The Cards in WNBA in 2025 -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 HINES-ALLEN, EVANS AND ENGSTLER IN WNBA

Following former Cards in the WNBA..the 2025 participants are Myisha Hines-Allen (Dallas Wings), Dana Evans (Las Vegas Aces) and Emily Engstler (Washington Mystics). With all the 13 teams having played at least none games now, let's take a look at how the past cards are doing in the "W".

Hines-Allen enter her eighth year in the WNBA. The first seven were with the Washington Mystics,but she wears the Dallas Wings jersey in the 2025 season. After 12 games,the Wings are at 1-11 and in seventh place in the WNBA Western Conference and has the worst record ni the league.  Hines -Allen is averaging 21 minutes a game, and scoring 6.7 ppg. She's pulling down 5.6 rebounds a game. The Wings lost yesterday to the Las Vegas Aces 84-88.

Aces vs Storm --WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 DANA EVANS CONTRIBUTING TO ACES

We love to follow our Cardinals who make it to women's pro leagues, and surely there is no larger pro woman's league than the WNBA.

On the Las Vegas Aces, former Cardinal great Dana Evans is on the squad, and she is contributing...not as a starter for the 4-2 Aces, but a significant contributor off the bench. Last night, in the Aces Sunday 75-70 win over the Seattle Storm, Evans played 21 minutes and scored nine points and dished out three assists.

The 5'6" Evans entered the league as the 13th overall pick by the Dallas Wings back in 2021. She almost immediately was traded to the Chicago Sky, and was on the 2021 All-WNBA rookie team. Back in February of 2025, she was dealt to the Aces in exchange for the 16th and 22nd draft picks for Chicago in the 2025 WNBA Draft.  

The Aces picked up a player in Evans that was part of the Sky's 2021 WNBA Championship team....but,her playing time decreased in 2024, as she was demoted from a starter to a reserve and she negotiated a trade that sent her to Las Vegas. She played in 134 games in four years at Chicago and averaged 6.2 ppg. The Gary, IN native was a fn favorite with the Sky. .

With the Aces, Evans is a backup guard on a roster that has Jewell Loyd and Chelsea Gray starting at guards and features Aja Wilson at center/forward..

.Evans is one of three former Cards WBB stars playing in the WNBA this season. Myisha Hnes-Allen is at Dallas, and Emily Engstler plays for Washington. 

We wish all our Cards in the WNBA the best of success and hope they have great seasons..

paulie 

Four former Cards Left on 2024 WNBA rosters. -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

 Hines-Allen, Engstler, Evans and Dixon remain on WNBA rosters 

We've always tried to keep up with the former Louisville Cardinals who make it to the WNBA and as we look at most teams having completed over two dozen games this season, we also see four Cards still on rosters. Our columnist Jeff McAdams gave you his look at the Cards in th "W" in Sunday' s write...I had already planned to do the same today, and just kept my original write to present today, instead of going for a new subject. 

The Washngton Mystics have half of Louisville's WNBA contingent on their roster with Myisha Hines-Allen and Emily Engstler. Hines-Allen has been in the league since 2018 and serves as a reserve on this year's Mystics squad. She has the highest shooting perentage on the squad at 52.1% In 22 games for the Mystics, she is averaging 8.4 ppg, 4.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists. 

Engstler was the fourth pick in the 2022 by the Indiana Fever but was waived and spent time aat Minnesota before the Mystics acquired her. She also comes off the bench, and is averaging 4.7 points per game and 3.7 rebounds. 

Washington is in sixth (last) place in the WNBA's Eastern Division with a 6-19 record as of this writing. 

Dana Evans plays for the Chicago Sky and is in her fourth year in the league. She's a part time starter at Chicago (12 of 22 games so far) She averages 8.3 p.p.g. a game and 3.2 assists. Originally drafted by Dallas, she played a half dozen games in "Big D" before getting traded to the Sky in the 2021 season. . 

The Sky are currently in 4th place at 9-14 in the Eastern Division. 

Liz Dixon is on the Phoenix Mercury team. She went undrafted in 2023 but did play for the Connecticut Sun and the Mercury in 2023. The Mercury did waive her this season on July 2nd, but was brought back almost immediately to be a reserve on the squad with a seven-day contract. She is averaging 1,8 p.p.g. and 2.4 rebounds. . 

