WBB vs SMU -- Goodbye DBK -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Hello readers, welcome to the end of the month.

Photo: Jared Anderson

Before we get into any basketball recaps, I have to mention the departing DBK from the Louisville Volleyball program. 

First, I was actually wearing a volleyball shirt all day on Wednesday. The news broke in the evening and I gasped when the Cardinal Couple chat shared the news. I was not ready for this inevitability to come to fruition so soon, but is anyone ever ready for a good coach to move on?

I just wish she could have brought one home for the Cardinals first. The Cards got to the big game twice but did not take all the marbles. I fully believe the Cards could’ve made it happen on their home court had Anna DeBeer been playing in the match. It’s one of those things that’ll sting for a while and now this news… we will see how the look of the program changes over the next few months.

I also will say I'm not surprised DBK said "yes" to the Huskers. It was an opportunity for DBK to return to her alma mater and I imagine she will be there for the long haul. The Husker program usually finds itself in the national conversation. I appreciate DBK for leaving the program better than she found it. It’s been a lot of fun to watch. But I hope the Cards kick their arse!!!!



WBB

Photo: Jared Anderson

The Cardinals (9-1, 16-5) pulled out another close one out on the road against the SMU last night...corralling the Mustangs 80-75 to move to 15-6 on the season and 8-2 in the ACC.  Tajianna Roberts lead for UofL with 22 points shooting...going 9-14 from the field.  

End of 1Q 21-15 Cards
FG %
9-17 52.9% Cards
7-14 50% SMU
Reb. 9-6 SMU
3-pt %
3-7 42.9% Cards
1-2 50% SMU


Jayda Curry hit a 3 to start the game for the Cards. With a sprinkle of scoring from Nyla Harris, Olivia Cochran and Taj Roberts, the Cardinals went on a 9-0 run to push it to a 12-2 lead. It was a 2:30 min scoring drought for SMU. But not to be discouraged, SMU went on a 6-0 run before a Harris layup puts the Cards up 14-8. Jessica Peterson scored 8 of the Mustangs first 10 points. SMU battled back to make it 14-13 before Harris put it up and in for a perfect 3-3 start on the juniors' night.




End of 2Q  20-17 Cardinals 


FG %
7-15 46.7% Cards
5-12 41.7%  SMU
Reb.  9-7 Cards 
3-pt %
2-4 50% Cards
2-5 40%  SMU



The Cardinals committed 2 turnovers in the first 2:30 minutes. SMU took its first lead at 23-21.  SMU goes on an 8-0 run to open the 2nd quarter in the first 4 minutes.  A Roberts steal and open layup missed off the bounce but she got her own rebound and put back to secure the lead back for Louisville.  Roberts followed it up with a 3 pointer to make it 28-23.

As the two squads battled,  the Cards cranked up the pressure with a minute and half left in the half with 4 freshman on the floor and took a 38-32 lead.  Arenas hit the 3 pointer with 20 seconds to make it a 41-32 lead. UofL went on a 7-0 run in final minute and 40 seconds... holding SMU scoreless for the final 2:20 in the half.

Roberts had 12 points for UofL on 4-7 shooting, 2-3 from 3 point land 3 assists and 2 rebounds in the half. 



HALF   41-32




End of 3Q

FG %
8-15 53.3% Cards
5-12 41.7%  SMU
Reb.   11-4 SMU
3-pt %
2-4 50% Cards
2-5 40%  SMU 


Curry re-entered the game after sitting out most of the second quarter and hit the jumper to give the Cards their largest lead at 11. She played just 12 minutes of the first half due to some early fouls. Olivia Cochran got some questionable whistles as well.  

The Cards built a 50-39 lead with 6 minutes left in the third quarter. SMU committed 4 turnovers over a two-ish minute period.  Cards had 26 points off 17 SMU turnovers.  Merissah Russell's intentional foul to stop the clock when Curry comes up limping and grabbing her hamstring after making the steal but is unable to put the ball through the hoop.   

Berry hits the jumper in the last 10 seconds and the Cards retake a 10 point lead.



End of 4Q

FG %
6-10 60% Cards
6-11 54.5%  SMU
Reb.  6-3 Cards
3-pt %
1-4 25% Cards
2-4 50%  SMU

Over a minute and a half to start the fourth... Nya Robertson went on a 9-0 run cutting the Cards lead to 65-60 with 7:30 to go.

Jayda Curry hit a 3 with 6:45 left in the game to put Cards back up 8 but SMU hit the 3 to respond and SMU's Robertson hits her 25th point of the game before she comes up huge again on an acrobatic shot and the and 1 to send her to the line.   

Robertson had 13 points at half, 0 in the third and 19 in 4th quarter

She tied it up 68 all with 5:15 to go...four minutes earlier the Cards lead by 14 with 9:15 left in the game.  

Russell air balls a 3 before SMU takes the lead with 3:45 to go, 72-70. 

Curry with the acrobatic drive to the basket and the lucky roll to tie it all up again.

A ridiculous loose ball foul called on Cochran, her fifth, sends her to the bench and sends the Mustangs to the line where they went 1-2.

