Speaking of....Lamar collects a few more -- FRIDAY CARDINALCOUPLE

TRYING TO FIND STATS SAGA

I woke up this morning with a brilliant idea. That doesn't happen very often for me, so I was fairly excited -- or, at least as excited as I can get at 6:30 a.m. Why not do an article on how Louisville WBB's trio for 2017 are doing so far this season at their respective high schools? I should have thought about climbing Mt. Everest in a speedo, back-pack and flip-flops. It probably would have been easier...i'd probably ditch that climbing idea in the first 30 seconds. I stayed on this pursuit for two hours. A waste of time.

The three young women I speak of are Lindsey Duvall, from Bullitt East, Dana Evans, out of West Side (Gary), IN and Loretta Kakala, who plays for Manteca, CA. I figured our readers would like to know more about them. So would I. 

After about an hour of Internet research, I realized this task would not be easy...so I started sending texts and e-mails to people I thought might know. As of 9:30 a.m., I hadn't gotten any replies. I'm holding out hope I eventually might...so check back throughout the day and I'll update as information comes in. 

Here's what I have...so far. 

Duvall has played in four games this season. Her Chargers are 2-2. They have wins over Presentation (Louisville) and Southwestern (Somerset, KY). Close losses to Louisville Male and Louisville Butler. Lindsey had 27 points against Butler, including five threes, in a game that Bullitt East led early in but eventually lost 84-72. The Chargers are undertaking a brutal schedule in the early going and they travel to Henderson County tonight for a game. If you're a Cardinal fan in the area, you might want to go see her play. 


Evans and her West Side squad are 7-1 on the season. She had 33 points against powerhouse Chicago Marshall last out. They threw a box and chaser against her the entire game and she still lit up the scoreboard for that many. She's also excited about coming to Louisville. She's on the 2017 Naismith Trophy Girls High School Player of the Year watch list...along with Kakala. 

More on Evans, courtesy of James and Dana, too: 

-- Averaging 36.9 ppg in eight games
-- 7.9 rebounds
-- 4.9 steals
-- 6.3 assists
-- 48% shooting (104/215)
-- 32% from three (15/47)
-- 73% free throws (70/96) 

Sounds pretty prolific, right? 



Kakala. Her team is 1-2. And that's about all I know. They like her in California. 

If you can help out on any or all of these three, shoot me an e-mail at cardinalcouple@twc.com or leave a comment.

Thank you. 

Now, back to climbing Mt. Everest...



😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁



LAMAR ADDS A COUPLE MORE TO THE STASH

Lamar in-flight to New York

You may have heard already, but ESPN dished out a bunch of college football awards last night. Louisville QB Lamar Jackson (and his Mom) were present in Atlanta to witness the event and Lamar did well, being awarded the Maxwell Award...for college football's player of the year...the Walter Camp Player of the Year award and making the All-American team as quarterback.

Deshawn Watson, who will probably finish second in the voting for the Heisman Saturday night, won the Davey O'Brien award for best quarterback in the nation. The Clemson senior is good, no doubt, but one has to wonder if the voters already figured Lamar was going to win the Camp and Maxwell awards and felt they had to put a little "something, something" on Watson's plate. 

We'll see. I expect our columnist Case Hoskins will go into more of this in Saturday's article.We'll discuss it also on the Saturday radio show THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR...which airs on...wait for it....Saturday at 11 a.m. on WCHQ 100.9 FM and on-line at crescenthillradio.com

Download the WCHQ app. It's easy to do. 

Also, an apology for not having a link for last week's rebroadcast. It just vanished into thin air, we suppose...we never got an explanation about what happened to it. It may be in my back-pack for the Everest trip. Maybe Lamar Jackson collected it? Where's Alfred Hitchcock when you need him? 

😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊


A-TAYY is OK

Thanks to reader and former columnist Sandy W. for sending this link about former Cardinal great and current Austrialian hoops star Asia Taylor. She's a favorite, you know, here at Cardinal Couple! 

Seems A-Tayy was sidelined by a concussion. It may be the only thing that can stop her over in the Land Down Under...