Phoenix is 13-12 on the season, good for fourth place in the league's Western Division.  

We, here at Cardinal Couple, wish all out Cards pros the best of luck the rest of the way and hope they can etch out long careers in the "W". 

paulie

 

Cards in the WNBA -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Four Cards Currently on Active Rosters

We're a few weeks into the WNBA season and several former Louisville Cardinals are currently active for their respective teams. Here's how these players have fared.

Dana Evans, Chicago Sky

One of the more well-known graduates from Louisville, Evans has played a crucial role for her team. In 11 games played, Evans is averaging 27.8 minutes per game. She's posted strong numbers with 9.9 points per game, 1.5 rebounds per game, 3.9 assists per game, and 1.4 steals per game. The Sky are currently 4-7.

Liz Dixon, Phoenix Mercury

Dixon is another recent graduate from Louisville, having been with the program during the pandemic. So far, she has played a reserve role averaging 12.4 minutes per game. Dixon has contributed so far with 2.5 points per game, 3.2 rebounds per game, and 0.8 assists per game. The Mercury are currently 6-6.

Emily Engstler, Washington Mystics

Having played only one season with Louisville, Engstler is the only one on this list that did not play all or most of her career with the Cards. Engstler has moved around the league some and is now on her third team. Washington is slowly easing her into the normal rotation as she has averaged 6.9 minutes per game across seven games. She is averaging 1.9 points per game, 2.1 rebounds per game, and 0.7 assists per game. The Mystics are currently 1-12.

Myisha Hines-Allen, Washington Mystics

A veteran to the WNBA at this point, Hines-Allen has proven to be a reliable contributor during her career with Washington. She is seeing 17.7 minutes per game, right on par with her career. Hines-Allen is averaging 7.3 points per game, 4.2 rebounds per game, 2.3 assists per game, and 0.7 steals per game.

There are several other former Cardinals who are free agents.

AD (formerly known as Asia Durr)- most recently with the Atlanta Dream.

Jazmine Jones- most recently with the Washington Mystics.

Arica Carter- most recently played overseas, most recent WNBA team is Phoenix Mercury.

Kiki Jefferson- most recently with the Minnesota Lynx.

Kianna Smith- most recently played overseas, most recent WNBA team is Connecticut Sun.

Kylee Shook- most recently with the New York Liberty.

Sam Fuehring- currently playing overseas, most recent WNBA team is Washington Mystics.

With just 12 teams in the WNBA, trying to maintain a career playing in the states is a tall task. With the expansion to 14 teams next season, we hope to see more former Cards playing in the pros. The 2025 expansion teams will be located in Toronto and Golden State (San Francisco).

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

WNBA Opener -- Mystics Fall short in 4th quarter to Liberty 85-80 -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WASHNGTON FALLS SHORT IN FOURTH QUARTER TO NEW YORK IN WNBA SEASON OPENER

FOLLOWING the Louisville WNBA players this season in the WNBA will be something I will try to stay fairly regulary with this WNBA season, and on last night's opening night  Tuesday night, Emily Englstler and Myisha Hines-Allen had their squad, the WashIngton Mystics, in action. So did Liz Dixon's Phoenix Mercury. The Mystics will probably be the team I follow the most, since they have two of my favorite Cardinals great on roster in "E" amd "Mooks"

The Mystics ran into a NY Liberty squad that caught fire in the fourth quarter and caught and passed the DC team, doubling up the score on them in the fourth quarter 26-13 and winning 85-80. 

Not much from the Louisville contingent in the opener. Neither Hines-Allen or Engstler drew the start. Emily didnt play at all and Hines-Allen saw just 19 minutes, putting up five points and grabbing five rebounds in the loss. 

Karlie Samuelson and Shikira Austin drew the starts at forward for the Mystics but the former Stanford and Maryland veterans were not all that effective, combining for just 20 points and nine rebounds in 47 total minutes. 

We all kinda figured that Washington's Dolson, Atkins and Sykes might be prominent scorers this season for the Mystics and they held true to form in the season opener. with 59 points between them. 

It was Washington's game to lose after three  quarters, having built up a 67-59 lead after three,,,but let the visitors take over in the fourth quarter. 

In other early, first night action, the Connecticut Sun ruined Caitlin Clark's opener with the Indiana Fever, thumpimg the visiting WNBA Fever squad 92-71.

