Volleyball Sweeps Notre Dame -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Starts Late Win Streak

Since losing Melanie McHenry on October 16th, Louisville has now beaten Notre Dame in six straight sets. Granted, there have been a few other sets played for both teams between those two matches, but Louisville showed last night that they are not quite finished with this season. Louisville's win over the Irish was the second win in as many matches for the Cards and puts them on a small winning streak as the season draws to a close. Some would say that two games isn't a streak, but I say it's my column and I can call whatever I want to a streak.

Louisville's win last night gives them their first pair of back to back victories since the last Notre Dame match. Looking at the schedule, you'd likely be shocked to hear that, as Louisville has played a pretty easy group of teams over the last month. Nevertheless, Louisville now stands at 18-8 overall and 11-5 in conference. The Cards are now tied with the Irish at fourth in the ACC, with the two teams tied for second just a game ahead. Louisville will not get an opportunity to gain a game on either of those two, but do have a very good chance to split their final two matches and finish 12-6. A pair of losses by either Georgia Tech or North Carolina and a single loss by Notre Dame would guarantee the Cards a top-4 finish. 

Last night's match started about the way you would expect. The two teams traded blows for the first half of the first set before Louisville began to stretch their lead in the late teens. The Cards ran out to a 22-16 lead at one point, but the Irish were able to close the gap a bit before Louisville took the set 25-21. Notre Dame actually had fewer errors in the set, but they also had fewer kills, as Louisville ended with just a slightly higher hitting percentage. The Cards were also aided by a pair of service aces in the set, taking the early lead in the match.

Closer followers of the site or Louisville volleyball might expect that the second set went about the opposite of the first. Louisville has had trouble maintaining a consistent gameplan throughout matches in the past, and it would not be unreasonable to see Notre Dame adjust and bring the match back level. Once again, the two teams battled early, reaching a tie at 11 points apiece. Louisville won four of the next five points to take a three point lead, but Notre Dame brought it right back and the score sat at 16-15. The Cards then did what we've seen them be capable of. To borrow lingo from a couple of other Louisville sports, the Cards boomed Notre Dame. Louisville finished the second set on a 9-3 run and won 25-18. 

Now I know what you're thinking. There's no way, Notre Dame is just going to lie down and take their beating from Louisville. Surely there was some drama in the third set. Unfortunately, I've already spoiled how this one ends multiple times in this column. Fortunately, it ended for the better, and Louisville looked great on their way to finishing this one out. The Cards started the third set with an ace by Tori Dilfer and went on an 8-2 run to open it. The run included a pair of errors from Notre Dame, a service error, and a pair of Louisville blocks. As Jeff would be quick to point out, at that point in the match, a team can legitimately be forcing errors without blocking just due to threat of the block. The Cards finished last night's match with twelve blocks, so there's a good chance that was at play. 

Louisville ultimately stretched that early lead to a 13-4 advantage, and it seemed as though they may cruise. Notre Dame wasn't quite dead yet, though. The Irish quickly went on a run of their own and got the match back to 15-13. The next five points went ND service error, Dilfer ace, Louisville block, ND error, Louisville block. Just like that, Louisville won five straight points without a kill and took a commanding lead. Notre Dame would win one more point before the Cards closed the match with a 10-1 run and a 25-14 set win. 

Louisville was led offensively last night by Aiko Jones, who finished with 11 kills and just four errors on 22 attempts. Jones also added a pair of aces, just one service error, and five block assists. Jones was followed closely by Amber Stivrins, who had nine kills and just two errors on her 16 attempts. Stivrins efficiency continues to be a huge part of Louisville's recent success. Tori Dilfer also played a huge role, assisting on 34 of 39 kills, adding one of her own, nailing three aces, and chipping in with a solo block and a block assist. On the night, Louisville finished with six aces and just two service errors, which feels like a bit of a twilight zone moment. They also had 12 blocks, with Anna Stevenson leading the way by having a solo block and five assists. Amaya Tillman was close behind with two solos and two assists. 

Louisville has just two matches remaining, with a senior day match against Miami tomorrow afternoon before heading up the highway to take on Pittsburgh in the final regular season match of the year. Louisville currently has the 27th best RPI in the country, and that doesn't even include last night's match. Given the win over Notre Dame (previously 32nd) and a potential win over Miami, the Cards could find themselves in a good position heading into Selection Sunday, regardless of what happens against Pittsburgh. Tomorrow will be a bittersweet day for Louisville fans, as Melanie McHenry steps out onto the floor one last time as a Cardinal. She won't be dressed to play, but her contributions to the program over the last four years will be remembered. Get out to tomorrow's 1 PM match in L&N FCU about 30-45 minutes early to ensure you're there to cheer on the Senior Day festivities.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're still kicking! As the end of the year draws closer, and our potential future still remains unsorted, the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour will continue to appear on the low power FM airwaves. Today, the "A-Team" is back in studio as Jared gets a rare reprieve from bank life and the Louisville football schedule aligns nicely with the show. Join Jared, Jeff, Paulie, and I as we break down the week that was in Louisville women's athletics. Just about every sport currently in season played this week so we'll have plenty to discuss. Tune in to WCHQ FM at 11 AM to hear the show. WCHQ is available at 100.9 FM, wchqfm.com, the WCHQ App, and on Facebook Live.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

The wonderful photos in today's article are brought to you by Jared Anderson.

