And So It Begins - Friday Cardinal Couple

And So It Begins...

Later today...well, probably later, depending on when you're reading this...the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament starts.

Paulie gave a breakdown of the Central Arkansas SugarBears, a team which certainly ranks well in the Cardinal Couple fascination for mascots, yesterday.  If you haven't gotten your bracket picks in, time is quickly running out.  I'll have mine down below.

We Get Letters, and Walz Writes Letters...

Usually when I title a section "We Get Letters" it's about some controversy that we're hearing a lot of our readers and listeners.  This time, though it's about letters being sent, particularly emails, and a few phone calls.  Specifically emails from WBB Head Coach Jeff Walz.

Walz doesn't spend much time and effort on social media such as Twitter, but what he does expend in that area is masterfully spent.  After tweeting Monday suggesting that people take a half day off of work to come see the team play at 2:30, Cheryl Ruckriegel responded asking for him to write her a good excuse, saying "I know I need to be there, the boss is the issue."  Walz responded "Send me his/her email."  Direct Messages ensued and later Walz shared that she was good and that her boss was, "a good man."  Coach invited the boss to come to, but noted "as a UK fan, I'm not sure I can get him to come."

Other requests ensued, including one from "JP (the.jenni.p)" asking for an email as well, only this time, her boss was Mayor of Louisville Greg Fischer.  That apparently elicited a direct call from Walz, instead of an email.  Soon, a steady stream of requests were heading his way, along with some comments that he was going down a dangerous path and would soon be inundated with requests.  Walz stated he "I've always put our fans first.  I will write as many emails as needed".  In the midst of it all, he also managed to help arrange for some handicap seating for a fan with a broken foot in a cast.

Normally I wouldn't write too much about exchanges like this that happened on Twitter, but this one went a bit viral, with ESPN and the AP picking it up.  The UofL marketing folks picked up on it and created a form letter that people could fill out and give to their bosses.  One fan even volunteered that she could get the day off and her boss would even pay for the ticket if coach would email.  For that largess, Walz offered a phone call as well, requesting a phone number via Direct Message to make the contact.

Coach has, particularly in recent years, been very strong in stating his thanks for CardNation's support for this team.  A coach thanking the fan base for their support can sometimes sounds a bit cynical, but it's things like this that re-enforce the sincerity of the feelings from Walz and the rest of the UofL Women's Basketball program.

Games for the tournament overall start today at noon.  UofL will be playing in the 2nd game of the session at the KFC Yum! Center at 2:30.  It's probably not too late to get a note from Walz.  Tickets are available through Ticketmaster, or at the door.

Swimming and Diving Championships

The big news out of Georgia Tech's pool is the 100 yard Butterfly split where UofL's Kelsi Worrell put the faster split, in history.  Because it was part of a relay, it's not eligible for any official records.

Andrea Acquista finished 33rd in the 1 meter springboard diving competition after rising as high as 14th in the standings during the competition.  UofL has never competed significantly well in diving, so it's exciting to see the first steps into national level competition on the diving side of the team.

Worldwide's Winner

And without further ado...my entry into the bracket contest.

1st rd:

UConn SetonHall MissSt MichSt USF UCLA Missouri Texas Baylor Auburn FSU TexasA&M DePaul Louisville OklahomeST OregonSt SouthCar KansasSt Florida Syracuse WVU OSU GreenBay ArizonaST NotreDame Georgia Miami Stanford Purdue UK Washington Maryland

2nd rd:

UConn MisssST USF Texas Baylor FSU Louisville OregonST SouthCar Syracuse OSU ArizonaST NotreDame Miami UK Maryland

3rd rd:

UConn Texas Baylor Louisville SouthCar OSU NotreDame Maryland

4th rd:

UConn Louisville SouthCar NotreDame

5th rd:

Louisville NotreDame

Champion:

Louisville

OK, there's some optimism here in getting past both UConn and Notre Dame, but I think Notre Dame is a beatable team from what I saw during the season, and I think it's time for UofL to have another Baylor type game and finally get it done against UConn.

JmCA

Cardinal Couple Tuesday - Spring Sports Are Upon Us

And We're Off...

To borrow a phrase heard at the start of the Kentucky Derby and other horse races, "And we're off..." onto a Spring Sports adventure.

