Volleyball Back on Track; A New ACC Champion Approaches; WBB Luncheon -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

It's been awhile! After a couple of weeks off for wedding festivities, I'm back in the Cardinal Couple saddle and ready to bring the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics to these pages. Unfortunately, my reintroduction to the studio will have to wait a week as the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour this week has been cancelled due to scheduling conflicts, but I'll be back on Mellwood soon enough. The bachelor party and wedding week were tons of fun, and now it's on to the real adult things like house hunting. Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes! Now, let's get into the real reason we're here!

Volleyball Takes Down Boston College 3-1

In a bit of a hangover from the loss against Pitt last week, Louisville's win over Boston College in Cardinal Arena last night was a very sloppy one. Louisville erred 6 times in the first game and finished the match with 22, yet still managed to hit a reasonable .284 in the match. The Cards dropped that first game 18-25, and it looked like there may be trouble afoot against the Eagles. BC came into the match at 13-9 (3-7), so a loss would have been quite the surprise. Fortunately, Louisville found their footing and swept the next three games to take the match pretty handily at 3-1.

Despite the talent gap, Louisville did not truly dominate BC in the match. The Eagles blocked well, tallying seven, and the Cards' largest win was 25-17 in game 3. BC was close at 25-20 and 25-23 in the remaining two games. If it was a matter of loss hangover, hopefully the Cards have put that behind them with this win and can carry a bit more confidence into their next game against Syracuse. If it was more than that, Louisville may be in some trouble. 

Statistically, Louisville didn't play a terrible match. Every hitter with at least ten attempts hit at least .214 despite the 22 errors. The Cards did have more service errors than service aces (5-4), but it wasn't like a couple of games ago when they couldn't serve the ball without giving up a point. The Cards chipped in 14 block assists to go with their one solo block for a total of 8. Jasmine Bennett and Marijke Van Dyke jumped off of the page the most to me with 8 kills (.571) and 10 kills (.444) respectively. Amanda Green led the team with 16 kills but chipped in 6 of the 22 errors which tarnishes it a bit. Melanie McHenry played her typical game (which is crazy to say that this is typical), adding in 13 kills. McHenry was also honored for recording 1000 kills in her career. She is only a junior.

The Cards will look to put this win behind them, but may need to take a lesson two from it as their next match is against the Orange of Syracuse tomorrow at 1PM in Cardinal Arena. The Orange are 12-7 (8-3) on the season but are coming off of a tough 3-0 loss to a struggling Notre Dame team. In that loss, Syracuse tallied 15 blocks. If blocks were part of Louisville's struggles against Boston College, that issue is not going to be relieved against Syracuse. Here's hoping that Coach Dani Busboom Kelly can prepare the team effectively for high pressure at the net, and that the Cards can have an accurate swinging game to find their way around the blocks while staying in bounds.

Dorcas Wasike Becomes ACC Champion

While the Louisville women's cross country team struggled on the whole in the ACC Championship race yesterday (placing 14th out of 15 overall), there was one bright spot for the Cards in the event. And it was very bright. Dorcas Wasike claimed the women's championship trophy with a first place finish, coasting to the finish line after six kilometers a full 8 seconds ahead of second place. It was redemption for Wasike, who last year finished the race in second place. This victory was something she eyed all season, and she was determined to hold off those that she called very good runners in the final stretch. Wasike should qualify for the Southeast Regional meet with this victory, which will take place at Winthrop on November 9th. As Louisville will not be advancing to the NCAA championships as a team, Wasike can still make the NCAA championships as an individual. She'll have to finish in the top 25 of the regional meet and be one of the top 4 runners that has not already qualified with their team. Barring this method, she could still be selected as one of the two at large runners, but it would be best to get in the easy way. Best of luck to Dorcas as she continues her pursuit of a national championship to add to her trophy case.

Women's Basketball Tip-Off Luncheon

This was supposed to be the time when Paulie wrapped up the article with his takeaways from yesterday's tip-off luncheon. Unfortunately, I woke up a bit later than expected, pushing my timing for finishing the article back, and Paulie was unable to add in his thoughts before having to leave to tailgate for today's football game. See? Noon games aren't just frustrating because they're early. They have actual consequences. Anyway, I'm not even going to pretend that I have insight as to what went on yesterday other than what I saw on Twitter. Paulie, on the other hand, has plenty to say. You'll have to wait until Monday's article to hear about it, but with women's soccer and volleyball tomorrow, Monday is sure to be a column that you don't want to miss!!

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Additional pictures from last night's volleyball match below. As always, be sure to check out Jared's site for great photos of UofL athletic events.

Field Hockey, Volleyball Take Openers -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Earns Sweeps in First Two Matches of Season

Louisville Volleyball opened their season yesterday in the Cardinal Classic, hosting three teams in Cardinal Arena. Louisville played their first game against UT Martin and showed the fans on hand that last season's performances were no fluke by putting together a dominant performance against the outmatched Skyhawks. The Cards finished the match hitting .478 as a team and had a whopping 10 aces. UT Martin was outscored 75-36 over the duration of the match, with the closest game of the three coming at 25-17. 