The other two opening night contests were later affairs. with the Aces and Mercury hookng up and the Lynx and Storm going against each other. The Mercury are without Brit Grinner, who is oit with a toe injury, so we hoped to see a bit of Liz Dixon, who is on the Phoenix roster. Dixon was in a reserve role and saw six minuues, grabbing three rebounds but not scoring. The visiting Phoenix squad fell 89-80 to the two-time champion Las Vegas Aces. The Minnesota Lynx defeated the Storm 83-70. DI star from last year Taylor Soule saw one minute of action for the Lynx in the win. 

I'll agree with several readers here,...it's good to see basketball's bouncing again and some of Jeff Walz's stars from years past out there. Dana Evans and the Chicago Sky get their start tonight against  Dallas at Dallas. Unfortunately, it'll only be shown on You Tube Primetime WNBA League Pass,  a subscription service.. 

paulie

A Wedding Celebration - Sunday Cardinal Couple

A Wedding Celebration

Summer is a popular season for weddings.  Our own Jared Anderson got married recently, for example.  Another one happened yesterday that may be of some interest to the Cardinal Couple community.

We don't typical delve into too many non-sports-related personal events for people associated with UofL women's sports, though many of them do frequently come across our awareness thanks to social media.  But, a bit of admission, we have our favorites that we tend to keep track of more than others.  And yesterday's nuptials involved one of those favorites.

One of our favorite Attack Yorkies, Jess Laemmle, is one half of the happy couple.  She married Dalton McDaniel.

Since her playing time from 2016-2020, Laemmle has been most visible serving as color commentator on some of the teams games.  That work has kept her in contact with the staff at UofL Women's Basketball and the picture we saw is evidence of that.  In attendance were much of the coaching staff, including Jeff Walz, Stephanie Norman, and Jonneshia Pineda.  Also there were a couple of beloved former members of the staff, Sam Purcell, and then student manager Jimmy Yu.  Jimmy has joined Purcell as Director of Ops at Mississippi State.  Also picture is recently graduated Mykasa Robinson who played for two years with Laemmle and who is also maintaining a close relationship with the staff and is expected to have some role within the organization this season.

Congratulations to the happy couple, we hope to see Mrs. McDaniel again as color commentator in the KFC Yum! Center this year again.

Cards in the Pros

As we tend to do in the summer, a quick rundown of Cards in the Pros.

Emina Ekic and Racing Louisville FC were on the road, playing in Seattle, against OL Reign.  Normally a draw on the road is considered a good outcome, and Racing did get the point towards overall standings, but after being up 2-0 in the 76th minute, coming away with "only" a 2-2 draw is a bit of a bitter pill to swallow.  Ekic saw only a brief minute or so at the end of the match, and had a touch or two in that brief time, but no stats.

In the WNBA, Liz Dixon saw almost six minutes of playing time and had a rebound and an assist for a positive +/- contribution in what was otherwise a substantial Las Vegas Aces win over Dixon's Connecticut Sun.  The Aces came away with the 18 point win, 102-84.

Emily Engstler and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Phoenix Mercury in Phoenix 86-76.  Engstler too, had a positive +/- with a rebound in just short of 3 minutes of play.

On tap today:

• AD and the AD (Atlanta Dream), take on the Los Angeles Sparks at 3pm in Hotlanta.  ESPN3 streaming has the video.
• Myisha Hines-Allen and the Mystics visit Dallas (technically Arlington), also starting at 3pm.  This one is on broadcast on ABC.
• Dana Evans and the Sky are down in Indianapolis to play the Fever at 4pm.  Also on ESPN3 streaming.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

The CCRHP was not live on YouTube yesterday due to apparent issues at YouTube, but the crew did get together and record the podcast. Whether it was a part of the Twitter dilemma many experienced we can't definitely say for sure or not. If you tuned in to try and listen "live" we apologize on behalf of the Internet. You can catch the broadcast replay, though. See Below

Case returned after several weeks away, joining Jared, Paulie, and myself as we dug through the released fall sports schedules that came out this week.  There was some good discussion about what we can expect out of the Soccer program this fall with who's returning and who isn't.  We also covered the Field Hockey and Volleyball schedules.

