pitted them in the sub-region of the 7th seed vs the much closer 4 seed in Lexington.

So what happened in Minnesota?  While I haven't had the chance to go back and rewatch the match (and I'm not sure I will) to analyze, my first instinct points to blocking.  Not our blocking so much, although we were certainly a better blocking team than we have been in recent past, but to the opponents blocking.  If you look at the later season losses and matches where we struggled, the one theme that I think I found is that the other team blocks well.  In the UNI match, we were even in total blocks on the stat sheet, but not all blocking efforts make the stat sheet.  Deflections and tips that don't result in a point don't show up in the stat sheet at all, and good blocking teams don't just rack up stats, they deflect and tip shots that give the defense a better chance to play the ball and get a good in-system offense set.  Getting tips and deflections also causes the hitting team to try to start adjusting their shots to hit around, tip over, or just power through the block, all of which are actions that can be fraught with peril.  Any time you can get the other team reacting to you, rather than the other way around, you have a leg up.

We had an amazing defensive trio this year in Molly Sauer, Gabbie Wiley, and Alexis Hamilton.  We got less playing time late in the season from Alexis due to a wrist injury, but these three did an amazing job covering the digging and passing duties using just two players at a time, particularly on serve receive, when most teams would use three.  Add in a sprinkling of all-around playing from the likes of Amanda Green, and Melanie McHenry, and our digging and passing were much improved over last years, and drastically so over two seasons ago.  In basketball, turnovers and rebounds can generate offense (particularly if you're playing Walz-style of basketball), the equivalent in Volleyball is digging and passing.  We lose Gabbie to graduation, and looking on the current roster, the name that jumps to mind to fill that spot would be Natalie Palastro.  We do have two signed Libero/Defensive Specialists, including a standout from Nebraska name Maggie Mullen who I expect will compete for this role.

In other graduations, we will lose Maggie DeJong (apparently we have a firm quota of one "Maggie" per season) in the middle.  I expect Piper Roe to step up to fill that role.  Again, we have a signed freshman from Appleton, WI named Emily Scott, but I expect this role to be Piper's unless something crazy happens.  Tess Clark will also be departing, and the current roster player that would most naturally slot into that spot is Megan Sloan, but we incoming freshman Aiko Jones out of Jamaica who looks absolutely dynamic, as well as a Wisconsinite, Claire Chaussee.  I can see both competing for the role as incoming freshmen.  Lastly we graduate Coline Coessens, who mostly helped out as a serving specialist, but did occasionally play full-rotation with all around skills.  Not being confined to one specific role, I expect her contributions will be replaced with a patchwork of players and adjustments in play over the overall team.

This was a great year for UofL Volleyball, it hasn't matched the most successful years of the squad over the years, but given the starting point, I don't believe there is any room for complaints here at all.  This was a huge step forward for the squad, and I expect more to come as this team gets molded more and more in Dani Busboom Kelly's image.

I look forward to spring play, and the start of play next fall.

"You and I" might be advancing, yes, but I love the future
of this team. 

Basketball In Action

Two basketball games today.  The men host Seton Hall at the KFC Yum! Center at 4 p.m, while the women are hoping to outrun the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State with a 3 p.m. tip.  While the men will be looking to get back to their winning ways, the women will be working to continue to remain undefeated and go to 8-0 to start the season (with wins over 3 Top 25 teams in there already, lest we forget).  If you can't make it downtown, the men will be shown on ESPN2, while the women's stream will only be available on the added-cost SDSU streaming service.  I'll give Nick and AJ the listen on 790 AM (probably streamed) instead, and perhaps pull up the #3 Notre Dame vs #1 UConn game starting at 4 p.m.

 Muffet McGraw vs Geno Auriemma is always an entertaining match-up of two very good teams, both of which we'll be playing later this season.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Looking for wins to talk about from yesterday?  The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour was a walk-off
Grand Slam home run of a broadcast.  It was particularly awesome if you ignore the dufus who couldn't even manage to stay on a phone call.

