Cards Nearly Sweep Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Upsets Denver in Opener

Louisville lacrosse, which we discussed a lot last week after Paulie and Jared's interview with Scott Teeter, opened their season yesterday with a midday game against the 15th-ranked Denver Pioneers. As Teeter  mentioned in that interview, the team was ready to play someone other than themselves. That showed when Louisville opened with a 5-1 first quarter. Louisville weathered storm after storm, ultimately holding on through a 1-4 fourth quarter to win the game 10-8. 

Denver opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game when Olivia Ripple scored from Raegan Wilson. Louisville was undeterred, though. Lauren Figas scored her first, an unassisted goal, just 35 seconds later to tie the match. With both teams back on level footing, they settled into a rhythm or, if you rather, a game of cat and mouse. Neither team could score for about ten minutes before Reese Whiteman, a sophomore set to see more time, scored from Negai Nakazawa with just under four to play in the quarter. That goal was the start of a 4-0 run to close the quarter with Ella Berg and Erin Nicholson scoring unassisted goals and Figas scoring her second on Nakazawa's second assist. 

The second quarter started basically the exact same way, with Olivia Ripple scoring her second goal just 1:22 into the quarter. This one was unassisted, but Raegan Wilson would add another point to her tally by scoring herself with 1:08 remaining in the first half. They were the only two scorers in the quarter, and Louisville held on to a 5-3 lead heading into the locker room. 

I think Teeter may have mentioned Olivia Ripple's trend during the break, because she didn't score the third goal of her hat trick until there was only 5:50 remaining in the third quarter. By that time, Nakazawa had extended Louisville's advantage by two, once unassisted and once from Berg. Figas matched the Ripple hat trick less than a minute later and Rian Adkins got on the board to push Louisville's advantage to five with 2:34 remaining in the third. 

The fourth returned to form for Denver in more ways than one. They scored less than a minute into the quarter, but this time it was Caroline Colimore. Adkins scored a minute and a half later to push Louisville's lead back to five, but it would be the last time they scored in the game. Fortunately, the defense was able to bear down. The Pioneers scored three more goals (including a fourth by Ripple), but their last goal came with 6:27 remaining. The Cards were able to keep them at bay for the remainder of the game and hold on for the huge season-opening upset. 

Louisville's defensive was aided by a player advantage, as Lindsey Wilmot of Denver was shown a red card with 4:18 to go. The penalties were certainly fewer than last season, as Teeter alluded to when discussing the rule changes, but there were still five yellows and a green to go along with the red. Louisville picked up three of the yellows, while Denver had the remaining penalties. 

Louisville's win was impressive, and a lot of the credit goes to the defense. Denver outshot Louisville by 16 overall (37-21), but the Cards were strong and forced a ton of uncomfortable shots. In the end, the teams finished with the same number of attempts on goal: 17. Louisville may not have had as many opportunities, but they were clinically efficient. J Pleck started in goal, as the senior inherited the position from the graduating Sara Addeche, and finished with a career high in saves with nine. Pleck also helped hold the Pioneers to 3-10 on free position shots while Louisville matched the goals with three on seven attempts.

In addition to the overall shots battle, Louisville had to weather being disadvantaged in turnovers (18-13) and ground balls (16-5). Denver just had the ball more often, which is why I give so much credit to the defense. The Cards did win the draw control battle 11-10. 

All in all, it was a great start to the season for Louisville. As expected, Teeter was spot on when he name dropped some of his expected standouts, and we'll surely see more from them and others as the season rolls on. Louisville is next in action when they host Cincinnati on Tuesday at 3PM. 

POST GAME SCOTT TEETER AND PLAYERS

Softball Goes 1-1 on Opening Day

Louisville softball one-upped the lacrosse team by playing two games on their opening day. Unfortunately for Holly Aprile's squad, they could only come up with the same number of wins. The Cards opened the evening with an 11-3 stomping of Middle Tennessee (who have officially changed their logo from MTSU to MT) but closed with a 9-4 loss against Liberty. 

Sam Booe got the start in the first game and pitched six strong innings. She struck out seven, walked two, and gave up five hits. Her three earned runs came on a three-run homer in the third inning. Booe was relieved by Brooke Gray in the seventh to keep Gray warm for game two. Gray snagged two ground outs and a strikeout in a quick inning. 

The real show in game one was Louisville's offense. Louisville was the away team in this one, and Easton Lotus (who has moved into the leadoff spot as we welcome the R-Jr back from injury) opened the game with a triple. After Char Lorenz, the R-Fr utility player, coaxed a walk, Lotus stole home to get the Cards on the board. Bri Despines, Louisville's new transfer catcher from Kent State, drew a catcher's interference call (savvy) to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Unfortunately, Louisville could add no more runs as the next three batters went down on a pair of flyouts and a strikeout. 

Louisville got back on the board in the second when a bases loaded error on a Lorenz grounder to short scored Chelsea Mack and Taylor Monroe. Despines scored Lotus on a sac fly to give Louisville a 4-0 lead. In the third, Mack drew a bases loaded walk to score Riley Janda and Lotus hit a productive groundout to score Thatcher. Middle Tennessee would break the shutout in the bottom of the third with the aforementioned homer to make the score 6-3. 

