#8 Volleyball gets Notre Dame back-to-back -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

VOLLEY CARDS PLAYING NOTRE DAME VOLLEYBALL BACK-TO-BACK

Scheduling for any of the sports in the ACC has got to be a tough chore anymore...especially with the recent addition of Cal, Stanford and SMU. And, in Volleyball...it's a longer season than other women's sports like soccer or field hockey...so interesting things can happen. But...what were the schedule gods thinking when they put the Cards in back-to-back matches against the Irish? 

One has to wonder...in a series that has seen these two since 1986, when the two have played.at Sacred Heart High School, the KICC, LNFCU, Freedom Hall and the KFC YUM! Center when Louisville has hosted. The 2018 Sacred Heart choice was an interesting one...necessitated by a horrible power outage in the city that knocked out Cardinal Arena's power and many other locations in our city.. I attended that one and remember they handed everyone a bottle of water when we walked into the Sacred Heart gym. 

The 2025 regular season between the two squads starts at South Bend, IN today at 7 p.m. and then back to Louisville for a 3 p.m Saturday match at the KFC YUM! Center. 

The Irish are 8-10 on the season and 5-5 in the ACC. They've played a very challenging schedule...with losses to Villanova, Illinois, LSU, twice to Michigan, Syracuse, Stanford, Pitt, SMU and North Carolina. They've also played three ranked teams in the four games and lost to all three...before breaking the losing streak when they went to unranked  Duke and finally won in straight sets. 

Morgan Gaerte

Morgan Gaerte leads the Irish in kills with 287 and she's a 6'5" sophomore outside hitter from Angola High School in Angola, Indiana. . Angola is in the northeast corner of Indiana...about 75 miles east of South Bend.

The Irish have two Kentuckians on their roster...Sydney Helmers is a 6'4" outside hitter who played at Assumption High School and started her college career at Texas before transferring to Notre Dame. Lucy Trump is a 6'0" outside hitter from Florence (Y'all) and played for Ryle High School.  ...Helmers was a first team All-State player in 2019,2020 and 2021 and Trump was Miss Kentucky Volleyball in 2021. 

As for the VolleyCards, they are 16-4 on the season and 8-2 in conference. The VolleyCards have lost to Texas, Kentucky, SMU and Pitt....all Top 20 ranked teams.  

It should be a fun one, and  will be shown on the ACC Network. 

paulie

Volleyball Cruises Past Notre Dame - Sunday Cardinal Couple

The Irish Unlucky in Meeting Louisville

The Cards were casually dominant in the second half of the home and home meetings against Notre Dame, winning the sweep; 25-12, 25-16, 25-12.  The Cards advance to 19-3 overall and 11-1 in conference.

For the moment, that puts the Cards in sole possession of first place in the ACC, but that's only because our matches were Wednesday/Saturday this week rather than the ty
pical Friday/Sunday of conference play.  Pitt and North Carolina will be playing later today to return to the tie for 1st place.  Pitt should have an easy time at Virginia Tech at 1pm, but North Carolina has their work cut out for them with Georgia Tech paying a visit at noon.  If you're itching for some volleyball to watch this afternoon, UNC/GT should be a good one to catch.  Of course, lots of eyes will also be on Stanford at FSU after Stanford's loss to Miami Friday.  UNC/GT is on ACCNx, while Stanford and FSU are getting the prime ESPN 1pm slot.

Back to the Cards, though.  I initially thought to say that the Cards were in control from the first point of the game, but the reality is that the Irish won the first two points of the match, led at 6-4 and it wasn't until the match was tied at seven that the Cards really began to assert themselves.  Starting at 6-7 the Cards ran off a 5-0 run to 11-7, and really never looked back.  The rest of the match featured ND scores between another 5-0 run, a pair of 4-0 runs, and a final 2 points to win the set.

In a moment of amusement during the first set, the score graphic overlay for the jumbotron in the arena flashed up near the beginning of the set, about three points in, showing a score of 25-12 with Louisville in the lead.  It would take the operators a few minutes to work out the glitch and get the correct current score displayed.  And then Louisville won the set by that same 25-12 score.  Maybe a little bit of left over Halloween spookiness?

 

The second set was the closest by the Irish, as you can see from the set scores, but Louisville was able to steadily gain and increase the lead throughout the set, with the exception of a 5-0 ND run that brought them back into semi-competitive score at 16-13.  Louisville would get their foot back on the accelerator pedal, including a 5-0 run of their own, to take the set 25-16.