It was a bit of a different lineup from our usual, but man was it fantastic.  Julie JC "no periods" Sullivan, Paige "Wiener Dog Lover" Sherrard, and Daryl "#4" Faust joined Paulie in studio, and we couldn't ask for better analysis and discussion of Volleyball, Basketball, and Soccer than from this crew.  I did manage to maintain a phone connection for long enough to talk about the Volleyball loss some as I was driving across the hinterlands of Wisconsin, and then got to listen to the rest of it via the wonders of Internet streaming.

The replay is already up at

 https://soundcloud.com/chradio/cardinal-couple-20171202.

 If you didn't get to hear it live, definitely go check it out.

-- JMcA

Volleyball Improves on the Weekend - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Volleyball Loses, But Improves

Case touched on the volleyball loss to Minnesota from Friday, and Saturday was a partly more of the same, another three game loss by the Cards (25-19, 26-24, 25-20), but the tone and gameplay was considerably different.

First, let's point out that Wisconsin, the victors of the match last night, is a very good team, led by, as I've mentioned before, in my estimation the best setter in the country in Lauren Carlini.  Wisconsin currently sports a number 2 ranking behind perennial powerhouse Nebraska.

This was definitely a battle of defenses.  Louisville hit for a pitiful total of .094, while Wisconsin was only able to muster an also pretty bad .155.  Consequently, what may be the bright spot for the Cards is Molly Sauer's 19 digs, which in the 3-set match is darn impressive.  Melanie McHenry contributed 11 as well, which is very good for a non-libero.  Both teams also had a pretty impressive blocking game going, with UofL being credited with 13 blocks, and Wisconsin listed for 13.5.  The Louisville blocks were a bit more evenly spread.  The only solo credit goes to McHenry, while she and Janelle Jenkins each got in for 4 shares, Morgan Miller contributed on 3, and our middles Tess Clark and at least for this weekend featured the return of Maggie DeJong to the middle, got 6 apiece.  Coline Coessens got in on one as well.

Unfortunately the stats look pretty bleak beyond that, certainly our hitting percentages weren't great as hinted at above.  The bright spots are Maggie DeJong with 4 kills for a .200 avg, and Janelle Jenkins with 14 on 43 attempts for a .209 avg.  Nothing really to write home about in either case, but against a great team like Wisconsin with strong blocking, it's not bad.  Morgan Miller hit for a .500 avg, but that was only on 2 attempts, so it's a bit misleading.

What may be the worst look on the stat sheet is in the service errors.  In a 3-set match, to have 12 service errors is painful.  And that number alone almost accounts for the score differences in the sets.  Kordes has this team serving very aggressively, mostly to pretty good effect (Remember, aggressive serving doesn't just result, hopefully, in service aces, but also in the other team having to be out of system, which isn't covered in stats), but they may need to dial it back a little and get the errors under a bit more control.

Let's not forget, however, that stats sheets don't tell the whole tale.  Blocks, for example, only record play ending blocks, not deflections and tips that make it easier to pass the ball, which is one of the ways that the Kordes Krewe did much better last night vs Friday night against Minnesota.  Also, UofL was without the services of two starters this weekend.  Kali Eaken and Jasmine Bennett were not available.  Word is that Bennett was ill and didn't make the trip, but no word on Eaken, presumably something similar.  Losing Bennett for the weekend is a bit of a blow, but the only real shift in the lineup was to move Maggie DeJong back into the middle, a position with which she has a lot of familiarity.  The loss of Eaken for the weekend is a bit trickier to deal with, partly because that setter to hitter connection is so critical, and as a new setting squad, not well established for the Cards.  This is also the 3rd match out of the 8 so far that UofL has been without Eaken, which doesn't help establish a rhythm.  Last night, the Cards compensated by using both of the other setters on the squad.  This wasn't quite a 6-2 offense, as the goal of the 6-2 is to keep your setter in the back-row at all times, leaving 3 attackers in the front row.  In this case, the Cards subbed the setters for each other, so Lindsey Palmer was setting from the back-row, but when the position came around to the front-row, Morgan Miller subbed in for Palmer to do the setting in front.  Why?  The concern primarily is that Lindsey Palmer is only 5'8", and frankly is a bit of liability for blocking, while Miller, with 4 inches of height on Palmer, can participate in the blocking scheme to much better effect.  The switching of the setters does complicate that setter to hitter connection even further, though.  Despite all of that, however, we do see that improving as the matches pass, though there still is work to be done, there.  Hopefully the return of Eaken to the starting line-up will help that further.