LINK: Asia Taylor returns for Sydney Flames

Paulie
xxxxx

Dana Evans added to USA U18 Women's National Team...2017-18 UofL WBB -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

EVANS REPLACES INJURED DANGERFIELD ON FIBA SQUAD

Dana Evans, a 5'6" guard from Gary, IN that is currently listing Louisville in her college list, has been selected to replace injured Crystal Dangerfield (hip) on the 2016 USA Women's National U 18 team that will compete in the FIBA Americas Championships in Valvidia, Chile July 13-17.

Evans relates: 

" I was surprised and excited. I saw Colorado Springs pop up on my phone and I jumped up. This means a lot to me, being the first boy or girl from Gary, IN to play for a USA junior basketball national team. I have a really strong faith in what God has planned for me. I'm dedicated to this game of basketball and I enjoy playing it. This is a dream come true and I am thankful for the opportunity." 

Suzie McConnell-Serio (Pittsburgh) and her staff chose the right person to replace the talented point-guard Dangerfield. Evans is a ultra-quick and talented floor general that can distribute the ball well and definitely create opportunities for her own shot. She's a disrupting influence on defense and very comfortable in a up-tempo type of game.

All those accolades fit well for a Jeff Walz style team. 


                                 *     *    *

Speaking of the Louisville women's basketball team, during my appearance on Howie Lindsey's Louisville 1st radio show this morning, the question was posed to me about what recruiting needs did Jeff Walz need to fill for next year's class. 


Not being Jeff Walz, there is no way I can give a 100% accurate answer on who or what Coach Walz and staff feel their needs are. My answer revolved around taking what they do bring in and getting them to jell with the squad that returns for the 2017-18 season. 

My segments on Howie's show are usually just 5-10 minutes so there was not time to get in-depth on the subject. Here's a bit more on it: 

One would assume Louisville would want additional depth at the guard slots. Looking ahead to 2017-18, let's presume that Asia Durr, Arica Carter, Sydney Zambrotta, Jessica Laemmle and Jazmine Jones will all be on campus. Adding a Evans would be a great gain. Another guard wouldn't hurt. The name Lindsey Duvall has been bandied around a bit by fans, since she re-opened her recruiting options. The leading question of our readership from last year about Louisville women's basketball revolved around guard play. We expect significant improvement at the guard spots in 2016-17...skilled and versatile graduate student Taylor Johnson joins the returnees and freshmen.

2017-18 has Mariya Moore and Brianna Jones back at wing. Jazmine Jones is certainly capable of popping out there and Kylee Shook would be an option as well. Wing looks secure. 

Inside, hopefully Myisha Hines-Allen, Shook, Ciera Johnson, Bionca Dunham, Sam Fuehring and Loretta Kakala (so far, the lone 2017 commit) will all be on campus for the 2017-18 season. That is a very impressive list. Adding height obviously never hurts and the Cards could be looking for another 6'4" - 6'5" post player. 

We've mentioned 13 players here. Of course, there is always the happenstance of transfers. Over the past two years, a total of six players (Syd Brackemyre, Taja Cole, Erin DeGrate, Ariana Freeman, Megan Deines and Emmonnie Henderson) have either left the program to play elsewhere or decided to concentrate on another sport. Out of the 13 listed, one never knows if there are a couple listed that may not be back for 2017-18. 

So, let's get through 2016-17 first. The anticipation is off the charts. 

paulie
xxxxx 

Dana Evans...Top 2017 WBB guard...visits Louisville -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

EVANS RANKED 2017 #1 PG and #3 OVERALL PLAYER BY PROSPECTS NATION

Note: Portions of today's article were previously part of articles in the Chicago Sun-Times

Dana Evans...who is ranked as the top 2017 point guard and #3 overall by Prospects Nation visited the UofL campus yesterday...and by all accounts, the visit went very well. 

From Twitter:

Dana  ✨ ‏@_ChasinqMyDream  5h5 hours ago

GREAT visit today at Lousiville..

