Sunday Cardinal Couple - Go Away Winter

Spring Has Sprung

OK, maybe not so you would know it.  A rundown of Spring and Fall sports action today.  Fall sports are in action in their spring exhibition schedule for the most part, so we don't have stat sheets and the usual aids in analyzing performance, but we'll give you a sense of things.

Volleyball

Volleyball had their 3rd event of their spring schedule yesterday here in Louisville at the Ohio Valley Volleyball Center, which is KIVA's home facility.  This is the annual KIVA Collegiate Showcase, and it's an event that UofL has participated in for many years.  It bring together typically somewhere between 15-20 college teams to play at least 3 2 set matches.  Most of the teams that come to this event, and let's face it, most spring exhibition play exhibits this tendency, are regional.

The event yesterday had 17 teams in attendance.  The most distant teams were probably Memphis and Michigan State.  Some of the other teams from closer points of origin included UofL's opponents for the day, IU, Xavier, and WKU.  Some other teams included Bowling Green State (Ohio), Tennessee (who played each other in one match...the orangeness was overwhelming), Northern Kentucky, Kentucky, Ohio State, Eastern Kentucky, Lipscomb, Dayton (current home of former UofL assistant Coach Alyssa D'errico), and several more.

While these are played as real games, they obviously don't count in the record books, so the emphasis is less on winning and more on preparation for the fall.  Your intrepid reporter wasn't always in a position to be able to see the score being kept for the game, so I don't have specific results for that.

Let's talk about what happened on the court for the Cards, though.

First, what is the team doing to accommodate the lose of 4 seniors (Tess Clark, Maggie DeJo
ng, Gabbie Wiley, and Colene Coessens).  Between Tess and Maggie, UofL has lost the services of a middle blocker/hitter, and an outside hitter (they flip-flopped these positions the past couple of season).  In the middle, Piper Roe impressed, particularly on the blocking side of the equation.  She has clearly been the 3rd middle on the team for the past couple of years and has stepped up into the role beautifully already.  Jasmine Bennett continues to hold down the middle on the other half of the rotation.  Replacing Gabbie hasn't been a question of putting another player in her place, instead Coach Busboom Kelly seems to have adjusted the roles of some of the players to cover that Defensive position...specifically by asking Melanie McHenry and Amanda Green to play full rotation, which they did some in the fall, and to be more aggressive in covering defensive assignments.  Both have stepped up well to this challenge.  Both McHenry and Green were good, though not necessarily great, players in the defensive role, and both handled that role with the added intensity well yesterday.  This shift in alignment also has the added benefit of saving some substitutions during the rotation to give the coaching staff more leeway later in sets to make changes as need to address specific shortcomings.  Colene Coessens was mostly a serving specialist, so doesn't necessarily need someone to specifically cover that role.  We did see Natalie Palastro and Akela Yuhl come in to add some serving skills to the mix.

There are almost always some personnel changes to the roster in between fall and spring, and this year is no exception.  Alexia Byrnes and Kali Eaken have both departed the team to play at Youngstown State and Wichita State respectively.  There have been two additions to the Cards roster as well, with Marijke Van Dyke joining the team from Illinois, and Brianna Lester REjoining the team from Pepperdine.  Marijke comes in as a solid outside hitter after playing a year at Illinois.  While she didn't start for the Cards yesterday for the most part, we did see her on the court quite a bit and her contributions were impressive.  She's a strong outside hitter and will contribute quite a bit to the Cards in the next few years.  Brianna Lester, who was a two-sport athlete in high school (volleyball and basketball), left UofL after a red-shirt freshman year, and transferred to Pepperdine to play basketball.  She has come back to UofL to switch back to volleyball.  Lester is taller than I realized when I was speaking about her yesterday on the radio show, and plays a different position than I remembered.  At 5'11", she's a middle hitter.  We saw her play some behind Piper Roe and Jasmine Bennett yesterday.  5'11" is a little short for the middle, but she makes up for it with some serious hops.  UofL has a history and tradition of high jumping middles, with Jasmine Bennett, Gwen Rucker, and Lecia Brown all coming to mind as great leapers, so Brianna will fit right in with that history.

The Volleyball squad will be wrapping up their spring play next Saturday evening at 6:30pm at Cardinal arena vs Butler.  This is a free event, non-ticketed, just walk up and walk in.  Concessions will not be available, so plan your munchie accordingly, but you should definitely come out to enjoy some fun volleyball action.

