VOLLEYBALL DOWN IRISH IN FOUR SETS...THREE SIGN FOR 2017 WBB CLASS -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

IT'S MILLER TIME FOR WIDE NETTERS IN WIN OVER NOTRE DAME

Lest you worry...the UofL Volleyball team didn't go out and celebrate with hoppy beverages after the 22-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-22 win over Notre Dame last night in the KFC YUM! Center. Instead, we refer to the play of sophomore Morgan Miller...who had 14 kills, 18 assists, two assists and three blocks in the Cards' four set victory. 

The Cards got help from other players as well. Melanie McHenry added 14 kills and 18 digs, Janelle Jenkins (so good to see her back out there, right?) delivered 13 kills and Molly Sauer had a career high 38 digs. 


A bit of a lineup change was the catalyst for UofL's success Wednesday night and Anne Kordes approved the message: 

"How fun was that? Molly Sauer passed out of her mind. We did not have many practices to work on this new lineup but they played well and adapted on the fly....I am so happy for our kids!" 

(It was a great deal of fun...Anne...from a viewer's standpoint.) 

The Cards stayed within range of Notre Dame in the first set...eventually getting within one at 21-20...and forcing a Irish time-out. While Worldwide led the fans in the "CARDS" cheer...Notre Dame devised a strategy to win the set. It worked, the visitors getting four of the next six points to take the 25-22 win.

Louisville came out fired up in the second stanza...a 6-0 run contributing to a 16-8 lead. Notre Dame re-grouped, however and cut that margin in half at 22-18. Miller clinched it for Louisville, though, with a kill and tip to gain the final two points...and a 25-21 win. 

After the break, the Cards jumped out early again on the South Bend school with a 8-2 edge. Notre Dame, once again, showed fight, though and cut that to 10-8 and eventually evened the set at 16-16. It was time for Tess after that...getting four kills in a 9-4 Cardinal run to win 25-20. 

UofL slipped away from UND in the fourth set...taking a 14-9 lead and carrying the momentum to a 20-16 advantage. It looked over at 24-20...but the Irish gained a couple of points before the Cards closed the door with a 25-22 win.

Nice to see Louisville battling on...despite the 9-16, 4-11 record. Even better to see them pick up their first home ACC win of the year. With two convincing wins in a row, the Serve and Set Cards are finishing the season strong and, just as importantly, building a nucleus of young players (McHenry, Sauer, Miller, Bennett and others) that will forge the future of the squad.  

The action moves Friday night from the KFC YUM! Center to Cardinal Arena. (Louisville men's basketball will occupy the Chicken Bucket). Kordes' Krew hosts Virginia...who sits at 14th. in the ACC with a 5-21, 2-12 record. 


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DUVALL, KAKALA AND EVANS MAKE IT OFFICIAL

Three 5-star recruits in the 2017 Louisville Women's Basketball recruiting class stated their intentions to play for Jeff Walz yesterday. This stellar class is ranked #1 in the nation by ESPNW Hoop Gurlz and the Cards went west, north and local to add these three to the fold. 

LINDSEY DUVALL is the local element...hailing from Mt.Washington, KY. The Bullitt East Charger is ranked as the seventh-best player at the guard position by ESPNW Hoop Gurlz and has played varsity hoops since the seventh grade. 

What should we expect from the 5'7" Bardstown Road baller? 

She manages the game well...one of those floor leaders that knows the game and makes her teammates better. She can destroy you from the deep or take you to the hoop. She is a shut-down artist on defense and is a full court whirling dervish that Cardinal fans will come to love during her career as a Card. 

Duvall chose the Cards over Kentucky, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio State and South Carolina. Paulie plans on making the 15 minute drive to Charger gym to see her play this season when he can. Well-coached and full of confidence and passion for the game....Duvall will compliment the current group of Cards guards nicely.


DANA EVANS is the northern signee...out of West Side High in Gary, IN. Another guard...the 5'6" fireball is ranked #3 in the guard position and #7 overall by ESPNW Hoop Gurlz.

Think of Asia Durr type explosiveness when you consider Evans. A speedy point guard that breaks down defenders off-the-dribble and can stop and punish defenses with a mid-range jumper. 

