First 2018-19 Battle of the Bluegrass Tonight -- Volleyball in Florida -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY FACE OFF IN WOMEN'S SOCCER 

There will be 16 events between Louisville and Kentucky in the 2018-19 schedule for Louisville Athletics. 14 sports go head-to-head, with Softball and Baseball meeting twice. 8 on the men's side, 8 on the women's side. 

The first "Battle of the Bluegrass" takes place tonight in Louisville's Lynn Stadium...when the Cards and Cats take to the pitch at 5:30 p.m. 

Tonight's contest is part of a soccer double-header at Lynn, with Louisville Men's Soccer facing St. Louis after the women's game. The match has been designated a "Red Out", so make sure you're sporting your red Cardinal gear if you go. (Unless you're a Cat Fan, of course). 

Karen Ferguson Dayes and her Cards come in unblemished after four matches this year. Louisville has earned wins over Wright State, Xavier, at Dayton and at Michigan so far in August. Brooklynn Rivers and Maisie Whitsett lead UofL in scoring with three goals each. 

- Rivers' scoring came in one game, when she pulled off the hat-trick against Michigan. The Cards have scored 14 goals in their four wins, while allowing just three to be scored against them. 

UK enters Lynn with a 3-1 record. They recently fell against Wisconsin in Lexington and have gained victories over Morehead, SIUE and Arkansas-Little Rock. Kentucky was pushed to overtime in the Morehead and Arkansas-Little Rock wins. The Cats are led in scoring by Yuuka Kurosaki and Hollie Olding...who have three goals each on the season. 

Last year, Louisville visited Lexington and came home with a 3-1 win in rainy Bell Soccer Complex. It broke a six-game UK winning streak over Louisville women's soccer. 

Keys to a Cardinal win tonight? We'll look at three things in Paulie's Pre-Game Primer.  

1) Shutting the door.  Louisville's defensive middle of "Gabby squared"...keeper Gabby Kouzelos and Gabrielle Vincent have proven to be a tough task for offenses to overcome so far this season. They'll need to stay strong on the stops to ensure the Cards outscore the Cats. Freshman Sarah Hernandez and Arianna Ferraro have also helped build that impenetrable wall by the net and continued success from those two will be needed if the Cards are to push the win streak to two against Big Blue. 

2) Flying Freshmen.  The Cards have received a pleasant burst of efficiency and scoring from their freshmen this season. In addition to Whitsett's three scores, Delaney Snyder has found net success twice. UofL has also gotten valuable contributing minutes from first-year student-athletes Anna Henderson, Amari Hopkins and Morgan Jackson . Anything the freshman can contribute tonight will only boost UofL's win chances. 

3) Ekic Energy.  The scintillating sophomore Emina Ekic has two goals on the season and had two goals against Kentucky last year. She's a marvel and joy to watch on the pitch and seemingly fully recovered from the ACL that ended her season in 2017. A midfielder from Louisville Manual High School, Ekic knows one speed -- full throttle. We would like to see her duplicate her scoring total from last year against UK. Know this -- a good Ekic performance tonight is essential for a Louisville victory.

This one will be available on the ACC Network Extra and ESPN + at 5:30 if you can't get out for it. There is a 40% chance of rain and temperature is expected to top out at 90.
Good ol' muggy Louisville weather, right?  


VOLLEYBALL FACES UCF IN FRIDAY FLORIDA ACTION

Moving on to a different type of net and different player personnel, Dani Busboom Kelly  takes her Louisville Volleyball squad to Gainesville, FL for action in the Bubly Tournament...hosted by the University of Florida. No pre-game tailgating for the Louisville/Alabama football game for these set and serve stars...they'll be involved in three games in three days and start it off against an Orlando squad and former conference foe in Central Florida. 

Jared Anderson gave you a great preview of all three matches in the Thursday CARDINAL COUPLE and I encourage you to check out his article. He's down in Orlando, doing whatever Jared and Katy do, but it's rumored he'll be tweeting and taking phone pics. Follow him at @MrAndersonJared. 

The Cards found net success in their season opening Cardinal Classic tournament with convincing wins over Tennessee Martin, Southern Illinois and IUPUI...sweeping the three game round robin. 

Louisville's offense, so far, has been led by Amanda Green and Melanie McHenry. They lead the Cards in kills with 28 and 26 respectively. Senior Molly Sauer stands out for the defense with 40 digs. She was also the Cardinal Classic MVP and joined on the All-Tournament team by teammates Jasmine Bennett and Wilma Rivera. 

The competition goes up a few notches this weekend, starting with UCF. They began their season with two wins and a loss in the Sunshine State Challenge....downing Florida Gulf Coast and Florida Atlantic but falling to ACC opponent Miami. 


MYSTERY AND INTRIGUE...PLUS THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR. 