Volleyball Gets Back on Track -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Downs Virginia in Straight Games

Following a disappointing loss on the road against a Virginia Tech that previously had no ACC wins, Louisville was desperate need of a shot in the arm before one of the biggest matches of their season. The Cards will host Pittsburgh tomorrow, but needed to get past Virginia first. Led by Claire Chausee and Anna Stevenson, Louisville thumped the Cavaliers in a sweep, holding Virginia to just 43 points in the match. 

Though the Cards' hitting percentage grew progressively worse throughout the match, it was one of those matches where the opponent did the same thing. Louisville opened with a .364 in game one and ended with a .148 in game three, but were still ahead of the Cavs who finished with a -.040 on the night. Checking out the box score only continues to showcase Louisville's domination as they beat Virginia in every listed category.

Louisville was led offensively by a pair of players who finished hitting .333 on the night. Claire Chausee paced the Cards with 10 kills on 18 attempts and added in 3 block assists as she continues to try to fill the void left by Melanie McHenry's absence. Anna Stevenson continued to show that she will be a force throughout her career. Stevenson added 7 kills to her 3 solo blocks and 5 block assists, leading the way on Louisville's 12 total blocks for the night. On the other side, Aiko Jones is still looking to find her way without McHenry on the opposite side, putting down just 5 of her 20 attempts. I think Jones will still grow to be an unstoppable force by the time she is done at UofL, but she is definitely missing her offensive partner at this point. 

Outside of the good individual performances, there isn't a lot to talk about from last night's match. Louisville used a couple of decent runs in the first to pull away late to take it 25-18. In the second, Louisville used an 11-0 run in the middle of the game to put it away. Finally, in the third, Louisville was able to consistently score 2-3 points for every point scored by Virginia, in a game that would have taken ages were rally point scoring not a thing. 

The Cards certainly needed their confidence boost as the Panthers come to town tomorrow. Pittsburgh is still atop the ACC at 9-0 and have lost only one match on the season. That loss came against top 5 ranked Penn State in 5 sets, who the Panthers also beat 3-0 two days prior. Tomorrow's match is at 3PM in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena, so be sure to come out and support the Cards in a huge match.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're without a couple of talking heads today, but Worldwide, Paulie, and I will be in studio to bring you a recap and preview of a couple of big weeks for the Louisville women's athletics teams. Tune in for plenty of chatter about soccer, volleybally, and field hockey, as well as a bit of preview on the upcoming basketball media day. Tune in at 11AM to WCHQ FM for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. WCHQ is available at 100.9FM, wchqfm.com, the WCHQ App, and on Facebook Live.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Women's Soccer Draws Duke -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Take Second Draw in a Row

Looking at Duke's season coming into last night, one could almost guess that the game would eventually head into double overtime. Including last night's match, the Blue Devils have now drawn four of their last five matches. They've got six draws on the season and seven overtime matches. The 9th ranked Blue Devils also came in riding an 11 game unbeaten streak having not lost since an early season non-conference match against North Carolina. (The origins of that match are complicated. I asked one of the Duke representatives about it last night and couldn't follow much.) Louisville and Duke have that in common, in that their only losses on the season came against UNC. 

Louisville's toughest charge on the night would be scoring goals. We discussed it a bit in the post game interviews, but Duke is excellent at keeping the opposing team out of the net. On the season, opposing teams have scored only 7 goals against the Blue Devils. In their 5 draws before last night, four had been scoreless. They've 8 shutouts, and their goalkeeper, Brooke Heinsohn, is 20th in the country in save percentage. All of that is to say that when Duke took the lead on an 11th minute penalty, Louisville could have been in a bit of danger.

Early in the game, Louisville held much of possession. They were passing the ball well and earning chances going towards the Duke goal. As you'll hear Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes describe, Duke's goal actually came after Louisville's best early chance. After a Maisie Whitsett miss, Duke was able to quickly work downfield and on a sliding block attempt, Ravin Alexander was unable to keep her hand down by her side. She was charged with a handball and the referee pointed to the spot. Duke's Ella Stevens stepped up to the ball, took her time, and slotted it home to Gabby Kouzelos's left side. On the kick, Kouzelos actually had the pace and the range of the ball covered, but she guessed wrong on her dive and the ball found the empty side of the net. From that point in the half, the mood turned a bit and neither team was able to gather much control. Louisville would go on to finish the half outshooting Duke 7-2, but the possession stat was equal at 50% and Duke led 1-0 into the half.

Louisville came out of the second half with a fire similar to that in the first. The Cards continued dominating possession and would go on to finish the half with an 8-0 shot advantage. The only shot that found home, though, came just 8 minutes into the second half. On a counter attack, Emina Ekic found herself with a lot of space in the middle of the attacking half. She found her spot and sent a through ball behind the defense for an on-running Brooklynn Rivers. Rivers, as is her specialty, outran the defender to set up a one-on-one in the box. Rivers took a touch or two to settle herself and fired home a shot medium height to the far post. The score was tied 1-1. 

For the rest of the game, Louisville would continue to pressure the Duke defense, going on to dominate the possession stat to the tune of 57%. Whitsett and Jessica De Filippo earned chance after chance in the half, but were unable to beat Heinsohn for the lead. Ekic and Allison Whitfield made sure to push the defense from the middle and the outside, with Alexander and Arianna Ferraro getting in on the action as well. Unfortunately for the Cards, they were unable to break through, and we headed to overtime.

