USA Volleyball wins in SemiFinals against Mexico -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 USA TO FACE CANADA AGAIN AFTER DEFEATING MEXICO

The USA U 21 Women's Pan Am Volleyball squad, with Cardinal star Payton Petersen on the roster goes for their fourth consecutive title when they face Canada today in Columbus, OH.

Mexico went down in straight sets Saturday to the USA 25-17, 25-11, 25-12. Mexico and the Dominican Republic will battle for third place.

USA has won four of the U21 Pan Am Cup titles -- in 2017. 2022, 2023 and 2025. 

In the Mexico match, USA led in every statistical category -- including kills (42-20), blocks (14-3), and service aces (4-0)

USA is coached by Tama Miyashiro, who played her volleyball at the University of Washington and was on the U.S National team as well. Her comments on the win over Mexico. 

"I'm very happy because  we were able to put pressure on Mexico right from the start. I've been following their matches throughout the tournament and they have good players and out goal today  was to neutralize their attack. I'm very proud o the determination out players showed and we are excited to be in the final."

Top scorers for USA against Mexico were Suliane Davis (10 points), Ayden Ames (9 points) and Henley Anderson (9 points) .

A boxscore for the Mexico match is seemingly the needle in the haystack, I could not find one after extensive search, so I have no numbers on how Payton Petersen did in the Mexico match.. 

paulie

 

Petersen, USA advance to semifinals in NORCECA U21 Volleyball -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 USA downs Canada 3-1 to advance to semifinals

In the NORECA U21 matches in Columbus, the USA and Payton Petersen have advanced to the semifinals.

They have defeated Venezuela, Mexico and Canada to take the championship in their pool play. They now need to get by  

Payton Petersen, out of the University of Louisville, totalled 15 points in the USA win over Canada 3-1 by the scores of 25-18, 25-14, 21-25, 25-18. The All-Americas Cup is being shown on You Tube on the U21 matches for North America in Columbus, OH. 

Petersen will be a junior at UofL in the upcoming season and hails from Dike, Iowa .She is a twin, and her sister Jadyn plays volleyball at Northern Iowa where their mother Bobbi is the head coach of the program.

Kalyssa Blackshear, another Cardinals star, is an alternate on the squad. 

Cards Volleyball is less than two months away. The will face Wisconsin at the LNFCU on Aug 28th. The annual Red and Black scrimmage is scheduled for Aug 22, at the LNFCU as well.   

Sadly, Louisville Volleyball is one of the programs at UofL operating at a financial loss. Even though they do generate some earnings ,the costs far outweigh the earnings. And, they do charge admission. $15 for matches at the LNFCU and starting at $36 for KFC YUM! Center mathes for premium events. 

paulie

 

Payton Petersen to participate in U 21 Pan Am Cup -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

 PETERSEN ONE OF 14 ON 2026 USA NORCECA SQUAD

The rising Cards Volleyball junior out of Dike, Iowa has been chosen for the squad that will participate for Team USA in the U21 Pan American Cup. The tournament, which will feature eight of the top junior national teams out of North America, Central America and the Caribbean, is being held at the Covelli Center in Columbus, OH. July 7-12.

The team faced Venezuela and won 25-13, 25-21, 25-15 yesterday, next is Mexico and Canada over the next two days in pool play.

Following the three days of pool play, the quarterfinals will take place on July10th. with the semifinals and placement matches on July 11th and the championship game July 12th. 

Besides Petersen, the USA roster consists of numerous athletes who have participated in past USA age group national teams. Players include  Ayden Ames, Henley Anderson, Taylor Harris, Devon Wiest, Lily Hayes and Rachel Van Gorp.

Some of the colleges represented on the USA Pan Am Cup are Texas, Nebraska, Creighton, Louisville, and even tiny Springfield College in Springfield, MA. 

We wish the USA squad the best of success in their pursuits! 

paulie

paulie

More Cardinal Callups -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

VolleyCards to Represent Team USA

Last week I wrote about callups to the US National Team on the soccer side, but this week that trend continues with a pair of volleyball players set to represent the Stars and Stripes. Kalyssa Blackshear and Payton Petersen were announced yesterday to be joining the Team USA U21 squad in late June. The two Cardinals will camp with 25 other athletes in Columbus, Ohio, where they will compete for an opportunity to represent Team USA at the NORCECA U21 Pan American Cup. 