We'll give her a break on the spelling of Louisville... we've all mis-spelled stuff on tweets and I have to proof-read and spell check our daily columns several times...plenty of time to get that worked out...Ms Evans.
The fact that the Cards WBB program is in the running for the 5'6", five-star point guard out of Gary, IN is the story here.

She led the state of Indiana in scoring last season and was also a participant for the USA U-18 women's basketball team tryouts last month.

Baylor, DePaul, Marquette, Indiana, Purdue, Oklahoma State, UCLA, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and West Virginia are all listed on her list currently...along with Louisville.

Her stock is on the rise...having moved up six spots to #3 in the latest Prospects Nation poll. Words such as leader, distributor, scorer and team player are used to describe the Chicago Times Girls Player of the Year. Her 35.8 points per game, 5.0 assists and 5.3 steals a contest would back those descriptions up.

No clear favorite is being touted by Evans yet...there are still visits to make and places to see...but there is definitely room at Louisville for a top-flight point guard in the 2017 class. Cards WBB fans have commented that the point was a weakness for Louisville in the 2015-16 season and despite the additions of Sydney Zambrotta and Taylor Johnson to the roster, along with returnees Asia Durr and Arica Carter, the philosophy is that you go after over-the-top skilled point guards when you have the chance.

Evans looks to be one of those.

The Chicago Sun-Times reveals more interesting information on Evans...who reportedly will trim her list to five schools in mid-to-late June:

West Side coach Rod Fisher said he discusses the recruiting process with Evans when he's asked.

"I'm not going to try and persuade her to go where I think she should go, or anything like that, because the decision is completely up to her,'' he said.

"Wherever she goes, she's going to make an impact on the program — an immediate impact.''

Evans plans to give programs a long, hard look before making her decision.

"I want to go a school where I love it, am comfortable and feel like I'm at home,'' she said. "I want to make sure I really like the players and make sure they like me for who I am, and not just as a basketball player.''

Evans indicated coaching stability will be another factor.

That wouldn't seem to be a problem at Louisville...where Jeff Walz is as solid a fixture on the Louisville campus as The Thinker statue peering out over the lawn bordering Third Street. 

___________________________________________________

We discussed UofL Swimming and Kelsi Worrell on LOUISVILLE FIRST with Howie Lindsey and MAtt Willinger yesterday. 

Here's the podcast link. Paulie pops on around the 01:19:43 mark but the entire broadcast is certainly listen-worthy!

http://790krd.iheart.com/media/play/27076291/

paulie

xxxxx 

Louisville women's basketball flocks back to campus...Louisville Baseball -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FROSH, LETTERWINNERS RETURN TO BELKNAP FOR WBB

It's a busy time on the UofL campus for Louisville women's basketball. No, there aren't any games but the 2016-17 squad is filing in to the Student Activities Center for the summer preparations for the season.

I had the good fortune of running into Louisville women's basketball assistant coach Sam Purcell while on campus to interview Sandy Pearsall on Wednesday. The bouncing-with-energy, effusive coach was waiting out the arrival of Ciera Johnson and a flight delay. We spoke of her and also of Bionca Dunham who is finishing up classes in Philly and will arrive later. 

Coach Purcell is a constant ball-of-energy...even apologizing to me for standing up and pacing while we chatted. He's in the right profession. If this guy was confined to a cubicle for eight hours a day in an office building...he'd go nuts.

We also talked about how more school districts are looking  at year-round school for students and I wondered out loud to Sam whether this would affect the current sports scheduling structure of these schools and also the travelling teams players spend the summer participating with. Sam seemed confident that it would not change that much and thought the year-round concept was a good one in general. (I wonder if I should bring that up around the Purcell kids when they reach school age?) 

As of June 1st, Sydney Zambrotta, Jazmine Jones, Jessica Laemmle and Taylor Johnson were on campus. Kylee Shook and Johnson were expected to arrive Wednesday. Players from last season already on campus include Myisha Hines-Allen, Cortnee Walton, Arica Carter, Erin DeGrate, Sam Fuehring, Briahanna Jackson and Brianna Jones. 