I thought I would take a day and try to present an overview of what's coming up for some of the Spring Sports.  While we've talked about these individually, I thought it would be nice to take another look as we're right at the starting point for several sports seasons at UofL.

Softball

Softball started their season this past weekend out in Las Vegas and came away with a slightly disappointing start, going 2-3 on the weekend taking loses to host UNLV, Minnesota, and Washington.  The loss to the Washington, at least, can be excused as they're ranked in the Top 15 (#11 and #13 depending on the poll).  UNLV and Minnesota typically have some pretty good Softball teams, but we'll definitely be keeping an eye on this fairly young team, and very young pitching staff.

Coming up, Softball heads down to Orlando for a tournament hosted by Florida A&M, while there, they'll meet up with Missouri, UMKC, Arkansas, and Middle Tennessee State.  Other than perhaps UMKC, these will all be challenging games.  With Missouri and Arkansas both hailing from the Softball powerhouse SEC conference, and past encounters with MTSU providing proof of their strength.

The next weekend is in back in the Bluegrass State, though not yet back to Louisville, at Eastern Kentucky with other competition with Western Michigan and Kent State twice.  This looks to be a bit of an easier weekend for Pearsall's squad, but its a bit early to really judge that.

A weekend in Atlanta for a conference series with Georgia Tech follows, and beyond that we'll finally get to talk about home games...but that's for another post.

Lacrosse

Grab your coat, gloves, and scarves because as late as the Softball home schedule is, the Lacrosse home schedule is early.  Six of their eight home games occur by mid-March.

They've already gotten an exhibition in at Michigan...which had to be a cold affair.

The Lacrosse Cards will try to get warmed up with a matchup with Cincinnati this Sunday at 2pm with a current forecast high of 24 degrees.  Canisius comes to visit the next Saturday looking for better luck getting a game in than Louisville's visit to New York State last year.  The first road trip takes the Cards out to Denver to finish off February.  Duquesne and William & Mary come to play March 4th and 7th.

Swimming & Diving

OK, Swimming & Diving isn't a Spring Sport, but I did want to mention that they do have one more event before championship events start happening, and that's Saturday and Sunday here at the Ralph Wright Natatorium.  
You can come hang out in the pleasantly warm environment of the Natatorium to thaw out after the Lacrosse game, perhaps.

Tennis

Don't look now, but the youngsters on the Tennis team are 9-1 and pretty much in the thick of their schedule.  Having dropped only one overall match, against Duke in a non-conference matchup, the team is about to head a few hours east on I-64 to take a swing at Marshall on Friday, and Minnesota on Saturday, in Huntington, WV. 

They'll be back at the Bass-Rudd for a Friday/Sunday set of matches with Notre Dame and North Texas.  While Notre Dame is ACC, this is slated as a non-conference matchup.  Tennis does start the ACC conference competition with a little over a week on the road to end February and start March with stop offs at NC State, Duke (in conference, this time), Georgia Tech, and Clemson.  Back in Bass-Rudd in mid-March, Wake Forest and North Carolina come calling.

Golf

The Golf team, led by Laura Restrepo, is currently in 9th place at the UCF Challenge in Orlando.  The only other competition through mid-March is March 2nd through 4th hosted by Miami in the Sunshine state.

jmca

Busy UofL Women's Sports Day -- Friday Cardinal Couple

UofL Women's Sports involved in six activities today! 

If your a UofL women's sports fan...(and we figure you are since you are here at this website)...today is an action packed day for six of the programs.

Worldwide does a great job of detailing the week in Louisville women's sports on our Saturday radio show...but today is Friday and I don't see him anywhere around the massive Cardinal Couple Worldwide Enterprises offices...so I'm pinch-hitting...

Here locally, the UofL Field Hockey team will start it off against #17 Boston College at 3 p.m. at the Trager. The #7 ranked Cards are 10-3 and have a 16 game win streak on the line in Trager. This one will be available on ESPN 3 and Fox Sports South in case you can't make the action.

Lacrosse is having their Fall Banquet a couple of hours after the completion of the Field Hockey game in the PNC Plaza inside Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. The doors open at 6:30 p.m., the public is invited and tickets a mere $35 per person for wonderful food, a great atmosphere and recap of a truly magical 2014 season plus preview of the 2015 entry into the ACC. Be aware if you go...those Lax gals love to celebrate and you could very well get caught up in the fun.