Taj Roberts with a huge bucket off the glass puts the Cards ahead 76-75 with under a minute to play.  SMU fouls with 20 seconds to go.  SMU fouls Curry with about 17 seconds left where Curry went 2-2 to and put the Cards up 78-75. The Cards add two more free throws fpr the final 80-75 margin

UP NEXT

Louisville vs  Notre Dame

Sunday at 12p.m.

ESPN2 

FRED REPORT


Fred Chopin (1810-1849) wrote 21 noctures. 

FREE THROWS --  Louisville went 12-13 with Nyla Harris leading the way with 6-6.  The Mustangs had about twice as many free throw opportunities but the Cards were at least productive when given the opportunity to secure the game at the end.  Capital F

REBOUNDING --  UofL got outrebounded 30-25 in the game.  Olivia Cochran led the rebounding efforts with just 5 due to her foul trouble.  The Cardinals had been establishing a reputation for securing a lot of second chance opportunities but only managed 8 offensive rebounds in the game.  no letter

EFFORT/EXECUTION --  The Cardinals were up by 14 at the start of the 4th quarter before they saw the lead disintegrate when SMU took the lead with just under 4 minutes left in the game.   Kudos to the squad for coming back after letting go of the lead late into the game but ....gollllleeee..... I'm with our site founder Paulie when he says, "let's ditch the 4th quarter of basketball games moving forward."   lower case e

DEFENSE --  The Cards held the Mustangs scoreless for the final 2:30 of the first half and final 2:44 of the game to seal the victory.   SMU was 2-7 in the ACC heading into the game.  Walz and the Cards knew it would be no easy task but they really did give the UofL a huge scare heading into February and a huge Sunday matchup.  lower case d

FINAL FRED TALLY: F-_- e-d

POST GAME JEFF WALZ

As always
Go Cards!


~Daryl

DBK Resigns, Meske Takes Over -- WBB to Face SMU -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Dani Busboom Kelly Leaves Louisville, Dan Meske Takes Over

While I was hoping for a calm and peaceful Wednesday night where I could scout SMU women's basketball some, life decided to make it a chaotic middle of the week. We got some pretty big breaking news last night as Dani Busboom Kelly stepped down as head coach of Louisville volleyball to take the head coach position at Nebraska following John Cook's sudden retirement.

The announcement happened quite suddenly about 6:00pm last night and I haven't had time to sit and process this yet so we'll see how sporadic and 'pinballish' my thoughts will be here.

John Cook spent the last 25 years leading Nebraska and led the Huskers to four national championships. While Cook had recently extended his contract through 2029, he decided it was time to ride off into the sunset.

With the head coach vacancy at Nebraska, there was no doubt that the top choice would be Dani Busboom Kelly. DBK won national championships as both a player and a coach under Cook during her time at Nebraska. 

Dani Busboom Kelly came to Louisville in 2017 and coached the Cards for eight seasons. During her tenure, she posted a 203-44 record that included four ACC Championships, eight NCAA Tournament appearances, three Final Fours, and two National Runner-Up finishes. Prior to the arrival of DBK, Louisville had never advanced beyond the Sweet Sixteen.

Under the leadership of DBK, several Louisville players earned All-American honors including Anna DeBeer, Elena Scott, Charitie Luper, Anna Stevenson, Tori Dilfer, Aiko Jones, Raquel Lazaro, Amaya Tillman, and Claire Chaussee.

With Busboom Kelly headed back home to Nebraska, Louisville plans to elevate Dan Meske to head coach at Louisville. Meske joined DBK's staff from day one at Louisville as an associate head coach after previous stints as an assistant coach at Nebraska and a head coach at Augustana.

We will let our Volleyball guru Jeff McAdams provide a much more thorough breakdown of what this means for Louisville in a few days. He will also provide any updates that we may have on Dan Meske's staff (Todd Chamberlain is expected to stay but unconfirmed) and any possible player transfers.

We do wish Dani Busboom Kelly the best at Nebraska.

Women's Basketball Visits SMU

Onto our regularly scheduled happenings, we have Louisville women's basketball set to face off against SMU tonight. The Cards and Mustangs will tip off at 8:00pm ET (7:00pm SMU time) and will air on ACC Network.

Louisville enters the game 14-6 on the year with a 7-2 ACC record. Most recently, the Cards survived a scare at Virginia to earn a road win after falling at Virginia Tech before that. The Cards sit at fourth in the conference, currently.

SMU is 10-11 this season and boasts a 2-7 conference mark. The Mustangs have lost five straight with their most recent loss coming at Miami. Their losing streak began on the road to Pitt in a game that will go down in the NCAA history books. That game saw SMU up by a large a margin before surrendering a 31-0 run including a 28-0 third quarter. Pitt went on a 54-10 extended run to win. The Mustangs' non-conference schedule isn't great and they went 1-3 against 'Power Five' opponents. 

SMU averages 65.8 points per game while surrendering 67.4 ppg. They shoot a solid .375 from the field but have been poor from three-point range, shooting .284. The Mustangs have been outrebounding opponents by two rebounds per game.