Evans represented USA Basketball in the U-18 national championship and delivered the gold. 

Defenders will fear and Cardinal fans will delight over Evans' ability to accelerate in the open court and she's a defensive nightmare for opposing point guards. Along with Duvall, Louisville probably has the best 2017 recruiting back-court and Evans might just be the fastest player on the squad next season. 

Tons of schools were after Evans...way too many to list here. It came down to Louisville, Tennessee and Purdue. She chose wisely.  

LORETTA KAKALA is the western signee. Out of Manteca, CA., she's another five-star recruit...ranked as the second best post in the class and 25th. best overall player by ESPNW Hoop Gurlz. At 6'3"...she brings a tough, physical presence to the paint and has a soft touch around the rim. She can step out to sink the mid-range jumper and scouting services and coaches rave about her advanced footwork and counter-post moves. 

"Retta" also played Volleyball and threw the shot-put and discus in high school (remind you of anyone?) and was named to the CalHi Sports Underclass All-State team as a junior.

Power game. Runs the floor well. Dominant in the post. All of these terms used to describe her. Defensively, she creates mismatches with her size in the paint and will be able to have a dominant presence down low. 

Her choice of Louisville eliminated Arizona State, San Diego State, Cal, UCLA, Utah, Washington, Kansas and Georgia Tech. 


Consider the Cardinal recruiting classes the last four years. #8 in 2014. #1 in 2015. #6 in 2016 and #1 again in 2017. From coast-to-coast...from big city to small burg...from speedy guards to dominant posts, Jeff Walz and his staff find them, recruit them and bring them in. 

Is the class finished? We've learned over the years to never say finished when Jeff Walz has a plane ticket and a cell phone. Could the Cards land Michaela Onyeware? Word is she'll be announcing Saturday morning. No word on Chennedy Carter yet. 

Louisville women's hoops is going to be a blast to watch this year, in the future and if you haven't secured your season tickets...we humbly suggest that you do.


paulie
xxxxx

Basketball in the Spotlight - Tuesday Cardinal Couple

Walz Visits Connecticut

ESPN has a full day planned of interviews and analysis of the coming college basketball season with the best coaches in the league.  The coaches are gathering on ESPN's campus in Bristol Connecticut today.  Some of those interviews and discussions will happen live on the air and some will be recorded for later use.

UofL coach Jeff Walz has been invited to be part of the illustrious group, along with Geno Auriemma (UConn), Cori Close (UCLA), Muffet McGraw (Notre Dame), Dawn Staley (South Carolina), and Karen Aston (Texas).  six players will also be highlighted: Diamond DeShields (Tenn), Kelsey Mitchel (Ohio State), Kelsey Plum (Washington), Leticia Romero (Florida State), Brianna Turner (Notre Dame), and A'ja Wilson (South Carolina).

Look for video from today to be played on the ESPN family of networks throughout the season.

Recovering From a Rough Volleyball Weekend

I spoke on the radio show Saturday about how positively I saw the matches from this weekend for
Volleyball.  The matchup Friday was against #11 Florida State, and the Cards wide-netters played 3 really good games against them.  While they only won one of them, the other two early sets were competitive and UofL showed some of the best play they've played all year.  Alas, while I'm talking about 3 sets here, the Cards and Noles did play 4 after UofL won the first set.  The 4th set?  Well, can we just forget that one happened?  One stat that kind of throws me for a loop.  After hitting .216 and .310 in the first 2 sets (again, UofL won the first), the Cards took FSU to 29-27 in the 3rd while only hitting .091.  That's certainly not something you see everyday.

The match Sunday was a hard-fought battle with Miami.  The Canes aren't really a powerhouse team this year, but they scramble really well.  This one went a full 5 sets with even more bonus volleyball in the 4th.  The match was a close back-and-forth affair with all sets but the first (25-16) being close results.  I don't think the Cards played as well Sunday as they did Friday, but I'm still seeing improvements.

At the beginning of the season, I commented about the lack of "connection" between setter Kali Eaken and the hitters, most noticeably with our middles Tess Clark and Jasmine Bennett, and especially most noticeably (I'm running out of modifiers, here) with Tess Clark.  Jasmine Bennett has more hang time and body length than Clark and can get to hits that are bit more off target.  I said that this would improve over the year, and it certainly has.