 

By the third and final set, the crowd had grown very quiet.  Even the Louisville crowd (about half of which were friends and family of Cara Cresse, who hails from Fort Wayne, IN, an under two hour drive to South Bend) couldn't muster up much motivation to cheer too terribly loud as the match took on the proverbial air of beating a dead horse.  The Cards jumped out to a 7-2 lead and that just seemed to take the fight out of the Notre Dame squad.  It just continued from there, with Louisville lead checkpoints at 16-6 and 20-8 on the way to the 25-12 win. 

 

It was a pretty easy victory over the Irish at Purcell Pavilion.  Louisville held ND to a whopping 0.000 hitting percentage...meaning they had as many hitting errors as they had kills.  Some credit there does go to Louisville's block, with six in the quick three set match that clocked in at a mere one hour and 15 minutes of playing time.  Louisville hit at a respectable .321 clip with a very well spread offense.

Charitie Luper led the Cards with 12 kills, hitting .417.  Anna DeBeer had six kills, Cara Cresse and Hannah Sherman balanced each other well with five kills each, as did Reese Robins and Sofia Maldonado Diaz with four each.  Sherman tallied a pair of solo blocks and shared a pair with Cresse getting a solo and a share of her own.  Luper, Robins, and Alanna Bankston all got in on the blocking as well.  While we're singing Sherman's accolades, it's only fair to mention the efficiency of her kills, chalking up an eye-popping .714 percentage.  Cresse was a bit less efficient, but still very good .417.  Maldonado Diaz, who never gets enough attention for her contributions, in my opinion, hit at a very fine .429 clip as well.

Kamden Schrand shone from the service line as well as doing a fine job digging, claiming three points through aces.  That eclipsed Elle Glocks pair with Luper, Elena Scott, and Sam Untiedt each getting one as well.

The Cards stay on the road for the coming week traveling to the northern extremities of the ACC, visiting Syracuse on Friday, and Boston College a week from today, and back to the familiar pattern of Friday/Sunday play.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

(the c.c. crew...pre daryl)

As I was on the road heading to South Bend, we didn't have the live broadcast of the CCRHP, but Jared, Case, and Paulie did get together for the recording and posting to podcast directories as Case typically takes care of that side of the CCRHP technical duties.

I have not yet had a chance to listen to it as I was tuned in to the big Louisville Football win last night (Clemson fans really rushed the field after a loss?  That's weird.  Hat tip to Mike Rutherford for that multi-year running gag that continues to pay dividends.)

Check out the trio podcast at:

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/Two-Fall-Sports-Wrap-Up-e2qfdtf

 

-- 

JMcA

Volleyball Ends Regular Season -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

WIN WOULD GUARANTEE CARDS A SHARE OF ACC TITLE

Louisville Volleyball heads to South Bend today to play in their final match of the regular season against Notre Dame. The match is slated for 7:30 p.m. in the Purcell Pavilion and will be on the ACCNX.

Louisville can gain a share of the regular season title and wait to see how Pittsburgh does in their final two matches, vs Georgia Tech tonight and vs. Boston College Saturday. For Louisville, it's pretty simple -- "win and you're in" --  as the automatic qualifier for the ACC in the NCAA Tournament. We get asked all the time, so I'll repeat it again...the ACC does not have a conference tournament in Volleyball. In case of a tie in records, the tie-breaker between the Cards and Pitt would come down to sets won in the two meetings. Louisville won five, Pitt three. 

The Irish are 9-17 on the season and 4-12 in the ACC. They and the Cards met in Louisville on Oct 26th. and Louisville won the three sets and match 25-10, 25-22, and 25-14. Claire Chaussee had 16 kills for Louisville in that match and Amaya Tillman had 12. Notre Dame lost the last time they played, against NC State, in three sets. Notre Dame is one of four schools at the bottom of the conference standings with just four conference wins, along with Virginia, Virginia Tech and Clemson.  

The NCAA selection show is on Sunday, Nov 27th  at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU.

If the Cards host first and second round NCAA matches they would be Dec 2nd and Dec 4th at the L&N Federal Credit Union (times to be announced). If Louisville is a top four seed, and they advance, they would move to the KFC YUM! Center for matches that will be held on Dec 8th and 10th. 

Louisville is 25-2 on the season and 16-1 in the ACC. Pitt gave them their lone conference loss and they also fell to Ohio State in out-of-conference action.

Here's hoping the Cards take care of business tonight. 

(photos by Jared Anderson) 

paulie

VolleyCARDS win at Yum! -- WSoc Senior Night; THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS SWEEP IRISH IN KFC YUM! CENTER

It's not quite the weekend yet.. but it is Daryl checking in with you on a Thursday. It worked best for Jared and I to switch this week's write. I am currently nursing my kitten out of surgery this week and we watched the Cards play Notre Dame at the Yum! Center from the couch together so she wanted to help me with the recap too. She's very invested at this point.

The lack of thumbs make it difficult for LuLu to type on her own...