One minor note to follow up on something noticed by some fans last weekend.  Brianna Lester was not present during The Active Ankle Challenge at the KFC Yum! Center last week.  I did spot her on the sidelines in the stream last night, so all appears to be well with her.  No word on her absence last weekend, but again, it likely is something as simple as an illness.

The Wide Net Cards are back in action this Thursday when Kentucky comes to town.  UK also started the season in the Top 25 rankings and subsequently dropped out.  A 4-set loss to Marquette on Friday probably won't help their cause any in that respect.  Hopefully the Cards can get back to their winning ways in this match, particularly vs Kentucky, who haven't been beaten by UofL since 2012.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We were at it again yesterday.  Paulie, Case, and myself all back in the studio and less distracted all did an hour on the radio again talking about the joy and excitement of UofL Women's Athletics.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

It was a good show, covering Football, Volleyball, Soccer, and Field Hockey.  Check it out!

College Gameday Coming to The Ville

We got the official announcement this morning that ESPN College Gameday is coming to Louisville for their first ever Gameday broadcast at UofL.  The game is set for a noon tip, but there is some question of whether that will be moved.

-- JMcA

Sunday Cardinal Couple - Volleyball in Bowling Green

Bowling Green Ohio, not the one down south in Kentucky.  Although we did find out that there is a link.  BG OH was named for the one in Kentucky by a postal worker that had worked delivering mail in the Kentucky version of Bowling Green.

Anyway, on to the Volleyball.

Hampton Inn Invitational

Oakland

(Photo by Bryan Eakin)

The Kordes Krewe played three matches over the weekend in the Hampton Inn Invitational hosted by Bowling Green State University.  The first match was a four setter vs Oakland (from outside Detroit, not the one east of San Fransisco).  The Oakland Grizzlies were playing with a few injuries.  One player was wearing sunglasses indoors, so I suspect a concussion there; while another was on crutches.  Meanwhile, one of their better Defensive Specialists, Alli Gutschow, was playing with a noticeable limp in her step.  Despite it all, The Grizzlies put up quite a fight and played with heart, and never gave up, as can be witnessed by the set scores: 25-17, 27-25, 29-31, 25-19.

On the Cardinal side of the net, all I can say is, "Give a warm welcome to Ms. Melanie McHenry."  Get used to that name, you're going to be hearing it a lot in the next four years of volleyball.  Melanie is one of our freshman, hailing from Speedway IN (the Speedway HS Sparkplugs...that needs to be mentioned just on the basis of mascot cleverness) and is a 6'2" outside hitter with multiple skills.  She plays full rotation and does well with digging and passing.  She also fires a pretty aggressive serve, an anecdote on that later.  McHenry tallied 24 points, with nine miscues for a .300 average.

The other double-digit offense went to Janelle Jenkins with 15 and a .333 average.  Tess Clark came just short of adding the extra digit with nine but did it with an efficient .412.  Coline Coessens put up an 8 on 22 swings for .273, and Jasmine Bennett picked up three and Kali Eaken snuck one in as the setter.

On the defensive side, double-doubles for McHenry and Jenkins with 11 and 10 digs respectively.  Molly Sauer had a typical (well, typical for her) 19.  Ashley Pettibone, mostly playing as a serving specialist got three,  Eaken got 10 as Oakland tried to target her to take her out of her setting game, and Gabbie Wiley picked up six.

The Cards are showing a great serving game early this season.  Jenkins got three aces, Eaken and Pettibone picked up two each, while Wiley and McHenry each got one.

VCU

(Photo by Bryan Eakin) 

The Cards swept VCU in the evening session, 25-22, 25-23, 25-23.

Former Cardinal, and Cardinal
Couple All-Sid/Syd/Szyd Team member, Sydney Cooper now plays for VCU, but seemed to be out with a knee injury.  The Rams played tough, but were overpowered by The Cards.

McHenry again had a great match tallying another double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs.  Her hitting percentage wasn't all that high, though, with a .167, but she did pick up a service ace.  Other offense came from about the same stable of hitters that we saw in Oakland.  Tess Clark chalked up eight kills, Janelle Jenkins got nine, and Coline Coessens got four.  The butterfly emerging from the cocoon in this match was Jasmine Bennett, though.  She connected with setters Lyndsay Palmer and Morgan Miller a number of times on a slide out to the right side for 10 kills that were devastating to the opposing defense.