They'll spend the next couple of months preparing themselves for the Cards' trip to Cuba. Louisville will be the first women's basketball program to visit Cuba and they'll be there Aug 6-12...prior to fall classes. On tap for the Cards are medical screenings and official workouts begin on Monday, June 6th. 


LOUISVILLE BASEBALL BEGINS NCAA QUEST

Even though we are a womens' sports site, we know many of our readers...and the coaches and players we interview...are fans of Dan McDonnell's Louisville baseball squad. Dan recently received a $1 million dollar a year contract for his hard work at Louisville...warding off any attempts from Texas or other schools to draw him away from Jim Patterson Stadium. 

McDonnell genuinely seems to love Louisville and the program he's built here. I've had the fortune of hearing him speak several times and he is one of the most articulate, passionate and well-informed men around. 

The Cards (47-12) start regional play tonight at "The Pat" against Western Michigan (22-32) with a 6 p.m. first pitch scheduled. Louisville puts Kyle Funkhouser on the mound to face WMU's Keegan Akin. Akin was eighth in the nation in strike outs this season and has allowed just one home run in 105 innings. The Broncos were a surprise NCAA Tournament entry...finishing the regular season as the seventh place team in the MAC Conference but winning the MAC Tournament to get the NCAA berth. 

ESPN 3 will have the broadcast and fans can also listen to Sean Moth's always excellent call on 93.9 FM.

paulie
xxxxx

Johnson, Shook, Boley selected for McDonald's All-American Game...Moore, Durr honored -- Tuesday CARDINAL COUPLE

Two UofL commits, E-Town's Boley will play in McDonald's All-American game

UofL signees Ciera Johnson and Kylee Shook...plus Elizabethtown, KY standout Erin Boley are three of the 24 girls that will play in the 15th. annual McDonald's All-American game March 30th in the United Center in Chicago.

Johnson will suit up for the East team, one of four players from Texas...including 6'9" center Nancy Mulkey...named to the roster. Johnson, a 6'5" post from Duncanville, TX will also be joined by Boley, a 6'2" forward headed to Notre Dame.

Shook, a 6'4" post from Mesa Ridge, CO. is on the West team and will play with Lauren Cox (Baylor) and Tori McCoy (Ohio State)...two girls who considered the Cards. 

Indiana sends two girls to the contest...Lindsey Corsaro, a do-everything guard out of Indianapolis Roncali...and Jackie Young, a deadly scorer from Princeton. Corsaro is headed to UK.

Five ACC commits (Shook, Johnson, Boley, Young (Notre Dame) and Leaonna Odom (Duke) were chosen for the annual all-star game. Stanford has three players in the contest (DiJonai Carrington, Nadia Fingall and Anna Wilson) as does Maryland ( Kaila Charles, Blair Watson and Destiny Slocum).

Johnson is the leading scorer for Duncanville (TX) High School...which is ranked #1 in the USA Super 25 Computer girls basketball rankings. Shook is the leading scorer, rebounder and shot-blocker in the history of Colorado girls high school hoops.  

All five commits from the Louisville 2016 were named as potentials for the contest but Bionca Dunham, Jazmine Jones and Sydney Zambrotta were not selected for the squad. 

Give me the five Louisville commits and Boley and I'd take on the rest of the two squads for the contest any day of the week...

__________________________________________________


MOORE, DURR NAMED ACC PLAYER AND FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

Cardinal sophomore Mariya Moore and freshman Asia Durrhave been tearing it up on the court over the last couple of games. The ACC recognized them for that hard work by naming them the ACC Player and Freshman of the Week.  

The two were key essentials to last week's wins over Virginia and NC State. Moore scored the final four points in the win over NC State with some clutch free throw shooting and Durr's 19 points off the bench included five for five on threes when the Cards absolutely needed them.