This will be a good one to catch for a rundown of what the fall schedule overall will be like.  As always, it's in podcast form at:

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/A-Look-at-the-Fall-Sports-Schedules-e26e6ad

-- JMcA

Random Louisville Women's Sports News -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

We've come to the weekend at last, Cards fans! I am no Daryl, as she and I traded days so she could keep working hard with the Louisville Bats. Summertime can be tricky as there is usually minimal news for us to hit, especially with current teams and players.

We do have random news and notes to hit that have happened periodically throughout this past week that we might not have mentioned yet that we for sure want to hit before the weekend officially arrives.

Oh, and for the kiddies...the 80's sensation --  the Lover Boy video "Working for the Weekend" HERE

Louisville Volleyball in Brazil

Louisville volleyball continues their summer trip to Brazil and remained undefeated with a 3-1 victory over the Brazilian U21 National Team. The Cards took the match by winning three straight sets (25-23, 25-17, 25-19) after dropping the opening set 19-25.

Women's Soccer Representation with Indy Eleven

Louisville women's soccer has plenty of representation on Indy Eleven in their USL W League. Last night, Indy Eleven took on St. Charles, but fell 2-0. Current Cardinals Addie Chester and Lizzie Sexton were part of the starting XI.

Cardinal alum Maisie Whitsett entered the match as a substitute. She led the 'Eleven' with five shots. Current Cardinal Karsyn Cherry is also listed on the roster but did not play.

Ekic Back with Racing Louisville

Louisville women's soccer legend Emina Ekic returned to the pitch this week with Racing Louisville following a stint on the inactive list due to injury. She subbed in during the second half of Racing's 3-0 victory over Houston in front of roughly 5,000 fans and nearly 200 dogs.

Engstler Signs with Lynx

Louisville women's basketball alum Emily Engstler is back in the WNBA. She recently signed on with the Minnesota Lynx under a hardship contract due to the Lynx have two players out with injuries.

While Engstler is guaranteed to be on the roster for at least three weeks with multiple other players out, her contract is subject to change as other players return.

She will be eligible to play when the Lynx take on the Los Angeles Sparks tonight at 10:00 p.m. ET. The Lynx will remain out west when they face the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Go Cards !

Jared

Cards in WNBA -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

Five Cards remain on three WNBA rosters as of 5/16/23

update:  The Mystics cut Jaz and Em after this article was written and posted. 

As the WNBA squads get down to their roster sizes (11 or 12, depending on the franchise) we still find five Cardinals WBB players on three different rosters. 

Sadly, the Phoenix Mercury did cut both Liz Dixon and Kylee Shook. I was hoping, as a lot of Cardinal fans were, that one or both would remain on the roster to serve as backups to Brit Griner. But, it looks like the Phoenix squad is going to go with Megan Gustafson, who has four years of league experience, to play that role. Phoenix is down to 12 players on their roster.

The Chicago Sky has Dana Evans on their roster. Evans looks to be one that will make the opening day roster, despite there still being 16 players listed on the roster as of yesterday. Seven guards are still listed for the Sky, but two are rookies and two have just a year's experience. Also, three players haven't been assigned a roster number yet.  Evans was named to the All-Rookie team last year after leading all rookies in free throw percentage and hitting 40% from three point range. Kahleah Copper and Marina Mabrey look to maybe have the "jump" on starting spots, but now that Courtney Vandersloot went to the Liberty via free agency, and Allie Quigley is not playing this season...Dana should see plenty of minutes, we hope. And, she played her high school ball not far from Chicago and could help bring fans in. 

The Atlanta Dream have welcomed  Asia AD Durr home and she looks to be a great fit with the Dream. The Dream do have some quality guards on the roster in addition to AD, like Rhyne Howard, Danielle Robinson and Alisha Gray...but Durr scored in double figures in both Dream pre-season games so far. I love her chances of being a star at Atlanta. After the battles she had with COVID, it's so encouraging to see her back on the court...doing "incred-a-Durr" things. Shoot til your arm falls off, AD. 

That leaves us with the Washington Mystics. 

Jazmine Jones, Myisha Hines-Allen and Emily Engstler are on the roster, and I like all three players' chances of making the squad. The Mystics are down to 13 on their roster...Jones is a capable guard who was claimed off waivers from Indiana, and is one of seven guards on the roster. Engstler also came to Washington from Indiana, where she played 35 games last season I find it pretty incredulous that the Fever let her go, but they do still have Grace Berger on the roster, along with 10 rookies or first year players, so it may be a financial thing. Hines-Allen has been an essential part of the Mystics and works well in the lineup with Elena Della Donne. 