LuLu's contribution> eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee


(All match pictures from Jared Anderson)

VOLLEYCARDS

The #4 Cardinals responded from a weekend loss to Pittsburgh with a 3-0 (25-10, 25-22, 25-14) sweep of Notre Dame in front of a record crowd 9,058 fans at the KFC Yum! Center. The volleyball community is strong in the city of Louisville at the Club, High School and University level along with the rest of the state. Alumni/familiar faces were also in the house as well, CC columnist Jeff McAdams had eyes on several former Cards and Katie George sat in the color chair for this one on the ACC Network. 

The squad moves to 19-2 on the season with 3 matches left in the home stand.  Claire Chaussee lead the Cards with 16 kills and Amaya Tillman tacked on another 12 which combined for more than the 23 ND had in the match.

Aiko Jones impressed LuLu the most with her strong swings and ability to make the ball go really far across the screen. 


Set 1  

Cards win 25-10

The Cards got on the board early.   A miss hit by Claire Chaussee put Notre Dame on the board.  Senior Aiko Jones had a strong showing in the match which began a scoring run for UofL after kill and a service ace to put the Cards ahead 4-1 and for good in the set.  Raquel Lazaro and Tillman hammers down the 5th and 6th points.  An error on the Cards put another one on the board for ND.  It was all Cards in the first set with a .667 hitting % in the opening 9 points. 

The Irish elected to take a TO when it was 8-2.   The Cards didn't slow down after the TO extending the lead to 14-3.  ND kill by Phyona Schrader to make it 15-4.  ND continued to hand points to the Cards before scoring a couple back to back followed by a service error, the Irish were on 5-1 run making it 20-9 before they cooled down.  An ace for Elena Scott made it set point for the Cards. Amaya Tillman came in with the kill to give UofL set 1. 


Set 2

Cards win 25-22

In the second set, the Irish finally warmed up.  The first point was a little more difficult for the Cards to secure than in the first set as it was a long rally ending in a kill for Chaussee.  A violation for the Cards put the first point up for the Irish.  A block by Jones assisted by Phekran Kong put the Cards back ahead 2-1.  A strong swing from Chaussee last touched by ND followed by a solo block from Tillman put the Cards up 4-1 before the Irish came evens it up and takes the lead on an attack error by Jones.  

The second set was the strongest showing for the Irish in the match.  It was back and forth scoring efforts by both squads.   Aiko Jones showed incredible strength and control of her both in the match.   She had a big swing from the back row to put the Cards ahead 11-10.  UofL extended its lead to as many as 15-11 before the Irish called a timeout.  Chausse and Tillman combined for back to back kills to put the Cards up 17-13.  The squads exchanged attack errors before ND went on a 3-0 scoring run to even it at 19-19.

Nena Mbonu went on her own 3-0 scoring run for the Cards before a long rally including a excellent save from Scott gives the Cards the set point.   Tillman was assisted by Jones combined for the block to win set 2. 

Set 3   

Cards win 25-14

This one began differently, with the Irish winning the first two points in the set.  The Cards went on a 4-0 scoring run beginning with a tip over the net and another 2 kills by Chaussee.  Tillman blocks to put the Cards ahead 4-2.   Jones had a strong service ace and kill to put the Cards up 7-3 but a service error would put one back on the board for the Irish.  

ND was losing some steam as they sometimes struggled to get the ball over the net putting the Cards ahead 10-4.  The Cards slightly missed the mark to score another for ND but a kill by Tillman made the score 11-6.   Tillman crowded the stat sheet to finish the set for Louisville registering 4 kills and a block to secure the win for Louisville 25-14. 

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Duke

Friday 10/28
7:00P.M. at LNCFU

WSOC

#2 UNC vs Louisville

6:00 P.M. at Lynn Stadium

It's Senior Night for the graduating class who will be honored prior to the match. Sarah Hernandez, Patricia Ward, Ravin Alexander, Riley Mullady, Corinne Dente and Maisie Whitsett will all be honored

Carolina is currently tied with Florida State and Notre Dame atop the ACC standings. The Tar Heels are 6-1 on the road this season with its only blemish coming at Virginia Tech. During its current five-game winning streak, UNC has outscored its opponents 13-1 with four shutouts.  This is the seventh ranked opponent for UofL this season. 

Redshirt freshman Ally Sentnor scored the game-winning goal in each of the Tar Heels' victories last week over Florida State and Miami, and is tied with Avery Patterson for the team lead with three. Sentnor was named ACC co-Offensive Player of the Week.

North Carolina has won three consecutive meetings in the series with Louisville and leads the all-time series, 3-1-1, with a 2-1-0 on the road. Louisville knocked off the top-ranked Tar Heels in overtime, 2-1, back on October, 8, 2015. It was the first time in program history that the Cardinals defeated the #1 team in the country.