One of coach Walz's primary objectives is to get his squad to the NCAA Tournament and make a run at the National Championship. No harm in firing that rocket up and creating some sparks in January...

paulie
xxxxx

Kylee Shook was first 2016 commit for Cards...Lauren Cox sings -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

6'4" SENIOR ALREADY ALL-TIME LEADING SHOT BLOCKER IN COLORADO HSGBB

As we found out yesterday...Sydney Zambrotta is the second commit of the 2016 UofL WBB class. Turn back the calendar almost six months ago for the first....6'4" post Kylee Shook from Colorado Springs, CO. 

She is already the leading shot-blocker in Colorado girls high school basketball history and still has her senior year to play. Shook is rated #53 nationally by ASGR and the #11 post for 2016 by ESPN.com.

Shook's height is also complemented with her inside-outside skills and range out to trifecta arc. She's also on course to becoming the all-time leading rebounder for Colorado girls high school basketball. 

Regardless of how many more girls are added to the class of 2016...the current numbers being speculated are maybe 2-3...the Cards are already off to a strong start to complement the current roster of five freshmen, a red-shirt freshmen, three sophomores and a junior.

And you just never know what else the mad scientist might have down in the laboratory ready to spring upon an appreciative but unsuspecting fan base and the 2015-16 foes.  

The future looks bright indeed for Cardinal women's basketball. 

Future opponents will no doubt be "Shook" up by the Cards post play.

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LAUREN COX "SUNDAY MORNING" 

Speaking of recruits...I ran across a Lauren Cox singing and she's got a very good voice. Maybe a little Joni Mitchell here with some Sheryl Crow overtones. As Jenny points out, not the one playing high school hoops..but a great singer. Click the link below to listen: 

LAUREN COX SINGS

paulie
xxxxx 

Friday Cardinal Couple -- Catching Up on...

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Catching up on....Myisha Hines-Allen

- To dine or not to dine?

Myisha Hines-Allen is one of the five players that Jeff Walz has inked for the 2014 class of Louisville WBB. She's currently ranked #34 in the nation by ESPNW and has the highest ranking of the quintuplets headed to the 'Ville.

Rankings on the other four:

#36  Sydney Brackemyer  6'0"  wing   Clinton Massie HS  (OH)
#43  Mariya Moore           6'0"   wing     Salesian HS  (CA)
#78  Arica Carter             5'8"   guard  Long Beach Poly (CA) 
#99  Arianna Freeman      5'11" wing   Paul VI HS  (VA)


So what has "MHA" been up to her senior year? Great things, it appears. Her Montclair team gained a tough win against Lodi Christian a couple of nights ago and MHA tallied 18 points in the 51-44 victory.

The points came in bunches...with eight in the first quarter and ten in the deciding fourth quarter when Montclair pulled away. Here's what her high school coach Bianca Brown said about MHA's effort.

" Myisha is a huge closer for us. In the first half it was like she was hesitant. She wasn't keeping her eyes open the whole time and missed some layups. In the second half she hit some jump shots, which was key for us to get our momentum going."

Myisha's take on the game mirrored Coach's comments:

" I think I played a little more aggressive in the fourth quarter. That...and the refs started calling more fouls. I think that was a part of it, and as a team we all got more aggressive." 

Her stat line for the contest:

18 points, 4 steals, 5 assists, 5 rebounds and 8 made free throws. That last stat should give Cards WBB fans reason to celebrate. Coach Walz likes players who sink the free ones.

Montclair is 9-2 on the season and MHA's numbers are impressive. She's scored 239 points in those 12 games...an average of almost 20 points per contest. She's also grabbed 111 rebounds...putting her at a little over 9 per outing. She's also dished out 78 assists...which nears 7 per game.

Coach Brown is also proud of Mysiha and her teammates defensive efforts this season...another aspect that fits with Coach Walz's preference for "all around' players.

Hines-Allen looks like she could be a good one for the Cards. With Gibbs, Slaughter, Shoni and Taylor leaving after this season...good shooters and rebounders will be welcome. MHA appears to have both qualities.


(We'll have updates on the other four Cards recruits as the season progresses.)