Nya Robertson (19.0 ppg) is a dangerous scorer and has had plenty of offensive support from Chantae Embry (11.7 ppg) and Jessica Peterson (9.6 ppg). Peterson has been nearly unstoppable in the paint and brings in 12.3 rebounds per game. The senior center also has 25 blocks on the year.

SMU's team and individual stats are better than their record shows but they have struggled against the competition.

Louisville is 2-1 all-time against SMU. The Mustangs won the inaugural meeting back in 1996 but the Cards took the win in the other two meetings during the 2013-2014 AAC season. 

Walz

Coach Jeff Walz had his pre-contest presser Wednesday before the Cards WBB squad travels to Dallas to face SMU tonite. Hear it below:

WALZ PRESSER 1/29/24

*All photos by Jared*

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Fall Sports Media Day at UofL -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

 CARDS FALL COACHES AND PLAYERS SPEAK

(the "young" Karen Ferguson Dayes)

-- Joe Franklin...cross country and track and field:

JOE FRANKLIN

-- Karen Ferguson Dayes...women's soccer:

KAREN FERGUSON DAYES

-- Justine Sowry...Field Hockey

JUSTINE SOWRY

-- Dani Busboom Kelly...Volleyball

DANI BUSBOOM KELLY

-- Anna DeBeer, Elle Glock...Volleyball

Anna DeBeer and Elle Glock

A nice, "welcome back to campus" noon time for me and Sonja as roughly a dozen media and women's sports S.I.D.'s were in attendance at the press room in the Planet Fitness Kueber Center on Floyd Street on the UofL Belknap campus.  We also got Chick-Fil-A and water, plus chips...woo hoo! 

We got all of the pressers and Q&A except for men's soccer for you...(since we don't cover MSOC) and we already have almost an hour of interviews here already. Thanks to UofL for the feeds. Why volleyball was the only sport to send players is a question...but, hey, it's UofL's show and they did an otherwise wonderful jlob with it. We appreciate the yearly update. 

WSOC kicks off he fall sports season Thursday. Jared will look at the match tomorrow morning as the Cards face Bellarmine. A 7:30 pm match at Lynn Stadium, on campus. Admission is free. We'l have a large Cardinal Couple crew in attendance for this one. 

paulie 

Volleyball Set to Face Miami -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Host Canes at 1PM

With the soccer and field hockey teams wrapping up their regular seasons, Louisville volleyball lays claim to Sundays for a few weeks. This afternoon, Louisville takes on Miami in a match with more at stake than it may seem. Miami haven't been world beaters this season, but a victory over Notre Dame on Friday moved the Canes to 8-3 in conference play. With Louisville at 10-1, a win by Miami would put them just one game back of Louisville, and one game back of the league lead if Pittsburgh were also to fall.

Louisville currently sits atop the league with Pitt (stop me if you've heard that before). Georgia Tech and FSU are tied for third (thanks to Louisville's sweep on Friday) at 9-2. Miami is alone at 8-3, and they'd very much like to not go down into the clutches of teams like Wake (7-4), NC State (6-5), and Duke (6-6). No other team in the league is better than 4-7. 

Miami has been curious this season. One of their conference losses is a five-set match against rival FSU. Their other two, though, came against Wake and Clemson. Similarly, they have a non-conference loss to then-ranked #1 Wisconsin. The Canes were swept in Madison, but they also lost five-set matches to Indiana and South Carolina. The close losses aren't the only thing this Miami team has to hang their hats on this season. While the non-conference slate was relatively unimpressive, Miami does have a win over Georgia Tech in conference play: a sweep on the road.

Despite winning their last two on the road, Miami's road record hasn't been great. The Canes are 3-4 in true road games with the losses to Wake and Clemson coming away from home. Louisville will have the home-court advantage, which is not insignificant in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. Miami does have quite a bit of height, rostering 14 players 6'-0" or taller. Louisville has just ten such players, but the Cards' shorter players, particularly Charitie Luper, have shown plenty of ability to compensate for standing height with leaping ability. Miami is outblocking their opponents by just 0.05 blocks per set (2.119-2.069) while Louisville is averaging 2.3 blocks per set this season (0.6 better than their opponents). 

Volleyball had a ring ceremony for their runner-up
finish during Homecoming yesterday.

The serving game will be an interesting one to watch. Louisville has struggled at the service line, which is nothing new, but Miami hasn't been stellar either. Louisville averages 1.8 aces per set, which seems pretty good, but they're averaging 2.5 service errors per set. Miami is negative as well, but less so. The Canes hit 1.76 aces per set with just 2.16 errors. Where Louisville may be able to gain an advantage here is in serve receive. The Cards are allowing just 0.8 aces per set from opponents. Miami, on the other hand, gives up 1.39. If the Cards can avoid errors themselves, they should be able to take advantage of the Miami defense to win points while mitigating Miami's ace opportunities.