As I mentioned before, Duke was quite accustomed to overtime matches. In fact, the Duke representative I mentioned earlier wasn't frustrated that the match went to overtime. He was more upset that the potential draw would not be scoreless, as the team is just one scoreless draw from tying the NCAA record. In the pair of overtime periods, Louisville would go on to outshoot the Blue Devils 4-1 and continued to win the possession battle. Their best chance may have come without a shot, though, as Whitfield sent a dangerous low cross to Rivers at the top of the box. Rivers was just about in the same situation as her goal earlier, but the Duke defender was just able to nick the ball away and prevent the shot. The two teams would go on to finish with a tie and neither will move in the ACC standings.

Louisville will now hit the road and take on a fantastic Virginia team. The Cavaliers have not yet lost this season and sit just two points behind Louisville with a 3-0-3 record in conference. Louisville will need to play the way that they did for much of the Duke game, albeit with more goals, if they want to continue winning. At 14 points on the conference season, the Cards are just four points behind last season's total with three games remaining. Ultimately, though, the point total isn't as important as the location in the standings. Louisville currently sits third, and will hope to finish in the top four to host in the ACC tournament. The Cards will take on Virginia on Thursday night at 7PM. 

Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes Postgame

Brooklynn Rivers Postgame

McHenry Out for the Year

As was feared when she went down on Wednesday night, Melanie McHenry's Louisville career is over. The University officially announced yesterday that McHenry's knee injury suffered against Notre Dame will put her out for the remainder of the year. Louisville has already passed the halfway point of the season, making her ineligible for a medical redshirt, and as McHenry is a senior, she is done with UofL volleyball. It's an unfortunate end to a wonderful career from the outside hitter, and we'll be sure to follow the Sparkplug wherever she goes in the future.

Radio Silence

With half the A-Team at Cardinal Stadium and another member traveling the country, I would have been left all alone in the studio for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. We all decided that would be in no one's best interest and canceled today's show. We'll be back on air next week, but, in the meantime, be sure to tune in to WCHQ FM anyway for all of the best in local music.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

VB Survives in Five, WBB #1 in ACC, Field Hockey Players Honored -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

VOLLEYBALL RALLIES TO DOWN DOMERS

I suppose this is what you should expect when the Irish and Cardinals get together in Volleyball. A five-set match. One team looking out-of-sync and lost early and then roaring back to take control. Toss in an injury, a key contribution off the bench and Katie George and you have a brief synopsis of what happened in South Bend last night. Both games in 2017 and in 2018 went five sets. It has become the new "expected" when these two get together. A hard-fought, come-from behind and entertaining Cardinal "W"...22-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-22 and 15-10. 

Both teams came into the match with equal 13-3 and 6-0 in the ACC records. The Cards edging their way into the top 25 and Notre Dame getting votes but not quite there yet. It was Notre Dame, though, who looked like the top 25 squad in the first two sets. Just when it looked like things couldn't get any worse for UofL in the second set when Melanie McHenry...who is "Ms. Everything" for the Cardinals...came down wrong on her left knee at the conclusion of a play and crumpled to the floor in a great deal of pain. Her scream audible on TV. A silent arena. Laying prone and curled up on the court for quite some time while being examined. She was carried off by the UofL staff. What next, you ask? 

What happened after that was nothing short of remarkable. Smiling, encouraging her teammates as she was removed from the floor, McHenry was believing in her team to finish the task.  UofL got a new light in their eyes, a reason-to-rally and, although the set was lost -- you could tell that the Cards were going to halftime with renewed fire and focus.

 "Play well for Mel" is as good as any description for what happened after the break. 

We won't go into a lot of detail on those first two sets. The Cards trailed early in the first, did rally back to get within one at 22-21 but the Irish "hit squad" of freshman Caroline Meuth and sophomore Charley Niego rallied the Irish to the win. 25-22 Leprechaun lovers. 

Second set brought more of the same for the lackluster Cards. Playing from behind most of the way, once again, Louisville rallied to get with that "same one" again at 22-21. Once again, the Irish controlled the end of the set, allowing just one Cardinal point and it was 25-22 again...."Touchdown Jesus" had his arms up outside on campus for a reason.

The adjustments UofL made at the half were superb. Shannon Shields took over at setter. Louisville went with a back line of Aiko Jones, Claire Chaussee and Amaya Tillman.  And, the Cards responded like Secretariat rolling down the stretch with the finish line in sight. 

Bursting out to a 12-4 lead in set three, they forced the UND time out. Ineffective. Louisville pushed that advantage to 21-8 and were looking like the Louisville Volleyball we've come to know and love. Amber Stivrins, Anna Stevenson and Aiko Jones...the "A-Team" was on the job and the Irish were reeling. Notre Dame, to their credit, made a late run to cut the Cardinal advantage to 23-17 but it ended two plays later an a 25-17 win was in the UofL ledger. 

In set four, we saw more Cardinal authority. A 12-4 start. Amber and Aiko were still hot and UofL led 22-16 before the Irish held on at set point twice before the Cards were able to close it on a Jones spike. 25-22 the final and bonus ball awaited. 

A 4-0 early run gave the Cards a 8-4 lead in the fifth. They pushed that to 11-7 and forced a Irish time out, which seemed to temporarily help the beleaguered, baffled and bushed UND squad. They cut the margin to two at 12-10. Then, a couple of UND errors and a Amaya kill ended it.  15-10. Cards take game, set and match. 