We'll have more on the other two opponents (Florida on Saturday and Southern California on Sunday) as those matches draw closer. Viewing for UCF today is allegedly available at the link below: 

http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/3429012/ucf-vs-louisville-w-volleyball

The listing at the link, though, shows the match will take place Sunday at 1 p.m., which is incorrect, according to what we've heard. The Golden Knights and Cards are scheduled for a either 4 p.m. or 6 p.m. start (once again, two sources, two different game times listed). 

You can also supposedly follow action at the stats link below...I tested it, however, this morning and I got a "not valid URL" message : 

http://www.sidearmstats.com/florida/wvball/

We'll have a recap of the opener in Florida for you regardless of time and stat availability, though, here in the Saturday Cardinal Couple column and we'll also recap it on Saturday morning's broadcast of THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR at 11 a.m. on WCHQ 100.9 FM and Facebook Live. No mystery or intrigue there, as far as we know. 

We'll have Ky. Women Talk Sports co-host Daryl Foust joining Worldwide Jeff McAdams and I for the broadcast along with River City Cards managing editor Mike Gilpatrick. It should be a legendary show...don't miss it! 


paulie
xxxxx

Cards Split Friday's Games, Dominate Football -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

A View From the Student Section: Charlotte

If you're anything like me, you've been waiting a long time to hear the train horn. Spring game train horns are worth as much as a three dollar bill and every passing train is just a tease. We got our fill of train horns Thursday night. As you already heard from Paulie (and probably elsewhere), Louisville drubbed UNC Charlotte 70-14. Louisville scored on 8 of its 9 first half possessions and held the 49ers to a goose egg. In his post game press conference, when asked about Lamar Jackson's record 8 first half touchdowns, Bobby Petrino replied, "It probably should have been 9." Couple that with the two minute drill execution when already up 49-0 in the first half, and I'd say that "Bobby Ball" might officially be back.

A wild celebrity appearance stole the show Thursday night.

Speaking of Lamar Jackson's 8 first half touchdowns... According to ESPN Stats & Info, only 8 other college quarterbacks have ever accounted for 8 touchdowns in a game. Yeah, the whole game. As in, twice as long as it took Lamarvelous on Thursday. Of course, many will point out that Charlotte is considered to be the worst team in the FBS. That might be true. Charlotte isn't very good. Their program is only four years old, and this is only their second year in FBS. However, they brought to Louisville a proficient defensive line and former Miami quarterback (and current total jerkwad), Kevin Olsen. Charlotte felt slighted that Louisville wouldn't allow them to perform walk through on PJCS (newsflash: no one gets to do that), and provided quite a bit of bulletin board material for the Cards. Whether or not the first string guys needed it is unknown, but the Cards certainly showed that they weren't going to be upset material.

The team pays its respects to fans and students postgame.

The crowd in this one was solid; at least for as long as you might expect. The University officially announced a sellout around noon on Thursday. In my experience, this meant that I expected to see the stadium about three quarters full at kickoff. Much to my surprise, the number of pink chairbacks that I could see when the Cards ran out of the tunnel was rather low. The crowd intensity was there, which was encouraging for a week night game against a far inferior opponent, and that intensity will need to make its return in two weeks when the Cards take on the mighty Seminoles from Tallahassee. 

On any normal day, I might have far more for you about a football game, but let's be real. What else is there to say? The first string looked fantastic, but it's supposed to against a team like Charlotte. The offensive line had a couple of lapses and the defense may have been burned a few times against real competition. I'm sure the coaching staff found more than a few things to talk about in the film room and will have the team's heads screwed on tight when they go on the road Friday night to face perennial annoyance, the Syracuse Orange.

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 Women's Soccer Falls to UK, 3-1

For what feels like the gazillionth straight time, the Louisville women's soccer team dropped its annual matchup with the rival Wildcats. While I don't know the actual number of consecutive losses to the Blue, I know how frustrating it must be for the ladies to struggle game in and game out against a rival.

While Louisville appeared to be the stronger side pre-game (UK was winless on the season before last night at 0-2-1), the teams looked pretty even once the game started. This one was scrappy from the beginning, and two yellow cards being awarded during a first half scuffle didn't do much to temper the aggression. The game ended with more than 20 total fouls and many more uncalled on both sides.

Starting lineups being introduced

Louisville opened the game much like they did in the past three blowouts... In control. The Cards held onto possession, limited Kentucky's attacking touches, and applied pressure on the opposing defense. The pressure paid off when freshman Sarah Feola knocked in the games first goal after approximately 20 minutes. (I apologize for my vagueness. I failed to take notes for this one, as I was very much being a fan at the game. I also did not get a stat sheet, and (at the time of writing) the game summary is not yet available.) Anyway, the productive Canadian, Feola, will be robbing the Cards of her talents for the next couple of weeks as she has been called up to represent her country on Canada's Women's National Team. Congratulations to Sarah, as we wish her health and good fortune during this tremendous experience.

