Success - A Response...SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Ruminations on the Meaning of "Success"

In yesterday's article, Case wrote a fantastic short essay about the nature of Success.  Ok, there was more to it than just a philosophical and epistemological discussion about what "Success" means, but it was definitely an article that made many of us pull up short and think about the meaning of the term.

I couldn't just let the topic go, though, so, on this lazy Sunday morning, I find myself ruminating about some of the ideas, and I'll also share where I agree and disagree with Case on what I would consider a successful season for each of the women's sports teams at UofL.

Sports fans seem to frequently define success as achievements specifically within sports for their team and/or the individuals of that team.  Towards the more reasonable end of the sports fandom spectrum, you'll find fans that see success not just in National Championships, but steps along the way.  It seems pretty rare, in my perception, to find many sports fans that look for success beyond that, and I think that's something of a shame.  Case mentioned Brian Brohm and Luke Hancock.  Brohm is in the coaching staff at Purdue where his brother is head coach, and Luke, after playing limited pro ball suffered a career ending injury and is now a financial advisor.

Of course, my sport of choice is Volleyball, so I'd like to highlight some of the spectrum of success that see coming out of that team over the past years.

Let's look at a few players, and let's start with some of the players that have gone on to play
professional volleyball.  The first that come to mind are Lola Arslanbeckova, and Erin Fairs.  Lola had several years of playing professional volleyball, mostly in Puerto Rico, but has since had a child and is spending some time being a mother.  Where does more success come from there?  I have no children of my own (I have a niece and a nephew, both of whom are absolutely delightful, and I find tremendous joy in being an uncle), but I surely tip my hat to those who chose to have children and raise them well.  That's a contract that's at least a couple of decades long.  Erin Fairs is about to start playing professional volleyball with her 4th team in Romania.  She has already spent time in Sweden, Puerto Rico, and Turkey and has seen a great deal of team success on those teams.  Is there non-sports professional life ahead for Erin?  I have no clue, but from the little I got to know her in her year with the Cardinals, I have little doubt that whatever is ahead for her, it will be able to be described as successful.

But what about some other volleyball players?  Emily Juhl was a great hitter and server for the Cardinals, but chose not to pursue a professional sports career.  Emily is enrolled in the UofL School of Dentistry, and has already had the opportunity to put her developing skills in that field to some charitable use.  You could disagree about how much success she had on the volleyball court at UofL, and what impact she had on the team, though I think, pretty clearly, it would be an disagreement about degree of success, rather than success vs failure.  Clearly, though, she is a success story in what she is doing with her life "post-sports".

Friday, I posted a fun article about Gabbie Wiley playing in a Mud Volleyball tournament back home in Hannibal, MO.  But let's talk a little bit more about Gabbie, not only is she tearing it up as a defensive and serving specialist, but she's been named to pretty much every honor roll list announced for the past couple of years, making (just on a quick check) the Athletic Director Honor Roll at UofL for multiple years, but also the ACC Honor Roll.  Let's remember that she's a pre-med student, while playing D1 varsity Volleyball.  This is not a light workload, by any stretch of the imagination.  I don't expect Gabbie to go play pro volleyball anywhere, but I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who knows this young woman, even to the limited degree that I know her, that would say she is and will be anything but a success.

SUCCESSFUL

Case touched on this idea yesterday, but I want to amplify it a bit.  Let's not just consider success as an on-the-court measure for UofL Sports.  Yes, it's awesome to talk about being the only school to have ever had a Heisman winner and a Golden Glove winner in the same year, and I have no doubt that Lamar Jackson and Brendan McKay will see success in the pro ranks of their respective sports, but lets look beyond that as well.  Let's look at Teddy Bridgewater, who has seen some professional success, but also embodies success just in who he is (just look at the loyalty and admiration he has engendered, even in the pros...where players are thought of even more as commodities to build value for the team - well compensated along the way, to be sure - to be discarded as soon as they are no longer useful).

As much as I love to rip the NCAA as an organization, there is one slogan they have that is good to remember.  "....Most will be going professional in something other than sports."  Let's not shortchange the success to be found there.

What About the Teams, Though?

OK, a couple of quick thoughts about what success will mean for the UofL Women's sports teams this year.

Soccer: Generally agree, here.  Also, I'm not as knowledgable about soccer, so defer quite a bit to Case and Paulie's judgements here.

Field Hockey: Generally agree, again.  Though 5 losses probably doesn't earn you a top 2 spot in the ACC in this sport.

Volleyball: Top 4 in the ACC would be a moderate success for me.  I think this team can win the conference, and I'd like to see them advance to the 2nd weekend of NCAA tournament play.

Basketball: I don't think anything short of a Final Four appearance will be considered a fully successful season for this sport anymore. Top 3 in conference, Elite Eight in NCAA is a good season, though.

Lacrosse: Top 3 in conference is probably good for top 5 in the nation in this sport.  I'd agree with that criteria, but bump up the tournament expectations to a Semi's appearance.

Softball: Top 3 in conference is probably pretty good (I doubt anyone takes FSU out of the top spot if they're half as good as they were this year), and I think a Super Regional appearance that goes 3 games would definitely crown a successful season.

THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

We had a great time in the studio yesterday with Paulie, Worldwide, Case and Jared! A GREAT interview with Asia Taylor, a challenging quiz (for some) and our usual totally irrelevant, off the subject rants and diversions. DID YOU MISS IT?

Not to worry....the replay is HERE

-- JMcA

Tuesday Cardinal Couple - Volleyball Wrap-Up

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Staff columnist and legendary Volleyball fan "Worldwide" Jeff McAdams presents his wrap-up on the 2013 volleyball season for the University of Louisville Cardinals.)