 Our biggest problem with our middle attack right now is that our passing and digging isn't solid enough consistently enough to engage our middle hitters as much as we would like.  Similarly, that means that our offense is consistently going to our outside hitters, and with an off-target pass, the opponent knows that, and can set up a solid double and occasionally even triple block.  This means that our outside hitters, such as Melanie McHenry, Janelle Jenkins, and Morgan Miller are hitting into established solid blocks and their numbers end up suffering.  UofL particularly suffers against teams that block well.  FSU put up 12 blocks and Miami 8.  Part of the saving grace against Miami is that they were scrambling and out of system as much or more than we were, so similarly, we put up 13.5 blocks against them.

I've harped on passing a digging quite a bit recently, and that's because I think it's a critical phase of the game.  We saw that in our play 2 years ago when we suffered in this area, and we're seeing it again this year.  There are some bright spots, though.  Molly Sauer's numbers haven't been as impressive as last year, but that is credit to the fact that she is trying to cover about half the court, stretching her skills and mobility to the limit.  I have been impressed by the contributions of Gabbie Wiley in this area.  Versus FSU, in a 4 set match, Gabbie Wiley picked up 17 digs.  That's a decent number for a libero in a 4 set match, and indeed matched Molly Sauer's number for the match, and Gabbie is "merely" a Defensive Specialist.  If you think about that, she matched Molly's numbers in only half the rotations.

There still is no real prospect for post-season play for the Volleyball team, with no ACC tournament, and unlikely to get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, but this team is playing for pride, for the experience and learning, and looking forward to next year.  I had the opportunity to speak with many of the players Friday night after the match, and my take-away is that the team is understandably frustrated with the results and with their play.  They're working hard and improving, and right now, that's the best news I could hear for this team.

Injury Update

Janelle Jenkins has missed the past couple of weeks of play with a strained PCL.  The news, straight from Jenkins herself, is that she saw the team doctor Sunday before the match and was cleared to return to practice and expected to play this coming weekend.

Personally, I'm thrilled that she will likely be back out on the court to finish out her senior season.  Jenkins has contributed so much to this squad over her years that she deserves that.  The flipside is that it was encouraging to see the team play for the past couple of weeks without her, and in those weeks see some significant improvements and other players, such as Morgan Miller, stepping forward to prove themselves when the opportunity arose.  The team will lean on that experience of playing without Jenkins next year, and it's good they got a chance to try it out late in the season.

In short, I don't see any reason for UofL Volleyball fans to despair.  No, this season hasn't had the results we wanted, but the future looks bright.

I'll see you at the KFC Yum! Center at 7pm on the 9th when we take on another rebuilding team in Notre Dame.

-- JMcA


EDITOR NOTE

Today is the first of November and it is the start of Donate To Cardinal Couple month. As you may know, we are a non-profit website. The monies we are fortunate to receive go back into the site and to charitable organizations. 

We've had an OK 2016 so far. For the first time in a long time...I haven't had to go "inside my pocket" to cover things. Keep in mind, none of us at Cardinal Couple receive a salary. We are very grateful to the readers, listeners, sponsors and friends that have helped us get this far. My hope is to raise enough to take care of 2017 even before we get there. 

There are several ways you can help: 

1) Donate through Pay Pal. You'll see the link at the top of the page. There are no "too small" or "too large" amounts. We appreciate anything you can provide. 

2) Send your check or money order to: 

Cardinal Couple
PO Box 91521
Louisville, KY   40291

(We advise against sending cash through the mail...but if that's how you want to do it...we can make arrangements for that. Just e-mail me at psykesads@aol.com) 

3) Corporate sponsorships. We accept those as well...and will put your organization on the right side of the site if you want. Contact me through e-mail if you'd like more information on that. Please visit and join those sponsors listed there who help us do what we do. 

We are excited and looking forward to being "the fan voice for the joy and excitement for UofL women's sports" in 2017. We have great things planned for the site, our radio show and more. We welcome comments here at the site or via e-mail or text. 