Friday is opening day for the WNBA's 27th season and the teams will play 40 regular season games in 2023. The Mystics play New York on opening night, Minnesota brings in Chicago, the Mercury goes to L.A. and Connecticut goes to Indiana. The other four WNBA squads (Las Vegas, Seattle, Atlanta and Dallas) play their first games on Saturday. 

We wish all our Cards greats a ton of success this season and will watch with interest any news on WNBA expansion. 

paulie

Volleyball on Tour; Engstler on the Move -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Headed to Brazil This Summer

UofL officially announced a Brazilian Tour for the volleyball team over the summer yesterday. The Cards will make their way south of the equator to get to know each other on the court as well as off. In addition to having five planned matches, the trip will include a cultural whirlwind as they travel to four cities over ten days from June 8th to the 18th. You can check out the full list of experiences on the itinerary over on the Go Cards website, but the team will travel to Arraial Do Cabo, Saquarema, Rio De Janeiro, and Sao Paulo. Amongst other things, they'll visit the Corcovado statue in Rio and meet with local students in Saquarema. 

The trip will be key for the Cards to prepare for the upcoming season. Though the opponents of the planned matches aren't named, any competition will help the team gel as they work to integrate new members. With key departures from last year's national runner-up team, Louisville will be adding transfers Charitie Luper and Brigitta Petrenko to the mix along with upcoming underclassmen looking to fill a bigger role. The experience should be exciting for all the players and we're looking forward to hearing more about the trip as it happens.

Engstler Joins Jones, Hines-Allen in Washington

Last week saw Indiana waive Emily Engstler, their 4th overall draft pick from 2022. Engstler's departure from the team means that the Fever have waived their first pick from the last three drafts. They moved on from Lauren Cox (Baylor) in the middle of 2021 after selecting her 3rd overall in 2020 and from Kysre Gondrezick (West Virginia) in January of 2022 after selecting her 4th in 2021. Emily Engstler had 40 blocks in her first season, tying for the team lead and falling just four short of tying Tamika Catchings' rookie franchise record. Engstler's 35 games played added her to a list of just three players in franchise history to play more than 34 games in a single regular season. In those games, she started just six and averaged 5.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.1 blocks. Her 181 rebounds were the fifth most ever recorded by a Fever rookie. 

She wasn't on the street for long. After being waived on April 26th, she was signed yesterday, just one day after the beginning of training camp. It was a heck of a birthday present. Her deal is with the Washington Mystics, a familiar home for former Cardinals. Though she only has a training camp contract, her numbers suggest she should be able to find a home in the W. Seeing her, Jaz Jones, and MHA on the floor together could be quite a sight (and might make us wonder what could have been in red and black instead of red and blue). 

The Mystics and former Cards had fun with it being Emily's birthday as part of the photo shoot as well: https://twitter.com/WashMystics/status/1653084599210197001?s=20

We wish Emily (and all the Cardinals working to make rosters in the woefully under-teamed WNBA) the very best!

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Not So Busy News Day - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Roster Listings Updated

Friday was busy, but there's not a whole lot happening on Saturdays, yet, though we're in the final countdown to activities happening that'll get the weekends hopping again.

The various programs, and particularly the fall sports playing programs, are getting active with plenty going on, just none of yet really outward facing.  One of those rituals that college sports teams all participate in, is picture day.  The first results we see from that are new headshots on updated rosters, and that's all done and dusted for at least the fall sports teams.

You can check out the updated rosters for Field Hockey, https://gocards.com/sports/field-hockey/roster; Women's Soccer, https://gocards.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster; and Volleyball, https://gocards.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster.

The roster pages are a great way to get to know who the new players on the teams are, both incoming freshman and transfers, and thanks to the new headshots, put a face to that name.  It can also be interesting to check out the highlight blurb from last year for your favorite player.  Of course, they're also reference material as we start trying to divine what starting lineups we'll see in the teams.

Of course, some of the photos will be used throughout the year in promotional shots, and they could get displayed on scoreboards, banners, posters, and more.

Photo day isn't just about still photos anymore, though.  UofL loves video bits to help fans get to see a bit of the personality and tidbits about the lives of the players.  These are those fun videos played on scoreboards during breaks in the action.  Some of these videos, or snippets from them, have made it to social media, and it looks like they had fun with them.