Another season of Louisville Volleyball has reached its conclusion.  While its always a disappointment to end the season with a loss, its always good to keep in mind that its really quite rare to end a season with a win.  Ending the season with a loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament is particularly disappointing, however.

A Rebuilding Year

Early in the season, and even in pre-season, we discussed how difficult it was going to be for UofL to replace the 70% of the offense that graduated last year with Lola Arslanbeckova, Gwen Rucker, Kaitlyn James, and Tanya Lukyanenko; and that proved to be a big challenge for this team indeed.

Specifically, replacing Lola's outside hitting wasn't really possible.  While Maya McClendon and Janelle Jenkins displayed amazing talent and skills, as freshmen (Janelle having redshirted last year) they were not able to bring the maturity and precision of a senior world-class hitter like Lola.  Keep your eye on them because in the coming years, they will definitely be forces to reckon with.

In the middle, we were concerned about who would take over for Gwen Rucker.  We have two freshmen middles in Sydney Cooper, and Brooke Betts, but neither saw much playing time.  Brooke spent the early season recovering from an ACL that happened midway through her senior year of high school, entered a match, and promptly tore her ACL again.  Sydney has been developing, and saw a little bit of playing time, but will need more development to contribute valuable playing time.  Our saving grace in the middle was a timely transfer in Randi Ewing.  Having graduated from Fordham with a year of playing eligibility remaining, Randi came to UofL to play for a year and did a reasonable job of replacing Gwen Rucker.  To say only "reasonable" is not a slam on Randi, but rather acknowledgement that Gwen left some very big shoes to fill.

Some Real Bright Spots

So what went well this year?  Well, we've talked about these points all season, and already touched on one or two in the above paragraphs.

Janelle Jenkins and Maya McClendon are a fearsome duo that have been super great fun to watch.  They are dynamic and powerful hitters, and with some refinement from playing another year or two are going to be a serious threat to any team in the country.

Katie George at setter plays well above the level you would expect from a sophomore.  She's consistent and has great athleticism getting to passes even when they aren't on the mark and can do amazing things with them.  She frequently made back sets to the right side and quick sets to middle hitters that left me with the classic fan's response, "No! No! YES!!!" when she made a set that I thought was ill-fated, but she pulled it off, and in style.  Katie is a big part of the reason that I really wish the NCAA would tighten up on double-touch calls on sets.  Her setting is precise and clean, and tighter calls would benefit us because most setters would get called with double-touches more frequently than Katie would.

Haley Pouliezos was at least half a step, if not a full step, faster than she was last year in getting to and digging hits.  Her passing was generally on target, though she did seem to struggle a little bit with serve receives of float serves (serves where there is no spin on the ball and it behaves like a knuckle-ball in baseball and is very hard to predict where its going).

As mentioned above, Randi Ewing was a real force in the middle, but on the other side of the rotation, Brooke Mattingly may have been even more impressive.  Truth be told, watching Brooke play her first year of play (she redshirted her first year), I didn't ever expect her to be a major impact player at UofL, but boy am I happy to have been wrong on that one.

Emily Juhl came back for an impressive senior campaign as well.  I have, of course, written a number of times about her booming serves and impressive hitting, but I feel like I need to mention them again.  Knowing how much she was bothered by stress fractures in her leg her sophomore season, and taking her junior season and more to really recover from the surgery to insert a rod in her bone, it was absolutely wonderful to see her have a good season of play.

Last, but definitely not least, Caitlin Welch was one of the best Libero's in the nation, at least by my estimation.  Caitlin has aspirations of playing on the US National Team, and I think she has the skills to do it.  Combine an almost eery sixth sense for where to be to dig hits with great athleticism and quickness, a fearlessness to go wherever she needs to go to get the digs, and the physical robustness to dive, roll and, bounce off of whatever obstacles might be in her way without getting injured, and you have a libero that can get to, and pass with great precision to keep plays alive that I thought were sure kills.

What Does Next Year Look Like?

We graduate 5 players this year.  Carly Sahagian, Randi Ewing, Brooke Mattingly, Emily Juhl, and Caitlin Welch have all finished their eligibility for volleyball and none have any aspirations of playing any other sports that I'm aware of.

Carly has only seen limited playing time due to perennial knee issues, so losing her isn't really going to hurt us as a team very much, to be honest.  Carly has been a great teammate and supporter, but she hasn't been able to contribute much on the court.

Losing Randi Ewing and Brooke Mattingly each individually would be a blow to the team as they
have both been strong presences in the middle this year.  To lose the pair of them together brings back some of the angst I had in the past off-season about what we were going to do in the middle blocker position.  Last year we only lost Gwen Rucker, but didn't have any other middles on the team.  This year we lost both of our starting middle blockers, but on the other hand, do have Brooke Betts and Sydney Cooper that have been on the sidelines.  We also have two signed recruits that are middles coming in for next year.  Maggie Dejong and Tess Clark will be freshmen middles.  (For our readers looking for height, Tess Clark is 6'4".)  I don't expect our middle blocking and hitting next year to be up to the calibre that we have experienced in the past years with Randi, Brooke, and Gwen; and going back further to players like Lecia Brown.  We will have players to play the position, but I suspect it will be another year or two before any of them are playing with confidence and at the level that we're used to seeing.

The graduation of Emily Juhl takes away an offensive weapon.  Losing Randi and Brooke together leaves us very thin in the middle position overall.  Losing Emily doesn't have that same effect.  We have other outside hitters that are good and getting better.  We will need more, but we have other offensive weapons that we can adjust our game around.