Critically, the Cards need to avoid overlooking Miami. Louisville gets GT next, which will be a critical matchup on the road. Fortunately, this is a Sunday match with the big match being on Friday. If the two were reversed, I would be more afraid of a "trap game" situation. With plenty of time to review film and prepare for Georgia Tech over the next week, Coach Dani Busboom Kelly should be able to keep the team focused on the task at hand this week. The match gets underway at 1PM on ACC Network Extra.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

If you've been looking for the show, fear not; it has been posted. Due to some technical issues, we had a bit of a delay with the podcast. The episode was available via YouTube, but you can now find it anywhere you might wish to listen. There was plenty to discuss yesterday, so be sure to check it out. 

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

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RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Getting to Know the Coaches: Volleyball -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Friday! Daryl is out working hard with the Louisville Bats, who continue to remain above .500. See what happens when Daryl is on the premises? Good things !

While we are about a month away from the start of fall sports, we continue our journey of getting to know the coaches and staff of our various Louisville women's teams. We hit field hockey recently and will look at volleyball next.

Dani Busboom Kelly-- Head Coach

Dani Busboom Kelly has been at Louisville for six years, leading the Cards to the NCAA Tournament in each of them. With the exception of the shortened COVID-19 season, Louisville has not had fewer than 22 wins in any season.

Under her leadership, Louisville has three Elite Eight appearances, two Final Four appearances, and a National Runner-Up finish. The Cards earned their first ever #1 ranking in any poll.

Prior to her arrival at Louisville, Busboom Kelly was an assistant coach at Nebraska, where she also played her entire collegiate career. Nebraska made it to the Elite Eight or further four times and won a national championship during her time as an assistant coach. She also won a championship during her playing days.

Going a bit of an untraditional route, Busboom Kelly worked outside of athletics between her playing days and coaching days. While she did play with the U.S. Women's National Training Team for a stint, she spent some time for in the insurance industry out in Omaha.

Dan Meske -- Associate Head Coach

Dan Meske has been at Louisville since Dani Busboom Kelly arrived on campus. One of his specialties with Louisville is coaching the blocking defense and he is a big factor with the recruiting.

Prior to Louisville, Meske was the head coach at Augustana for two years, compiling a 45-17 record during that span. He helped lead the Vikings to the NCAA DIII Tournament in 2016.

Meske was at Nebraska for eight seasons before Augustana. During his time at Nebraska, he served several roles ranging from a graduate assistant, a volunteer assistant, and a full-time assistant coach. 

As a student-athlete, Meske spent all four seasons playing for Ohio State.

Todd Chamberlain-- Assistant Coach

Todd Chamberlain joined the Louisville staff in 2018, one year after Dani Busboom Kelly took over. One of his primary duties is working with outside hitters while also assisting with recruiting.

Chamberlain spent seven years at Kansas as an assistant coach. He was an assistant coach at Kentucky for one year before that.

As a player, Chamberlain played four years for Ball State. Before his collegiate playing days, he played at Louisville Trinity High School.

Sarah Drury Petkovic-- Director of Operations

Sarah Drury Petkovic took over as Louisville's director of operations when Dani Busboom Kelly was named head coach. She had played with Busboom Kelly with Team USA previously.

Petkovic began her journey as a walk-on at Louisville after playing at Louisville PRP High School before earning a scholarship in the back half of her collegiate career. She set the single season digs record with 534. She then went on to play for the USA National Volleyball Team for five years.

After her time with Team USA, Drury Petkovic went on to be an assistant coach at Louisville Assumption High School and later at Indiana University Southeast.

The Louisville volleyball staff is a veteran crew with loads of experience and accolades. Having already helped lead Louisville to new heights, expectations and goals continue to rise for the program. The one big thing that is left on the agenda is winning the National Championship. The Cards have made several runs at it, maybe this will be the season it happens. 

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

Volleyball Cruising Along in Brazil -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ANOTHER MARRIED COUPLE IN THE CENSUS ROLLS...

   (Ladies and gentlemen, I present the Andersons !)

We're glad to be back! After a magical wedding, Katy and I have returned home from South Carolina officially married and back to the real world. We would like to thank everyone for their warm wishes and kind words. While it will be some time before we get the professional photos back from our photographer, plenty of friends and family captured many of the moments on their own phones and were kind enough to share those.

Katy looked absolutely stunning in our wedding dress and even brought me to tears as she walked down the aisle in the church.

Volleyball Wins Opening Matches in Brazil

Photo courtesy of Louisville Volleyball

Between their various adventures throughout Brazil, Louisville volleyball still is competing in friendly exhibitions.

The Cards began their tour with a match against Clube Paineiras do Morumbi U-21 team on June 10. Louisville swept the match 5-0 (25-16, -18, -12, -20, -17). While standard American collegiate volleyball plays 'best of five' with the if-needed fifth set being to 15, the two teams agreed to play all five sets to 25 each for the extra practice.

Louisville then faced Sao Jose Volei team yesterday. The Cards came out on top 4-1 (25-18, 25-19, 25-13, 21-25, 25-9). This was another match that the teams agreed to play five full sets to get the extra practice.

Photo courtesy of Louisville Volleyball

Any concern about the sole loss in the fourth set? No. It's all exhibition play and the coaching staff is purposely playing mix-n-match with players on the court to see how players can gel with each other and find the best fit. Plus, even the best volleyball teams lose sets regularly.