Down in Knoxville...two Cardinal squads will compete in tournaments.  Women's golf will be participating in the Mercedes Benz Championships and women's tennis attacks the net in ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships. These are all-day events and if you live in the area...why not make the trip and support these squads?

Anne Kordes has her 'set and spike' squad in Syracuse and will net it up against the Orange at 7 p.m. The Cards (11-7) face former UofL head coach Leonid Yelin...his squad (7-11) is 4-4 at home. 

Finally, women's swimming splashes in at the SMU Classic in Dallas. Arthur Albiero has a strong squad this year and the Cardinal ladies should do well in the Lone Star state. 


If none of this suits you...mad scientist Jeff Walz probably wouldn't mind if you snuck a peek at his 2014-15 charges in Cardinal Arena. They practice today from 1 to 4 p.m. and a call to UofL WBB to confirm might not be a bad idea. Kate Matthews is the new DOO (Director of Operations) for WBB and she's a delightful lady to converse with. 

All these activities will give Worldwide and I plenty to talk about on our Saturday morning radio show on Crescent Hill Radio. We've also got great interviews with Coach Walz, Megan Deines, Coach Sam Purcell, Arianna Freeman and Syd Brackemyer from the Tuesday WBB tipoff luncheon that we'll air. 

paulie
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Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Time to shine

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-WBB faces Rutgers today

-Softball sweeps in Day 2 of Cardinal Classic

-Lacrosse faces William & Mary today

-Swimming takes AAC Championships


Time to play.

The UofL WBB squad faces Rutgers tomorrow in the KFC YUM! Center at 3 p.m. in a showcase game of two of the hottest teams in the AAC (and the nation) tomorrow.

Louisville has lost just once in their last nineteen games and sits #3 in the nation with a 26-2 record. Rutgers is 16-3 since December and currently on a five game win streak. The Scarlet Knights are 20-5 and looking to close the gap on the Cards hold on second place in the AAC.

Oh, yeah...this one should be fun.

Louisville will look to put the hiatus on one of the best freshmen in the nation is Tyler Scaife. No problem, right? She's only 5'7".

Think again. She lit Louisville up for 25 back in Piscataway on Jan. 28th and is the reigning AAC Freshman of the Week.

She averaged 19 points in two Rutgers wins last week against Houston and UCF.

This Rutgers squad is not a one-horse stable, though. Kahleah Copper is shooting 56.5% from the floor this season, averaging 16.1 p.p.g. and will make you pay inside. Rachel Hollivay is ninth in the nation in blocked shots (81) and Syessence Davis 15th. in the nation in steals with 73. Betnijah Laney has 11 double doubles on the season, scores at a clip of 12.5 a contest and grabs 9.1 a night.



(OK...it's a little late for that but I like the pic...)

The Scarlet Knights are coming to town with their own 'unfinished business'...the trip to Louisville is their final away game of the year and hanging a loss on Louisville would assure them of a definite third place conference finish and a legit shot at tying the Cards for second place.

They will be running into a Louisville team, though, that beat them by nine in "The RAC" and one of the top-five players in the nation in Shoni. Another motivation factor for C.Vivian Stringer's squad.

Give Shoni 13-15,000 screaming fans and a Sunday matinee and she just might top the 24 points she put on them in Piscataway. She averages 17.6 per tilt.

Shutting down Shoni won't get an opponent out of the woods, though. Sara "The Hammer" Hammond pounds down 11.3 per tussle and has 6.4 rebounds. A-Tayy (10.9 ppg and 6.9 rebounds) is dangerous in the paint or with the jumper. If Nita Slaughter and Tia Gibbs are bombing threes successfully, "E" is on one of her point-per-minute rampages and Jude and Bria are slicing and dicing up defenses...well, you get the picture. There's more than one Card in this deck.

This one will be a classic college basketball matchup. You don't want to miss it. If you can't get there, it's a ESPNU game. Maybe one of the last times these two meet for a stretch in a regular season matchup, since Rutgers is off to the BIG 10 and the Cards to the ACC.