Caitlin Welch will not be directly replaced.  Yes, we will have a player wearing a different colored jersey than the rest of the team playing the libero position, but it will be a long time, if ever, before we find as effective of a libero as Welch.  Haley Pouliezos seems to be the likely candidate for the libero position for next year, and she has advanced and developed quite a bit as a player this season, but I'll be very surprised if she will demonstrate the kind of effectiveness on defense that Caitlin contributed.  Again, this isn't intended to be a slight of Haley's skills and contributions, but a recognition that very few can achieve the same level of play as Caitlin Welch.  Courtney Robison should be available to play as a Defensive specialist next year, which is important to have a DS that can sub in for offensive hitters that really just aren't up to playing a full rotation.  Courtney is currently recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum in her hip.

Overall, I think we'll be a slightly improved team next year.  We're losing some key players to graduation, and will have some challenges in the middle, but other roles should be covered pretty well.

I'll be looking forward to the beginning of the season in September.


jeffmcadams


( EDITOR'S NOTE...23-8 is not a bad season for Anne Kordes' crew and the 18-0 mark in AAC Conference play will probably never be matched. The Cards struggled early in non conference play that saw them facing numerous top-25 schools and NCAA Tournament participants. The bar does need to be set to the next level and subsequently cleared by Kordes and her staff, though. The rebuilding process needs to make the VolleyCards a contender in tougher ACC competition in 2014 and further down the road. My guess is the Cards may take a step back in 2014 with leaders Juhl, Welch, Mattingly, Kvitle and Ewing gone. There is hope for the future in Jenkins, McClendon, George and Pouliezos, though and it'll be interesting to see how the Cards fare against a conference that sent four schools to the 'big dance' but just has one still left alive (Florida State).

Paulie
...
..
.

Friday Cardinal Couple -- Cards begin NCAA Volleyball quest today

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

****************************************************

Click the link below to hear Coach Walz's announcment:

COACH WALZ DISCUSSES NITA



******************************FINAL********************************

THE SEASON IS ALSO OVER FOR LOUISVILLE VOLLEYBALL...LOSING IN STRAIGHT SETS TO MARQUETTE THIS EVENING 25-23, 25-22, 25-18
IN FIRST ROUND NCAA TOURNAMENT ACTION
                         IN CHAMPAIGN, IL.



           *************BREAKING NEWS*************

NITA SLAUGHTER'S SEASON IS OVER. A BLOOD CLOT DISCOVERED IN HER LUNG. A CARDIAC EVENT CAUSED COLLAPSE IN MSU GAME. TEAMMATES ARE STUNNED AND SHOCKED ACCORDING TO SOURCES.

            ***********************************************

-Louisville Volleyball faces Marquette today

-Volleyball gets several AAC honors

-Teddy Ballgame -- Cards headed to Mouseville


The VolleyCards participate in first round NCAA Volleyball action today...drawing the Marquette Golden Eagles in Champaign, IL.  The match is schedule for 5:30 p.m. and the winner will face the winner of the Morehead St. vs. Illinois contest.

M.U. and Louisville have a knowledge of each other, familiarity and history. The squads did battle three times in the 2012 season...Louisville winning all three matches, including the BIG EAST Tournament finals. Marquette is ranked this year, coming into today's action 24th. in the nation.

It is a tough first round match-up for Louisville. Marquette took the BIG EAST volleyball tournament with a 3-1win over Creighton. A weakened conference with Louisville, Notre Dame, Syracuse and Pitt gone..but still an impressive season for the Golden Eagles.

OMAHA, Neb. - The No. 24 Marquette women's volleyball team won the 2013 BIG EAST Championship by defeating Creighton, 3-1, on Saturday, Nov. 30, at D.J. Sokol Arena.
It was the first BIG EAST volleyball crown for Marquette, which entered the championship and as the league's regular-season champion and top seed.
The Golden Eagles (25-5) claimed the league's automatic NCAA Championship bid and will compete in the tournament for the third straight year.

The AAC does not sponsor a conference tournament.

If Louisville can get by Marquette and (most likely) Illinois, they would move to regional action. Regional sites are in Lexington, Champaign, Lincoln, NE and Los Angeles.

No TV or radio for this one that we know of. Our staff columnist Jeff McAdams is in Champaign to witness the wide net action...but failed to respond to texts about coverage here at CARDINAL COUPLE or the radio show Saturday.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


Nice honors for the team from the AAC. Caitlin Welch received Libero of the Year honors, Maya McClendon Freshman of the Year and Anne Kordes Coach of the Year.

Five Cards made the AAC first team...Katie George, Emily Juhl, Brooke Mattingly, Maya McClendon and Caitlin Welch.
Randi Ewing received second team honors.

Amazingly, a South Florida player...Erin Fairs...was named conference player of the year. A slap in the Cards face, no doubt related to the fact that Louisville is only in the AAC for this year. Any of Louisville's first team players were deserving of the award and Louisville did go 18-0 in conference play.

What else would you expect, though, from a conference that didn't hold a tournament and chooses Memphis and Temple as travel partners?

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

FINALLY, CONGRATULATIONS TO THE LOUISVILLE FOOTBALL TEAM FOR FINISHING 11-1 IN THE REGULAR SEASON AND GETTING AN INVITE TO THE RUSSELL ATHLETIC BOWL IN ORLANDO, FL. ON DEC. 28TH.