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

To Dine or not to Dine...that is the question. It is banquet time for several UofL women's sports programs over the next couple of weekends. First up, the Softball banquet...Jan 25th., at the Brown and Williamson Club in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. This one has the earmarks of being a good one. Monica Abbott is the guest speaker...an incredible pitcher during her time at Tennessee.

We won't be able to go, however...due to a prior committment. And, that's a shame. We had a wonderful time at the 2012 & 2013 affairs. This is a good one to hit, Cardinal fans. You'll also see other UofL women's sports stars attending. Several women's basketball stars will mostly likely be in attendance. They have a great silent auction section set up. After the past two years of hotel banquet room venues, the Softball team is having the event in a UofL owned facility.

The following Saturday night...both Volleyball and Lacrosse have banquets...at the same time...in the same venue (PJCS)...but in different areas. Volleyball will be in the Brown and Williamson Club. Lacrosse will be in the PNC Plaza. Therein lies the decision...which way do we go?

CARDINAL COUPLE is a non-profit entity. The monies we receive from donors get funded directly back into our coverage of women's sports at UofL. Last year cost me roughly $500 in out-of-pocket expenses. Nothing that a good day at the race track wouldn't cover...I consider it an investment in a hobby I enjoy. In past years, Volleyball has "comp-ed" us a couple of tickets in return for doing pre and post columns about the event.

That doesn't seem to be the case this time around. Inquiries about coverage yielded a return e-mail with a registration form. At $40 a ticket. For us to do the coverage, promotional articles and review here at the site...are we wrong in expecting a couple of seats "on the house"? Other sports willingly do the exchange with us. Although we haven't asked, we guess Lacrosse might have us as their guests as well.

Mis-communication betwen us and the Volleyball program? Maybe...but the e-mail sent by us was pretty specific. We got a form-letter reply.

So maybe it's time to do the Lacrosse affair this year. Would they want the coverage in exchange for a couple of seats? We'll see.

It's no secret that our columnist Jeff McAdams is our lead on Volleyball coverage here at CARDINAL COUPLE. He is the man for the job. Travels to away games and has close contacts with several of the movers and shakers in the program. It's a sport he loves to watch and he serves the team well. The rest of us here also report on Volleyball when it's our turn to write and report.

$80 bucks. It's (4) ink printer cartridges. It's (3) months of studio engineer fees for our weekly radio. It's (2) tanks of gas to get me on campus for coach interviews. It's mostly out-of-pocket, too...since our donations have dried up since before Christmas.

We realize that the banquet events for all (3) sports are fund-raising activities. And, we're not looking for handouts and free meals. It's just business.

Decisions, decisions.
 
-paulie

..
.   

Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- WBB prospect Myisha Hines-Allen announces Louisville

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-2014 WBB recruit chooses UofL

-Jeff McAdams report on the VolleyCards

We've posted the Tuesday edition of Cardinal Couple rather early today...because we have great news!

Myishaaa .. ‏@Mooks_221m

.... I've decided to play college ball for the university of Louisville next year 😅😅🙌❤ #CardNation

2014 WBB recruit Myisha Hines-Allen announced her college decision early this morning and the choice is...UofL!

Hines, a 6'2" forward who can play any position on the court, is ranked #4 in the nation at forward and #17 overall in the 2014 class.

Here's the scoop on her (courtesy of ESPN)

" At 6'2", Hines-Allen of Montclair, N.J. has a great set of physical tools. She is a fluid athlete with long limbs that allow her to be a versatile defender and create mismatches on the offensive end. Hines-Allen makes her presence felt on both sides of the ball as she showed that she had more than just natural ability. With her physical tools and a commitment to continue to develop her skill set, Hines-Allen will be a prospect to watch moving forward."

The words above are from April 2012. Fast forward to September 2013. Hines may arguably be the best girls high school player in New Jersey this season.

Walz is getting a good one that will have an immediate impact (in our opinion) when she gets here next season. With Syd Brackemyer, Arianna Freeman and Mariya Moore and Ms. Hines-Allen the 2014 class looks quite impressive, indeed. More to come?

Stay tuned to CARDINAL COUPLE for the latest in recruiting news.