Of the 27 athletes invited to the training camp, just half (14) will be selected for the event roster. The camp will be a shade under two weeks long from June 26 to July 5th, and the Pan American Cup will be hosted in Columbus July 7-12. This opportunity marks the second chance with the national team for Blackshear. Kalyssa was an alternate on the U19 team that took silver at the 2025 World Championship in Croatia. Payton Petersen is receiving a callup for the first time. 

image via gocards.com

While the training camp roster is quite varied from an athlete standpoint, the coaches all come from the professional ranks. The head coach is Tama Miyashiro, currently on staff with LOVB Salt Lake. The native of Hawai'i was a libero at Washington from 2006-2009, and she was twice named National Defensive Player of the Year. Miyashiro represented Team USA on the court from 2010-2012. She's assisted by Alfee Reft, who is currently the head coach of LOVB San Francisco, and Alisha Childress (Glass), who is a setter for MLV Las Vegas. Reft played for the USMNT after graduating from the University of Hawai'i and has been in the coaching realm since 2010. Glass was a standout at Penn State and was part of the team that won 102 straight games and won the titles in 2007, 2008, and 2009. 

On the player side, Louisville is one of five universities with multiple representatives, joined by Minnesota, Nebraska, SMU, and Texas. Texas leads the way with four selections, while Nebraska has three. Minnesota and SMU match Louisville's two. Surprisingly, Stanford and Pitt were both limited to one selection, making the ACC representation just six. Also sending one representative are Creighton, Florida, Iowa State, USC and Utah, along with seven high schools from six states. 

It would be wonderful for one or both of the Louisville players to make the team, but as I mentioned last week, the experience itself is invaluable. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Fall in Pittsburgh -- THANKSGIVING CARDINAL COUPLE

HAPPY TURKEY DAY

Many people consider Thanksgiving to be the day to finally take stock of what they've been grateful for over the last year, and there's nothing wrong with that. That said, my wife and I have recently begun trying to bring that thankfulness into more of our everyday lives. It's not some groundbreaking or revolutionary idea, but trying to verbalize three things we're grateful for each day has had noticeable impacts on our moods. 

The idea is pretty simple: every evening before bed, we just say three things we're grateful for that day. They don't have to be unique. They don't have to be profound. They just have to be something. I've found that it not only helps me remember the positives from even the toughest days, but it also helps me stay more positive throughout the day as I'm looking for those moments of gratefulness so I don't just repeat the same thing every night. 

So while everyone will rightfully look at the big picture items from the year that they're grateful for when sitting around the table, try to keep your eyes open to the smaller stuff as well. In today's (seemingly constantly negative) news cycle era, it's easy to lose sight of what's right in front of you. 

Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving. 

Volleyball Swept at Pitt

Louisville volleyball saw their hopes at a share of the ACC title all but disappear last night at the Petersen Events Center. The Cards can still beat Stanford on Saturday night to finish the conference season 17-3, but they'll need help for Pitt to fall to the same record. The Panthers play on the road at Georgia Tech, so there's a chance. If tiebreakers come into play, we can look at those later. 

Last night's final set score of 3-0 looks bad, but doesn't necessarily tell the whole story. Louisville had strong opportunities in the match, but the nearly 8,000 strong (mostly Pitt fans) on hand to watch the top-ten matchup pushed the Panthers in critical moments. Louisville ultimately fell by just eight total points in a 25-23, 25-22, 25-22 sweep. 

As I mentioned, the Cards could have been on top early and had multiple chances to extend the match. Louisville led 23-19 in the first set, 22-20 in the second, and 22-21 in the third. It just wasn't meant to be. The Cards finished with a .173 hitting percentage and were outblocked 10-6. Louisville committed five service errors with just four aces while Pitt committed the same number of errors but picked up seven aces. Many of those came in critical spots. 

Similar to the first matchup between the two teams, Louisville was unable to slow down Olivia Babcock, who finished with 22 kills and just three errors for a .404 hitting percentage. If the two teams meet again in the postseason, the Cards have to make someone else beat them. 