THE CARDS WON AN EXCITING BATTLE IN CINCINNATI LAST NIGHT 31-24 IN OVERTIME. IF TEDDY BRIDGEWATER ISN'T THE PLAYER OF THE YEAR IN THE AAC THEN THE WHOLE BUNCH OF 'EM AT CONFERENCE HEADQUARTERS ARE MORE STUPID THAN BEETLE BAILEY.

BRIDGEWATER WAS AMAZING LAST NIGHT, PUTTING THE CARDS ON HIS BACK AND CARRYING THEM IN THE FOURTH QUARTER TO REGAIN THE LEAD TWICE AND THEN TO THE WINNING TD IN OVERTIME.

WE DON'T USUALLY COVER FOOTBALL HERE AT CC, BUT WHEN WE DO...WE PREFER DOS EQUIS  SEEING TEDDY TOUCHDOWN TRIUMPH. 

ENJOY MOUSEVILLE, FOOTBALL FANS!

paulie

...
..
.

Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Volleyball remains undefeated in AAC

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Volleyball sweeps Bearcats on Senior Night in YUM!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



-paulie

...
..
.

A New Game

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( COLUMNIST AND RADIO PERSONALITY "WORLDWIDE" JEFF MCADAMS BRINGS US THE TUESDAY EDITION OF CARDINAL COUPLE AND INTRODUCES A NEW GAME TO US TODAY. WE THINK YOU'LL LIKE THIS GAME AS MUCH AS WE DO! )



I'd like to play a new game.  I'm going to call it, "What Does It Take..."  I think we're starting to find out some of the answers to this game, so now seems like a good time to start.

...For Emily Juhl to Get Recognition?

OK, its no secret that I'm a fan of Emily Juhl.  I've had the opportunity to get to know her a bit over the past few years, and have a great respect for her as a volleyball player and a person.

I'm thrilled, then, to see her start to get some of the recognition that she deserves.  Now, its not like she's been completely in the shadows, as she was one of the two UofL volleyball players to get The American Conference's preseason co-player of the year nod, along with Brooke Mattingly.  She has also made the weekly awards honor role once or twice.

Part of the reason she hasn't gotten quite as much attention in the volleyball arena is that she played the past two years at less than 100%...her sophomore year playing on a leg with stress fractures when UofL had, at times, only 9 players available for play.  After that season, quietly undergoing surgery...essentially the same surgery that garnered Kevin Ware a Top 10 list on Letterman...meaning that her junior season was spent at less than 100%, recovering.  Now that Juhl is back at 100%, she's tearing the court up, and finally starting to get the recognition that she deserves.

The American Conference graced Emily with a Player Of The Week this week...finally.  What did it take?  It took UofL winning two matches, both 3-0 sweeps, and in doing so clenching the conference championship and automatic NCAA tournament bid.  It took Emily hitting an error-free .509 with 27 kills on the weekend...stellar numbers for an outside hitter.  I'll point out that Juhl has seen time attacking from both the right and left side, and even on occasion, going up the middle, as well as getting called on for some back-row attacks at times as well.  She's not just an attacker, though, with 5 digs on the defensive side of the balance sheet this weekend, as well as getting credit for 3 total blocks, despite only being 5'10".  Oh, and let's not forget the two aces she added with her booming serve.  Essentially, Emily will do anything the team needs on the volleyball court...well, she would probably balk if you asked her to be a setter, but if the team really needed it, I'm sure she'd give it a try.

While we're talking about Volleyball honors

Maya McClendon has not had any trouble getting recognition from The American Conference, and well-deserved recognition it is.  Maya gets her sixth Freshman of the Week award from The AAC.  18 kills and 31 digs across the six sets that UofL played this weekend earned her another spot in her familiar role as the freshman with the most kills per set (3.33) in the conference.

...For Jude Schimmel to get Respect From Cardinal Couple Commenters

Sorry commenters, but I've been saying that many of you all have been short-selling Jude for a while now.  I'm just glad that so many of you are coming around on this issue.

Jude has had my respect for a while now.  IN addition to her role as the alpha in the attack yorkie pack where she has played lock-down defense since she first hit the KFC Yum! Center floor, we're now seeing the evidence that a 5'6" player can hold their own driving down the lane and shooting against players nearly a foot taller.  Let's not forget about the steady diet of rebounds by aggressively blocking out larger and taller players and having the court sense to be in the right place at the right time.  You do remember who it was that started the break that resulted in Shoni's backwards-shot-over-Griner and-one circus shot, right?  Yup, little sister Jude with the excellent block-out and outlet pass.  Oh yeah, she really should've gotten the foul call, too.  Take a look at the video if you don't remember it...you'll have to look quickly at the beginning because most of the video focuses on Shoni.

Now, let's remember this when we're talking about the coming emergence of 5'5" Monny Niamke and 5'6" Starr Breedlove as well as future recruiting classes.

( editor note: I COULDN'T AGREE MORE WITH JEFF'S ASSESSMENT OF JUDE SCHIMMEL. TALK ABOUT A BLUE COLLAR, WORKING CLASS HERO! SHE DOES THE JOB, DOES IT TO COMPLETION AND WITHOUT FANFARE OR THE ACCOLADES THAT OTHER PLAYERS RECEIVE. IT'S WHAT MAKES A TEAM GREAT...PLAYERS CONTRIBUTING FOR THE OVERALL GOOD OF THE SQUAD. AS RICK PITINO SAYS...YOU PLAY FOR THE NAME ON THE FRONT OF THE JERSEY, NOT THE BACK.)

-JEFF MCADAMS

...
..
.