While we are used to seeing Elena Scott rep the libero jersey, Coach DBK has rotated the jersey through a few faces. Don't worry, Scott is still poised for the starter position come regular season. 

Next on the schedule is a trip to Rio de Janeiro for some sightseeing and more volleyball.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Volleyball in the Championship -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Faces Texas for Another Milestone Opportunity

After making the Final Four last season, Louisville took another step forward this year to become the first ACC program in history to make it to the NCAA Volleyball Championship game. To win, the Cards will need to take down a historic program with a lot of momentum, but it will be one Louisville has faced before. The Texas Longhorns hosted a regional in 2019, which you may remember as the season that Louisville made it to their first Elite Eight. In that tournament, the Cards entered unseeded, having to travel to Bowling Green for the first two rounds. Louisville faced Texas in the Sweet Sixteen and, for the first time in five attempts, beat the Longhorns. The Cards would go on to fall to Minnesota in that Elite Eight. 

Facing the Longhorns again, much has changed over that time. Louisville had an undefeated season dashed by Wisconsin in the Final Four last year, which included All-American seasons from Anna Stevenson and Tori Dilfer. While many of the faces have changed, one thing remains for Louisville: the drive for greatness. Aiko Jones, Amaya Tillman, Claire Chaussee, and Alexa Hendricks all remain from that match as well. Jones had 24 kills and four blocks in the 2019 matchup; a repeat performance would be stellar. 

The Cards will face the top-ranked team in the country this evening, but it's not as big of a mountain to climb as it may seem. Through the end of the season, Louisville was ranked second in RPI, just behind Texas. Their two losses on the season were to Ohio State (seventh) and third-ranked Pittsburgh, whom they've since beaten twice. Texas's lone loss on the year came against Iowa State, ranked 31st in RPI, in the same week as Louisville's last loss. The Cards stood to claim that top spot before falling to Pittsburgh on the road that weekend. The Longhorns boast the AVCA Player of the Year in Logan Eggleston, but the Cards have an All-American on all three teams themselves. With Anna DeBeer seemingly back to as normal as she'll get this season, Louisville will have all the firepower they can ask for in the matchup, including incredible tournament performance from Phekran Kong.

Should Louisville win, they'd be the second team from Kentucky to become National Champion in just three years. Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1998, only California has more than one champion from their state, though it would take some effort for the state of Kentucky to match their number of four. (Long Beach State went undefeated in 1998. USC won back-to-back titles in 2002-2003 and UCLA won in 2011. Stanford is Stanford.) Texas is seeking their second championship in the expansion era and third overall. There are some interesting coincidences in this matchup. Texas won their last championship in 2012 in Louisville. Since then, they've played in the title game three more times. The loss to Stanford in 2016 isn't particularly interesting just because there isn't a connection, but their other two appearances--2015 and 2020--were both in Omaha. In 2015, they fell to Nebraska, where Dani Busboom Kelly was an assistant coach. In 2020, their loss came to Kentucky. 

While none of those connections are likely to have any bearing on this evening's matchup, they're sure to become part of the storyline regardless. These players and teams have poured their hearts into the season, and only one team can win it all in the end. It's the cruel nature of tournaments like these. On the same day, the World Cup final will see one country have its dreams dashed in the most agonizing game. Basketball sees it every year for March Madness, while baseball crowns a champion in the same city as tonight's match. 

Louisville has been drawing ever closer since that win over Texas in 2019. It seems only fitting that they'd get the Longhorns again in a chance to reach the pinnacle. Tonight's match is at 8PM Eastern on ESPN2.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

With tonight's very important match to discuss and a week off on the horizon next week, we didn't want to cancel this week's show. However, with the bowl game at 11 and various holiday events, we have had to make a shift. Today's live show will begin at 10AM, with the podcast posting shortly after. Jeff will join us from Omaha, where I'm sure the hotel is buzzing with anticipation. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Louisville Volleyball is Going to the National Championship! -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Volleyball is Going to the National Championship!

Let's go! The Cards win! Louisville beats Pitt 3-2 (25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-2) to advance to the NCAA National Championship!

Before we get into the meat and bones of the match and the celebration, let's take a look at some of the other events that happened in Omaha yesterday.

In the first match of the night, 1-seed Texas go against the semi-surprising 2-seed San Diego. The Tereros would pull off a 28-26 first set victory before the Longhorns woke up and dominated the next three sets 25-16, 25-18, 25-20. Texas dropped just their third set of the NCAA Tournament.

The much-anticipated match-up between 1-seed Louisville and 2-seed Pitt followed roughly 30 minutes later. The late 10:00 p.m. ET start had both teams' fan bases in their pajamas and drinking coffee at night.

Louisville and Pitt tied for the ACC regular season title with the Cards earning the tiebreaker. Some in the world of volleyball titled this one as the "ACC Championship That Never Happened". It lived up to that hype.

Notes about the Final Four:

-This was a rare Final Four that saw no SEC or Pac-12 teams.