Sidenote --- 

I'll close out today's post and exit with a line from my favorite song on the new Taylor Swift album..  

The burgundy on my t-shirt when you splashed your wine onto me

And how the blood rushed into my cheeks, so scarlet, it was

The mark you saw on my collarbone, the rust that grew between telephones

The lips I used to call home, so scarlet, it was maroon

LuLu's favorite line.. 

karma is a cat

Purring in my lap 'cause it loves me

Flexing like a ******* acrobat

Me and karma vibe like that

As Always,

Go Cards

~Daryl & LuLu

Volleyball in KFC YUM! Center tonight -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

CARDS VOLLEYBALL FACE NOTRE DAME IN KFC YUM! CENTER

It's been awhile since we could make that headlining statement...about Louisville regular season Volleyball downtown in the KFC YUM! Center. You have to go back to 2016 to find the games downtown. Louisville played 13 games in the KFC YUM! Center and two in the L&N Federal Credit Union.  

It'll be interesting to see what the attendance is tonight for this one. We hear more and more conversation about the want to see Louisville Volleyball in a bigger arena that the on-campus LNFCU. Games at the YUM! Center would traditionally bring in more than 2,000 fans, which is more than you can fit in the LNFCU, but only around 10% capacity for the Downtown Arena. People point out that Louisville would draw many more now...but the 2016 squad had a lot of talent in Melanie McHenry, Molly Sauer, Jasmine Bennett, Tess Clark and Maggie De Jong and the UK game attracted nearly 4,000....despite the squad going 12-18. 

The Irish come to Louisville with a 9-11 record and they are 4-6 in ACC play. Virginia and Pitt defeated them in their last two contests (both on the road). Notre Dame did host third place conference team Georgia Tech in late September, but got swept in three sets. Notre Dame is tied with Wake Forest for 10th place in the conference standings/ 

Avery Ross leads Notre Dame in kills with 191 and Kaylin Winkler has 150. Lucy Trump has 147. Trump and Ross are freshmen outside hitters...Winkler is a grad transfer from SMU.  It's a rebuilding project underway in South Bend for Irish Volleyball, they have just two seniors on the roster and four grad transfers...compared to six freshmen and three sophomores. 

The Cards will be looking to bounce back from the Sunday loss at Pitt. The loss dropped then to 9-1 in the ACC (second place) and 18-2 overall. It also dropped them to #4 in the nation, behind Nebraska, Texas and surprising San Diego. Pitt, in another surprise, only moved up one spot -- from #8 to #7. You know how polls are, though. They're a popularity thing first, actual record and performance numbers behind that. 

The Cards need a solid convincing win in this one and you probably can't blame them if they keep looking at the door to see if Anna DeBeer is actually back and ready to go. Not that Chaussee, Mbonu, Kong, Jones,Tillman and Bartlett haven't stepped up and tried to help shoulder the load...they have...but DeBeer is the best player on this squad and they miss her. Knees can be tricky, you don't want to come back too fast on them and you need to protect them when you do first come back. (I know from experience).  

Only seven regular season games remain after tonight's match for Louisville against and make note of the start time -- 8 p.m. Katie George will be on the ACC Network broadcast with Eric Frede. We last saw Katie in Lexington, when she had the call for Louisville vs. Kentucky Volleyball...and....yes, she is still a "10". A married "10"....but still double digits.  

Let's hope the Cards Volleyball get the "W" and a fun time is had by all in the KFC YUM! Center. You've been asking for it, Louisville fans, so get down there and enjoy it ! 

paulie

VOLLEYBALL faces Notre Dame Tonight -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

24-0 CARDS HEAD TO SOUTH BEND FOR MONDAY MATCHUP

There is one undefeated squad on the UofL campus and they have put up two dozen wins this season. Louisville Volleyball (24-0) puts the record on the line tonight with a 6 p.m. match against conference foe Notre Dame in the on-campus Purcell Pavilion.

A quick check with UofL women's basketball associate coach Sam Purcell confirmed that the facility was not named after him and the fine work he has done for the Cards.  The pavilion, dedicated in 2010, bears the name of financial stalwart Phil Purcell III, with Morgan Stanley, who provided the leadership grant of $12.5 million for the renovation of the facility that is home to Notre Dame basketball as well. It's also known as the Joyce Center, The dome has the pavilion in the southernmost part of the dome. 

The Irish have had what could be called a rebuilding season this year, sitting at 11-13 overall and 8-6 in the ACC. Mike Johnson is in his fourth year as head coach of UND. 