VolleyCards lose thriller in Memorial to Cats

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Louisville falls in five sets to Wildcats 25-17, 23-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-11


Despite awesome kill efforts from front liners Maya McClendon, Janelle Jenkins and Randi Ewing....Louisville Volleyball fell to UK in five sets Tuesday in Lexington at Memorial Coliseum.

The gym was as hot as the action on the court. It's what you get at Memorial. The media room is 68 degrees...it feels 88 at courtside.

In the first game, the Cards started slowly and fell behind the Cats 5-3 before McClendon and Janelle Jenkins rallied the UofL to a 11-11 tie. Two kills by Jenkins sparked a 6-0 run that put Louisville ahead to stay at 17-11. We got a classic Brooke Mattingly stomp after a kill that made it 20-13 and the Cards won the first one by eight...25-17....a block by Ewing and UK error providing the final two points.

UK wasn't going to crawl away meekly. Despite Louisville enjoying 4-2 and 7-5 leads...after a Emily Juhl block, the Cats went on a 7-0 run and stretched the lead to 22-14. Louisville started to chip away. McClendon's kill made it 23-18. The Cards cut the advantage to three at 24-21...necessitating a UK time out. Two Cardinal scores, the second one from McClendon again had it 24-23 Cats. It was as close as the Cards got, though...Kentucky winning 25-23.

Louisville looked absolutely horrible to start game three...falling behind 6-0 early. Kentucky held sizeable advantage at 11-4, 16-12 and 18-13 before the Cards made it slightly interesting...getting within two at 17-15 and three at 22-19 and 23-20 before UK won the contest 25-20 and took a 2-1 lead in the match.

For as bad as the Cards looked in starting game three, they looked absolutely brilliant to begin game four. A 3-0 lead ballooned to 6-0 and 7-1 (after a Ewing kill). Louisville maintained the advantage...leading by seven several times before UK rallied to make it 21-17(on a blown call by the SEC officials) .There was more of that to come later. A Jenkins kill made it 24-17, though...and a Juhl block finished it at 25-17.

Fifth game...first one to fifteen wins. The fans for both schools were caught up in the action. About 200 Cardinal fans made the trek to Lexington and they included former NBA great and father of Randi Ewing...Patrick Ewing. I bet Jeff at halftime he could take him one-on-one on the hardwood. Jeff didn't seem too anxious to challenge the 7'1" father.

In the final..the Cards hung in early at 2-2 but found themselves trailing 7-3 and looking a bit desperate. Enter Emily Juhl to serve. Juhl's two "aces" gave Louisville a 8-7 lead. Kentucky battled back. At 11-11, a missed UK spike attempt sailed wide and appeared to give Louisville a 12-11 advantage. For the third time in the game, the SEC officials gathered around the ladder and determined that the ball must have touched a Cardinal defender and awarded the point to Kentucky.

The Cards didn't seem the same after that. McClendon was blocked at the net to make it 13-11 UK. The Cats won a long volley to get to match point. Louisville provided it when they couldn't decide who was going to hit a ball near the net during the final possession and it fell untouched to the floor.

15-11 UK. 3-2 match...UK.

In defeat, freshman McClendon looked spectacular. She recorded 17 kills to lead UofL.  Great efforts also from Jenkins, Ewing, Juhl and Caitlin Welch. Brooke Mattingly seemed a bit "off" tonight...with just four kills through four games.

UK did block well at the net. Somehow, McClendon and Jenkins kept fining a way through from the outside corners. 

But, sadly...the final analysis is that Louisville battled hard for over two and one half hours and had a chance to take home a hard fought victory but could not win the final four possessions. Give credit to Kentucky's killing crew of Alexanra Morgan, Shelby Workman, Sara Schwartzwalder and Whitney Billings. They're the real deal.

Anne Kordes on the match:

"I was very proud the way we came back more than once to stave off Kentucky early in the match when they made a push. Errors played a role at times for both teams. Taking care of the ball against a good team is crucial. You have to take control of the ball," said Kordes. "Their block of Maya in the fifth may have tipped it to them. We had to go away from her and then we sort of flubbed the last play."

The Cards go to 2-4 on the season. They return to the sauna known as Memorial for Friday action in The Bluegrass Battle against Minnesota and Saturday against Pepperdine. If you go, be sure to hydrate. It just might be hotter in there than it will be down the street in Commonwealth for the football game on Saturday between the Cards and Cats....

-Paulie
...

Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Penn State sweeps Louisville Volleyball

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- #2 Penn State hands Cards first loss of volleyball season

- Saturday's show now archived and available


It's always tough taking on a national power and Penn State has been one in Volleyball for quite a few years. Last night in "Happy Valley", the Nittany Lions roared past the UofL Volleyball in three straight sets. (Thanks to Nancy Worley - asst. SID for Louisville Volleyball for the recap below)

Maya McClendon had eight kills and Emily Juhl had seven but the University of Louisville fell victim to No. 2-ranked Penn State’s aggressive serving bowing out 25-15, 25-16, 25-13 at the Penn State Invitational in State College, Pa.

“As evidenced by the very last point of the game our setter Hannah Kvitle was crashing into the stands chasing a ball down, the score doesn’t reflect the amount of fight in this team,” said U of L head coach Anne Kordes. “No question we can learn from this that we cannot make unforced errors on a team that experienced, deep and talented.”

 

The Cardinals were aced 10 times, eight of them from the hot left hand of PSU setter Micha Hancock. U of L hit .020 to PSU’s .247. The Lions were paced by Ariel Scott’s 11 kills. U of L’s Hannah Kvitle and Randi Ewing each had two blocks with Caitlin Welch adding a team-high 10 digs.