Louisville was held scoreless for the first time in the fourth inning, but they scored one run each in the fifth and sixth. Jordan Williams singled for Thatcher to score her second run of the day and Madison Pickens scored in the sixth on a bases loaded wild pitch. In the seventh, the top of the order got back to work, with Lorenz doubling in Lotus and then scoring herself on an error that saw Despines go from the batter's box to third base. Despines came home for the 11th and final run on a Pickens sac fly.

It was an exciting game for new Cards, as Despines was joined by freshmen Lorenz, Pickens, Janda, Monroe, and Williams in having a hit and/or RBI. It was also a great return to the field for Easton Lotus, who scored all three times she reached base (two hits and a walk) and earned an RBI. 

The second game was much tighter, but ultimately saw the away team take the victory again. Unfortunately, Louisville was the home team in this one. Alyssa Zabala took to the circle for the start of this one and held Liberty scoreless for the first two innings. A freshman connection scored the Cards first run when Taylor Monroe singled in Riley Janda in the second. The Cards lead was short-lived, though, as a two-run homer gave Liberty the lead in the third. Though the homer came with two outs, Zabala wasn't missing many bats in the inning. A double preceded a pair of line drives before the home run and a triple followed. Fortunately a ground out ended the threat. 

Louisville couldn't answer in the bottom half, unfortunately seeing Mack, Lotus, and Lorenz go down in order. Lorenz watched strike three on a full count, so it's hard to blame her but it stings a bit. After a fly out opened the fourth, Liberty put runners on first and second with a walk and a single. Another single scored a runner and advancement saw runners at second and third with one out. Zabala played with fire by giving up three straight foul balls to the next batter, but she ultimately picked up the swinging strikeout. Aprile still decided that it was time to give her a break and Gray came in to take over. A flyout ended the inning. 

The two teams exchanged 1-2-3 innings after that and headed to the bottom of the fifth with the score still 3-1. Katie Thatcher took a plunking to open the inning and we saw Aprile employ some of her traditional small-ball. A pinch runner moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and Ally Alexander followed with a single. Unfortunately, the single was to left center, meaning Williams couldn't advance and making the prior sacrifice functionally a free out. Aprile put a lot of faith in her contact hitters after that, trusting Chelsea Mack to lay down another sacrifice to bring the top of the order up with runners on second and third and two outs. Lotus delivered with a single to score Williams, and the catcher missed the catch on the throw in, allowing Alexander to come in and tie the game. A pop up ended the inning but Louisville had reset things going into the sixth. 

Liberty responded with small ball of their own. A single and a sac bunt put a runner in scoring position and another single scored the go-ahead run. Unfortunately, Louisville had an error of their own on the throw in, keeping a runner in scoring position. Liberty took advantage, singling for the third time in four batters to make it 5-3. A caught stealing by Despines and a pop up ended the inning. Louisville was unable to answer in the bottom half and the game moved to the final frame with the Cards down two. 

After some shuffling in the bottom of the sixth, Louisville was forced into an interesting substitution pattern in the seventh. Gray gave up a double to open the inning and Katie Thatcher moved into the circle in a change that put Despines back behind the plate and Pickens in right field. Thatcher wasn't listed as a pitcher on last year's roster and I really question the move to test her out in the circle given the situation. Liberty's leadoff runner stole third, and Thatcher threw four straight balls to follow. That runner stole second while Thatcher walked the bases loaded. I'm not sure if either walk was intended to get force outs on base, but a leadoff double while you're down only two is recoverable, so I don't understand what appeared to be giving up defensively. A sac fly scored a runner and a pinch runner stole second to keep runners on second and third with one out. A swinging bunt caught Despines off guard and her errant throw kept runners on second and third and allowed another run. Another walk to load the bases saw freshman Ryann Sanders called into the circle. A single up the middle scored two more before a double play ended the inning. From 5-3 to 9-3 just like that. Gross.

Louisville showed life with a leadoff double of their own in the bottom half. It was followed by a fielder's choice that failed to secure an out and gave Louisville runners on the corners with nobody out and the turn of the order coming up. Unfortunately, Mack, Lotus, and Lorenz weren't quite up to the task this time. Mack popped out, Lotus picked up a consolation RBI on a ground out, and Lorenz lined out to end the game. 9-4 final. 

After the encouraging start to the day and the comeback bid in the second game, I'm still scratching my head about the choices in the end. However, there's a long season ahead and Liberty isn't a bad team. We'll have plenty more chances to see the Cards succeed, starting with two games today against Rutgers (1PM) and Radford (3:30). Both are available (at a cost) on the FastPitch Network. 