Show up. Get loud. Stay loud. Wear your pink because it is the annual Pink Game. Get there early and get one of the 2,000 Pink T-shirts being given out for a donation to Gilda's Club. Help your Cards get the 'W'. Help Louisville add to the 16-0 home record they have this season and increase on the 7-4 win/loss record UofL has against RU in the series.  

See ya there!

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CARDINAL SOFTBALL GOT BACK ON THE WINNING TRACK AT ULMER YESTERDAY WITH TWO WINS...BOMBING IUPUI 12-1 AND SCORING THREE RUNS IN THE BOTTOM OF THE SEVENTH TO BEAT CMU 3-2

THE CARDS RUN-RULED THE VISITORS FROM INDIANAPOLIS IN THE FIRST GAME...BATTING IN ONLY FOUR INNINGS AND AMASSING 16 HITS. A NINE-RUN THIRD INNING WAS THE 'BOOM'.

AS THE WAY IT ALMOST ALWAYS SEEMS THIS SEASON SO FAR IN NIGHTCAPS, LOUISVILLE'S BATS DISAPPEARED IN THE SECOND GAME...GOING SCORELESS IN SIX INNINGS.

THESE GAMES ARE SEVEN INNINGS USUALLY, THOUGH...AND UOFL MADE THE MOST OF THEIR FINAL AT-BAT...SCORING THREE RUNS WITH JUST ONE OUT.

In the bottom of the seventh, Hannah Kiyohara led off with an infield single and Brittany Sims reached on an error by Cox. Katie Keller followed and sent a hard ground ball to third where CMU's Danielle Marlink fielded and stepped on third for the first out of the inning. She sailed a throw past first base on a double play attempt which sent Keller to second. With runners on second and third and one out in the inning, Whitney Arion powered a two-run double to left field to tie the game. Jones followed with an RBI double to center field for the 3-2 win..

UOFL WILL FACE NKU TODAY IN FINAL DAY ACTION OF THE CARDINAL CLASSIC.  12:30 FOR THIS ONE. YOU SHOULD MAKE A CARDINAL DOUBLEHEADER OF IT TODAY BY HITTING SOFTBALL FIRST AND THEN HEADING TO THE YUM! 



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Lacrosse looks for their second win in Virginia today when they face off against William & Mary at 1 p.m. in Williamsburg, VA.

The Tribe is 0-1 this season, losing 11-8 to Duke last Sunday.

Louisville is 2-1...coming off a road win against ODU. In the Cards 15-12 triumph, Nikki Boltja had five goals and Faye Brust added four. Two late goals by Cortnee Daly helped the Cards maintain the win.

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Congratulations to the men and women's swimming squads, who wrapped up the AAC Tournament championships at the Ralph Wright yesterday. Many of the Cards have put up times in their events that will give them a chance to participate in NCAA qualifying events and we wish them the best of luck in the continuing post-season.

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In case you missed Saturday's broadcast of CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO, do not worry or fret. It is on the Soundcloud and you can give it a listen at the link at the bottom of the article.

Hear Jeff heap abuse upon Paulie, hear Shoni and Sara talk about 2K. Hear Jenny narrowly lose in the weekly quiz. The agony and ecstasy...the pain and pride. The total nonsense we babble about weekly.

Come join us...

LINK:

THE AIRWAVES ARE NOT SAFE. STAY OFF THE INTERNET !!

paulie
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Cougars on tap at YUM

With the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament looming in a little more than a month away, seeding for that tournament is all the talk of message boards and basketball fans alike. 

Before we get too carried away, there are still some very important conference games remaining to be played.   One such game tips off on Wednesday, February  19 at 7:00 p.m. at the  KFC Yum Center.   The Cardinals will be hosting the Cougars of Houston for the final time in the regular season of the American Athletic Conference. 

Houston is anchoring last place in The American and is 5-20 overall, and 1-13 in conference play.  The lone win in conference match ups comes against Cincinnati.    The Cardinals pummeled the Cougars in Houston with a 93-52 win in mid January.   That being said, you can never overlook an opponent.  Upsets happen and if Houston is looking for a hook to hang their hat on, it would be an upset win over the #3 team in the country.  While that scenario is unlikely, you play the games for a reason. 