 

“Maya McClendon had a her coming out party on the biggest stage possible not to mention with her entire family and sister on the other side of the net. She has such a promising future,” said Kordes.

U of L fell behind early in the first set, trailing 14-4 before scrambling back with long rallies and aggressive serving to pull within five at 16-11. PSU kicked it up a notch, outscoring the Cards 10-4 down the stretch. Neither team was putting on a hitting clinic, with PSU hitting .185 and U of L at a chilly .185. Emily Juhl paced the Cards with 4 kills and Maya McClendon had three in the opening set.

The Cards were undaunted and led early in the second half when kills by Juhl and Brooke Mattingly helpe the Cards to an 8-6 lead. PSU answered with a 10-2 run and Kordes burned both her time outs trying to chill the hot hands of the Nittany Lions and trailed. U of L made a little run but fell 25-16 to trail 2-0 at the break. Mattingly and Juhl each had two kills in the set, but Cardinal hitting fell to -.176.

PSU emerged from the break in a higher gear and ran out to a 14-6 lead and the Cards could not grab the momentum and fell 25-13.

 

The good news is that it probably won't get any tougher for Louisville Volleyball the rest of the season...unless they make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. A learning experience for Kordes' Krew on what "the next level" looks like.

 

Knowing Kordes and her dedication to the team and sport, we surmise it won't be long before the Cards will be on the winning end of matchups like this and the AAC...although challenging...should prove to be a venue for another trophy in the Louisville display case.

 

Jeff McAdams will provide more on this two-day trip for the Cardinal volleyball squad later some time today or tomorrow. We hope he tells us about his Elmer Fudd, Nittany Lion hunting experience with the Orangmen as well.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>>><><><><><>


The latest installment of CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR is now available on the heavenly SoundCloud. We have 12+ minutes of Coach Jeff Walz, swimming with Coach Al and we can't figure out what day it is or why we're in the studio. (That's pretty much true each week...)

It's not too late to get down to the T&B Hardware Store for fantastic Labor Day deals and you can also match your wits with Jenny and Jeff on our weekly quiz.

We'd also like to thank the UK football team for providing such wonderful comedy entertainment Saturday night and Bobby Petrino for stopping by Bon-nay Say-bel's establishment for some post-game partying after Western whipped "them Cay-uts". It is now officially basketball season in Lexington.

Also, there's a little football going on at Papa John's today. It's officially "sold out" but check for scalpers around Gate 1 or 2 if your heart is set on going. Stop by 80 Under 80 and say "Hiya" to me and Sonja if you're down there.

Good luck to Field Hockey and women's Soccer, too....on the road in Virginia and North Carolina today.

SHOW LINK:

THE ONLY RADIO SHOW MARKIE MARK LISTENS TO

 

-Paulie

 

...

 

Thursday Cardinal Couple - Let's Get It Started

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( JEFF McADAMS writes today about the weekend ahead, where three of the UofL women's sports squads take to the fields and courts to excel. It's been a long time coming, let's get it started!) LINK BELOW:

Let's Get It Started (Black Eyed Peas)

O frabjous day!  Callooh!  Callay!

With apologies to The Black Eyed Peas ("Let's Get It Started") and Lewis Carroll ("Jabberwocky"), its a great time for us here at The Cardinal Couple as we get to start writing about sporting events actually occurring again.

Women's Soccer

Women's Soccer starts their last season playing in Cardinal Park with a Friday evening season and home opener against Butler.  Our visitors from Indianapolis get to meet the Cards kickers coming off of two good warm-up exhibition wins against Vanderbilt and Purdue the past two weekends.  They had to go to overtime against Purdue to get the job done, but wins they were.

Of course, now the games start counting.  Coming off of a 12-5-4 season last year, and an early 2012 season loss to Louisville, it seems that Butler is not exactly a powerhouse of a soccer team, but not a team you want to take for granted, either.  This year, Butler claims a 3-2 win over Ball State in exhibition play.

Sunday sees Illinois joining us at Cardinal Park.  The Illini had a nine loss season last year, which would tend to suggest that they aren't all that competitive of a team, though all of their losses were to some pretty tough teams, so perhaps they just scheduled a really tough schedule.  One of the joys of the very early season is not really knowing how strong the teams are that you're competing against.

Friday's game is a 7pm first kick, and Sunday kicks at 1pm.  A slight chance of rain on Friday, diminishing towards the evening, and the forecast is for dry and warm on Sunday...early in the year is a good chance to check out Karen Ferguson-Dayes' team without having to dress like Nanook of the North.  It should be a good couple of days out at Cardinal Park.  Adult tickets are $5, under 18 are $3, and under 2 years are free.

Field Hockey

Justine Sowry's Field Hockey team has a scrimmage Saturday against IU in Bloomington, IN.  This is a great road-trip through the rolling hills of western Indiana.  The game is a 1pm start, which should leave you enough time after the game to make it back to Louisville for...

Volleyball

Saturday at 6pm is the annual Volleyball alumnae match.  Last year there weren't enough

alumnae willing to play to field a team so this event turned into a Red v Black scrimmage.  No word yet on whether enough alumnae have committed to playing to field a team, though I certainly hope so.  I would certainly love to see great players like Justine Landi, Lindsey Mango, and Maci Wachtel back out on the court.  Sarah Drury-Petkovick, Directory of Volleyball Operations, is also an alumna and could, in theory be on the opposite side of the net.  Of course, Coach Anne Kordes is also an alumna, but she'll be too busy coaching, and being pregnant, to play on the alumnae team.