Tennis Opens Season 4-1

I wanted to give a shoutout to tennis, who we haven't covered much yet this season, as they're doing well to open the year. Their latest victory was a sweep over Austin Peay. While that may not sound like much, it included a doubles win by Alice Otis and Elisabeth Iila over the 25th-ranked doubles pair in the country. The latest win the Cards' second sweep of the year is added to their victories over UNC Greensboro, UT Chattanooga, and Dayton. Their loss came on the road at Middle Tennessee. Louisville gets a week off before heading to Indiana next week. Conference play begins the week after with a trip to SMU on 2/23. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have three on board today as Jared cruises and Daryl tries to fight off illness. There's plenty to cover, to be sure, so be sure to tune in. You can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

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RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Lacrosse Tonight; Softball Rained Out; Swimming Continues; Tennis Falls -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Hosts VT

Louisville Lacrosse will welcome the Virginia Tech Hokies (man, everyone is playing VT) this evening in L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. If they played in L&N FCU Arena, I think it would be quite the spectacle. That said, there should be plenty of fireworks tonight at the football stadium. Louisville is coming off of their unsuccessful comeback bid against Lindenwood Sunday. That loss dropped the team to 1-3, but they've shown fight in each game. 

Louisville is looking for consistency in their high-powered offense. The Cards have scored at least eight goals in each game and have averaged 11.5 goals per game, but they've come when Louisville had their backs against the wall in many cases, rather than when the Cards could put pressure on the opponents. If the offense can't keep pace today, they'll be playing from behind once more. Virginia Tech is 3-1 on the year, with the loss coming to 3/4 ranked James Madison in the second game of the season. They lost that one 17-5, but they've scored at least 10 in their other three games and have won their last two (over Mercer and Queens [NC]) by 13 goals apiece. 

Attendance at tonight's match is free, as is parking in the Bronze lots F and G. The clear bag policy will be enforced. The match will begin at 6PM and will be carried on ACC Network.

Friday Softball Canceled 

Louisville softball played the rescheduling game as part of the Battle of the Beach yesterday, but it ultimately didn't matter. The forecasted rain came early and it was relentless. Louisville's two games against Bowling Green and Coastal Carolina were both canceled. The Cards will be in action, weather permitting, today starting at 10am against Furman. They'll play Coastal later this afternoon (scheduled for 3:30) and they'll wrap up the weekend against Bowling Green tomorrow morning at 9:30. 

Swimming Holding Third at ACC

Louisville swimming and diving is currently at the ACC Championships and the Cards are doing well. Yesterday saw more podiums for Louisville's aquatic denizens, as Else Praasternik snagged a silver medal and the 400 medley relay team of Paige Hetrick, Ella Welch, Gabi Albiero, and Christiana Regenauer took the bronze. Those medals are added to the medals the Louisville women have already earned this week in the 800 free relay, the 200 free relay, 1m diving, 400 individual medley, 100 fly, and 200 free. Along with the medals, numerous other strong performances have helped Louisville into a solid hold on third. Louisville sits at 841 points, well clear of UNC's 627.5 in fourth place and right on the heels of NC State's 869. Virginia has just about locked up the team victory as they have 1178.5 points entering the final day. 

Events will get underway at 9:30 this morning and will include the 1650 freestyle, the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, men's platform diving, and the 400 free relay.

Tennis Drops ACC Opener

Louisville tennis went down to the wire in their ACC opener against Virginia Tech yesterday. The Cards lost 4-3, losing the doubles point with a score of 7-6 (7-3) in both the second and third doubles slots. As the day wore on, the score continued to bounce back and forth, with Louisville tying the match each time VT took the lead. Unfortunately, if you continue to trade wins in an odd numbered event, whoever took the point first will win. Such was the case as the final singles match of the day went to VT, giving them the 4-3 victory. That last match went three sets, extending the day about as long as possible. Louisville's doubles win came from Jamilah Snells and Lillian Mould, who unfortunately both lost their singles point. Singles winners were Allie Grekowski, Berta Miret, and Lika Peresypkina. 

Louisville, who now sits at 4-4 overall, will take on the sixth-ranked Virginia Cavaliers tomorrow starting at noon at Bass-Rudd. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

After an exciting week for Louisville athletics, which as included many ups and downs, we'll once again bring you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics with the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast. There will be four on the floor in this week's episode, and there's plenty to discuss. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Tennis at Vandy; T&F at Notre Dame; ACC Academic Awards -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Tennis Falls to #9 Vanderbilt

After a 2-0 opening weekend, Louisville split their second weekend to sit at 3-1. After a trip to Nashville on Friday, the best the Cards can hope for this weekend is a split as well. Vanderbilt is ranked ninth in the country, and three of their entries (two singles and a doubles pair) are ranked in the top-55. Louisville was unable to make much of a dent in the rest of the lineup as the Cards won two matches, a singles and a doubles, to fall 6-1. Louisville's pair of Jamilah Snells and Cici Xin grabbed a doubles win, and Tyra Richardson picked up Louisville's only singles win (scoring them their only point). The Cards were unable to push any matches to three sets, but they did make multiple sets go to seven games. 

Vandy is a strong team from top to bottom, hence their national ranking, but Louisville will have only a short time to regroup as they return home to take on James Madison tomorrow. Including that match, the Cards are at home for six straight events, including the first two conference matchups against Clemson and Georgia Tech. Things get underway at 11AM at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center and video is listed on the schedule, so be sure to check it out.