That being said, the Cardinals will need to be focused and take care of business on the hardwood Wednesday night.   In their last meeting the Cougars had 3 players scoring in double digits.  Center Yasmeen Thompson, guard Demetria Foreman and forward Marche Amerson all notched 10 points against the Cardinals.   Te’onna Campbell leads the Cougars in scoring averaging 9.7 ppg, though the Cards held her to 6 points on the day.  Look for Yasmeen Thompson to be crashing the boards for the Cougars, averaging 8.1 per game. 

On paper this looks to be another blow out of our one-year conference mate.  In these types of games you could expect the team be focused on certain areas of the game that needs shoring up.   What excactly the mad scientist will have his team focusing on is any fans best guess.  As a regular sideline observer, I would expect to see several things as a point of focus:

-rebounding and battling on the boards

-limiting and controlling turnovers

-free throw shooting

-defense, defense, defense

We will be there to cover the game and will report back on Thursday. 

In the meantime, the Cardinals need to remain focused as the season winds down.  Wednesday’s game is one of 3 remaining home games in the regular season, and a lone road game remaining at Cincinnati.   While our specific seeding in the tournament at this point primarily depends upon what other teams do, taking care of our own business is paramount.   It begins Wednesday night.  #unfinishedbusiness

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Looks like our very own Worldwide Jeff McAdams missed out on a paycheck.  In yesterdays edition of the Cardinal Couple he speculated on weekly honors for Lacrosse. 

As speculated, senior Nikki Boltja was named Big East Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week.   With a combined 8 goals in the first two games of the season, 5 of which came against #6 Duke in the opening game of the season.  She followed up on that with a hat-trick at home, facing Detroit.  Congratulations Nikki! 

Sophomore Kaylin Morissette was named to the 5-member honor roll scoring a career best 6 goals against Detroit at home.  Congratulations Kaylin!

It’s a strong start for these young ladies and bodes well for a successful season for our lacrosse team.  

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The AAC Conference swimming tournament gets underway today in the Ralph Wright. It's a "pay-for" event and ticket information is:

All-session tickets can be purchased up until the start of competition on Feb. 19.Prices are as follows:All-session adult: $33.00All-session 18 and under, college student, and senior citizen: $18.00Swimming preliminaries will be held each day in the morning beginning at 10 am. Finals will start in the evenings at 6 pm. Diving preliminaries are at noon every day, with finals combined with swimming in the evening sessions.For ticket information click here: Tickets or call the University of Louisville ticket office at 502-852-5151.Swimming preliminaries will be held each day in the morning beginning at 10 am. Finals will start in the evenings at 6 pm. Diving preliminaries are at noon every day, with finals combined with swimming in the evening sessions.There are a limited number of single session tickets available and will be sold at the Natatorium beginning at one hour before the sessions begin.Ticket prices are as follows: Finals Sessions: $8.00 Adults $4.00 Students/Seniors 65 & older/18 & youngerPrelim Sessions: $5.00 Adults $ 3.00 Students/Seniors 65 & older/18 & younger

jennyobryan
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Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Field Hockey wins in 2 O.T.'s -- Swimming in 3rd place

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Schniedtmiller scores for Cardinal win

- Kylliainen wins three in Dallas


Today is "bet you can't spell it correctly" day at CC, as we go over the exciting Field Hockey win at Trager and swimming's impressive show in Dallas. Congratulations to both squads and Erin and Tanja...much easier to type than their last names...


CARDS RULE RUT-GALS

Erin scored after a set up from Mallory Mason and Shannon Sloss (who we'll refer to as MM and SS the rest of the article) and drove one in with 5:49 left in the second overtime to give #17 Louisville a 2-1 win on senior weekend at Trager Stadium. The Cards go to 11-4 with the win over the Scarlet Knights and 4-1 in THE BIG EAST conference with the "W".

Rutgers hit the scoreboard first...stunning Louisville with a goal less than two minutes into action...when Alicia Stever sent a long pass to a driving Rachel Yaney...who deflected it by Cardinal goalie Sydney King.

It would be the 8-6, 2-3 Scarlet Knights only tally of the afternoon.

For a long time, it looked like it might be enough for the Piscataway players. With less than five minutes to go in regulation, though, SS tracked down a feed from Elisa Garcia and flipped it past the Rutgers goal defender to tie the contest.

Neither team could produce a goal in the 15 minute, 7-on-7 first overtime. Louisville survived three penalty corner attempts by Rutgers in the final overtime before going on the winning drive.