The alumnae event is a free, ticketless event at Cardinal Arena and is great fun every year.  If you've never been to Cardinal Arena, its a fantastic, cozy arena that's great for watching Volleyball action.  Any seat you sit in gives you a great view of the action...well, maybe not if you're directly behind the Up Referee.

Volleyball Preseason Honors

Speaking of Volleyball, yesterday saw the announcement of The American Conference preseason coaches poll, and preseason All Conference Team.  Louisville claims the preseason conference number one ranking...which isn't all that much of a surprise, honestly...and placed 4 players on the preseason All-Conference team.  Hannah Kvitle was the only one of the four that wasn't a unanimous selection, though she is the only setter to make the team.  Caitlin Welch is the only Libero to make the team and did so as a unanimous selection.  Emily Juhl and Brooke Mattingly also were both unanimous selections, and also were tabbed as co-Preseason Players of the Year.

Louisville Volleyball is starting the season with a 19th rank in the AVCA preseason poll, a drop of only two positions from the end of season poll from last year after graduating approximately 70% of the offensive kills on the team.

Volleyball opens their season next weekend, the 30th and 31st, with matches against non-conference-foe-for-a-year Syracuse and host Penn State at the Penn State Invitational.

Jeff McAdams

Thursday Cardinal Couple

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( OUR STAFF COLUMNIST JEFF MCADAMS...WHO HAS BEEN RE-NAMED BY THE CENTRAL CARDINAL CLUB...HAD A CHANCE TO VIEW CARDINAL VOLLEYBALL WEDNESDAY. HERE'S HIS REPORT...)

Volleyball Visit

Fall sports are getting tantalizingly close.  Karen Feguson-Dayes' Women's Soccer team is already playing...and winning..exhibition games, while the other fall sports are all into their practice regimins.

Volleyball is no exception.  As we heard from our interview with Head Coach Anne Kordes, the volleyball team reported to camp on August 9th and started practice on the 10th.  The team is practicing twice a day, and I had the privilege of getting to observe most of the practice yesterday afternoon and evening.

One of the things I was curious about was how much time was spent in practice doing skills development (like digging, passing, setting, hitting, serving, and blocking), versus practicing overall strategy and team tactics.  I didn't have a stopwatch on it, but it seemed to be about a 60-40 split in time in favor of skills development, with shifts back and forth between skills development drills and overall team tactics and strategy practice.  No doubt this serves to keep interest and energy levels higher for players in practice.  I suspect, as practice sessions move forward, more of the time will shift to tactics and strategy.

We've talked on the Cardinal Couple Radio show, and heard from Coach Kordes, that we have a young team, and that was evident in watching them practice.  We also have a team with a lot of amazingly talented players.  Combine those two statements and you have a recipe for seeing all the players on the court making some really amazing shots, but then turning around and seeing many of those same players take some real cringe-inducing swings.  It is, however, still early in the practices, so look for improvement there.  Overall, be ready for a team that could really knock your socks off with some spectacular plays, but be aware that we have a heavy dose of freshmen and sophomores that will probably make some periodic mistakes.  Watch for improvement throughout the season as players get more experience under their belts at this level of play and get more comfortable and confident in their play.  If you want consistency, look to Caitlin Welch, Hannah Kvitle, Katie George, and Brooke Mattingly...unsurprisingly, three of those were our USA A2 Team representatives and I wouldn't be surprised to see Katie George in that program in future years.

Maya McClendon is one of the talented freshmen

I was on a balcony overlooking the volleyball practice gym in the Yum! Center on Floyd street and one thing that really struck me is that our team is really short.  While perhaps somewhat accentuated by my perspective of looking down on the team from above, this is born out by the heights listed on the roster.  Brooke Mattingly, at 6' 3", is the only player that I would consider tall for a volleyball player.  Take heart, though, because there are some real leapers on the team.  According to Coach Kordes, two players...Janelle Jenkins at 5' 11" and Randi Ewing at 6' 0"...can both touch 10' 5" when they jump.

As a comparison, at my peak and my 6' 0" height, I never topped 10' even.  Other impressive high flyers are Emily Juhl, and Maya McClendon.  Javoni Faucette can also easily find her way to the top of the net.

If you want enthusiasm, you'll definitely have that, as this is a team that is clearly fired up and working hard to achieve their goals.  That's good because my visit yesterday has me excited for the season as well.

The first chance to see the team in action is August 24th at the annual Alumnae match at Cardinal Arena.  This is a free event and is always a lot of fun in an informal atmosphere.  The Volleyball Cards open the season with a lot of time on the road, with the first real chance of seeing them in regular season action happening down in Lexington on September 10th, 13th and 14th in matches against Kentucky, Minnesota and Pepperdine at Memorial Coliseum.  The home opener isn't until September 21st at Cardinal Arena against Rice and Virginia Tech...the match on the 20th unfortunately had to be cancelled due to scheduling conflicts.  They finally get to play at the KFC Yum! Center for the conference opener on September 27th vs Memphis.

There are a lot of really tough non-conference opponents on our schedule this year, and with so many of our matches on the road, the team faces real challenges.  With challenges come opportunities, however.  Beating good teams means better RPI ratings and better RPI ratings generally means better NCAA tournament seedings, and hopefully first and second round hosting opportunities.  Also, a road win means a bigger RPI boost and a road loss is a smaller RPI drop than home and neutral court matches.

I'm ready to side-out summer and start cheering for the next Year of the Cardinals.

-Jeff McAdams

...

...

Monday Cardinal Couple -- Volleyball rolls over Georgetown

.
MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Lola's 21 kills spark Cards

The University of Louisville, led by Lola Arslanbekova's 21 kills, handled Georgetown easily in the KFC YUM! Center Sunday in straight set triumphs 25-10, 25-18, 25-12. With the win, the VolleyCards go to 23-3 on the season and 12-1 in the BIG EAST.