-Two of the Final Four teams (Louisville, San Diego) have women's head coaches.

-Louisville and Pitt are the fourth and five ACC teams to make the Final Four (2011- Florida State, 2021- Louisville and Pitt).

-This is the first time an ACC team has made the NCAA Championship game.

-Texas is the only one of the Final Four teams to have won a national championship or even make a championship game appearance.

-Dan Meske was named AVCA Assistant Coach of the Year

-This is the fourth Louisville team to compete in a national championship (men's basketball- three times, women's basketball- two times, men's soccer- one time). Louisville has quite a few individual champions and student-athletes compete in championships over the years too.

Now, onto the match as we take a look at all five sets.

Set One: Louisville 25, Pitt 19

A service ace started the match for the Cards and ignited a 6-0 run for the Cards. In fact, Louisville had two aces in that stretch. Pitt would not go down and would go on a mini run to bring the Louisville lead to 7-6 and then tie it at 9-9. A couple of small runs helped the Cards go up 17-11, 19-12, and 23-15, allowing the Cards to put themselves in an almost-comfortable lead. Momentum was all in favor of the Cards at this point. A paid of Anna DeBeer kills were the final two Louisville points in an opening set highlighted by strong serving.

Set Two: Pitt 25, Louisville 23

Louisville saw themselves in an early 3-1 lead, but the Panthers weren't about to let themselves go down big or early again. Pitt would take a 7-5 advantage before two straight points evened the score again. A strong Pitt attack saw the Panthers pull ahead 11-8. The Cards would cut their deficit to one that saw Pitt lose a challenge, but the fourth service of the match halted the momentum and give Pitt a 12-10 lead. The Panthers would go into the media break up 15-12. The Cards struggled to go against Pitt's front line defense and Dani Busboom Kelly called a timeout down 19-16. A block by Aiko Jones and DeBeer's fourth ace of the night brought Louisville within two at 21-19 and caused Pitt to call a timeout. After trading points, DBK burned her last timeout down 24-22. The Panthers would ultimately take the set to even the score at halftime.

Set Three: Louisville 25, Pitt 22

Coming out of halftime, DeBeer logged her fifth ace of the night and the Cards went on a 3-0 run before Pitt would score a couple to make it 3-2. Another 3-0 spurt by the Cards highlighted by an Aiko Jones forced Pitt into an early timeout. Pitt would score four straight to even the score before a Claire Chaussee kill stopped the run. Neither team could build much of a lead and Chaussee tied the score at 15-15 with her famous sky high jump for the kill. A net violation by the Cards put Pitt up 19-16 and DBK would call a timeout. The Cards would rally to even the score at 22-22 and Pitt would burn a timeout. A pair of aces by Elena Scott and a kill by Chaussee helped the Cards end the set on a 5-0 run and take a 2-1 lead.

Set Four: Pitt 25, Louisville 22

A similar sight unfolded at the start as Louisville went up 3-0 and then 5-2 before PK Kong went to the bench to get checked out for a minor hand injury. Louisville's attack helped spark the next couple points as Pitt called a timeout at 7-2. Pitt wouldn't go down without a fight, though. They pieced together a run to bring the Louisville lead to 8-7. Then Louisville got hot for a bit. Everything seemed to click for the Cards. A monster kill by Jones and Scott's fourth ace put the Cards up 15-10. Timeout number two for Pitt. After Louisville's lead got cut to 16-13, Busboom Kelly called a timeout to give her team a breather and to refocus. Louisville's errors got the best of them as the score was evened at 17-17. Insert a quick 3-0 Louisville run capped off by a block by Amaya Tillman to help put the Cards back on top. Louisville used its last timeout of the set after the Panthers evened the score at 22-22. Sloppy play continued for Louisville as Pitt went on to take the set.

Set Five: Louisville 15, Pitt 2

Louisville started the deciding set on a 3-0 run. Kong's block forced Pitt to call an early timeout. Then, Chaussee found the corner for a kill and Kong logged back-to-back blocks to extend the lead to 6-0. The block party continued to push the lead to 8-0. Pitt managed a point and Louisville followed with a 4-0 run to go up 12-1. Louisville closed the door from there to take the win!

WOW! Talk about a helluva fifth set! The Cards left no doubt on which team was going to walk away victorious.

Claire Chaussee led the Cards with 25 kills and a .429 attack percentage. Anna DeBeer had 15 kills and Aiko Jones added 12 kills on a .310 attack percentage. Raquel Lazaro had 49 assists. Elena Scott had 28 digs. DeBeer and Scott each had five aces. PK Kong recorded a career high 10 blocks in the match. Amaya Tillman logged seven blocks and Jones had six.

Dani Busboom Kelly looks for the hat trick after winning national championships as a player and assistant coach, now going for her first as a head coach. Louisville looks to be the first women's team on campus to win a national championship. 