Track and Field in Meyo Invitational

Tennis wasn't the only team in action yesterday, as Track and Field took part in Day One of the Meyo Invitational, hosted by Notre Dame. The Cards didn't pick up any wins, but they will have plenty more chances tomorrow. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day was Synclair Savage not placing in the long jump. However, it is less of a surprise that she didn't perform well when you consider that she didn't perform at all. Louisville had two top-ten finishers in Alba Cuns Iglesias and Ariel Lawrence, but Savage sat this one out. Those weren't the only positive results for the Cards, though, as they ended the day with four top-five finishes. Lawrence came in fourth in the long jump, Claire Bushur finished fifth in the shot put, and Soledad Jean and Tiriah Kelley both finished second in the high jump and 200m, respectively. Kiyah Yeast finished 8th in the 200m and also qualified for the 60m, along with Olivia Jenkins, and they'll join Taylor Herbert in the semifinals for that event today. Jourdin Edwards also qualified for additional competition today, as she advanced in the 60m hurdles. 

The event gets back underway at 11AM today with the women's triple jump. The triple jump is one of just three field events for the women, along with the weight throw and pole vault. The rest of the day will be filled out with track until the event wraps up with the 4x400m relays at around 3:45.

Plumb is ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year

The ACC Academic Awards are trickling out for the fall and Aimee Plumb highlighted the success of the UofL field hockey program. Plumb was named the Field Hockey Scholar Athlete of the Year by the ACC as she joined 17 teammates on the All-ACC Academic Team. The requirements for that distinction are a 3.0 GPA in the previous semester, a 3.0 cumulative GPA, and participation in 50% of the teams' contests. The 18 awardees mark a program record (there are only 23 players on the roster), and Plumb's award is the second straight for UofL, after Alli Bitting took home the crown in 2021. 

Along with field hockey, the cross country results were announced, and Louisville had six runners on the women's team make the cut. In addition to six individual honorees, the women's track and field team had a cumulative 3.557 GPA.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

The crew will be a bit light this week as Daryl and I will both be on the inactive list. Jared returns, though, so there will still be three on the call. The guys will discuss the WBB victory over Syracuse and look ahead to tomorrow's big matchup against UNC. The lack of a midweek game to recap means that they'll also have time to cover the ball mishap between Duke and FSU, so you can count on a WBB officiating rant from Jeff. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Cas

No News? -- Season Recaps -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ALL QUIET ON THE CARDINAL FRONT

With Louisville softball not being named to the 64-team NCAA Tournament, only Louisville track and field has anything remaining on their schedule this season. They will begin the NCAA Outdoor Championships beginning next Wednesday, May 25.

So, for the next week, we don't have enough games or meets to report on. Summertime arrived quite fast for us here at Cardinal Couple.

What do we talk about now? Well, whatever we want.

Before we eagerly look ahead to the 2022 fall sports seasons, we should take a moment to reflect on the spring sports.

Lacrosse

Still tapping on the door of a breakout season, Louisville lacrosse went 7-11 on the year with an early exit in the ACC Tournament. The Cards won one ACC game on the year, matching the previous year's total.

The Cards lost four matches by one goal each as well as one loss by three goals and four goals each. The difference in all of those games was the winning mentality that is still being established at Louisville. Turn those six losses into wins and it was a remarkable season.

The Cards relied on a pair of inexperienced goalkeepers that were near the bottom of the conference in goals allowed per game. With a full year under the belts, both keepers should be on pace for big seasons next year.

On the offensive end, seven Cards totaled double-digit goals with two scoring 50+ on the season. Three of the top five scorers were recognized at senior day, but Hannah Morris hinted on social media that she might return for her COVID year of eligibility. Bringing back last season's top scorer would be a major boost.

Where Louisville needs to focus on in the offseason is transition defense and draw controls, both categories that hurt the Cards throughout the season, especially in late-game situations.

Softball

Injuries and a few players with an early exodus from the program proved to be the Achilles Heel for Louisville softball. The Cards lost Charley Butler before the start of the season and Chardonnay Harris midway through the season. Easton Lotus went down halfway through with a knee injury and Hannah File nursed a leg injury on and off throughout the year. Gabby Holloway also ended her season early in the circle with a chest and arm injury.

There were positives, however. Holly Aprile had a fairly young squad. All six freshmen on the roster played key roles at some point throughout the year. Two of the four freshmen were key contributors or starters with the other two sophomores being the top pinch runners.

The supposed return of Taylor Roby next year is a giant plus on both sides of the ball. Roby was the top pitcher by more than 100 innings and led the team in home runs while standing top three on the team in RBIs, slugging percentage, walks, and plate appearances.

The Cards had a strong offense for much of the year, but went cold over the final four games of the season, scoring a combined two runs in those outings. Louisville batted .278 on the year and outscored opponents 276-260.

A 27-25 overall record and first round exit from the ACC Tournament left them on the outside looking in for the NCAA Tournament. Based on the teams that made the field, the Cards were presumably a first four out or next four out team.

With several pitchers slated to return next year and an expected healthy roster, the 2023 team has the potential to make some noise and get to the mid-30s in win total.

Tennis

Louisville tennis has had a love-hate relationship with their season. The Cards went 0-14 in conference play but had an incredible 8-1 non-conference outing for a grand total of 8-15 this season. The ACC is another dominant force in tennis and the Cards suffer from that.

Titiana Simova was the only player above .500 in individual matches with a 12-8 record. Andrea Di Palma went 9-11 and Chelsea Sawyer went 8-13 while the rest of the team combined for 15 wins.