Watch #22 do her stuff in the video at the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyi-XgCEZX0


You're going to like this lady a lot, Cardinal WBB fans.

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Columnist Jeff McAdams has returned from his Nittany Lion
hunt and gives us his recap of several days in Happy Valley.


I had the opportunity, thanks in large part to fellow UofL Volleyball fan John Wieland and his fine piloting skills, to catch the opening weekend of the Volleyball season with UofL playing Syracuse and Penn State. We came away 1-1 after the weekend, and the contrast between the two matches was striking.

In the first match, Friday evening, Louisville came up against former coach Leonid Yelin at the helm of Syracuse. Add past conference meetings to the mix and you have two teams that are quite familiar with each other. The orange aren't a conference opponent for us this year, having already moved on to the ACC, but will be waiting there for us next year when we join.

Louisville claimed a solid win over Syracuse with good execution that exploited...and I'm trying to find a nicer way to put this and failing...really awful defense by Syracuse. The Orange's serve receive was particularly dismal. Though that usually shows up in service aces, UofL didn't score particularly high in that stat category. Syracuse was almost perpetually out of system on serve receive, however, and Louisville's high flying hitters were able to mostly keep Syracuse out of system for the rest of the volleys.

This was a solid win for UofL and was a good chance to see some of the great talent on our team.

Some other brief observations:

• The mostly Penn State crowd was extremely gracious in their appreciation for Louisville, and particularly Maya McClendon, being the little sister to Penn State senior Deja McClendon.
• The McClendon family was able to attend en mass, and were an absolute delight to chat with.
• The Penn State team watched the first two sets, which is not uncommon in these sorts of tournaments to scout, but Deja watched the whole match and was clearly thrilled to see her sister's excellent performance.
• Coach Kordes wasn't kidding when she told us in our interview that Maya could really fly! You'll definitely want to check out her athleticism at Cardinal Arena and the KFC Yum! Center. She plays much bigger than her 5'9" height. But, enough, for the moment, about people named McClendon.
• While we didn't get many (any?) stomps from Brooke "Stomp" Mattingly in this match, we did get a few from our Graduate Student transfer, Randi Ewing and with good reason, she hit .714. Now that's a Monstar stat. Speaking of jumping ability, Randi showed us that she has some serious hops as well. Of course, she does come by it honestly.
• Our already good setting last year, from Hannah Kvitle and Katie George, has been stepped up a notch this year. The back set is definitely in play more often, to Emily Juhl's delight.
• Traveling to road matches gives me even greater appreciate for The Voice of the Cardinals, Sean Moth. The announcer at Penn State did a perfectly acceptable job, but reminds us that Sean is just fantastic.
• They raise them right in Southlake, TX. Janelle Jenkins had a fair match with 6 kills and 5 miscues, but she really impressed after the match, when she made extra effort to come greet myself, John, and our other fellow traveller Brian and thank us for making the trip.

Saturday night was the closing match of the Penn State Invitational, and the outcome wasn't what had been hoped for. Penn State is a monster of team, was ranked #2 when we played them, and has, in the most recent coaches poll, taken over the #1 spot. Louisville has the talent to play with a top-notch team like Penn State, and it showed in the match. Yes, we lost in three sets, and yes, the scores were not particularly tight, but watching the play in the match tells a more complete story. There were a number of volleys in the match that were lengthy and exciting, with both teams playing excellently, mostly in system, and making strong attacks. What led to the fairly lopsided score is that Louisville, with four freshmen and sophomores in regular playing rotation were not able to maintain that level of excellence as consistently. Meanwhile, Penn State just doesn't make mistakes.

Some bright spots from the match include those competitive volleys, some great hitting from Maya McClendon frequently dug by none other than Deja, and Penn State only hitting .247 thanks to some pretty good defensive play from the Cards.