Notre Dame is led by outside hitters Aubrey Hamilton and Charley Niego. Both have 272 kills. Hamilton is a 6'2" sophomore out of Hartland, WI and Niego is a 6'0" senior from Chicago. Zoe Nunez is the main setter for the Irish and Hattie Monson sees the majority of time at libero for Johnson's squad. 

Dame downed visiting NC State Friday in straight sets (25-16, 25-17, 25-20) and dominated all three sets against the Wolfpack. The win was a reversal of fortunes for the Irish, who previously had dropped a five-set match to  NCST in Raleigh five days earlier. 

This will be the 41st. matchup between the Cards and Irish. Notre Dame leads the overall series 23-17.and swept the Cards in straight sets last year in the LNFCU in the squads' only meeting. UND went to the NCAA Tournament as well, but was eliminated in the second round by Oregon. 

The Cards are #1 in the nation in ranking and now in RPI.

 

The Cards know that the Irish are a dangerous foe that cannot be overlooked. Louisville has four matches remaining in the regular season. After tonight's match, the Cards will travel back home to face Duke on Friday, November 19th., then head to Pittsburgh for a Weds. November 24th.showdown before ending the regular season facing the Irish again, this time in Louisville, on Friday, November 26th.

This one will be shown on the ACC Network tonight. 

Best of luck to Louisville tonight! 

                                            ********************************************

Just how crazy has the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament been?   The Final Four was determined yesterday and the top three seeds were knocked out of action !!

Liberty took down #1 seed Rutgers 3-2, Northwestern eliminated 2 seed Iowa 1-0, Harvard upended #3 seed Michigan 1-0 and Maryland earned a berth by beating the lone ACC school left in the dance, Syracuse,  2-1 

Liberty gets Maryland next and Harvard will face Northwestern. 

Yes, it's a "twilight zone" scenario and we could possibly see a championship game devoid of a Big 10 or ACC member school.  

If anyone had told me a Liberty vs. Harvard NCAA Championship game might be a possibility before the season began, I would have signaled the bartender to "cut them off". 

Maybe the old heavy metal band Savatage had it right. Madness reigns in the hall of the Mountain King. 

LINK: MADNESS REIGNS

Have a marvelous Monday! 

paulie

Volleyball's Wild Night -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Volleyball Has Wild Night

If you went to or followed Louisville volleyball last night you'd know it was a crazy evening.  Besides having to change venues last minute the Cards had to rally from a two set deficit to win in five against rival Notre Dame..

A campus-wide power outage sent students and faculty home around lunchtime yesterday.  All events on campus were cancelled because, well, there was no electricity.  The Student Activities Center, where Cardinal Arena is housed, joined the rest of the campus in a blackout.

Sacred Heart Academy was generous enough to open up their gymnasium to host the Louisville vs Notre Dame volleyball match.  Granted, a high school gym is not equipped to host several hundred fans, but UofL athletics and the ticket office managed to make things work.

The first set stayed back-and-forth until the Cards pulled ahead 15-11.  The Irish had called a timeout a point previous to that and it seemed to calm their nerves as they went on a run to tie the score at 23 apiece and then go ahead by one.  The Cards had two set point opportunities but failed to capitalize, falling 29-27.

Louisville hopped on the Irish early in the second set when the went up 6-2.  Notre Dame tied the score at 7 all and the teams traded points for a while.  When Notre Dame went up by five in the final stretch of the set Dani Busboom Kelly called a timeout.  The timeout didn't seem to do much as the Cards fell 25-20.

Halftime adjustments seemed to worked well because the Cards came out with fire in their eyes.  Louisville went on a 5-0 run to start the second half.  Emily Scott played a major role in the next run where the Cards found themselves up 14-4.  Louisville hit cruise control the rest of the set, winning 25-17.

The first part of the fourth set remained close with the Irish holding a slight advantage.  Louisville tied the score at 13-13 before pulling ahead and holding off a late surge by Notre Dame.  The 25-20 victory sent the match into a fifth set (what a surprise for these two teams).

Louisville kicked off the fifth set 7-4 and then 9-6 before Notre Dame called a timeout.  The Irish roared back to trail by one 12-11 before the Cards took a timeout to gather themselves and focus on pulling off the victory.  They did just that, scoring three of the final points to claim the set and the match 15-12.

Louisville finished the match hitting .247.  The first two sets were .103 and .158, respectively, with the final three sets all hitting .300 or greater.  Melanie McHenry (19), Megan Sloan (17), and Emily Scott (15) all had big nights on the front line in kills.

Wilma Rivera had one of her busier nights with 63 assists, as expected when you play more sets.  Her and Molly Sauer were critical in helping keep the Cards settled and focused.  Sauer also led the team with 28 digs.  She had help from McHenry's 19 and Amanda Green's 13.