WNBA

Let's check in on our Basketball Cards in the pros again.

We've only got eight days left in the WNBA regular season.  The Chicago Sky, looking for back to back championships with Dana Evans have a two game lead over the Las Vegas Aces in the standings. at 24-8.  The Washington Mystics with Myisha Hines-Allen are in fifth, four games back at 20-13.  Atlanta Dream who are unfortunately, again, without the services of AD Durr are in seventh at 14-18.  The rookies and their squads are at the bottom of the listings, Kianna Smith who is back with her fourth go around just this season with the Los Angeles Sparks in second to last sporting a 12-20 record, and Emily Engstler's Indiana Fever bringing up the rear at 5-29.

The Fever were in action yesterday in, what you might guess, based on that record, a 95-91 loss against the Dallas Wings.  Engster played right at half the game, got a three pointer, unfortunately missed a pair of free throws, but contributed well on the defensive side of the ball with a trio of rebounds, a pair of steals, and a blocked shot.

In today's action, Evans and the Sky start it off at 1pm against the 3rd place Connecticut Sun.  Find this one on ABC.  Also, Smith and the Sparks visit Hines-Allen and the Mystics at 3pm on ESPN3 or NBC Sports.  Another interesting matchup that doesn't have any UofL rooting interests is the Aces visiting 4th place Seattle Storm, also at 3pm, and on ABC following the Sky game.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

It was a fearsome foursome pontificating on the podcast yesterday.  Case, back off Covid; Jared, with a variety of maladies, and a healthy Paulie and myself all joined in.  Daryl was off baby-sitting, and I don't think anyone can fault her for being an awesome aunt.

We covered news from Field Hockey, Softball, and Women's Basketball, and we previewed our first competition of the season, the Women's Soccer exhibition against Cincinnati.

It's always a good time, and you can check it out at your favorite podcast directory, or go directly to the source at https://anchor.fm/cardinal-couple/episodes/Fall-Sports-on-the-Horizon-e1m66m1.

JMcA

Volleyball Assembles -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Roster, Where Are They

Raquel Lázaro arrived on campus this past week to begin her stint with UofL Volleyball.  With her arrival, I believe that the full 2022 Fall Volleyball roster is now on campus.  The roster listed on the gocards.com site hasn't been updated with any changes since the end of the 2021 season, so we're putting together updates seen on various social media accounts, thus the uncertainty.

A Slight Wedding Detour

Well, that's not quite right because right at the moment a pretty significant chunk of the volleyball squad is in Laurens South Carolina where they celebrated the nuptials of Anna Stevenson and Duncan Hall last night.  Duncan Hall was a part of the UofL Baseball team and the two met when a bunch of the baseball players came to one of the volleyball matches.  This is hardly the first relationship matchup between UofL Baseball and Volleyball, nor, I'm quite certain, will it be the last.

We love to see Cardinals making a life together with other Cardinals, and we wish the best to the happy couple.

But now, back to the roster.

Returning

Let's do a quick rundown of who is returning from the previous squad.  Starting with Defensive Specialists.  Ceci Rush, Ayden Bartlett, and Alexa Hendricks are all returning.

Most of the setters listed on the roster have departed, with only Paige Morningstar, a red-shirt last year, returning to the squad this year.

At Middle Blocker, the now married Anna Stevenson, and high jumper Emily Scott have both moved on with Amaya Tillman, Cara Cresse, and Phekran Kong returning.

Only one pin hitter will not be returning from the 2021 team, and that's not due to graduation.  Brooke Smith has transferred to Dayton, where of course, we wish her the best.  That means that...get ahold of this lineup...Nena Mbonu, Claire Chaussee, Anna DeBeer, and Aiko Jones are all returning.

New To The Volleyball Team

Most of the VBall newcomers, with Mayor Greg
Fischer.  (l to r) Sydni Schetnan, Nina Moorer,
Alexis Finnvold, Elle Glock, and Raquel Lázaro

So who are the new folks joining?  First, Sydni Schetnan will be joining the volleyball squad after getting only limited playing time with Basketball last season.  This was the plan from the start for Schetnan, to be a two sport athlete.  She is still listed on the Basketball roster as well, but again, it hasn't been updated since the last season ended.  We have some indications that she won't be playing basketball again this year, but these decisions can be fluid right up until the last minute.