On offense, Louisville had three players in double-digit kills as Payton Petersen led the way with 13, Chloe Chicoine had 12, and Cara Cresse finished with 10. Petersen added 12 digs to earn a double-double, and Kamden Schrand led the team with 15 digs. Cresse had a strong night overall, as she had two solo blocks, two block assists, and two aces, leading the team in all of those categories. 

The Cards are back in action Saturday night in the season finale. First serve against the Stanford Cardinal is at 7PM, and this huge matchup has somehow been relegated to ACC Network Extra. The match will be in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Split ACC Openers -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Sweeps BC

Louisville volleyball opened their ACC slate at home against Boston College and took care of the Eagles in fairly short order. There wasn't a lot of drama in any set as the Cards won 25-12, 25-17, 25-15. Louisville hit .422 on the evening, compared to just .049 for BC, and that was despite BC winning the blocking battle. 

Outside of 8 total blocks, BC was not stellar on defense (as evidenced by Louisville's hitting percentage). Louisville's offensive leaders were incredibly efficient. Payton Petersen led the way with 13 kills and just two errors on only 21 attempts. That equates to a .524 hitting percentage from a pin hitter. Yeesh. Chloe Chicoine was also strong, going nine and one on 17 attempts for a .471. Kalyssa Blackshear rounded out the pin attackers (for the most part) with a .263 hitting percentage and seven kills. The middles were actually defended a bit better, with Cara Cresse and Hannah Sherman combining for eight kills and four errors on only 15 attempts. 

Nayelis Cabello continued to play well on the floor, as she finished with 35 assists and went three for three on offensive attempts. I say "on the floor" as she was one of many who stumbled a bit at the serving line. Louisville finished with seven aces, but they also had twelve service errors. Cabello had none of the aces and three of the errors. So it goes sometimes. Hannah Kenny led the way with three aces, but she had two errors as well, so Molly Wilson actually had the best day at the line with two aces and no errors. Kamden Schrand and Ava Utterback had the remaining two aces. 

Defensively, BC made it pretty easy. They did the thing you aren't supposed to do on offense, which is hit it basically straight to the libero every time. Schrand finished with 21 of Louisville's 40 total digs. Hannah Sherman had the best day at the net, racking up four block assists and one of Louisville's two solo blocks (Alanna Bankston had the other). Blackshear finished with three block assists and Cresse, Cabello, and Petersen all contributed one each. 

As I mentioned earlier, there wasn't a lot of drama in this match. Louisville trailed just once, and that wasn't until the third set. With the help of a block, a Louisville unforced error, and one of their three aces, BC had a three point run early in the third set to go from a 3-1 deficit to a 4-3 lead. Louisville won the next four points and didn't look back. 

They won't always be so easy, but after I mentioned that Louisville had been prone to dropping sets on last week's show, they responded by sweeping both opponents this week. The Cards are back in action tomorrow when Syracuse comes to L&N Arena for a 1PM match. The Orange are having a bit of a renaissance season, though their competition has been questionable, as they sit at 9-2 on the year. Their two losses came on back-to-back days in a home-and-away match up with Colgate. Syracuse defeated Notre Dame 3-1 Friday evening in South Bend. 

Field Hockey Falls in Shootout

Louisville hit the road to open their conference schedule and played a nail biter of a match with Stanford. Ultimately, Louisville was unable to find a game-winning goal, and they lost in a shootout. The final score of 2-1 represents the single point awarded to Stanford winning the shootout after each team scored one goal in regulation. Coincidentally, the final score of the shootout was also 2-1. 

The match was a constant struggle of early offensive action followed by periods of strong defensive play. Stanford scored the first goal on a penalty corner in the first quarter. Louisville matched that with a PC goal of their own in the second. After halftime, both teams were able to amass just one shot on target for the entire second half. Louisville's goal came from Rylie Wollerton, her seventh of the season. Assists went to Tatum Kroon and Annabel Sep. 

The overtime periods played out very similarly. Louisville survived a PC attempt from Stanford early in the first OT and managed to find three shots late in the period, but neither team found a Golden Goal. Their search continued in the second overtime, but the efforts were even more fruitless: neither team was able to even find a shot. 

Even the shootout had a similar flavor. Louisville scored on their first attempt (Gracie Potter) while Stanford scored their first two. The Cards were blanked for their remaining four attempts, and while Stanford was unable to extend their lead any further, one extra goal was all they needed. Interestingly, after Emily Young made three saves during the game, she was substituted for Alessia Cicuto for the penalty shootout. I won't second guess the goalie whisperer that is Justine Sowry, so I'll just assume that Cicuto has shown more in practice in the way of penalty acumen. 