We greatly appreciate all of you who have donated in the past....or are considering a donation for 2017. Your investment in us is one of the things that keeps us going to provide daily articles about the joy and excitement associated with UofL Athletics! 

To close, I would be hard-pressed to assemble a better bunch of journalist and radio pesonalities than Worldwide and Case. They do what they do for love of sport and University...just like I do. We've had great writers and contributors here in the past as well...and we cannot forget them. We get great cooperation from the University and the people there that provide the access, interviews and excellent events we attend. Behind the scenes...Sonja is there to handle the adminitsrative things. There are many people who deserve a tip-of-the-hat...

The bottom line is this, though: 

You....are Cardinal Couple.

We thank you!


paulie
xxxxx

Volleyball Improves on the Weekend - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Volleyball Loses, But Improves

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

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

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

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

College Gameday Coming to The Ville

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

-- JMcA

Sunday Cardinal Couple - Volleyball in Bowling Green

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

Anyway, on to the Volleyball.

Hampton Inn Invitational

Oakland

(Photo by Bryan Eakin)

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

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

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

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

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

VCU

(Photo by Bryan Eakin) 

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

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

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

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

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

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

BGSU

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

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

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

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

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

Active Ankle Challenge

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

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

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

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

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

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


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THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

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

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

-- JMcA

Successful senior sendoff Sunday for Field Hockey...Volleyball sweeps Wolfpack -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WOODS SCORE HOLDS AS FIELD HOCKEY DOWNS RUTGERS 1-0 ON SENIOR DAY

Louisville Field Hockey got their ninth shutout of the season and Nicole Woods got her ninth goal of the season in Louisville's 1-0 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights Sunday at Trager Stadium. 

Hear our own Worldwide Jeff McAdams interview Coach Justine Sowry post-game at the link below: 

JUSTINE SOWRY DISCUSSES WIN OVER RUTGERS


Woods score came with 15 minutes left in the first half on a feed from Chile Garcia...one of four seniors playing their final home game on the Trager turf. Victoria Stratton, Megan Anstotz and Katherine Gwynne-Wood were also honored in pre-game ceremonies. 

Louisville got another outstanding defensive effort and Ayeshia McFerran recorded four saves while improving to 13-5 on the year. The Stick Cards head to Charlottesville, VA next to face North Carolina in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament on Thursday.  

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WIDE NET CARDS GET OUT THE BROOM IN RALEIGH

Louisville Volleyball bounced back from a Friday loss in Chapel Hill with a straight set 25-23, 25-18, 25-18 sweep of NC State. Janelle Jenkins continued the front line heroics with 14 kills.

A challenging first game...neither team gaining a clear advantage and Louisville actually trailing 23-22 before three straight Wolfpack errors provided UofL with the win. 

Louisville would have none of that back and forth lead change scenario in the second game...roaring out to a 12-6 lead and pushing that to 20-10. Jenkins provided five kills for the Cards and she closed the door on Mr. and Mrs. Wuf with a kill for the seven-point win. 

After the break, NC State made it a contest early...leading 10-9 before the Cards took control and chalked up 11 straight points to establish a 20-10 advantage. A Tess Clark
kill gave Louisville the final point for game and match.

The win keeps Louisville in a tie at the top of the ACC standings with Florida State at 11-1. Louisville is 17-5 overall. 

The Cards return home for two in the KFC YUM! Center...dangerous Pitt comes in for a Friday night game and Virginia Tech challenges Louisville Sunday

Volleyball gets another sweep at Virginia -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LOUISVILLE REMAINS UNDEFEATED IN ACC

Any worries that the Cards would get knocked out of the driver's seat on the road in ACC Volleyball were laid to rest last night when the Louisville Volleyball team swept the Virginia Cavaliers 25-22, 25-12, 25-21 in Charlottesville.

The straight sets win pushes the Cards record to 11-0 in the ACC and 15-4 overall. It was also the seventh straight match that Louisville has taken down the opponent in three straight games. The last team to take a game from the Cards was Syracuse...back on Oct. 2nd.