Field Hockey

Field Hockey was in action in spring exhibition play at Trager stadium yesterday.  Start of play in the morning was pushed back slightly so they could have time to clear the roughly inch of snow that fell on the field overnight.  It's time for Winter to go home...it has overstayed its welcome.

FH played two yesterday, with other teams mixing in other games in between.  UofL started the day with a 1-1 tie with Miami, and after watching a couple of other games with other teams involved, ended the day with a 2-2 tie against Michigan.

They will be in action again today, with no new snow to contend with, playing Michigan State at 9am, and Michigan at 1:30pm.

Spring Results

On to some events that are actually recording results.

Softball

Coach Pearsall's squad absolutely demolished UVA on the field at Ulmer Stadium.  Due to the overnight snows, this series has been rather uncertain and changing in its scheduling, but the teams did play yesterday.

UofL scored 16 in only 4 innings of offense, invoking the Softball run rule with a score of 16-1 after 4 1/2 innings.  The tone was really set in the bottom of the 1st, when got a hit to reach, then advanced around to 3rd on a pair of wild pitches.  Maddy Newman walked, then stole 2nd, putting two in scoring position.  Caitlin Ferguson scored them both with a double.  Megan Hensley came to the plate and scored Fergy with a double.  Hensley would then score on a sacrifice fly.

The tone for UVA may have been most exemplified by the 2nd inning Cards at-bat, with a repeat of much of the same cast of characters.  Melton walked, Newman was hit by a pitch, and Fergy walked to load up the bases.  Hensley took a shot to the fence in center, and combined with Nicole Pufahl taking one beyond the fence to get all 5 of the characters in our 2nd inning story around the basepaths.

The rest of the game continued in much the same sort of vein for UVA.

The teams will finish off the already-decided series with a game today at noon.

Lacrosse

Lacrosse took a 16-6 loss at North Carolina yesterday in yet another reminder of the brutality of the ACC conference schedule in this sport.

Caroline Blalock and Ally Hall each got a pair of goals, but it wasn't enough for the Cards who are looking for their first conference win.  UNC sits at 9-3 overall and 4-1 in conference.

The other two goals for the Cards came from Sarah Blalock (yes, they're sisters, and yes, they're twins...fraternal), and Julia Wood.

The Lax squad will continue the search for conference win number 1, and have Senior Day, if you can believe that, already, against Virginia, Saturday at noon.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

 Another phone-call filled Cardinal Couple Radio Hour yesterday.  Case joined in from his Achilles limited position on his couch, while I took a few minutes to step away from Volleyball action to call in as well.  Paulie was joined in the studio by comic friend John Maupin.  You can check out the Facebook livestream at:

https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/1993104664046140/

--
JMcA

Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Volleyball takes two....Soccer falls to UK

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- UK scores late to down Cards in women's soccer

- Volleyball takes two in Active Ankle Challenge


LATE SCORES DOOM CARDS AGAINST CATS

The University of Louisville women's soccer team suffered a 2-0 heartbreaking loss to rival Kentucky on Sunday evening at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium. The Cardinals fall to 2-2-0 on the season while Kentucky improves to 4-1-0.

"I think our team defending is exceptional," head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes said after the game. "We turn teams over and we get ourselves in good attacking chances, but then just can't finish the final piece of it. When I go back and look at the video, I imagine there are going to be a lot of younger players in those pivotal moments because we start and play so many younger kids. It's a great experience for them but at the end of the day when we're getting that many chances, we have to convert."

The Cardinals' first scoring chance came in the seventh minute of play when senior Erin Yenney received the ball on the left side of the goal before seeing her shot soar wide right of the goal. Louisville's first corner kick happened just one minute later, but the Cardinals were unable to capitalize on the chance.

Kentucky also had chances in the first half, the most threatening coming in the tenth minute when the Wildcats took a free kick outside of the box that soared high of the goal. Louisville goalkeeper Paige Brown was then forced to make the save when Kentucky took a shot from the end line that landed right in her hands.

Louisville had its best chance of the half in the 19th minute when Yenney received the ball at midfield and fed it to freshman Alison Price, who had her shot saved by the Kentucky keeper. The Cards' final chance of the half came when freshman Inger Katrine Bjerke took a free kick from just outside of the box, which was struck directly into the Kentucky defensive wall.

The two squads finished the half with four shots apiece, while Kentucky held a 3-1 corner kick advantage. Both Brown and Kentucky keeper Taylor Braun finished with one save in the half.