Louisville and Texas will face off at 8:00 p.m. ET on Saturday for the national championship. We will recap all of the excitement on our Cardinal Couple Podcast tomorrow morning. Note: The podcast will be at 10:00 A.M. this week, since we figure some of our readers might be interesting in watching  Louisville Football in the Fenway Bowl at 11:00 A.M

(All photos courtesy of Louisville Athletics and Louisville Volleyball)

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

Volleyball Nearly Sweeps ACC Awards -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Nearly Sweeps ACC Awards

Louisville volleyball's dominating showing this season, especially in conference play, helped them take four of the five ACC Awards.

Claire Chaussee was named ACC Player of the Year. Chaussee, a bit of a dark horse for the award at the beginning of the year, beat out others such as Julia Bergmann of Georgia Tech and a trio of Pitt players. Chaussee tallied 370 kills this season while averaging 3.81 kills per set. She reached 1000 career kills this season.

Amaya Tillman was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Tillman ranked sixth in the country with 1.53 blocks per set and logged 141 total blocks. She was also named ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2020.

Raquel Lazaro was named ACC Setter of the Year. Lazaro transferred in from USC for her final year of eligibility. In her lone season with the Cards, Lazaro had 925 assists on the year while averaging 9.95 assists per set. Her season high is 57 assists in a five-set comeback win over Georgia Tech.

Coach Dani Busboom Kelly was named ACC Coach of the Year. Under Busboom Kelly, Louisville went 26-2, was named a 1-seed for the second straight year, won their third straight ACC title, ranked second nationally in blocks, and ranked 10th nationally in hitting percentage.

The lone award Louisville did not take was ACC Freshman of the Year. Emma Farrell of Wake Forest took that award. Louisville did not have any true freshmen play this season due to redshirts, so a  Louisville player could not win by default.

Louisville also had five Cards named to the All-ACC First Team. Chaussee, Tillman, Lazaro, Aiko Jones, and Elena Scott all received recognition. With the exception of Lazaro, the other four Cards have been named to the All-ACC Teams in the past.

The Cards gear up for the NCAA Tournament and will host Samford on Friday at 7:00 p.m. at L&N FCU Arena.

(Photos by Jared Anderson)

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

VOLLEYBALL FACES KENTUCKY TONIGHT -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS AND CATS VOLLEYBALL SQUARE OFF IN MEMORIAL

Another chapter in the Louisville vs Kentucky battles takes place tonight when UofL and UK Volleyball face each other at 7 p.m. in Lexington. The # 13 Cats are 5-2 in the 2022 season, with losses to Marquette and Wisconsin. The Cards are #3 in the nation, with a 7-1 record. Their lone loss came at the hands of Ohio State. 

Junior Reagan Rutherford leads the Cats in kills with 95 on the season and she was also the SEC Player of the Week last week. Azhani Tealor and Adanna Rollins are also front line threats with Rutherford. The main difference between this squad and UK squads of the past is that none of the three UK leaders I've mentioned here are over 6'0" in height....a far cry from the tall UK front lines of years past. 

The Cards defeated UK in the LNFCU last year in a five set thriller. That Louisville win broke a seven match win streak UK held over UofL. 

Key for the Cards will be the continued strong showing of their veteran front line. Claire Chaussee, Anna DeBeer, Aiko Jones, Cara Cresse and Amaya Tillman have been unstoppable for most opponents this season. Add in the strong setting of Raquel Lazaro and the deep bench that Dani Busboom Kelly can call on and the Cards are well deserving of their #3 in the nation ranking. Elena Scott is an expert at digs and one of the best libero in the nation. 

The crowd noise at Memorial will be a factor that Louisville will have to deal with. The coliseum can get pretty loud when it's full of UK faithful and the Cats do tend to fill it up for Volleyball. 

Coaching is another key for UK. Craig Skinner has skippered UK Volleyball for close to 20 years now and been very successful at what he does. He has an in-depth knowledge of the game and is widely respected among his peers  Mind you, UofL has a very good coachi n Dani and staff to go with her. I can't see coaching blunders affecting this match on either side/

There were a few tickets left for the contest late Tuesday afternoon (general admission is $5) but if you can't make it to the UK campus tomorrow, the match will be shown on ESPN. The network is even Katie George the call on it, along with Eric Frede, Those two do a very fine job in calling a Volleyball match, Katie lets her professionalism override her love for the Louisville program, and that's the sign of a excellent announcer. You know she's gotta be hanging on every long, competitive volley and officials' review. 

I'm expecting a five-setter here. Naturally, I'd be thrilled if the Cards could sweep or win it in four and, I'd be disappointed if Jared and I leave Lexington after seeing Louisville lose their second match of the season. 

The Cards could conceivably move up to #2 in DI if they win it. based on Stanford defeating current #2 Nebraska last night. Oh, and guess who Louisville has next, after UK? That's right, the Cardinal. 

So, is this trip to Lexington the toughest road match of the year so far? Yes, I think you could say that with no qualms or hesitations. WKU was a challenge, obviously, but the intensity and pressure tonight will surpass that. It's Kentucky, after all. We'll have Jeff in the stands for this one, Jared taking photos and me at press row. (Yes, Paulie's going to a volleyball match) .I won't attend any of ours at LNFCU during the regular season.  Personal preference. 