Louisville showed a ton of fight, spirit and "never-say-die" attitude last night. McHenry had returned to the sidelines to sit behind the bench, with her knee heavily wrapped, to cheer on her "sisters-in-slams". No official statement yet on her status, just a "knee injury" is all we know. Sure looked like an ACL, though, after watching the replays. 

On a lighter note...Katie George, Cardinal great from a few years back and former beauty queen, did the analysis work on the ACC Network broadcast last night. A stellar performance from her as well, combining solid technical knowledge and explanations of the action. George hardly masking her love for the Cards and tossing her quirky and funny descriptions and sayings out like the way she used to set up players on the court. 

She had that poor boy doing the broadcast with her baffled and dazed. We think she should be on the "A" team for ACC Network Volleyball broadcast coverage. 

Good to have ya back, K.G. !! Keep 'em coming. 


WBB #1 in ACC Preseason Polls

Louisville women's basketball squad has been selected to finish first in the ACC in preseason polls from the conference's coaches and the ACC Blue Ribbon Panel. 

The Cards gathered 13 of the 15 first place votes from the coaches (NC St. receiving two) and 34 of the 49 first place votes from the Blue Ribbon Panel. The Wolfpack garnered eight first place votes in "the B.R.P" version and Florida State plus Notre Dame also received first place votes. 

Once again, Cardinal Couple was not contacted to participate in the Blue Ribbon Panel, most likely because we prefer Yuenging, Budweiser and other select, crafted beverages. 

Louisville also landed two players on the Preseason All-ACC team with junior Dana Evans and sophomore Elizabeth Balogun. Miami's Elizabeth Balogun was selected preseason player-of-the-year. Freshman guard Nyah Green was named to the Newcomers Watch List for the 2019-20 season. 

No surprises in any of this, except for the exclusion of Jazmine Jones on the ACC team. That's a mistake that'll come back to haunt more than a few pundits and teams this season.

Let's face it, Walz's squad is loaded for bear, equipped with plenty of ammunition and could probably enter two teams in ACC play this year and finish first and second in the conference. 

19 days until UofL starts the season against WKU in the KFC YUM! Center. 



FIELD HOCKEY'S AYARS, RUSS HONORED

Louisville Field Hockey seniors Carter Ayars and Bethany Russ have been named to the Victory Sports Tours/National Field Hockey Coaches Association's Senior Game.

38 seniors will participate in the contest, which is planned for November 22 following the conclusion of the NCAA DI semifinal game at Wake Forest. 

Ayars has been brilliant as a defender and penalty corner specialist for Louisville this season and her whole career at Louisville. She gathered ACC Player of the Week, NFHCA All-West Region team selection and USA Field Hockey Under 21 team honors during her time as a CARDINAL. 

Russ, an attack specialist, leads UofL with nine goals this season. She's also been a NFHCA All-West Region selection and All-ACC pick during her time under head coach Justine Sowry. She also leads the ACC with shot attempts (70). 

# 5 ranked UofL (11-2) wraps up their current home stand with Longwood on Saturday at noon (unfortunate time selection on that one) and #6 Iowa Sunday at 1 p.m. 

Have a terrific Thursday ! 

paulie
xxxxx

Volleyball Gets Road Win; Field Hockey Takes Home Loss -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Sweeps Duke

In the first match of a four match road trip, the Louisville volleyball team got off to a pretty good start with an easy sweep of the Duke Blue Devils in Durham. Duke was only 8-9 on the season up until last night and only 1-3 in conference, so a clean win was to be expected. However, it was still the first conference road match of the season for the Cards so it was good to see them put together a solid performance. 

The Cards wins in last night's sets were progressively more lopsided as they completed the match at 25-21, 25-17, and 25-14. Louisville's biggest struggle came obviously in the first set as they worked to get their feet under them. The Cards had only 3 errors in the set, but Duke was able to stay around throughout the first set, even taking a lead past 15. Louisville's only other real trouble came in the third set when the Blue Devils went on a five point run to tie the set at 7. That would be short lived, though, as Louisville ultimately ran away with the set and the match.

Louisville's hitting last night was fantastic, as the Cards finished with a .430 percentage and had just 7 errors in the match. Noting that Duke had 3 blocks, that means the Cards hit the ball out of bounds just 4 times in the match. One of those just barely clipped the antenna. Louisville finished the final set with no errors and hit .630. The Cards were truly dialed in, as the Duke block number could have been much higher, had Louisville not shown excellent recovery ability on numerous block attempts. On the flip side, Duke also had some pretty good recoveries, as Louisville was only able to muster four total blocks. The Blue Devils would go on to finish with 20 errors, though, as they struggled to keep the ball in play.

As you might have guessed by the stats in this one, Louisville's primary standouts were on the offensive side. The Cardinal leading the way yesterday may come as a bit of a surprise, as Anna Stevenson paced the team in kills with 11. Stevenson also finished with just one error on her 17 attempts to finish with a whopping .588 hitting percentage. Other strong offensive performers were the usual suspects, with Melanie McHenry and Aiko Jones combining for 17 kills and 4 errors on 38 attempts. Tori Dilfer also assisted on 34 of the team's 36 assisted kills and had 4 kills on 4 attempts of her own. Claire Chausee returned to the floor in the final set and put down 4 of her 5 attempts with no errors. 