Minus the shortened COVID-19 season, Louisville has not had a winning season since 2016-2017 and has plenty of work to do to get back to that point.

Rowing

We were able to go over the season for Louisville rowing on our podcast over the weekend in depth. The Cards have had a slow, but steady climb over the last several years.

While program bests and stronger finishes continue to become more common, there remains a noticeable gap between the Cards and the top teams in the conference.

Patience might be the biggest key for Louisville rowing in the next few years.

Golf

Without a doubt having the best spring season of the recognized Louisville women's sports, Louisville golf had another great season. The Cards went to an eighth straight NCAA Regional.

They had a pair of wins in the Illinois Invitational and The Club at Olde Stone Intercollegiate. The Cards then sat in the middle of the pack going into the final day of the ACC Championships before struggling on the final day and dropping down. They wrapped up the season finishing tied for seventh in the NCAA Regional behind all higher-ranked teams.

With the exception of Kendall Griffin, Louisville can bring back the rest of the team in terms of eligibility as Mairead Martin and Lauren Thibodeau both have a COVID year should they choose to use it.

Track and Field

Their season isn't quite done so we won't recap their season yet, but they had a strong outing at the ACC Outdoor Championships with a plethora of individual honors and podium finishes. Could the Cards bring home some hardware from the NCAA Championships? Absolutely.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Saturday News Roundup -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Winter Storm Brings Friday Dormancy

The only team scheduled to play yesterday was tennis, as they were set to host Ball State at the Bass Rudd Tennis Center. Unfortunately, with the winter storm bringing ice and some snow to Louisville and a whole lot of snow to the middle of Indiana, yesterday's match had to be postponed. The match will now take place on February 11th, just one week later. Louisville is next back in action on the road tomorrow against Vanderbilt. It will be the first time they venture away from the nest this season.

After a successful meet last weekend at home, Louisville Track & Field is off to hit the road once more. This weekend, the Cards have headed up to Notre Dame for the Meyo Invitational, though the results and start lists for the events so far indicate that the whole team may not be competing. Louisville had no participants in the long or high jumps or the weight throw yesterday, and Gabriela Leon is not listed in the roster for the pole vault today. Either way, today's events get underway at 9:45AM and you can follow along on the Endurance Timing site or the Louisville Track & Field Twitter account.

Yesterday, Louisville announced the broadcast plan for the lacrosse season, and it includes three games on the linear ACCN channel. Louisville will play Duke on ACCN in Durham on March 17th, and they'll host Ohio State and Notre Dame on the channel on March 31st and April 23rd, respectively. The Ohio State game is on a Thursday night, so should be expected to be in Cardinal Stadium, and we'll see if the Notre Dame game is shifted to there as well for the better video infrastructure. The remainder of Louisville's home games and conference road games will be on ACCNX. The Cards open the season on the road in Colorado against the Buffs next Friday and will take on Denver on Sunday.

The New York Liberty are becoming less of the Louisville Liberty than we all hoped. After the Liberty seemed to be rebuilding a Louisville final four team, Sandy Brondello has come in and made some changes. The most recent were the addition of Stef Dolson and resigning of Rebecca Allen. Those roster moves demanded some space to be made, and Jaz Jones was a casualty of such a change. She and Neah Odom were waived yesterday. Kylee Shook and Asia Durr remain on the Liberty, but with free agency and the draft still to come, no roster spot across the league is locked in quite yet. We'll hope for both of them to keep their spots and for Jaz to find a new home.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

(Should the Cardinal Couple crew form a lawn bowling squad?)

Once more, I'll be out this week. Fortunately, the tasks remaining in my office are few and that space should be ready for me to move back in before the end of the weekend. In my absence, four will be available to carry the show. They'll talk the big basketball wins, including a career night for HVL, and look ahead to the remainder of the Louisville basketball season along with the upcoming spring sports. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Breaker: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Softball Falls Short, Tennis Narrowly Wins, and More -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Drops Two to Open ACC Play

With the podded system created for ACC play this season, softball will see a lot of double headers. Fortunately for them, that means they'll get plenty of opportunities to show their abilities in back-to-back games in a way they didn't yesterday. Taking on NC State to open their conference season, Louisville softball fell 8-4 and 4-3 to put them at 0-4 on the season. There is plenty of time to recover, have no doubt, as the Cards are right back in action today, starting with a match against Virginia at 11AM before getting another crack at the Wolfpack at 3PM. Both games should be on the ACC Network Extra. Let's take a look at yesterday's results.

Cards Let Wolfpack Snag Big Lead; 8-4

Acting as the home team, Louisville took to the field first and promptly gave up a two runs in an inning that included an opening walk, a pair of steals, and a double. After getting out of it, Taylor Roby, who started in the circle, was able to reset the game for herself when she hit a two-run homer to score herself and Carmyn Greenwood to tie the game. Both teams saw a walk but stranded a runner in the second, and the NC State opened up the game. They scored two in the third, two in the fourth, and a single run in each of the fifth and sixth innings to build an 8-2 lead. Louisville tried to claw back in the sixth, but could just scratch across two runs, stranding runners on second and third with a strikeout. That saw the inning end at 8-4, which is how the game would end an inning later. The Cards would get Celene Funke and Roby on base in the seventh, but could do nothing to advance them around to score.