(PHOTOS ARE FROM THE 202! MATCH BETWEEN THESE TWO THAT JARED ANDERSON TOOK)

paulie 

 

I Win, You Win, We All Win -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Everybody Wins on Friday

This weekend started off about as perfect as possible for Louisville Athletics. Field hockey took a 1-0 win against James Madison in their home opener. Volleyball down #9 Purdue in straight sets. And the surprise of the night was a 20-14 football victory at UCF.

Field Hockey Takes Home Opener Against JMU

A chilly morning proved to be quite ironic as the turf temperature at Louisville field hockey appeared to break into the 90's. The #5 Cards got to showcase their new turf for the first time this season in their home opener against James Madison.

A second half goal by EJ Imorde proved to be enough for the Cards to down the Dukes, 1-0.

Louisville had the advantage the entire first half, maintaining possession a majority of the time and holding a 4-1 shot advantage going into the break. They couldn't seem to find the cage on those shots. Passing was a bit off point, which one could argue that the new turf factored into that. Louisville installed a new turf in the offseason. After having a chance to walk and sit on it, the new turf is fluffier and has a sponge-like feel when walking compared to the older, harder turf. A change such as that can lead to passes not traveling as far or with as much velocity as expected.

The halftime adjustments proved fruitful as Louisville came out swinging in the second half. Within seconds, the Cards were pressuring inside the inner circle and earned themselves multiple corners. The two teams found themselves in close quarters in the inner circle midway through the third quarter when EJ Imorde found the ball by her stick and enough of an opening to knock her shot into the back of the cage. The goal was the first of the season for her.

James Madison had a couple good looks like in the second half but the Cardinal defense stayed true and posted their first shutout of the season.

Louisville improved to 5-0 this season with the win and Coach Justine Sowry had plenty of positive words following the victory. We also had the chance to chat with Imorde about her goal and her thoughts on the game.

You can click on the two links below to watch the post game interviews.

EJ Imorde Interview

Coach Sowry Interview

Louisville stays home at the friendly confines of Trager Stadium to host #4 Michigan on Sunday at noon.

Volleyball Bounces Back with Sweep Against Purdue

After suffering a loss to Ohio State last weekend, #4 Louisville volleyball bounced back by taking down a different Big Ten opponent. The Cards swept #9 Purdue 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 27-25).

Set One: Louisville 25, Purdue 18

Louisville rushed out of the gate with three straight points before Purdue responded by tying the score at 4-4. A 5-0 run helped the Cards pull ahead by a small margin. The Boilermakers clawed their way back into the set, cuttings Louisville's lead to 16-14. Bending but never breaking, Louisville went on a 6-0 run highlighted by a pair of aces to pull ahead comfortably and never relinquish their lead.

Set Two: Louisville 25, Purdue 20

The second set proved to be a bit more of a challenge as Louisville a majority of the set playing catch up. Purdue would go up two-to-three points and the Cards would also find a way to even the score. Tired of playing catch up, the Cards took their first lead since the beginning of the set with an 18-17. Despite their best efforts, Purdue could not find a way to even the score so Louisville claimed the set and went into halftime up 2-0.

Set Three: Louisville 27, Purdue 25

Thrilling, exciting, nerve-wracking... all terms you could describe the final set. The two teams would ping-pong the score for the opening portion of the set, including a 13-13 tie about midway through. Purdue was eager to take a set and found themselves with a slight edge. They continued to push further and found themselves up 24-18. Cue Hollywood script. Highlighted by a few key blocks and several attack errors by the Boilermakers, the Cards would go on a 6-0 run to even the score. With the crowd back into it, Louisville would not let themselves falter after Purdue grinded out a point for a 25-24 lead. Louisville would take the final three points to claim the set and match.

The final point had plenty of controversy. Purdue was called for being in the net, awarding the point to Louisville. Purdue challenged the point and the officials spent several minutes reviewing the play. Fans became impatient and voiced their frustrations as they awaited the call. Ultimately, the net call was overturned but the officials discovered a touch on Purdue, awarding the Cards the final point.

Back row passing was the struggle of the match for the Cards. Louisville found themselves in an unusually high amount of out of system rallies. Nonetheless, the veteran Louisville squad handled it well en route to the sweep.

Serving was much improved from last week. The Cards limited their service errors while dishing out five aces and forcing Purdue into plenty of hectic return situations.

Amaya Tillman and Anna DeBeer led the cards with 10 kills apiece. The always reliable Elena Scott logged 19 digs while Raquel Lazaro had 34 assists.

The Cards improved to 6-1 with the Top-10 victory. They host Lipscomb at 7:00 tonight. Xavier and Purdue will play the first match at 4:00.

(PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON)

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're down to three this week for the podcast, but, what a powerful three. 

The world famous Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast is good to go for our regularly scheduled 11:00 start today. Daryl is out taking care of some bats or watching some Louisville Bats and will not be able to join us. Case has some ongoing events this weekend and will not be with us. Paulie, Jeff, and I will gladly talk about our fall sports for an hour, though.

Cardinal Couple You Tube Link:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3Lb0KWORvn2eARnCZfjxww

Happy Saturday and Go Cards!

Jared