Kentucky picked up the equalizer (and the first goal scored by women's opponent in Lynn this season) on a Louisville defensive mishap in the 32nd minute. Senior goalkeeper, Taylor Bucklin, came off her line for a ball that was running toward the box, but was caught out of position when a defender's errant clearance attempt found the Kentucky offense. It was frustrating to watch, as I could hear Bucklin, who was in the east goal, call for the ball from the concession stand on the west end of the stadium. 

Starting shortly after their goal, Louisville's play was notably more sloppy. I attributed this a case of being over hyped for a rivalry game. Often, rivalry games can have just as much of a negative effect on the better team as they can a positive effect on the lesser team. I believe that was the case last night, especially after scoring the first goal. Louisville's players got so into their own heads about what the rivalry game meant to them that they lost sight of their fundamentals. I hoped that the half time conversation would bring the team's focus back, but it wasn't meant to be. Despite consistent efforts towards the goal, Louisville was unable to pick up anymore goals, while Kentucky made the most of its significant shot disadvantage (18-7), and scored twice more. It was a frustrating defeat for the Cards, but one that is not without it's lessons. The loss drops Louisville to 3-1-1 on the season. The Cards have a short turnaround as they host Harvard at 7:30 on Sunday, but Coach, Karen Ferguson-Dayes, says that her team will be ready. Hear more from her interview with Paulie below.

Coach K's interview with Paulie

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The Roundup

The men's soccer team fared better than the women's last night, going on the road to knock off #14 UCONN in Storrs, 2-0. The win, which pushes the Cards' record to 2-0-1, was huge, as Louisville was able to put aside a rocky home start (0-0 D vs Butler and 2-1 W vs Quinniapiac) with a big road showing against a ranked team. The Cards will hope to ride that momentum to Lexington when they take on the Wildcats on Tuesday at 7:30. They (and I) will be hoping for a positive result.

The volleyball team also suffered its first defeat of the season last night, falling to Santa Clara 3-1. Worldwide will have more on that, as well as both of today's games, in tomorrow's article. Louisville will face Stony Brook at 10 AM and Auburn at 7:30 PM today. These games are part of a hike and spike package, and your football ticket from Thursday night should net you free admittance to the weekend's volleyball matches in the Yum! Center.

Finally, today is your first chance to catch all three of us on the radio at the same time (without one of us on the phone at least). I'll be with Paulie and Jeff, broadcasting the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour live from the Yum! Center at 11 AM. Listen in at 100.9 WCHQ or online at Crescent Hill Radio.

LINK:   www.crescenthillradio.com

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

A Busy Friday - Friday Cardinal Couple

A busy weekend ahead for the various fall sports teams at UofL.

Let's get started with...

Field Hockey

Field Hockey swings out west for a noon local time start with the Cal Bears, which makes a 3pm start EDT.

The Bears are 1-1 on the season, with the best comparison probably being the 5-1 loss they took to Duke.

Duke, being an ACC team, is almost certainly quite a good team, so it's not surprising that they beat Cal, but the 5-1 gives us an idea of how much.

My takeaway is that, if we play well, we should come away with a good solid win.

This UofL team is still coming together, but I think they have the chops at this point to be able to get the win over Cal.  We're not aware of any sort of live stream available for this game, but we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for any posted and will tweet the URL for them.

Soccer

The soccer team gets the annual matchup with Kentucky started tomorrow at 7:30 down in Lexington.

This is a quite good Kentucky soccer team.

They're not ranked, but they have beaten the then-ranked Washington Huskies in a 1-0 match to start the season.  A bit of a head-scratcher, though, they promptly lost a 2-0 game against South Dakota State. Beyond that, they beat a couple of less competitive teams in UNC Greensboro, and Toledo. They hung three on UNC Greensboro, and a whooping seven on Toledo. These two games, along with the super competitive Washington matchup were clean sheets for the Wildcats.

The Cards will be looking to play competitively with a team that is playing a very high level of soccer.

Volleyball

Volleyball has their first home match tomorrow night at 7pm downtown at the KFC Yum! Center.

Starting the home slate with Minnesota worries me quite a bit as they are still looking for their first victory of the season. They have taken two losses in the young season, to Texas A&M and to Stanford. Now, to be fair, those are both excellent volleyball teams with Texas A&M knocking on the door of the Top 25, and Stanford ranked second behind perennial powerhouse Penn State. The Golden Gophers have several offensive weapons in Sarah Wilhite, Daly Santana, and Paige Tapp. They also have at least two setters who can give them solid play in Samantha Seliger-Swenson, and Katie Schau.