7th Inning Rally Falls Short; 4-3

The second game flipped the dugouts and got off to quite a different start. Louisville got a one-out double and a two-out walk but couldn't bring either runner home and so headed to the bottom half with no runs. It looked like they'd start NC State off the same way, retiring the first two batters on a line drive and a strikeout, but a two-out walk was followed by a wild pitch to put a runner on second. A single scored her, and a two-out homer gave NC State a 3-0 lead leaving the first. After NC State's two-out fireworks, neither team threatened much until the bottom of the fifth when NC State loaded the bases with two outs. A ground-out ended the inning. 

In the top of the sixth, Louisville's offense returned when Taylor Roby hit her second home run of the day and of the season. That made it 3-1 and a bit more in reach, but the Wolfpack returned the favor with a lead-off home run of their own in the bottom half. The next batter reached on an error, but a caught-stealing was followed by a pop-out and a strikeout to end the inning. Louisville did their best to extend the game in the seventh, albeit with some help from NC State. Payton Hudson walked to open the inning but was followed by two quick outs. NC State had a chance to end the game on a grounder by Carmyn Greenwood, but an error put runners on first and second. Roby singled them both in to make it 4-3. Cassady Greenwood also reached on an error to put runners on first and second (odd coincidence), but Charley Butler's fly to right didn't have the juice or placement to get to the ground or out of the fence. A catch ended the game.

Tennis Opens Conference Play with Victory

Louisville hosted Syracuse yesterday for their first ACC match of the year. This has been a place in the past few years where things have fallen apart for the Cards, but a strong showing early could boost their morale going forward. Fortunately for Louisville, their doubles play may be the spark they need for the remainder of the year. They opened yesterday's match by winning the doubles point, clinching that portion of the match for the sixth straight time. They've played six matches. The Cards won the doubles point pretty strongly as well, finishing 6-1 and 6-2, while leading 5-4 in the unfinished match.

On the singles side, things got a bit more interesting. The Cards jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead with wins in the first two singles matches to finish. Then, Syracuse won the next three matches, all coming back from a 1-0 set deficit to win in three sets. At 3-3, it came down to Rhea Verma, who narrowly lost her first set on a tiebreaker. She went on to win 6-1, 6-2 to give Louisville the fourth point they needed and a victory in conference play. That moves the Cards to 4-2 overall, and they'll be back in action tomorrow at 11AM against Boston College.

More Roundup

The swimming team claimed eight top-8 finishes and a bronze medal in the 400 medley relay to move into third place in the team standings. At 683.5 points, they're 105 points clear of fourth-place VT but sit 196 points behind NC State in second. Virginia is in their own class with 1047 points. The Cards will have a chance to hold onto third and try to chase down the Wolfpack as the final day of competition begins with prelims today at 11AM. The finals are schedule for 7PM and the entire event will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra.

Volleyball will have to wait another week to get their spring season started as their match with Lipscomb has been canceled. The ASUN, in an effort to get more conference games played, shifted their schedules around, landing a conference matchup on this weekend for the Bison. Louisville's match was seen as lower priority, so they got the boot. The Cards will now start the spring season next week against Notre Dame as they move straight into conference play.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Well we were all wrong when we spent last week lamenting what we suspected to be the end of Louisville women's basketball's regular season due to Covid-19. We'll endeavor to be more correct this week on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour as we recap the win over Pittsburgh as well as all of the other news and events in Louisville women's athletics this week. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel at 11AM for our live show or check out the replay or podcast following the recording. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Rain Delays Abound -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Weather Puts UofL Events in Jeopardy Across the Board

Three UofL athletic teams saw their events put on hold or never started yesterday due to weather across the southeastern US. Softball and baseball were both midway through their games in their home stadiums when the rain began coming down far too hard for the games to continue. Rowing, on the other hand, had to deal with much more severe weather as tornado and severe storm warnings kept boats off of the water in Clemson 

View of Don Dobina Field from Softball press box Friday

Rowing began their adjusted schedule early this morning in an effort to make up for all of the time missed yesterday. Softball and baseball are in opposite boats as it relates to getting to continue their games today. Softball is currently leading in the top of the fifth inning, but their game cannot go official without finishing that half inning. As teams are not allowed to play more than two games in a single day, if finishing this game pushes until tomorrow, the Cards will have to cancel one of the games scheduled in tomorrow's double header with GT. Baseball, though, has no incentive to continue play today. There is still one more game scheduled for the Cards, but they have a game of their own to finish. In this one, Louisville trails 10-3 in the bottom of the sixth. Why wouldn't they want a chance to come back, you ask? That would be because the Cards led 3-1 after 5 full innings, which is enough to make the game official. If Louisville and Miami can't complete the sixth inning before 6PM tonight, the time the ACC requires teams leave on a get-out day, the score will revert back and the Cards will be victorious.

We'll see what the weather does in Louisville today, as forecasting spring weather in the Ohio Valley is about as pointless an exercise as you can imagine.