The Cards outshot RU 24-11. Sydney King had seven saves...Rutgers goalie Sarah Stuby produced 10.

The Cards conclude the weekend with a 1 p.m. game versus Northwestern at Trager.

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Tanja splashes past foes in SMU CLASSIC

Nice performance in setting two school records in Louisville's third place finish in the prestigious event that features national powerhouses UNC, UCLA and University of Miami...plus UofL, IU and SMU.

Tanja scored first in the 200-fly, 200 IM and 400 IM.

Other successful ladies-in-the-water were Katie Worrell winning the 100-fly. Louisville also had several third place finishes against competition that all finished in the top 25 of the NCAA Tournament last season. 

-Paulie

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Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Busy Friday for UofL Womens' Sports

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Soccer 3-0 over USF

-Volleyball sweeps USF

-Swimming splashes past Xavier

-Field Hockey falls @ UConn


Louisville women's sports squad were in full force Friday night in activities on and away from the Belknap Campus.

KICKIN CARDS BOOT BY BULLS

Louisville women's soccer improved to 9-3-1 overall and 5-0-0 in the AAC with an impressive win over USF Friday night in Cardinal Park.

Charlyn Corral put the Cards on the board early when she took a Shannon Dennehey pass in the penalty box and zoomed it home nine minutes into the first half. That lead would hold through halftime...the Cards gaining a 4-3 shot advantage in the first 45 minutes of play.

The Bulls rampe up the offensive pressure early in the second half, taking three shots at goalie Paige Brown in the first three minutes of action. The Louisville defense held firm, though and denied any goals.

With 15 minutes remaining in the game, Corral found Christine Exeter on a breakway and "X" connected to make it 2-0 UofL. Louisville added a final score two minutes later a Kari Weinland pass found Erin Yenney, who headed an attempt into the back of the net.

The women's soccer squad returns to action Sunday @ 1 p.m. against UCF. It's Senior Day, so be sure to get out for this one.


JENKINS, VOLLEYBALL BLAST BULLS IN THREE SET SWEEP


Redshirt freshman outside hitter Janelle Jenkins had 14 kills in a 25-20, 25-22, 25-19 sweep of USF in the KFC YUM! Center last night.

Louisville is 5-0 in the AAC and 9-6 on the season.

The VolleyCards grabbed an early lead in game one and held a 14-9 advantage before the Bulls charged back with a rally that cut the Cardinal advantage to 21-20. Louisville tallied the final four points, though...two of them on unforced USF errors to take the set.

It was slightly different in game two...the Cards falling behind early before taking a 12-11 lead. USF fought back to gain a 19-17 advantage but the Louisville offense responded with a 8-1 run to take the game.

In the final set, the serving of Brooke Mattingly and play from Katie Geroge got the Cards an early lead and Louisville denied the Bulls a chance to play a fourth game...winning by six.

Anne Kordes' squad faces UCF Sunday in the KFC YUM! Center for a 1 p.m. volley.

CARDINAL WOMEN SWIMMERS DOMINATE XAVIER

Louisville Swimming's first meet of the season proved highly successful with both the men and women easily defeating the Muskies...the girls getting a lopsided 195-64 win.

Junior Tanja Kylliainen took the 200-fly, 100-IM and was a part of the victorious 200-medley relay winners. Kelsi Worrell captured the 100-back, 100-fly and was also on the 200-free relay. Breann McDowell captured the 100 and 200 free.

Looking chic in their pink swim caps in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Cards also won the 1000-freestyle (Abbie Houck), 100-breast (Lucy Kramer), 50-free (Rachel Lewis), 200-back (Erica Belcher) and 500-free (Andrea Kneppers).


FIELD HOCKEY FALLS 6-0 at UCONN

#14 Field Hockey travelled to Storrs, CT. to face the #3 UConn Huskies in a pivotal BIG EAST top-of-the-leader board match but fell 6-0. The loss ends Louisville's six-game win streak and drops them to 3-1 in conference and 10-3 overall

UConn dominated the action with a 19-8 shot advantage and built up a 4-0 first half lead to go 11-1 on the year and 4-0 in BIG EAST play.

The Cards will regroup and head to Providence, R.I. to participate in a non-conference match Sunday against Brown @ noon.


CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO THIS MORNING


We return to the ether and airwaves this morning at 11 a.m. for the Saturday morning romp through UofL women's sports.

A busy show in the forecast...as we review Field Hockey, Volleyball, Soccer, Lacrosse, Swimming, basketball recruiting and the UofL WBB TipOff luncheon. We have several great soundbites from the luncheon with Coach Walz and Sarah Hammond, Shawnta Dyer, Sherrone Vails and Emmonnie Henderson.

Be sure to join us...click the link below:

TALL WOMEN STANDING IN A PUBLIC VENUE


-Paulie

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Monday Cardinal Couple -- Fantastic Floyd Street.

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Floyd Street: The hub of Cardinal sports activity


I guess we local Louisville Cardinal fans take Floyd Street around the UofL campus for granted at times. I was talking with an out-of-town UofL fan recently and was describing the various facilities that are present on the stretch of Floyd from Brandeis Street to Central Avenue and the verbal tour I gave him made me realize that a lot of out-of-town Cardinal followers might not realize just what is encompassed in this small stretch of highway.

I had the opportunity to head to campus Sunday. Football open practice and a visit to 80 Under 80 to secure parking passes for the football season. Here's what I saw on that brief drive.

Getting off I-65 at the Arthur Street exit and taking a right onto Brandeis...the first thing you notice is Ulmer Stadium...the home of Cardinal softball. The ballpark is undergoing a refurbish this summer...more seating and a larger pressbox being constructed. Turning left onto Floyd Street, you drive by Ulmer and can see the bleachers on the left field line and field. A quick glance to my right revealed the Student Activities Center building as well. This facility holds Cardinal Arena, where the women's basketball team practices and Volleyball team holds a few matches each year. The three-story building also houses several of the coaches' offices and a weight room. There are also racquetball courts inside, several more basketball courts and a lot of intramural events are held there. It's where I go to do interviews with coaches Walz, Ferguson-Dayes and Pearsall for CARDINAL COUPLE Radio.

Right next to the SAC on the right is a four story parking facility. If you look to the left, you'll see Cardinal Park...where soccer and track and field hold their home events. There is also a kids' playground and building with locker rooms for softball and interview rooms.

I travel just a few yards further and I see Trager Stadium, home of Louisville Field Hockey, on my left and the Ralph Wright building on my right...where Louisville swimming performs their magic. I am at the corner of Floyd and Warnock...a McDonald's restaurant is on one corner, soccer practice fields, the theatre department's auxiliary playhouse on the right, across the street from the Ralph Wright Building. I go through the light and travel south on Floyd. There is parking for a short stretch and a Papa John's pizza restaurant to my right. I can see parking for the Bass-Rudd Tennis facility and the building to my left.

I am coming up to the new Soccer Stadium under construction on my left and the Yum! Practice facility on my right. The Yum! is where men's basketball and women's volleyball practice and if I do interviews with coaches Kordes or Kellie Young, I go there. Next to the Yum! is the Louisville lacrosse stadium. Coach Young has a great view of the field from her office. There are also railroad tracks on Floyd around this area. Sometimes, during lacrosse games...trains roll by and give a friendly blast to encourage Nikki Boltja or Kaylin Morissette to score.

Next on Floyd Street are the UofL football practice fields. Across the street on my left are a few small businesses and the former Parrish House (now Cardinal Alley) on the corner of Boxley and Floyd. 80 Under 80, the ultimate tailgating location for Cardinal football sits there also. To my right is parking for Papa John's Football Stadium. The offices of Louisville Sports Report are to my left and the majestic football stadium towers to my right. I get to the corner of Central and Floyd...reserved parking on either side of me.
Straight ahead would take me to more football parking. If I turn right...the Jim Patterson Baseball Stadium and Churchill Downs wait for me once I go over the Denny Crum Overpass. A left turn takes me to Crittenden Drive, the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center and Hall of Fame Restaurant.

A short drive, maybe five minutes in peak traffic...but the lifeline and hub of so many Cardinal Sports.

I remember years ago, when Floyd Street south of Warnock was a collection of old houses, buildings, a bar or two, railroad yards and not much else. My, how things change! It is, perhaps...our doppelganger for Times Square in New York...a constant hub of activity and action.

We'll see you on Floyd this season. Park wherever you like...

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