The one blemish for the Cards was one that has been ongoing throughout the year: service errors. Louisville finished with 7 of them, compared to just 3 aces, and they came from unusual servers. Four players had an error and no ace, and they aren't the ones you'd expect. Alexis Hamilton, Mia Stander, Tori Dilfer, and Claire Chausee couldn't put the ball in play, and Dilfer, uncharacteristically, added three assisting errors. These are certainly things to clean up, but in such a dominating match, they're a fairly small portion of the game film to have to correct.

Louisville is back in action tomorrow as they'll travel just up the road from Durham to Wake Forest to take on the Demon Deacons at 1PM. The match will be available on ACC Network Extra and should be another important road match for the Cards.

Field Hockey Falls to Virginia in Rain Adjusted Match

With last night's field hockey match due to start at 6, I thought Jared had made quite the error when he texted the group to say that Louisville had fallen 2-1 at around 6:30. As it turns out, the Cards and Cavs had made the decision to move the match start time to 5PM to try to avoid the worst of the rain. That would have been a great plan for Louisville, had it have worked. Unfortunately, as the rain began to fall in the fourth quarter, so too did Louisville's handle on the game. The Cards gave up two goals in the final period to lose their slim lead and drop the match 2-1 to 9th ranked Virginia.

This one was truly a tale of two halves, as Louisville fairly well dominated in the first half, and the script flipped in the second. The Cards scored their only goal off of a penalty corner in the first quarter as Mercedes Pastor knocked home the goal with assists by Meghan Schneider and Alli Bitting. They'd go on to earn four more corners in the half but would score none of them as their only other "goal" was waved off by the referees. Virginia did pick up two shots on goal in the first half, but both were saved away by Hollyn Barr. Louisville led in overall shots, penalty corners, goals, and, presumably, possession.

The second half, though, saw the Cards fall away. The offense was unable to continue to apply much pressure, earning only 3 shots in the entire second half. While all three were on frame, Virginia was able to keep the Cards out of the cage. The Cavs, on the other hand, put up 8 shots with 5 on frame, only three of which could be saved by Louisville. Hollyn Barr played well, earning four saves and nearly blocking the last goal as it was off of her legs, but she ultimately took the loss. Sam Minrath saw her first action for the first time in awhile as she was called upon early in the fourth quarter to act as the goalie for a penalty stroke. She saved the shot, at the time keeping Louisville ahead 1-0, but was immediately subbed back out for Barr. 

Yesterday's match put the two teams virtually even, as the Cards are now 10-2 (2-2) and Virginia moves to 10-3 (2-2). While a top ten conference win would certainly be nice, it doesn't hurt too badly to lose it. Louisville will likely drop from their fifth spot this week in the rankings, but they should stay in the top 10. The Cards will get their chance to get back on track on Tuesday when they take on the Cardinal of Stanford at 12PM at Trager. The match will be aired on ACC Network Extra.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Jared and Paulie have left us to our own devices yet again, so Jeff and I will do our best to bring you the show on our own. We'll be as in the dark as everyone else about whether or not Daryl will join us, so tune in to the show for a surprise. We'll talk about the continued strong starts for Louisville's fall sports and preview the next couple of games for the Cards. The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour is brought to you each week by the fine folks at WCHQ FM. Tune in at 11AM as we bring you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics. WCHQ is available at 100.9 FM, the WCHQ App, wchqfm.com, or on Facebook Live.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Women's Golf at Illini Invitational -- Volleyball back in top 25 -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

HARTLAGE TIED FOR FIRST, WOMEN'S GOLF IN SECOND

A good day for Lauren Hartlage and the Louisville women's golf squad at the Illini Invitational at the Medinah Country Club. 

Hartlage, a senior, is tied for first place after 36 holes with a 5-under-par 139. Her 70-69 split on the first day included six birdies on two tours of the course . Consistency was the key for the Elizabethtown, KY turf specialist..just one bogey in yesterday's play. 

Mairead Martin, who is a sophomore out of Kanturk, Ireland, is also hitting the ball well. She's one stroke back of Hartlage with a 36-hole total of 140. Martin recorded an incredible 11 birdies on Monday and her second round 68 is tied for the second lowest round by anyone in the tournament. 

Hana Ryskova, a freshman who hails from Frydek-Mistek in the Czech Republic,  is tied for 25th place with  1-over-par 145. That includes an eagle on a par five, a rarity in golf. No, she didn't hit one of our nation's proud symbols...she scored a three on the hole. 

Agustina Gomez-Cisterna is playing in her first ever tournament for the "chip-and-putt" Cards and is one stroke back of Ryskova. The Buenos Aires, Argentina freshman 146 for the day was good for a tie for 27th. I wonder if she knew WSOC's Meche Pastor when she was there? 

Kent State sits atop the leader board with a three stroke lead over UofL. The Cards completed the 36 holes with a 570. 

It looks like this slight change in the Cards starting four has produced some beneficial results. First-year head Coach Whitney Wade Young has a vast knowledge of the game and excelled at it in high school, college and on the LPGA. Her ability to analyze "who is hot and who is not" and make the necessary line-up adjustments is paying dividends so far in Illinois.

Let's just hope the Cards can finish strong...in this fall season, the Cards have had a penchant for the "good day/bad day" syndrome.    

The squads will play 18 holes today to conclude the tournament.  You can monitor the results at  GOLF STAT.  

Go get the "W", Cardinal golfers !! 