Other Sports in Action Today

Plenty of UofL athletics are still in action today, though, with the aforementioned rowing being
joined by women's tennis, track and field, volleyball and lacrosse. None are at home. Tennis is at the ACC Championships, while track and volleyball stayed closer to home. Track is at the Kentucky Invitational and the volleyball team traveled down to Morehead. Perhaps the most interesting event of the day is Lacrosse's matchup with the number one team in the country. Scott Teeter has taken his squad up the coast to Chestnut Hill to take on Boston College. Every game in the ACC is a brutal matchup for the Cards, but as we said last week, you have to beat the best to be the best. Today's game is at noon and is available on ACC Network Extra.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

With Jared at the bank and me down at the farm, the studio won't be quite full today. Paulie and Jeff will be joined once again by Daryl Foust, where I imagine yesterday's softball shenanigans and the victory for the diamond Cards in the Battle of the Bluegrass will be quite the topic of discussion. Tune into WCHQ FM at 11 AM for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour.

The station is available at 100.9 FM in Louisville and online at wchqfm.com, the WCHQ App, or Facebook Live.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Cards Prepare for FSU -- Softball Takes Over Instagram -- Spring Sports Media Day I -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

UofL WBB Heads to Tallahassee

UofL vs FSU. Jan. 21, 2018.

The Louisville women's basketball team prepares to play their second straight road game.  Their next foe is Florida State.  The key word to this game: revenge.

Last season, the Seminoles came into the KFC Yum! Center to take on an undefeated and second-ranked Louisville squad.  The Noles walked away with a 50-49 victory.  It was the only time all season the Cards scored under 50 points and it was the sole loss at home.

This season Louisville looks to return the favor... sort of.  Florida State is ranked 22nd in the AP Poll and boasts a 16-2 record.  The Cards can't ruin a non-existent undefeated season and FSU isn't hovering in the shadow of the number one team in the country.

However, the Seminoles are a formidable opponent.  Their two losses have come at home to LSU and Clemson.  Something about tigers seems to have an effect on Florida State.  They're half a game back in the ACC behind the Cards with a 4-1 conference mark.

UofL vs FSU. Jan. 21, 2018.

Florida State excels defensively.  They give up a mere 57.2 points per game, but also are quiet on the offensive side with just 70.2 points per game.  They've held opponents to under .400 from the field this season and allow only .283 from three-point range.  Due to solid defense and pressure, their opponents commit about 17 turnovers per game.  FSU isn't much better with their own ball control, turning the ball over 14 times per game.

Like Louisville, the Seminoles have a small bench.  Nine players have recorded minutes and only six of those nine see more than 15 minutes per game.  They shoot well from the floor with a .419 mark but struggle on the perimeter, shooting .280.  They can hurt you from the free throw line with a strong .725 percentage.

Keep in mind that head FSU WBB coach Sue Semaru is doing this with five new starters.

Kiah Gillespie has been the go-to player this year.  The junior forward has been averaging nearly a double-double this season with 18 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game.  Gillespie is also a threat on the perimeter and leads the Noles by shooting .330 from deep.  Valencia Myers has been productive this season, averaging 9.4 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game.  The freshman forward also leads the team in blocks with 28, but often finds herself in foul trouble.  Nicki Ekhomu is another deep range threat, shooting .324.  She is almost unstoppable at the free throw line, shooting 804.  The junior guard's 14.3 points per game is second on the team.

Walz's Serena Williams impression

Despite the strong three-point shooting by a couple of their upperclassmen, no one has made 30 or more threes this season for Florida State.  Asia Durr (.326) has made 46 and Arica Carter (.465) has made 40.  Lindsey Duvall, Dana Evans, and Kylee Shook are all effective three-point shooters too.

Louisville's biggest issue will be in the post position.  Can the likes of Sam Fuehring, Bionca Dunham, and Kylee Shook hold their ground?  Florida State averages 3.5 more rebounds per game than the Cards and have crushed some opponents on the glass this season, a spot of weakness for Louisville this year.

You can catch this game on TV tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m.  It is listed as a regional sports network, meaning it'll probably make it's way to Fox Sports South or one of the news channels.

No truth to the alleged rumor that Coach Walz and Sue Semerau will have an exhibition tennis match or three-point shooting contest at halftime.




Maddy Newman and UofL Softball Take Over IG

In preparation for the new season NCAA Softball has been handing over their Instagram social media account to a different school each day the past few weeks.  Louisville made their way onto the list and took over yesterday with Maddy Newman taking the lead on it.


Newman, along with some assistance from Celene Funke, gave the 115K+ followers a tour of the facilities and a chance to meet the team and staff.  As always, UofL has some of the nicest Olympic sports (non-football and basketball) facilities in the country.  Some soccer friends (Emina Ekic and Gabby Kouzelos) made special appearances and the Louisville Athletics Talent Show was featured.


The season opener is just 16 days away!

Note: Softball photos are all screenshots from the NCAA Softball (@ncaasoftball) Instagram account.







SPRING SPORTS MEDIA DAY

Track and Field, Swimming and Diving and Tennis were featured in the first of two UofL Spring Sports Media Days yesterday over at the "Korber" on Floyd Street. Each head coach was represented with several of their student-athletes in the hour plus presser. 

Headlining the appearances was free-style swimmer and World Champion Mallory Comerford.

Paulie was there to capture the sound. Click on the links below to hear these Cardinals and coaches talk about their sports. 