I don't know Minnesota volleyball specifically very well, but the Big Ten volleyball tends to be big, slow, and powerful. This will contrast with UofL's small, and quick play, so look for considerable differences in playing style. If you watched any of the live stream last week against Illinois, you may have noticed a similar contrast in playing styles.

Volleyball will continue the ACC/Big Ten challenge Saturday night against a strong Wisconsin team who also has a surprising loss on their record book when they tangled with Western Kentucky on The Badgers home floor. Some of the sting from that loss may have dulled with victories the next day over Colgate, and College of Charleston.

Wisconsin is currently ranked 13th in the nation.

JMcA

Battle in the Bluegrass -- Part Deux

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Kentucky, Louisville square off in Volleyball tonight.

- WBB announces Tip-Off Luncheon date.

These things come in threes each fall. Women's Soccer, Volleyball and Football for state supremacy. Cats vs. Cards.

The Cats don't play Field Hockey. The Cards don't have gymnastics. Neither is in equestrian...which is kinda weird, since we have the best horses in the world here.

This year, the venue for all three fall contests is Lexington. Louisville Women's Soccer fell to UK 2-0 last week. Football takes place Saturday. The next battle...part two of the fall rivalry takes place tonight in Memorial Coliseum on the UK campus. It's Volleyball and it should be a good one.

Lynyrd Skynyrd

The Cats come into the battle at 4-2 and on a four game win streak.

After early season losses to Florida State and Illinois, the Cats have conquered Long Beach State, VCU, Liberty and East Tennessee State. Coached by Lynyrd Skynyrd Craig Skinner...UK will be expected to contend for the SEC title this season.


The Cats are led in kills by 6'2" senior Whitney Billings with
84 in six games. 6'2" Alexander Morgan adds 43. The main setter is Morgan Bergan, a 6'1" sophomore. I wonder if they're Captain Morgan's?

UK is 14-8 in total sets this season. They've averaged about 1300 in three home matches at Memorial.

Louisville enters the contest 2-3 after going 1-2 in Fargo. The Cards wins have come at the expense of Syracuse and North Dakota State. Louisville has been defeated by #1 Penn State, Northern Iowa and Wisconsin.

Offensively, the Cards share the wealth when it comes to kills. Freshman Maya McClendon leads the way with 43. Emily Juhl has amassed 40, Brooke "Stomp" Mattingly adds 33, Randi "Double Stomp" numbers 31 and Janelle Jenkins contributes 30. Louisville has yet to play a home game either in Cardinal Arena or the KFC YUM! Center.

Setting falls to Katie George (76) and Hannah Kvitle (74). When it comes to digs...Caitlin Welch has 67 to her credit in five games.

The Cards will return to Lexington later this week for matchups against Minnesota on Friday and Pepperdine on Saturday. They finally get a home match on Saturday, Sept 21st...when they will cook Rice in Cardinal Arena. Across campus, football plays FIU. Both have noon starts.

The teams are tied in the lifetime series 25-25. UK won the 2010 and 2011 matches. Both were in Memorial.

Last year, the Cats came into the KFC YUM! Center and took a 3-1 loss from UofL.  The final set of that match was a thriller...Louisville winning 30-28.

It would be great to see a large contingent of "red" in Memorial Coliseum tonight. CARDINAL COUPLE will have double coverage at the event...with both Paulie and Jeff McAdams attending.

 

Louisville went 2-1 last year in the triad...winning football and volleyball but unfortunately falling to UK in Louisville in the other fall contest...losing in soccer. Let's go for 2-1 again this year...it's virtually assured the Cardinals will win the gridiron matchup...let's take the wide-net battle as well!

We'll have a full recap of the action in the Wednesday CARDINAL COUPLE edition...(and if I know Jeff...in Thursday's edition as well). Jenny will do the Friday edition.

WE have no idea who will handle the Saturday report. How about you? Always good to hear from the readers...send your submission to us at:

cardinalcouple@twc.com

If you'd like to try your hand at writing us a column, please send it to us by 6 a.m. Saturday morning.

Go CARDS!


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This is probably old news to most of you, but the date, location and time for the UofL WBB Luncheon has been set.

Louisville, Ky. - University of Louisville women's basketball coach Jeff Walz will be the featured speaker at the annual U of L Women's Basketball Tip-Off Luncheon, presented by Ellis and Badenhausen Orthopedics and PC Home Center, on Wednesday, Oct. 9, at noon at the Crowne Plaza Louisville Airport in the Crowne Ballroom. Doors for the event will open at 11:15 a.m.Tickets for the event are $30 each, or $300 for a table of 10. All Women's Basketball Season Ticket Holders will receive an email on Monday, September 9th with details to make reservations for the 2013 Women's Basketball Tip-Off Luncheon.

Speaking of Louisville WBB....this seven minutes in the clip below never gets old.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTtjcU4994E

-Paulie

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