Louisville discovered that Georgetown isn't exactly the best team in the league at returning service and used that to their advantage in front of the home crowd, stretching their lead to 18-5 and winning the first game going away by 15. Lola picked up 10 kills in the set and the Cards were off to a flying start.

The Hoyas did make a game of it in the second set, actually grabbing a 12-11 lead midway through the contest before a 8-1 Cardinal surge put Louisville in the driver's seat at 19-13. The Cards kept the momentum rolling and jumped to a 2-0 game advantage with a seven-point victory.

Anne Kordes' Cards kept that momentum alive in the final game. Up 12-3, UofL gave the bench some valuable minutes and they produced very well, especially Davionna Holmes, as the Cards went up 20-8 and coasted in with the match-ending 13-point win.

Great play by Brooke Mattingly, Gwen Rucker, Kaitlynn James, Caitlin Welch and Emily Juhl added to the Cardinal domination in front of a crowd announced at almost 2500. James had eight kills and Juhl seven for Louisville.

Louisville gets two at home this weekend. A return match Friday at 4:30 p.m. against Marquette and a Sunday noon contest against Cincy. Both will be played at Cardinal Arena...on the UofL campus.

Watching the matches on television, we were pleased with the play-by-play and color commentary coverage by Sean Moth and Jennifer Hoffman. Besides providing accurate and descriptive account of the play-by-play, they went into detail with explanations of offensive set strategy and different formations.

The Cards back in the cozy Cardinal Arena will keep the crowd attendance down a bit this weekend but it is an intimidating place for an opponent to come in and play. Basketball occupies the YUM! Friday and Sunday.

We wonder if a possible WBB/Volleyball double-header in the YUM! could ever be a possibility...maybe for next season? The logistics of floor removal and re-installation of the proper court the probable drawback here, we suppose...but how long would Cards' fans of both sports hang around while this would be swapped? Imagine 12,000 for a hoops game and then...say 90 minutes later...Volleyball? Or maybe temporary lines could be put in place and a net set up? The Cards are 10th in the nation in Volleyball attendance this year. Introducing the game to 10,000 potentially new fans
might be a way to boost that fan attendance further up the top ten ladder.
Yep, always thinking here at the Couple..
.
..
...

Volleyball takes huge win over Marquette

.
MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Volleyball beats previously undefeated Marquette in four games.

-Shine, Fellerhoff advance to quarterfinals.

-Swimming finishes fifth in SMU Classic.

Lola's 24 kills lead Cards to road win

The University of Louisville Volleyball team knocked Marquette out of sole possession of first place in the BIG EAST with a convincing 20-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-19 win over the Golden Eagles in Milwaukee Sunday.

Leading the way for birthday girl Anne Kordes' squad was the irrepressible Lola Arslanbekova with 24 kills. Huge efforts from Emily Juhl (a season high 13 kills) and Caitlin Welch (22 digs) helped the Cards advance to 20-3 and a league leading 9-1 in the BIG EAST. Marquette falls to 18-4 and 8-1 in conference play.

The Cards fell behind early in the first game but battled back to gain a 14-13 advantage against MU. The Golden Eagles zipped off a 8-2 run after that before a rowdy crowd to go up 21-16. Despite scores from Juhl and Kaitlynn James, Marquette prevailed by five in the opener.

In the second game, Louisville broke open a close 11-8 contest with a 9-2 run to double up the Golden Eagles at 20-10. Louisville prevailed with the eight-point victory...Lola getting five kills, Juhl four and Tanya Lukyanenko adding three kills and three blocks.

After the break, the two teams battled closely before Marquette broke open a 13-13 tie with five unanswered points. That necessitated a Kordes timeout, and it worked for the Cards...finishing the match with an 11-1 run to win by four. Juhl's four kills led the Cards.

In the final game, Louisville held a 13-7 lead before Marquette countered with a 7-3 run to climb within two at 16-14. From there on, the teams exchanged mini-runs...Louisville getting a game ending 6-3 finish to take game and match.

v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

Fellerhoff, Shine reach ITA quarterfinals

Louisville's top two singles players, Rebecca Shine got to the quarterfinals and Julia Fellerhoff reached the semifinals of the ITA Ohio Valley Regional on the Purdue campus in West Lafayette, IN. before bowing out.

Shine fell to Brynn Boren of Tennessee 3-6,6-2,6-2 and Fellerhoff lost to #2 seeded Kata Szekely, also from UT, 5-7,7-5, 6-1.

"Julia and Becca had an incredible tournament. Neither one of them had advanced to the quarterfinals before, so it was a huge accomplishment for Louisville Tennis. They keep adding to their resumes as the two best players to play here at Louisville" - Mark Beckham, head women's Tennis coach.

v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

Louisville women's swimming finishes fifth at SMU

#24 Cards swimming and diving ends of fifth in the highly ranked SMU Classic Saturday night. The Cards finishing with a total of 236 points, which placed them behind USC, UNC, Florida and Texas. Some highlights for Arthur Albiero's squad:

-- Hannah Gadd, winner of 3-meter diving

-- A fifth place finish in the 200-medley relay, from Eszter Povazsay, Lucy Kramer, Tanja Kylliainen and Kelsi Worrell.

-- Kylliainen grabbing third place in the 200-fly.

-- Fifth place in the final event, the 200-free relay for Povazsay, Worrell, Erika Belcher and Hanna Cowley.
.
..
...