It was a balanced scoring effort out of Anne Kordes' crew. Janelle Jenkins had 12 kills for UofL, Erin Fairs and Aniah Philo added eight each and Philo also had six blocks. 

The first contest was a back and forth test...with ten tied scores before Louisville broke a 21 all score with two Philo blocks at the net, a Maggie DeJong kill and Jenkins serving ace to get the win. 

Game two was all Cards after a close early start. The teams were tied at nine when UofL went on a 9-0 run to take command. After a UVA timeout, Molly Sauer served up four straight points...including two aces to give Louisville the 13-point win. 

After the break, UVA came back unwilling to let Louisville walk over them again. The Cavs went on a 5-3 scoring run to lead 17-15 and force a Cardinal timeout. The Cards, thanks in part to Lyndsay Palmer's clutch serving, came back to lead 23-21 and took game, set and match when UVA committed two straight service errors. 

Louisville will enjoy a few days off before heading to North Carolina on Friday, Oct. 30th and NC State Sunday Nov.1st 

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RADIO BROADCAST AVAILABLE 

You won't want to miss the replay of The CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR on the Crescent Hill SoundCloud available now.

It was a "first" for us...with Jeff in the studio and Paulie on remote location outside of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. We need to do this again when it's dry outside and Paulie isn't stuck in his car for most of the broadcast. 

A wealth of audioclips to hear...mostly Volleyball...except for Paulie's interview with Field Hockey's Justine Sowry. If you're a fan of Volleyball's Anne Kordes...you do not want to miss this rebroadcast. 

Here's the link:

HEAR MR. LONELY IN THE STUDIO AND MR. SLOSHED AT PCJS


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FIELD HOCKEY IN TRAGER TODAY! 

Don't miss UofL Field Hockey today in action at Trager Stadium against Central Michigan. The action starts at 1 p.m. and there will be a clinic for aspiring young stick-swingers that starts a 11 a.m.

The Cards will play their next three at Trager as they take on non-conference foes to get ready for the ACC Field Hockey Tournament in November. 

Make sure you're a part of the action...admission to Louisville Field Hockey is free and the action is priceless!

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WSOC on road at NC State

The road trip continues for Karen Ferguson-Dayes women's soccer team with a 1 p.m. start in Raleigh, NC against the WolfPack. Louisville needs this win badly to keep any hope of getting an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament alive. 

The Cards are 7-7-2 on the season and face an NC State squad that is 4-12 overall and winless in seven ACC contests. 

This one will be available on ESPN3. Good luck to our Kickin' Cards! 




paulie
xxxxx

Cards shutouts on Sunday -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Another Sunday, another 1 p.m. start for two UofL women's sports programs. Another couple of victories. An intense 90 minutes follows below...

FIELD HOCKEY BLANKS NORTHEASTERN

Lotta Kahlert provided the scoring punch and the Stick Cards defense held firm in a 1-0 out-of-conference win against Northeastern.



Louisville (10-5) found the net seven minutes into the contest when Megan Anstotz sent a cross into the circle for Kahlert. The Hamburg, Germany native sent the ball past Huskies goalie Becky Garner for the lead and only goal of the contest.

Northeastern (4-11) didn't play like  sub .500 squad in a mid-major conference...out-shooting the Cards 11-8 in the 70 minutes and and receiving six corners to Louisville's two.

Ayeshia McFerran picks up her seventh shutout of the season. Louisville is undefeated in non-conference play. 

The Cards start a three-game homestand Sunday, Oct 25th. when Central Michigan visits Trager for a 1 p.m. start. 

VOLLEYBALL DOWNS DUKE IN THREE

Make it the eighth win in a row for the Wide Net Cards (helping my "steamed" colleague Worldwide fulfill his prophecy that they would win eight straight)...which coincides with their 8-0 record in the ACC. 

The Cards win the annual Dig Pink match in straight sets 25-23, 25-21, 25-22 against a strong and physical Duke squad that drops to 8-10 overall and 3-5 in-conference. 

Freshman Aniah Philo bolstered her chances to receive ACC Volleyball Freshman of the Week with 11 kills and 11 digs.



Janelle Jenkins nearly duplicated Philo's feat with nine kills and nine digs and Gabbie Wiley came off the bench with a powerful serving display...getting three aces for Anne Kordes' set and spike squad. 