Two transfers have come to campus, both from the University of Southern California, and both setters.  Elle Glock arrived in January and the aforementioned Raqual Lázaro who arrived on campus this week after playing some summer ball with the Spanish National Team.

UofL has three incoming signed freshman, at least two of which I know are on campus, and I believe all three are.

Alexis Finnvold will be joining the setter corp, a six footer from Boca Raton, Florida.  Hannah Sherman, listed at 6'1", is a middle blocker from Silver Springs, Maryland.  And Nina Moorer is a 6'0" outside hitter from Missouri City, Texas.

So, as we've been saying, we've got a great core team returning, with a leavening of some great new players joining the squad.  This could be another great year for UofL Volleyball.

NWSL and WNBA Check-in

Time for our quick check-in with our pros in the NWSL and WNBA.

Racing Louisville FC played San Diego on Friday.  Emina Ekic was, literally, a last minute sub for Alex Chidiac.  Ekic is credited with one minute played and no other stats for the game.  Allison Whitfield was available, but did not play.

Yesterday wasn't the greatest game for Dana Evans.  She played for just over 11 minutes, made one basket on five attempts, going oh-fer in three attempts from beyond the arc.  Add in a rebound to round out her stat line.

A good night on Friday for Emily Engstler with the Fever.  Three baskets, with two of them beyond the arc, along with three rebounds and four assists in 15 minutes is a decent outing.

Also Friday, Jazmine Jones with the Connecticut Suns got a pair of baskets in six attempts.  Two were beyond the arc, which, let's face it, was never Jones' strength.  She played 13 minutes.

On the other side of that one, AD with the Atlanta Dream got four field goals in 25 minutes with none beyond the arc.  Chalk up a perfect four free throws, and nice additional stats with a trio of rebounds and a trio of assists for them.

Cards in action in all four of today's games.  The Suns with Jones are at 1pm on ABC against Las Vegas.  Myisha Hines-Allen and the Washington Mystics take on Minnesota on NBC Sports and Facebook streaming at 3pm.  AD and the Dream head out to Phoenix for a 6pm game available on "Amazon Video" which I presume is Amazon Prime.  And also at 6pm, Engstler and the Fever out in Seattle on CBS Sports and Indiana Fever's Facebook streaming.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

And finally, four of a kind on CCRHP this week.  Daryl, Jared, Paulie, and myself on the call this week as we discuss NIL and how it is interacting with gender equity, and we predict some breakout players for fall teams.

Check out the fun at anchor.fm podcast home or any of your favorite podcast directories, and, you can also click the Cardinal Bird at the top of the article to listen. 

https://anchor.fm/cardinal-couple/episodes/Progress-in-Equity-and-Expected-Breakout-Stars-for-Fall-Sports-e1lac3l

JMcA

A WNBA Sunday -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 FEVER HOLD ON AGAINST SKY...MYSTICS HANDLE SUN

A big day for WNBA action on Father's Day, with four Cardinals alumnae in action in the league. 

Dana Evans with the Chicago Sky visiting Emily Engstler and the Indiana Fever.  Myshia Hines-Allen and the Washington Mystics hosting Jaz Jones and the Connecticut Sun. 

(Just imagine what a double-header like this would draw to the KFC YUM! Center).  

SKY VS FEVER

Dana and her 10-5 Chicago Sky came to Indy to take on a Indiana Fever squad that desperately needed a win. And, after being down by 13 at halftime, the Fever fought back and got  the nail-biting win over the visitors 89-87. Courtney Vandersloot missed a jumper that could have tied it up and the Fever had the "W". Indiana improved their record to 5-13. 

"We had a very intense conversation at halftime, to say the least..." Fever head coach Carlos Knox commented after the game. "I wanted them to understand the game plan and I wanted them to pick up their game the way we had prepared for the game." It was Knox's inaugural game as the Fever head coach, you may know him as having been a superstar at IUPUI on their men's team from 1997-99. 

Emily Engstler saw 19 minutes in this one for the Fever and had five points and nine rebounds.  Dana Evans had six minutes for Chicago and had two points and a rebound. 