Despite Melanie McHenry and Amanda Green both finishing with 9 kills, it was really Piper Roe who paced the office, converting 8/11 attempts with no errors to finish the night with 8 kills and a .727 hitting percentage. Roe also added 5 block assists and a dig to round out a very solid match. My player of the match would have to be Wilma Rivera, though. Rivera picked up right where she left off and finished the first match of the day with 2 kills (on 2 attempts), 23 assists, 4 aces, 2 blocks, and 7 digs. Rivera was the Setter of the Year last year and it is good to see her come out of the gate strong. 

Unfortunately..we found out before the first game, Louisville lost a key contributor on defense in Alexis Hamilton. It was confirmed by her family at the later game that Hamilton tore her ACL and will likely miss the remainder of the season. Look for Coach Dani Busboom-Kelly to apply a medical redshirt to Hamilton this year to give the sophomore an additional year of playing time.

In their second match last night, Louisville took on the Salukis of SIU. The team from Illinois put up a bit more of a fight, scoring a total of 42 points, and pushing one game to 25-19, but in the end, Louisville walked away with a second sweep. The Cards again hit well as a team with a .443 performance, and finished the second match with 7 aces. Unfortunately, the aces were outnumbered by service errors, and you know that I like to look for the bad in the good to find things the team can improve.

Despite her effectiveness in the first match, Piper Roe did not start the second match. Roe came away ok with her limited opportunities, though, earning a kill on 4 of 6 attempts, but erring on the other two. It was Emily Scott that started in place of Roe and Jasmine Bennett that played a similar game to Piper. Bennett finished the match with 10 kills on 15 attempts with just one error for a .600 hitting percentage. McHenry and Green were again strong, with 10 and 8 kills respectively, and Rivera again put together a solid match with 38 assists. The new transfer, Marijke Van Dyke, finished the second match completing 4/5 attempts with no errors and may find herself moving up the depth chart if such success continues.

Louisville will wrap the Cardinal Classic today against IUPUI at 5PM and will look for another strong outing. Winning 9 straight sets would be a good way to start the season. I will be looking for the Cards to perform better in the second set, as that was where the best games came from both opponents yesterday. Jeff will have plenty more to say about this opening weekend in his writeup tomorrow so be sure to check back in then!

Field Hockey Defeats Indiana in Opener 2-1

The Cards opened and closed the scoring yesterday with both goals coming on converted penalty corners. Shout out to the box score play-by-play for calling them "penalty kicks". Maybe they let Paulie at the controls for a moment. Louisville's first goal came after 23 minutes from Bethany Russ. Russ was active on the ball yesterday, taking a total of 6 shots and putting 2 of them on frame. 

The Louisville lead would last only 4 minutes, as Indiana scored a goal in the run of play after a bad pass from the defense led to an open breakaway. To the potential surprise of many, Ayeisha McFerran heard her number called yesterday to start the game in goal. She gave up the one goal (but it is hard to blame a goalkeeper for getting scored on in a one-on-one situation) but finished the game with 4 saves, including 3 during a tied second half. 

After Indiana's goal, the two teams went on the be frustrated for about 43 minutes before Louisville's Erica Cooper prevented overtime with a goal with no time on the clock. Louisville was awarded a penalty corner as time expired, and field hockey rules state that the penalty awarded team must be allowed an untimed play to complete their offensive attack. Indiana was unable to clear the ball, and a second attempt from Cooper saw her loft a shot over the IU keeper for a buzzer beating goal. It was the first goal of the freshman Cooper's career at UofL, and it came at a pretty good time for the Cards.

The goal gave Louisville a 40% completion rate on penalty corners for the day while the Cards successfully defended all 5 attempts from the Hoosiers. The defense for this team will be a strong point for Louisville, but the passing and possession out of the back will need to be cleaned up to prevent more open attempts like came in the first half of yesterday's game. It was good to see McFerran back in the goal so quickly and playing well when it was expected that she would miss a few games.

Louisville field hockey is back in action tomorrow at 1PM against Ohio State at Trager Stadium. The game is available on ACC Network Extra.