Louisville Volleyball stays in the KFC YUM! Center for their next match...welcoming Notre Dame to downtown Louisville for a Wednesday 7 p.m. contest. 

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DON'T MISS OUR OTHER ARTICLE!!!

Jeff "Worldwide" McAdams has also written a very good article for today's CARDINAL COUPLE and we highly recommend you give it a read. 

paulie
xxxxx 

Cards hit Sunday trifecta with Volleyball, Field Hockey and Soccer wins -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

The locations ranged from downtown Louisville to Floyd Street to Syracuse, NY...but Louisville women's sports recorded three wins in the space of a frentic 150 minutes on Sunday afternoon. 

SOCCER BLANKS SYRACUSE 1-0 

The Kickin' Cards get their second 1-0 win of the week and Isabella Habuda got her second game-winner of the week as Louisville capitalized on a 12th minute goal and made it stick to improve to 6-5-1 overall and 2-2 in the ACC.

Taylor Bucklin finished with five saves for the Cards. Syracuse had a crazy 8-1 corner kick advantage over Louisville and outshot the Cards 7-6...including a nervous final 16 minutes where the Orange had scoring opportunities in the 74th, 76th, 87th and 89th minutes but Louisville's defense held. 

Karen Ferguson Dayes was happy with what she saw:

"A win on the road is huge in this conference. I'm really proud of this group. It was a great team win today. We will enjoy it the rest of the day and then get ready for our next opponent."

That would be #1 North Carolina, who will visit Lynn Stadium on Thursday for a 7 p.m. match

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FIELD HOCKEY SCORES LATE TO BEAT MASS

About an hour after soccer got started, the action began in Trager Stadium on the UofL campus where a fatigued UofL Field Hockey team was facing Massachusetts. The Cards were returning from a tough match in Durham, NC against Duke in horrible weather conditions on Friday...but held it together to take a 1-0 win over UMass.

Defenses ruled through a scoreless first half and it wasn't until a mere seven minutes remained in the contest that Shannon Sloss found Nicole Woods in front of the UMass goal and got a pass to her that Woods slid past the UMass goalkeeper Sam Carlino for the only score of the game. 

Perhaps apropos for Woods to get the game-winner...the sophomore forward is from Beverly, MA....

Louisville goalie Ayeisha McFerran recorded two saves in her fifth shutout of the season. Louisville outshot the Minutewomen 10-6 and had a 9-3 edge in corners.

Justine Sowry challenged the team before the contest: 

"I talked at the very beginning of the game that you have to choose between one of two pains...it's either discipline or regret. Today we had to dig in deeper and be a very disciplined unit. We were fatigued, you could tell that, but we stayed together and we were able to get it done. It was not pretty but I'm just really proud of the effort that our team put forward and that we got it done." 

The Stick Cards will try to get it done again on Friday when #2 Syracuse visits Trager Stadium for a 6 p.m. game. 

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VOLLEYCARDS SWEEP EAGLES IN KFC YUM! 

Anne Kordes had a chance to use the entire roster in a straight set 25-12, 25-12, 25-17 sweep of the Boston College Eagles in a match that started right about the same time Field Hockey was doing battle on campus. 

Janelle Jenkins and Aniah Philo led a balanced Cardinal scoring attack with 12 kills each and the Cards hit .282 for the match while improving to 4-0 in the ACC and 9-4 overall.

Kordes reflected on the opponent, the team and the future after the contest: 

"I think Boston College is better than they played. There's no doubt about that. I watched them play on Friday Night against a good (Notre Dame) team. We have a big week this week playing on the road. We haven't been on the road in a little while. We use these opportunities to polish what we have been working on and we've got to stay focused." 

Louisville Volleyball heads to Georgia Tech Friday and then Clemson Sunday. 

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RADIO...DON'T YA KNOW

The CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR broadcast from Saturday is available on the heavenly Crescent Hill Radio Soundcloud. A link below where you can listen

THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR



paulie
xxxxx

Victory for Volleyball -- Friday Cardinal Couple

Volleyball Gets it Done in the Queen City

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JMcA