Piper Roe had a big night after hitting .500 and ending with no errors.  Scott and Sloan also limited their errors to four each.

The 11 service errors were a little too much (Louisville had 20 in a five-set match at Georgia Tech recently), but that number was matched by Notre Dame.

The match showed a few things for Louisville.  This team can adjust to change such as the last minute change in location.  This team can push through a challenge and keep fighting to find ways to win.  They have the will to win.  The coaching talents of Dani Busboom Kelly, Dan Meske, and so on have put Louisville on another level and played a critical part of the win last night.

Coach was complimentary of Notre Dame in how they force opponents to work for their points.  She was proud of how her team handled the things and being able to grind through for the victory.

Louisville improves to 14-4 on the season and a 7-0 mark in conference  play.  With power restored to campus they will return to Cardinal Arena this Friday against Virginia Tech.

Worldwide is out of town for work and missed it, but Paulie found his way over to Sacred Heart.  He seemed to enjoy the free water and his guess of 1000 spectators was about double what the box score had listed.

In typical Paulie fashion, his phone and tablet ran out of juice before the end of the match, but he, along with Matt Bradshaw (from The Cardinal student newspaper) did get post-game remarks from Coach "Dani B".

I'll look for his comments on more description of last night.

HEAR DANI'S POST GAME REMARKS 
HERE: 

https://soundcloud.com/user-748907999/dr0000_1515mp3


Thank you to Paulie for switching days with me as I will be boarding a plane at Standiford Field by the time this article is published (thank goodness for the scheduled publishing feature).  Assuming my flights from here to Tallahassee with a layover in Atlanta go well I shall be checking up on Katy down in Florida State by midday and ready to celebrate her birthday tomorrow.  I will also get a first-person perspective on how powerful and damaging hurricanes can be.  Please keep everyone affected by this disaster in your thoughts and prayers.

On another note I highly recommend you make your way to Floyd Street on Friday to catch men's soccer, field hockey (free admission on this one), or volleyball.  If you stick around long enough you can even catch softball (free admission) take on Kentucky and Western Kentucky as soon as the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour concludes.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

Volleyball Set to Host Notre Dame -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Notre Dame Visits Cardinal Arena Wednesday Night

#22 Louisville Volleyball continues their home stint with a midweek match-up against Notre Dame.  The game is set to begin at 7:00 p.m.

Following a pair of sweeps at home this weekend against mid-tier ACC opponents the Cards moved from 25 to 22 in the AVCA Coaches Poll.  The Cards are 13-4 and 6-0 in the ACC while currently riding a seven-game win streak.  At home, Louisville is 6-1 with the sole loss coming against Kentucky.

Melanie McHenry is way out in front with 217 kills.  Megan Sloan has 164 and Amanda Green has 142.  Jasmine Bennett sits a little further back with 112, but her stats are skewed after having sat out for a handful of games.

Wilma Rivera has more assists by herself with 650 than all other opponents, who have a combined 623.  Molly Sauer is nearing triple-digits with 72 assists.

Sauer captains the defense with 268 digs.  She has friends on the floor with McHenry tallying 126 and Rivera with 112.

Louisville's biggest weakness up to this point has been service errors with a whopping 166.  That number is well beyond the 92 service aces on the year.  However, the ratio isn't too bad when looking at opposing teams' 113 service errors against 53 aces. Improvement lately for the Cards in that stat brings hope that failure to clear the net is a thing of the past.

Notre Dame enters the game with a 10-6 overall and 4-2 mark in the ACC.  Historically, the Irish have been a solid program, but have hit a few bumps in the road recently.  They are still dangerous, nonetheless.

The Irish have relied heavily on their defense.  They've held their opponents to a .153 hitting percentage, including holding four opponents under .100.  Their defense ranks best in the ACC and 16th in the country.  The back line has also helped pace the Irish defense as well.  Their 16.88 digs per set sits atop the conference.

There is a pair of freshman on the roster for Notre Dame who have made a notable impact.  Zoe Nunez is second on the team with 170 kills and leads the team with 590 assists. Sydney Bent is third on the team with 105 kills.

Notre Dame has won eight of their matches in straight-set fashion.  Their only non-sweeps were a 3-2 victory at Georgia Tech and a 3-1 victory against Wake Forest.

Both teams have played against Purdue on the road.  The Cards lost a heart-breaker in five sets while the Irish were downed in four.

Louisville swept Duke while Notre Dame fell in five sets to them.  The Cards swept Wake Forest while the Irish claimed the win in four sets.  The Cards also got a sweep at Georgia Tech while Notre Dame held onto win in a five-set thriller.  Louisville squeezed by at Clemson, going down to the wire in the fifth set while the Irish swept the Tigers.  Louisville won at North Carolina in five sets while Notre Dame claimed the win in straight sets.  The Cards took a four-set victory at NC State while Notre Dame fell in four sets to the Wolfpack.