On the defensive side of things, Sauer continues to make it hard to write about her.  How many different ways can you say that she played excellently and chalked up dig numbers well into double digits, 15 in this case.  In addition to McHenry's 10, Coessens dug 10, Jenkins just behind with 9.

Single aces for McHenry (getting used to this name yet?), Jenkins, Bennett, and Sauer.

Eaken didn't play this match.  After taking a bit of a hit in the match against Oakland, the coaches decided to hold her aside as a precaution for concussions.  Kali suffered a pretty severe concussion during pre-season, didn't play at the Red & Black scrimmage, and largely hadn't practiced in almost two weeks.  So the coaching staff decided to take a little extra precaution here.

BGSU

The last match of the Hampton Inn Invitational matched up the Cards vs the host BGSU.  After a couple of bonus volleyball sets in the Oakland match, and three close sets against VCU, the Cardinal faithful were ready for a nice easy match to get on the road.  It wasn't to be.

A five set affair, 15-25, 25-18, 25-22, 17-25, 15-11.  BGSU showed that they should rise above their 7-22 record from last year.  Although they're not off to as great of a start on that as they would've liked, now at 1-2 (they also lost to Oakland), they are a tough team that will start tallying some victories quickly.

Double-doubles in this one?  Yup, there's that McHenry name again, joined by Jenkins again.  15 kills and 12 digs for Melanie, and double 11s for Jenkins.  Tess Clark almost got into double digits once again with nine, but an impressive .444 average.  It turns out this Jasmine Bennett upstart can play pretty well, too.  Give her 11 kills and a stellar .529 average.  Morgan Miller came in off the bench in a hitting role in this match with Kali back at setter.  She barely played in the first set, but still tallied 13 kills in the match with a solid seven digs as well.

On defense, in addition to the 12 and 11 for McHenry and Jenkins, Molly Sauer had a bit of an off match as she "only" tied for the team lead with 12 digs.  She did also pick up two service aces, to help the cause.

Speaking of aces, though, let's go back to McHenry once again.  Four service aces for the freshman and I have to describe one because it was particularly awesome.  Late in the 5th set, the score was about 13-10.  McHenry backs up to serve, right in front of the healthily populated BGSU student section (props to the BGSU students for showing up to support their team).  The students start chanting "FRESHMAN" at McHenry.  In response, she fires a hard serve that clears the net by only about an inch, targeted directly at BGSU's libero.  A shank pass that went out of bounds and the student section was no longer a factor.

Active Ankle Challenge

The Cards are in action against this weekend for the Active Ankle Challenge.  There is a venue
change for this event as it is moving down the KFC Yum! Center downtown thanks to a cancellation of an event at the downtown arena.

If you are a ticket holder, you should have received an email concerning how tickets will be handled for this, but if not, here's the summary.

If you have season tickets for the matches at the KFC Yum! Center, you will be sent tickets for these matches at no extra cost, and they will be your usual season ticket seat locations.  If you have season tickets for the matches at Cardinal Arena, which was to include the Active Ankle Challenge, you will be refunded for the cost of those tickets AND be sent tickets for the matches in the KFC Yum! Center at no cost.  Obviously, if you have season tickets to both, they will be your normal seats as mentioned above, otherwise, they will be the best available seats.

If you have purchased single match tickets to the Active Ankle Challenge matches at Cardinal Arena, those cost of those tickets will be refunded AND you will be sent best available tickets to the KFC Yum! Center matches at no extra cost.

Tickets will be mailed to the address on record for your account.  If you have purchased a parking pass for the KFC Yum! Center matches, alas it will not be usable for this event.

Kudos to the UofL Athletic Department for the stepping up with the upgrade for the venue for this coming weekend, and the generous handling of the ticket upgrades for ticket holders.


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THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

In case you missed the live broadcast....you can catch the replay at the link below. Thanks to Case Hoskins for joining in, Worldwide via phone and LG&E for getting the power back on in time to do the show.

LINK:  
THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR 8/27/16

-- JMcA