VOLLEYBALL REJOINS TOP 25

After taking two matches last week, the VolleyCards have climbed back into the NCAA Volleyball top 25, checking in at 25th. 

The AVCA Coaches Poll has three ACC squads in the top 25. Pittsburgh (15-1) is ranked #3, Florida State (9-4) takes the #23 spot and Louisville (11-3) slides in at #25. The Cards received 79 points in the poll, enough to squeeze out Western Kentucky, who gathered 70 points.  

As you've read here over the past several days, Louisville swept Georgia Tech and Clemson last week, winning each match 3-0. 

The first RPI rankings of the season are also out now and UofL grabs #20 on that list. 

Louisville is undefeated in the ACC with a 4-0 mark. All of the three losses this season have come against top 25 opponents:  #12 Kentucky, #14 Florida and #20 Purdue

The Cards now prepare for a four-match road swing that will take them on a two-week tour that begins in North Carolina to start it off.

Any Cardinal Fans headed to Wake Forest for football Saturday might want to take advantage of the chance to see Volleyball play Duke on Friday in Durham (it's just a 80-mile drive) and then stick around Sunday in Winston-Salem for the Wake Forest match. 

Next four:  

-- DUKE  Friday, Oct 11th. 

-- WAKE FOREST  Sunday, Oct 13th.

-- NOTRE DAME  Weds, Oct 16th.

-- VIRGINIA TECH  Sunday, Oct 20th.

Dani Busboom Kelly has a plethora of competant middle blockers and outside hitters at her disposal and it is especially exciting to see freshmen Aiko Jones and Nena Mbonu contributing so strongly in the Cardinal attack. The Cards have greatly benefited from a couple of junior's strengths in Alexis Hamilton's strong "digging" skills and Tori Dilfer's steady assist capabilities. 

Here's hoping "consistently great" senior Melanie McHenry and the squad come back to the "Ville" in a couple of weeks with a 15-3 record !!




Have a terrific Tuesday !!

paulie
xxxxx

Another Undefeated Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

For the second week in a row, I'm bringing you a column talking about three wins for Louisville women's athletics teams. Two of the three are the same, and soccer did still win their Thursday game, but this week we've added swimming and diving to the list. Let's get into yesterday's goings-on. 

Field Hockey Downs Wake Forest 3-0

For the second night in a row, a Louisville team on Floyd Street defeated Wake Forest to move to 9-1 on the season. Thursday, it was the women's soccer team in a comeback victory that Jared wrote about yesterday. Last night, it was the field hockey team handling the Demon Deacons with little opposition. The final score doesn't show a huge domination, though 3-0 is a strong victory, but the game stats indicate a lopsided game.

Louisville finished yesterday with only two more total shots than Wake, with that battle ending 8-6, but the Cards amassed 6 shots on goal while the Deacs could muster none at all. Even after earning four penalty corners, Wake was unable to pressure Hollyn Barr, who played the whole game and finished with no stats. Louisville scored in the first, third, and fourth quarters to keep up consistent pressure and converted on one of their three penalty corners. Barr's full game is her second in a row, perhaps indicating that Coach Sowry has made a decision about the position going forward. With Minrath on the bench, the team still has a solid option in the event that things go sideways, but Barr appears to have snagged the starting spot for the time being.

Yesterday's first goal came off of a penalty. With just two minutes left in the first quarter, Carter Ayers took the ball downfield and ended up earning a corner. She and Meghan Schneider would start the play and ultimately set up Mercedes Pastor to score her fourth goal of the season. The teams held onto the 1-0 score for about 19 minutes, going through the rest of the first, the entire second, and just the start of the third without any other goals. Madison Walsh changed that when she picked up her fifth goal of the year by tapping in a deep pass from Margot Lawn about a minute and a half into the second half. Three minutes into the final quarter, Walsh picked up a brace when she scored another tap in, this time from Bethany Russ.

All in all, Louisville had a stranglehold over Wake for the majority of the game and made sure to put away their chances. Scoring on 38% of your total shots and 50% of your shots on goal is a pretty efficient day. With Louisville's high volume offense, converting at that rate is going to continue to win a lot of games. Sprinkling in a defense that is capable of shutouts never hurts either. Louisville is back in action on Sunday when Penn State comes to town at Noon. That match will be available on ACC Network Extra.

Check out Paulie's interviews with Coach Sowry and Madison Walsh below. Videos of the interviews are available at gocards.com.

Coach Sowry Recaps the Win

Madison Walsh Talks About Her Double

 Volleyball Makes Short Work of Georgia Tech with Sweep

After pretty much dominating the first two sets, Louisville weathered a comedy of errors that took the third set to extra points before claiming victory over the Yellowjackets of Georgia Tech. After only a pair of errors total in the first two sets, Louisville committed 10 in the final set and hit negative in the third en route to a 27-25 set win. The Cards were saved only by even worse hitting by the Techies who committed 13 errors and also hit negative in that final set. Despite that final set, Louisville still managed to finish with .278 hitting for the night, showing just how strong those first two sets - .433 and .484, respectively - really were.

Louisville finished the match winning in every major category. The Cards won blocks 11-4, aces 4-2, had fewer service errors at 7-8, and fewer overall errors at 12-25. The teams finished tied at 39 kills, but the efficiency of Louisville's hitting was ultimately the difference. As was typical, Anna Stevenson was a brick wall, assisting on 5 Louisville blocks, and Emily Scott and Nena Mbonu got in on the block party as well by snagging a combined two solo and five block assists. Alexis Hamilton reliably led the team in digs, but also added a pair of unlikely receiving errors. Hot on her tail in digs were Melanie McHenry and Aiko Jones with 8.