Yenney had another chance in the 50th minute when she beat her defender and took a straight shot on goal, but
 the Kentucky keeper once again made the save. Both Price and Freshman Isabella Habuda also had chances but were unable to score. Louisville's defense stepped up in the second half as the Kentucky pressure rose. A Kentucky attacker beat Brown in the 70th minute of play, but sophomore Caroline Kimble was there to record the defensive save.

Kentucky finally broke the scoreless tie in the 87th minute when Michaela Dooley scored off of Danielle Fitzgerald's assist. The Wildcats scored again about two minutes later on a fast break opportunity when Zoe Swift received a pass from Dooley in the backfield and buried the ball in the goal. The Cardinals had a flurry of chances toward the end of the game, but were unable to get on the board.

Louisville finished the game with a 12-11 shot advantage, while Kentucky led 5-2 in corner kick chances. Brown finished with one save for the Cardinals, while Braun finished with five for the Wildcats.

The Cardinals will play host to Miami (OH) this Sunday, Sept. 7 at 1:00 p.m. in Lynn Stadium.

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PLENTY OF STARS IN LOUISVILLE VOLLEYBALL SWEEP

Junior transfer Laura Blab had eight kills and four blocks to lead the No. 24-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team to a 25-11, 25-13, 25-20 win over Tennessee State in the opening match of the Active Ankle Challenge presented by The Galt House.

Cardinal Janelle Jenkins added seven kills. Juniors Roxanne McVey led the Cardinals with 11 digs, and Katie George totaled 26 assists. UofL ended with eight total team blocks with Jenkins adding three , while TSU tallied only two.

In the evening match...

Junior setter Katie George and sophomore outside hitter Maya McClendon had double-doubles to lead the No. 24-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team past the Cincinnati Bearcats 25-19, 25-16, 25-22 in the final match of the first day.

George finished with 37 assists and 16 digs while McClendon tallied 11 kills and 12 digs. Janelle Jenkins added 10 kills. Louisville totaled four aces and hit .252 for the match compared to .134 for Cincinnati.

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RADIO TODAY! 

We have a lot going on at CC Radio today at 11 a.m. on Crescent Hill Radio. THE FUNNY GUY himself JOHN MAUPIN drops by to catch us up on what's going on with him and also describe life in his own, unique and funny style. JEFF MCADAMS will be providing a live update from the Active Ankle Challenge as Louisville Volleyball takes on App. State.

We've got audio from coach JUSTINE SOWRY and field hockey star ALYSSA VOELMLE. PAULIE will also look at a potential BIG TIME WBB recruit that is announcing her college choice on Tuesday. DON PAULIE also stops in to visit.

It's jolly good fun and if you aren't careful, you just might learn a thing or two about UofL women's sports.

LINK BELOW:

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO IS ON THE AIR !! 



paulie
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Saturday Cardinal Couple -- USA completes FIBA Americas pool play with win over Canada

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- USA survives early scare...downs Canada 107-76 in FIBA U-18 WBB Americas

- CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO today

The first 10 minutes may have not gone the way USA FIBA U 18 coaches Dawn Staley, Jeff Walz and Kim Barnes Arico wanted but after trailing 23-21 at the end of the first quarter to Canada...they roared out to a 54-41 halftime lead.

Mariya Moore and crew pushed the lead to 83-59 in the third quarter and won their third straight game. USA will be the top seed in the semifinals of the FIBA Americas tournament...facing Argentina tomorrow night at 7:30 EDT.

Moore saw her highest amount of court time so far in the tournament and made the most of it...totaling 10 points on 2-4 shooting and a 6-7 free throw performance.


Attendance...at least from an internet viewer's observation...for these events has been sparse in terms of filling up the bleachers in the first three days. Maybe Colorado Springs just isn't into the FIBA Americas WBB events or the price of admission is exorbitant. 

I bet we could get 5,000 plus in the KFC YUM! Center for an event like this...

In any event, the semifinals today will feature an Argentina team that squeaked by Puerto Rico 47-44 to gain admission and a USA team that has had three straight wins by over 30 points. 

The winner gets the victor of the Brazil vs. Canada game. 

All four teams will advance to the FIBA World Championships next summer. 

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We're diverting fully off course with today's CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO today...but offering a fun-filled full hour of two Louisville comedians at 11 a.m. in John Maupin and Bryan Cohen. 

It's an idea I've been debating for quite some time as an occasional diversion from UofL women's sports and since the season is a bit slow currently...it seems like a good time to give these two local funny guys ( and UofL women's sports fans ) some air time.

It could get crazy. Be sure to tune in at 11 a.m.

Link below:


LINK:

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY FUNNY...


paulie
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