Notre Dame leads the all-time series 21-14, but haven't beaten the Cards since Sept. 23, 2016, in a sweep in South Bend.  Louisville has won three straight matches since then against their conference rival, 3-1, 3-2, 3-2.

Tonight should be no different than the series history suggests.  Both teams are similar on paper with the Cards having an edge on the record, ranking, and quality of opponents.  I expect to see either a four-set or five-set bloodbath between the two teams with neither of them taking a set with ease.

Louisville hopes to remain undefeated in the ACC alongside Pittsburgh while Notre Dame tries to remain in the top six in the conference with a win.

If you cannot make the event I suggest you tune into the ACC Network (ESPN Watch Live online or on the app).  Our own Worldwide will be present for the event, although he typically does not tweet while in attendance at volleyball. Paulie will be monitoring the action either live or on the ACC Network.

Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

WSOC battles #7 Duke to a scoreless tie...Volleyball, Field Hockey on road tonight -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Written while battling a balky laptop that does not want to save or allow me to preview posts. I think I better call...GHOSTBUSTERS! ) 


CARDS, BLUE DEVILS GO 110 WITH NO SCORE

Sammy Hagar claimed he couldn't drive 55. John Fogarty and Creedence Clearwater Revival insisted 99 1/2 wouldn't do. Nigel Tufnel, of Spinal Tap, felt the need to go to 11 and Chicago wasn't sure if it was 25 or 26 to 4. Three Dog Night insisted 1 is the loneliest number that you'll ever know.  Alice Cooper was 18...and didn't know what he wanted. 

OK...enough of the musical number and artist ennui...

Last night Louisville women's soccer traveled to Durham, NC to face #7 Duke and after 110 minutes of play, the squads were right where they started on the scoreboard. 0-0, nothing to nothing...zip and zilch. 

That isn't the whole story of the two-overtime thriller...both squads had near misses with shots on goal...especially Duke...and Cardinal goalkeeper Taylor Bucklin earned her scholarship monies with two "did-you-see-that?" saves (two of her season-high seven). 

Louisville (6-2-2, 1-0-1) came out defensive-mined. It wasn't quite the "build-a-wall in-front-of-the-goal" strategy that Ball State used on the Cards two weeks ago...but the majority of the first-half action took place on the Cardinals part of the field...Duke had five of their seven shots on goal in that first 45 minutes (compared to zero, zip, zilch for the Cards) but none of them entered the net.

Here's a fun stat (avert your eyes, Justine Sowry)...these two squads have now played a total of 440 minutes and neither team has scored a goal. 

It is a good, if rather boring, philosophy to employ when you are on the road against a quality opponent. Led by Inger Katherine Bjerke...who the Duke announcer on ACC Network Extra referred to as "Beercheck" a couple of times...the Cards routinely had 7,8 or 9 players back in the defensive role of making sure that nothing got past the posts. 

It looked like the Blue Devils would break the scoreless match in the 71st. minute. Taylor Racioppi (whose name the announcers got right) slipped the Cardinal defense and found herself right in front of Bucklin with the ball. A shot was fired, Bucklin managed to get a knee in front of it and the ball bounced to the left side of net...inches short of going in. I almost had to go do a beer-check after that one. Bjerke was there also...but I'm not sure if she realized what was going on. 

LINK: SHOT DENIED !

The Blue Devils out-shot Louisville 31-9...but after the five first half shots on goal...they only managed two more the rest of the way. Louisville did get their offense a little more employed as the contest went on and attempted five shots on goal. The Cards were firing away with about the same frequency as the Blue Devils in the last seven minutes of regulation but the scoreboard (and the Duke defense) refused to move. 

Our columnist Case Hoskins has lamented about the whole two overtime process. And, it was clear that both of these teams were gassed in the second overtime...each team only getting one shot-on-goal opportunity in the 10 minutes. I'd like to see a strategy shift in college soccer to eliminate ties. Sure, go ahead and play your first ten minute overtime if you wish...but go to a one-on-one shootout against the goalie after that if it is still tied. First one to score wins the game. Or go to "first-one-to-3". Have the coaches meet at mid-field and play rock, paper, scissors. Anything. Just get rid of these extra 10 minutes.

Ties on the road against top ten foes are better than losing. They're not as rewarding as wins. Someone once said "a tie is like kissing your sister". I don't have a sister, so I can't fully understand or have any actual experience the concept...although I've kissed a few "sisters" in my days. If you've been kissing your sister...I probably don't want to hear about it. 