Quick hits from the PSU match:

• A great balancing act by the McClendon crowd, and they were a crowd just on their own, with t-shirts emblazoned "Team McClendon" with one word in red, the other in blue. UofL's logo on one sleeze, PSU's on the other.
• We did get some Brooke stomps this match thanks to a handful of good blocks.
• Haley Pouliezos really struggled with her serve receive, but she was usually trying to receive PSU setter Micha Hancock's serves. Hancock's serving has to be seen to be believed.
• Penn State has an Ice Creamery on campus where they make their own brand of ice cream. They had a post match ice cream social and, ever the gracious hosts, invited the Louisville families and fans to join in. I must say, that ice cream was really good.
• PSU coach Russ Rose came out and spoke to the ice cream eating crowd. While I wasn't in earshot at the time, my fellow traveler Brian was and he related that Coach Rose had some very complimentary things to say about UofL's play and team, including that in his estimation, UofL is a top 20 team, which is born out by his putting us 19 in his latest coach's ballot.

The latest AVCA coaches poll has Louisville rising two spots, despite the loss to PSU, to 17th place. The VolleyCards next play at a tournament in Fargo, ND, with matches against North Dakota State, Northern Iowa and also-getting-votes-ranked Wisconsin.


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More on recruiting

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

(Staff columnist Jenny O'Bryan continues her recruiting report this week with the emphasis on the prospective  student-athletes' perspective today. You can catch Jenny also on CARDINAL COUPLE RAIDO HOUR every Saturday on CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO!)

Last week I talked a little bit about the recruiting process and terms that relate to the coaches perspective in recruiting.  Today is more about recruiting but from the prospective athletes perspective. 

The NCAA has rules and guidelines about the recruitment of prospective student athletes.  There are rules about coaches communicating, visiting, watching them play, and the lists go on and on.  There is also a process put in place to help the student athlete navigate the recruitment process. 

Prospective student athletes can make any number of visits to colleges of their choices.  These are called unofficial visits.   On an unofficial visit the athletes must pay their own way.  They can make unlimited visits to as many schools as they want.   These visits can be taken at the convenience of the recruit.  Unofficial visits.   

Somewhere along the way an athlete will start to make a list of schools that
 they are potentially interested in.  They will do their homework; decide what they want out of a school as well as an athletic program.  They may even attend a basketball camp being hosted by colleges they are interested in.    At some point their list of suitors has grown.  Also, at some point, they will start to whittle their list of schools they are interested in.  Eventually, they will get to a manageable list. 

In the fall of the student’s senior year in high school they can take an official visit.  Each athlete is allowed 5 official visits.  The school being visited pays for an official visit.    This cannot happen until fall of their senior year.  Official visits. 

Anywhere along the way a student may verbally commit to a program.  A verbal commitment is just that, a verbal commitment.   Nothing is a done deal, for either the student athlete or the college program that is receiving a verbal commitment, until a Letter of Intent is signed. 

In November of one’s senior year they are eligible to sign their LOI in the early signing period.  The signing period is over the course of a certain amount of days.  Once that signing period closes, they cannot sign again until April of their senior year.  The April date is considered the regular signing period.    Once a LOI is signed, the student athlete can get out of their agreement only under certain conditions (coaching change for instance) and often with penalty for doing so (for instance, not signing with another school within the same conference). 

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At this point, since the summer evaluation/viewing periods are over and summer ball is over for rising seniors, fans of recruiting can expect to hear a lot about recruits they are following.  Lists of recruits top schools and scheduling of unofficial and official visits are the primary news that is happening daily. 

However, several top recruits have not been shy about making their decision and verbally committing to the college of their choice.  Louisville got such information from Mariya Moore just last week. 

Two other top 20 kids from the class of 2014 have verbally committed in back–to-back days.  Sierra Calhoun and Lynee Belton both committed to Duke this week.  Belton had Louisville (this was new information for me) in her top 3, UConn being the third, before she committed to Duke on Tuesday.  (As an aside, Belton is an AAU teammate of Ariana Freeman who publicly wished her well at Duke, but was “saddened she did not decide to join the Cardfam”.)

All of this is to say that we can expect a lot of information to be forthcoming in the next few weeks and months.   I look forward to following the information and giving you the most up to date info we have.

-Jenny O'Bryan  

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