Offensively, McHenry didn't have the best night, hitting only .125 on 24 attempts, earning 6 kills. Stevenson also finished with 6 kills on 20 attempts. Mbonu was second on the team last night with 8 kills on 18 attempts, a bit of a breakout night for her. Tori Dilfer continued to hold down her starting setter position, earning 30 of the Louisville's 34 assists on the night. The star of the night was undeniably Aiko Jones. Jones had the previously mentioned 8 digs, added 3 block assists and a solo block, and hit a whopping 13 kills with no errors on 18 attempts. She also chipped in with one of the four remaining assists for an all around outstanding night. Only one blemish came out of her night, and it has been one that has haunted for much of the season. Jones finished with 4 service errors and no aces. Despite that, I think when a player is pretty much unstoppable above the net, you'll live with some serves to Nowheresville.

Louisville's win pushes them to 10-3 on the season and 3-0 in conference. The Cards will have one more match at home against Clemson on Sunday at 1 before they hit the road for a massive four game road trip. Louisville will face Duke, Wake, Notre Dame, and Virginia Tech over that stretch before coming home for a big pair of matches against Virginia and Pitt. It's a bit early to be predicting such things, but the Pitt match 7 opponents away could be huge for the conference championship race. Louisville will need to show a bit more consistency and close out against weaker opponents to stay on track this season, but an ugly third set victory last night is still a victory. Cards and Tigers will get underway tomorrow at 1PM in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena and the match will be available on ACC Network Extra.

Swimming and Diving Opens Third Straight Season with Win

Louisville swimming and diving hosted Xavier in a one-on-one meet yesterday and both the men's and women's sides easily claimed victory. The women earned more than three times as many points as the Musketeers and won every race en route to a 194-62 victory. The Cards are beginning their first season without a "superstar" swimmer on the women's side since before Kelsi Worrell arrived, but there are plenty of swimmers ready to take up the mantle. In addition to every winner in the pool, Molly Fears showed yesterday that she still intends to be a champion from the board. She won the dives from both the 1 and 3 meter boards yesterday. Listing every winner for the Louisville swimmers would take quite some time, so let me just say that you should check out the overall results and see how balanced the winners for the Cards were yesterday. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Due to the early start time for football, we will be without Jared and Paulie in the studio today, but Jeff and I will be joined by Daryl Foust to help keep us on track for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. We've got plenty of wins (our favorite thing to talk about) to discuss so we'll break down the weeks in soccer, volleyball, and field hockey before looking ahead to the upcoming weeks and a bit about the upcoming basketball season. Tune in at 11AM on WCHQ FM for the show. WCHQ is available at 100.9 FM, the WCHQ App, wchqfm.com, or on Facebook Live.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Cards Sweep Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Soccer Rebounds from UNC Loss, Beats 'Cuse 3-0

After suffering their first loss of the season last Saturday night, the Louisville women's soccer team hit the road for the first time since the opening game of the season. This weekend, the Cards headed to the northeast to take on Syracuse and Boston College to open their conference road schedule. The Cards faced their first hiccup before ever stepping foot on the field in Syracuse. Thursday evening, prior to the scheduled 6PM kick, an e-mail was sent out explaining that the team was suffering from a team-wide illness and that the game would be postponed to Friday morning. Though Syracuse has struggled this year, a team full of players recovering from food poisoning (the presumed culprit) did not inspire a ton of confidence for a strong effort.

Louisville proved me wrong. The Cards rolled out the primary starting lineup, showing that even if everyone wasn't fully recovered, thy were certainly going to go for it. Delaney Snyder got Louisville into business with their first goal less than two minutes into the game. Louisville had taken control of the game early, already earning a free kick deep in the offensive third, but the goal came on a bit of buildup play, with a through ball finding Snyder just barely onside (she looked off to me but the camera angle wasn't good). Snyder dribbled across the top of the box and deftly sent a ground ball into the opposite side of the net. Cards led 1-0.

Later in the half, it was a pair of subs that played add on. Louisville subbed quite a bit yesterday, perhaps showing that not everyone was fully recovered from their illness the night before. In this moment, it was Maisie Whitsett and Corinne Dente doing work for the Cards. In a similar situation to Snyder's goal, Dente found herself getting behind on a through ball from Whitsett. Just like Snyder, she settled herself and found the back of the net. It was Dente's first career collegiate goal (news flash to the Syracuse announcers and the women's soccer twitter, a freshman's first goal of the season is going to be their first career goal), and I get the feeling it won't be the last.

Louisville's final goal came much later in the second half, as Emina Ekic was determined to restart her points streak. Prior to the North Carolina game, Ekic had scored a point in every game except for the Ohio State game. That's a pretty impressive streak, and as long as she is finding ways to affect the offense, Louisville will continue to earn opportunities. Ekic's goal in this one was unstoppable, as her 76th minute shot rose to the upper left corner and was completely out of reach. Ekic's ability to score, assist, and draw fouls is what makes her a Hermann Award watch list player and it's what drives this team. It may be a little early to look at that award list, but with just a month left in the regular season, it will be time for the list to shrink soon. Ekic affects the game in so many ways, including those that show up on the stat sheet, but for those recordable stats, Emina's best is probably points per game. With five goals and four assists through nine games, Ekic currently sits tied for 67th at 1.56 points per game. That mark happens to be tied for fifth in the conference. Ekic is not likely to appear at the top of the list nationally, but she's only a few points behind the top points earner in arguably the top conference in the country. She's doing alright.