Louisville comes home to face Boston College Sunday afternoon at the Lynn. Game time is 1 p.m. Dress is casual, wear something Cardinal and...

No ties, please...

My buddy Doug Bruno...he, of DePaul WBB, likes ties. Especially the Jerry Garcia style. I used to have to wear them years ago in the work-a-day world. These days, it's usually a funeral, wedding or Easter Sunday that gets one around my neck. Most useless piece of clothing ever invented...

I wonder if Doug could use a few dozen ties that span five decades? Boxed up and ready to ship...



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VOLLEYBALL, FIELD HOCKEY TONIGHT

7 p.m. is the start time for both Louisville Field Hockey and Volleyball tonight...with both teams on the road. 

Anne Kordes' Wide-Netters are taking on Notre Dame. The Irish are an impressive 9-3 as their rebuilding process appears to be moving swimmingly along. This is the first of two challenges for the 5-5 Cards...they head to Florida State (7-2) Sunday. WatchESPN will carry the match.

Freshman Melanie McHenry leads the Cards with 126 kills this season. No other Cardinal has reached the 100 mark yet.  

Louisville Field Hockey takes a swing thru Carolina this weekend...stopping first in Winston-Salem to face Wake Forest. This is a top 15 matchup...the Cards #7 and WFU #14. Louisville is also #11 in the RPI. UofL (7-1) heads to Boone, NC for a matchup with App. State Sunday. The Cards are first in ACC home Field Hockey attendance. Having seen how the total attendance is determined...the numbers are a bit suspect...but hopefully the Cards will draw well for the WFU match. Watching Louisville v Duke WSOC last night...the bleachers maybe had 15 people in them total. The TV view shows only one side of the field, of course...but it wasn't exactly a packed Lynn Stadium. 

ACC play. Coming at ya at full speed this days. Love it! 

paulie
xxxxx

Thursday Cardinal Couple - It's a Win

Volleyball Sweeps Another

In an uncommon Wednesday evening matchup, the Volleyball team...well, they got the victory. Notre Dame came to town to try to avenge the match earlier in the season in South Bend, but went back with just about the same result. The Cards swept the Irish in three sets (25-21, 25-19, 26-24), but it wasn't without some drama. (As if there hasn't been enough drama on campus these days...) 

The third set had the most drama with the Cards down 11-17, and later in the set 16-22 before storming back to with the set and match. Cap this one off with a great finish by ACC freshman of the week for the second week in a row, Aniah Philo who scored the last 3 points of the match to seal the win for UofL. A big swing on the left side, then a service ace, and finishing it off with a monster back row attack.

The first set was highlighted by lots of back and forth play, with 17 ties and eight lead changes. The Cards hit a solid .333 to get the job done, but the play felt sloppy, and maybe a bit lethargic. They were able to pull out to a slight separation at the end to claim the set 25-21.

The second set was an improvement over the first, but still some back and forth play with six ties and two lead changes. UofL still looked like they were sleepwalking a bit through this one, but were still able to build a little bit of separation for the 25-19 win.

The third set was where the drama showed up. After ties at 2-2 and 3-3, the Irish climbed out to a substantial lead and really looked like they were going to claim a solid 3rd set win. The Cards showed a bit of life at 11-17 and were able to close down some of the lead. The momentum shift brought a Notre Dame timeout at 13-17. Coach Anne Kordes clearly didn't like what see saw on the next play because she decided she needed to have another chat with the team at 13-18. The play improved a bit, and see-sawed up to 16-22...and then the UofL team we know and love finally arrived and decided they wanted to play the way they know they can. The Cards stormed back to tie the set up at 23-23. A Janelle Jenkins service error, and Philo decided enough was enough and scored three quick points to take the set and match.

In post-match comments, Philo said that Freshman of the Week honors was a goal from day one. She called out her club ball teammate and freshman middle hitter at UVA, Anna Walsh, as having set the mark that Philo is shooting for. Walsh has picked up the freshman of the week honor from the ACC three times so far. I certainly will be keeping a closer eye on the weekly honors for the rest of the season.

Other stats of note include a match leading 16 kills for Erin Fairs, a very efficient and sneaky .444 with 10 kills from Maggie DeJong, Philo's 13 for an impressive .345 along with 12 digs for a double-double, and another double-double for Janelle Jenkins with 10 kills and 15 digs. Also on the defensive side of the stats, quietly dependable Molly Sauer dug a match high 20 shots.

The Cards now head out on the road for three. The first will be Saturday where Philo will meet up with her rival Walsh at Virginia in Charlottesville. The next weekend will see them in Chapel Hill and Raleigh to take on the blocking powerhouse of the ACC at UNC, and a Sunday battle with a 12-8, 1-7 NC State squad.

JMcA
xxxxx


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