Rouse and England Place Third

Like Ayeisha McFerran, Mollie Rouse will be returning from international duty with some hardware in tow. The Young Lionnesses were bumped from the finals in a defeat by Japan earlier this week, but took on the host team France in the third place game yesterday morning. Japan went on to defeat Spain 3-1 in the championship. It took penalties for England against France after the teams were tied at 1 with both goals coming in the second half. England converted 4 of their 5 penalties in the shootout and held France to just 2 of 4 (the last kick by the hosts being moot). Rouse will likely not return to the squad before tomorrow's match against Michigan, but may be back with the team by Friday's match against Kentucky. Match fitness shouldn't be an issue after starting nearly every game for England, but her team cohesion, as mentioned before, may be. However, with the surprising speed of McFerran's return to the field hockey starting lineup, I'll be keeping an eye on Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes onboarding of Rouse. The Cards take on Michigan tomorrow at 2PM. No video is listed for the game.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're without Jared today, but should have plenty to fill our Cardinal Couple Radio Hour as more fall sports have gotten underway. We'll talk women's soccer, volleyball, and field hockey as all three have been active and will do our best to generally present the joy and excitement of Louisville women's sports. As always, join us on WCHQ at 11AM via 100.9 FM, wchqfm.com, the WCHQ app, or on Facebook Live. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Volleyball Adds Transfer, Football Loses Transcendent Talent -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Gains Outside Hitter from Illinois

Whether or not she will be eligible this upcoming season is a question for another day, but Louisville added the services of a new outside hitter as Marijke Van Dyke announced that she will be headed to the Ville from Illinois. Van Dyke was a true freshman last year, and typical NCAA rules would require that she forego a year of eligibility while transferring. However, the NCAA is far more likely to grant immediate releases in the non-major sports (ie football and basketball). If you'll remember, Kennadi Carbin was an immediately eligible transfer for the women's soccer team this year.

Van Dyke will be the second former B1G player to suit up for the Cards under Dani Busboom Kelly, as Wilma Rivera made it to UofL by way of Penn State. Van Dyke is a 6'2" outside hitter that will help promote the larger style of play that Busboom Kelly was surely accustomed to at Nebraska. Van Dyke will also fill a position of need. UofL graduated an outside hitter and two middles this year. An experience outside hitter with size, especially one that was formerly the #66 overall recruit in the nation, will help bolster a front line that now has some holes. In addition to adding an outside hitter to the squad, Van Dyke's arrival will allow Busboom Kelly to move other outside hitters to the middle to fill the gaps. 

Marijke Van Dyke finished her only season with the Illini appearing in 9 sets over 6 matches. She had five kills with six errors and a hitting percentage of -0.067. Note the small sample size and inability to get into rhythm. She also had one dig, one reception error, one block, and one blocking error. Her numbers weren't great, but they're about what you'd expect from a designated bench player as a true freshman. Given an opportunity and the type of positive coaching that Dani Busboom Kelly displayed this season, Van Dyke could turn into the player at Louisville that everyone expected her to be based on her ranking.

We'll be keeping an eye out about her eligibility and look forward to seeing her in the red and black whenever that may be.

Lamar Jackson to Skip Senior Season

In an unsurprising move, Lamar Jackson announced on Twitter yesterday morning that he would forego his senior season at UofL and declared his entry in the 2018 NFL Draft. There have already been many critics of this decision, and there are sure to be more. I thought about it the other day, and put myself in the shoes of a star athlete. Many say that if you go to the NFL (or NBA or whatever) and bust without a college degree, you will have nothing to fall back on. In my opinion, if you have the opportunity to go pro, with a first round grade, you are guaranteed quite a bit of money, and you should do it. There are always going to be opportunities to return to school to finish your degree, especially if you are smart with your first contract. We hear stories all of the time about NFL players finishing their degree in the offseason, even some players getting advance degrees (including doctorates!!) in their off time.

While there would likely be benefits to Lamar Jackson returning to school (finishing degree, another year to develop, etc), there are also extreme risks. Returning to college means an additional 12-15 games before having the ability to earn any money. With the style of football played by Jackson, a first round grade could vanish in an instant. While this is possible at the next level as well, Jackson will have access to much better nutrition experts, training staffs and equipment, etc. A player in the NFL is much more equipped to prepare their body for playing in the NFL than a player in college is. Lamar Jackson should get his money while he can.

As much as I loved Lamar Jackson at Louisville, and as amazing as he was (you know, the 42 records and all), I truly hope he goes to a beneficial spot in the NFL. I'm afraid (and I'd love to be proven wrong), that if Lamar goes to a team chomping at the bit to start him immediately, things will not go well. There is still a lot of development that Jackson can undergo. Arriving at a team with an established, good QB with a coach that can teach will give Jackson the opportunity to learn NFL offenses and defenses under less pressure while refining his body and his game. There are still months to go until the draft, with a pro day and a combine between now and then. There will be the countless slam pieces saying he can't make it as a QB as well as some that may overestimate his ability to transition to NFL immediately.

I wish nothing but the best for the best college football player I've ever had the opportunity of watching. Now it's time for Puma to shine in the Ville.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

After our hiatus, we are finally back on the air. This time, we'll be coming to you live from a new, larger studio, which means more microphones and potentially more friends. Today's show will be the fullest of houses, as Paulie, Jeff, and I are joined by JC Sullivan and Paige Sherrard. We'll chat Lamar Jackson and the current goings on in Louisville women's basketball, with games this past week and one coming up tomorrow. Tune in at 11 AM at 100.9 FM and streaming live on the WCHQ app and the WCHQ website. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-