Louisville is back in action with what is a quicker turnaround than normal due to the schedule shift. The Cards will take on Boston College tomorrow at noon in Chestnut Hill. The game, like most, will be available on ACC Network Extra. Tune in to see if the Cards can continue to get back to their winning ways and earn their way back to the top half of the conference table. The Cards and Eagles are currently tied at 3 points, with BC sitting at 8-1-1 on the season compared to Louisville's 8-1-0. It should be a good match.

Field Hockey is Huge After Half Against BC

Continuing their trend of playing teams right around the same time as soccer, Louisville field hockey was in Massachusetts yesterday to take on the Eagles of Boston College. The Cards currently find themselves ranked sixth, and since they were playing in a conference game, you can be sure they were in a ranked matchup. This time around, Boston College is ranked 17th, right on the fringe of what might make the tournament this season. In a road match against a tough team, Louisville showed a bit of fight, despite going down early.

The Cards actually made two comebacks in this game, trailing 1-0 for nearly 25 minutes and then 2-1 for just over two minutes. The two teams scored four combined goals in the third quarter in under five minutes, in what was a wild swing for the fans in the stadium. Louisville's goals came from Bethany Russ, already her 8th this year, Margot Lawn (3), and Madison Walsh (4). All three were goals scored by taking advantage of big opportunities. Russ scored on a reserve shot after her shot was illegally blocked. Lawn did what makes everyone happy by converting a corner. Her shot was technically not on the corner, but was a rebound after the initial corner attack. However, since it was all one play, I'm counting it. Finally, Walsh's goal was an open play goal, as she knocked in a goal after her shot was originally saved. 

All three Louisville goals show different skill sets and different abilities to get on goal. A diverse scoring offense is key to not getting stymied by a strong team that can limit specific areas. Also important was the mental fortitude shown by Louisville to come back twice as I mentioned earlier. The Cards didn't give up throughout the first half, and put their halftime coaching to the test by getting a quick goal. After conceding quickly to trail again, a weaker team might get a bit deflated. Louisville instead scored a pair of goals in a pair of minutes to flip the script. 

Louisville's defense should also get a shout. Giving up two goals is not great, but when your team scores three, your only job is to give up fewer than three. Remember that this was a road game against a good team, and one of the goals came on a corner which are always challenging to defend. Perhaps surprisingly, Hollyn Barr went the distance in goal for the Cards, earning one save to go with her two goals allowed. If this was the test to see if she would be taking a stranglehold on the goalkeeping position, I can't say she locked it down. We'll see if Sam Minrath sees her way back into the net soon.

Louisville remains on the road for their next match and, like women's soccer, they'll stay in the northeast. Field hockey will take on the Providence Friars tomorrow at 1PM. This one won't be on ACCNX, but there is a watch link listed that takes you to a video player. Not sure if it's free or paid, but be sure to tune in to watch another good Louisville team.

Volleyball Goes Five in Win Over NC State

For the second match in a row, the Louisville volleyball team needed a fifth set to secure a win, as they did so last night in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena over the Wolfpack of NC State. Like field hockey, volleyball earned their win with multiple comebacks, losing the first and third sets and getting strong victories in the second and fourth to force a decider. 

After starting pretty hot, Louisville's hitting actually trailed off consistently through the third, fourth, and fifth sets. Fortunately for the Cards, so did NC State's. Louisville finished the match with a respectable, but not lovable, 0.254 hitting percentage compared to the Wolfpack's 0.150. The Cards earned more aces (5-4) and dominated in blocks, outblocking the Wolfpack 15-6. Anna Stevenson led the way on blocks, with 2 solo and 5 assisted. Emily Scott had a solo and five assists as well, and even Tori Dilfer got in on the block party with 5 assisted blocks. Dilfer also earned a career high in assists as she picked up 54 of the team's 61 assists in the match.

Leading the way offensively was a familiar name, as Melanie McHenry crushed 29 kills on 61 attempts with just 8 errors for a cool 0.344. I'm thinking she's back. Aiko Jones and Emily Scott effectively tied McHenry as they picked up a combined 29 kills with 7 errors on 68 attempts with 0.308 and 0.345 hitting percentages, respectively. 

Though perhaps not the cleanest win for the Cards against a struggling NC State team that is now 5-8 on the season, no one can complain about a victory in the conference opener. Louisville will have their hands full as they try to keep pace with Pittsburgh and Florida State in the title race, and every win counts. The Cards will be back in action, just like everyone else, tomorrow at 1PM against North Carolina. This match is at home, so if you can make it out, head on over to the Arena Formerly Known as Cardinal. As a home match, it will also be available on ACC Network Extra. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're back in the studio once more for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour this week. Jared is banking and Daryl wants to get to Louder than Life when the gates open, so Paulie, Jeff, and I will man the mics. Jeff may be there in name only, though, as he fights voice issues, and I'll try not to sound like a frog after the first night of LtL yesterday. We'll have plenty of game action throughout the week to talk about as well as important women's basketball news to cover. Tune in to WCHQ FM at 11 AM to listen along. WCHQ is available at 100.9FM, the WCHQ App, wchqfm.com, or on Facebook Live.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-