LINK: MEN'S TENNIS

LINK: WOMEN'S TENNIS

LINK: LOUISVILLE SWIMMING DIVERS

LINK: TRACK AND FIELD

LINK: MOLLY COMERFORD, ARTHUR ALBIERO, "BATMAN"


Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

Basketball and Beyond -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

UofL has three other sports besides hoops going on currently.

It is the time of year when our thoughts here at CARDINAL COUPLE and most likely with you turn to the orange ball bouncing on wood and double-doubles. Both the Cards WBB contingents are having fine seasons, the men recently joined the top 25 and WBB is #4 in the nation, facing a truly tough challenge Thursday night in Talhassee against FSU.

Speaking of challenges, it's allegedly rumored that Coach Walz got a call from the NCAA about his "shooting" and such. No more details available, but, I guess we can assume there will be no more "catch and shoots" from the Cardinal WBB coach. 

There are other activities currently engaged in competition, though...with more to come...so, let's take today and catch up on how tennis, swimming and track & field are doing. Two of the three are currently involved in their "indoor" seasons (imagine trying to serve and volley on slicked surfaces and snow drifts or sprinting down a ice-covered track). 

UofL has a couple of Spring Sports Media days planned, the first today with the aforementioned three in the spotlight. Next week, softball, rowing, lacrosse and golf take the stage to discuss their upcoming seasons.

 Today, let's look at how those who make serves, sprints and splashes are doing. 

TENNIS

The Cards field men and women's sports in this racket, net and ball based sport and this is an activity that features an indoor and outdoor season. Since we primarily cover women's sports here at "the Couple" that's where my focus will be today. 

Louisville women's tennis began the spring season on Sunday at the Bass-Rudd Center adjacent to I-65 and brought in two schools from the Buckeye state to kick the schedule off. In the morning session, UofL faced Bowling Green and successfully got a 5-2 win over the Falcons from the MAC. A 2-0 start for the season for Mark Beckham's squad ! 

As we have covered here before, seven "points" are obtainable in a contest, although nine matches are actually contested (six singles and three doubles). The players are ranked for the contests (#1 thru #6) in singles on each squad and they face off against their counterpart with the objective to win two sets.  The Cards fared well in the morning/early afternoon session, getting wins from their #2 thru #5 players and picking up four points. Those that triumphed were #2 Nikolina Jovic, #3 Raven Neely, #4 Diana Wong, #5 Chloe Hamlin. 

So the score was 4-2 Cards with (1) point left to decide in doubles competition. Whichever team wins two of the three matches gets that point and the Cards accomplished that with #1 doubles team Sena Suswami and Raven Neely and #3 Diana Wong and Aleksandra Mally getting wins. 

Head coach Mark Beckham discusses the win here: BECKHAM DISCUSSES BOWLING GREEN MATCH

In the afternoon, the Cards went against Miami (OH). Once again the Cards found success, downing the RedHawks 6-1. The seeding of the players can change from one match to another, so a slightly different group of Cardinals went to singles competition and picked up five points...all seeds winning except the #1 seed for the Cards. This match it was, in ranking order, Suswam, Jovic, Neely, Wong and Hamlin getting net success. 

With five points already in the bag, the Cards doubles units swept the RedHawks in all three contests to pick up the final point and the 6-1 triumph. 

Beckham also discussed the Miami win. LINK: CARDS 6-1 over Miami


TRACK AND FIELD

The Cardinal runners, jumpers and throwers have had two meets so far and distance specialist Dorcas Wasike has competed in and additional meet to kick off the spring. Once again, an indoor season and we'll focus on the women's results again.

Wasike went to Boston to compete in the aptly named BU Season Opener and won the 5000 meters, setting a new school record for the event, where she finished sixth after an unfortunate fall at the 4K mark. 

The Cards went to Purdue as a team for their season opener in the Gene Edmunds Invitational on January, January 12th. They fared well against the competition, getting six wins on the women's side. Hats off to winners Makenli Forrest (weight throw), Morgan Zacharias (pole vault), Radhida Harris (shot put) and Renate van Tonder (long jump) in field events . 

On the track, Brooke Raglin won the 60 meters and Aurilla Wilson took the 3000 meters. 

The Cards went to Notre Dame to compete on Saturday, Jan 19th. and the women got three wins in track and three on the field to win the meet. Raglin took both the 60 meters and 200 meters and Wasike captured the mile run. In field events, wins were secured by Gabrielle Leon in the pole vault, von Tonder in the triple jump and Forrest in the weight toss. 

The Cards travel to Illinois this Saturday to take part in the Illini Classic. 



SWIMMING


Success goes synonymous with swimming and the Dive and Stroke Cards entered January defeating Missouri 163-137.  

18 women's wins in the various swim and dive events, a list way too long to list here. Multiple event winners were Sophie Cattermole (500, 1000 free), Mariia Astashkina (100, 200 backstroke), and Alina Kenndzior (100 back, 200 back). 

Mallory Comerford ruled in the 200 freestyle and the Cards won numerous "team" events as well. 

It appears the #6 ranked Cards are in for a very successful season as they compete with the best in the ACC and in the nation. 

Have a great Tuesday! 


paulie
xxxxx