MYSTICS VS SUN

The home-standing Washington Mystics roared out to a 29-17 lead on the visiting Connecticut Sun and pushed that to a 16-point half-time edge. Washington was on top 61-41 after three. The Sun were not totally giving up the fight and got back within eight points before losing 71-63 to Myisha and the Mystics. Washington improved to 11-7 on the season, while the Sun went to 12-5.

Myisha saw just six minutes in the contest, grabbing a rebound and scoring a bucket. 

For Connecticut, Jaz Jones contributed a scoreless eight minutes. It's good to see Jaz getting some minutes after being with the Sun for such a short time. 

Turnovers plagued the Sun, while Washington committed just four in the first three quarters  

paulie

 

Close the Book - Sunday Cardinal Couple

 Close The Book

Today we, fairly quietly here at Cardinal Couple, close the book on the 2021-2022 UofL athletic season.

It's not all done for the NCAA as a whole, Baseball will be closing out their SuperRegional events today and tomorrow with the College World Series starting Thursday and running through, potentially, June 27th.

Here at UofL, though, Baseball lost to Texas A&M yesterday, making the Aggies the first team to punch their ticket to the CWS and officially ending the season for UofL Baseball.  Meanwhile, in the Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, a pair of Cardinal athletes, both men, competed yesterday, on the final day of the competition.

That's it.  There are no more events on the GoCards Composite Schedule.

Of course, that doesn't mean there is nothing for us to do over the next couple of months.  There will be news stories about the programs and individuals who are or have been involved with those programs.  And we'll do our level best to bring those stories to you as we come across them.  All of us, the writers of Cardinal Couple, have worked to cultivate an information network to help us try catch them all to help funnel those stories into the pages here at Cardinal Couple.

Being the Sunday writer, it's typically a good day over the summer to catch up with our alumnae in the WNBA, and NWSL.

We will also, of course, start to look a little bit ahead to the fall sports.  It's a little early right now for too much of that, but over the course of the summer we'll start to see the rosters get updated, we'll get some schedule announcements, and for better or for worse, we could still hear some player transfers get announced, both outward and inward.

For now, I think we can say it has been a successful year.  We had two teams, Volleyball and Women's Basketball, reach the Final Four in their 64 team brackets.  We have an individual National Champion in Gabriela Leon.  And we have had many teams perform well, with integrity and pride.

It's been a good year.

WNBA Schedule

(Remember When??) 

Las Vegas and Los Angeles were the only WNBA teams in action yesterday, and with no UofL rooting interests there, we move onward.

Dana Evans and the Chicago Sky visit the New York Liberty, and I must admit it seems a little weird not to have a UofL alumna involved in the Liberty as there have been ties between the programs for a number of years, now.  A 2pm start, you can catch this one via Amazon Prime streaming, or via the Yes App.

Myisha Hines-Allen with the Washington Mystics will host the Phoenix Mercury at 6pm.  I don't see any useful streaming options for this one at all.  Maybe NBC Sports, but I believe it to be regionally restricted.

Emily Engstler continues to see some good court time with the rebuilding Indiana Fever.  You can check them out via their Facebook page, https://facebook.com/indianafever as they travel to the Minnesota Lynx for a 7pm game.

NWSL/Racing Louisville FC

Emina Ekic has been consistently getting some good minutes with Racing Louisville FC, typically entering the game early in the second half.  Last night was no exception, entering in the 51st minute for Alex Chidiac.

It was a back and forth game overall between Racing and Angel City FC (Los Angeles).  The game winner for Angel City came during the nearly 10 minutes of stoppage time in the second half via a penalty kick.

Ekic was a significant presence, attacking on the left wing.  She had several opportunities, including one with an excellent cut-back that left the defender on roller skates, moving the ball towards the center and a strong shot that was, alas, just off frame.

Racing will be in action again Friday at the Washington Spirit.  Paramount+ has the streaming platform for this one for the 7:30pm start.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

There was still plenty to talk about for the CCRHP with Jared, Paulie, and myself on the call.  We talked former Cards, current Cards, Cards to be, Cards that potentially might be, and a National Champion Card.

It's a fun hour...ish of discussion as usual.  Check it out at it's podcast home at anchor.fm, lightly edited this week by yours truly in Case's absence.

https://anchor.fm/cardinal-couple/episodes/Former-Cards--Current-Cards--Future-Cards--Potential-Future-Cards--and-a-National-Champion-Card-e1jqnpl

-- JMcA