It's a tough way to start the conference season, as Louisville's mercurial offensive play continues, but they'll have a long week to recover. It was a single game weekend for the Cards on the west coast, as they get a Sunday bye. Louisville is back in action Friday, when they return to Trager Stadium to host Wake Forest. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Jared is off galivanting around Louisville, so he'll miss this week, but we'll have three on board the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast. Daryl will be forced to give us her rundown of the past two weekends and Louisville's annual music festivals before we get into the week that was in Louisville women's athletics. You can check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Volleyball Wins; FH Drops Stunner -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Snap Blue Jays Streak in 3-1 Win

Louisville walked into Sokol Arena in Omaha and did something that opposing teams have struggled to do against the Creighton Blue Jays: win a set. Entering last night, Creighton had dropped just two sets in the previous 91. When Louisville bounced back to win the second set last night, they made it three out of the previous 93. After the Cards completed the victory in four sets, they accomplished an even tougher task: beating the Blue Jays at home. The win snapped Creighton's program-record 32-match home winning streak, which stood as the nation's third-longest active streak. 

Coming off the heels of their first loss of the season to Texas on Wednesday night, Louisville got off to a rocky start in Omaha. Creighton hit .364 in the first set and used a quick 5-1 mid-set run to take a strong lead at 15-11. Louisville fought back to keep the set close, but after the Cards made it 18-20, Creighton rattled off three straight points to put Louisville at a significant disadvantage. Louisville could only win one more point and the final score in the first set was 25-19. 

The Cards got their feet under them a bit more in the second and held a 12-9 lead before the home crowd empowered the Jays to take another swipe at Louisville. Creighton used a 9-1 run to turn Louisville's lead into a precarious deficit. At 18-14, the Cards were staring down a 2-0 set score on the road heading into the halftime break. The two teams edged toward the 25-point marker for the end of the set, but Louisville used a short burst to tie it at 21, and things got awfully nervy from there. Louisville was the first to find a set-point opportunity at 24-23, but Creighton fought it off to earn their own at 26-25. The Blue Jays missed their golden opportunity with a service error to put the Cards level. From there, Creighton wouldn't earn another set-point chance, but they fought off three more from Louisville before the Cards ultimately evened the match with a 31-29 second set win. 

The third saw Creighton build another moderate lead toward the middle of the set with the score at 12-6, but Louisville used a run from Chloe Chicoine at the service line, including an ace, to pull the set level at 12-all. Creighton continued their strong play at home by leading through the latter parts of the set, but a late service error gave Louisville the opportunity for another boom. A Nayelis Cabello (playing on her birthday) serving run pushed Louisville to a 23-19 lead. The teams traded points, putting Louisville in the driver's seat with four set-point opportunities. The Cards needed three of those, but another service error by Creighton gave Louisville the 2-1 lead with a 25-22 win. 

The fourth set was fairly tight for the majority, but it ultimately played out similarly to the first with the teams reversed. Louisville held the lead for most of the set, but never by more than a couple of points. Once the Cards stretched their lead to 20-16, it took the wind out of the Blue Jays' wings a bit. Creighton couldn't overcome the deficit, with the crowd becoming a bit more resigned with each passing point, and Louisville flipped the set one score with a 25-19 victory to win the match 3-1. 

Creighton was christening their new Taraflex floor in Sokol Arena with the Blue Jay Invitational, so the Cards spoiled that party a bit. While the FS1 announcers praised it, and I certainly appreciated the detailing and concepts, I thought it was a bit distracting as a television viewer. Perhaps it was less so in person, but I digress. A few reviews last night also displayed the disparity between different facilities in collegiate volleyball. The fact that we can have high-definition line and net cameras for one match and be limited to three television camera views for reviews in the next is rough. It makes it difficult for coaches to make consistent challenge decisions and it's frustrating as a viewer. 

Louisville was led offensively last night by Payton Petersen. Petersen finished with 18 kills on .318 hitting and nearly had her second straight double-double with nine digs. Chloe Chicoine did pick up a double-double with 17 digs (led the team) to go alone with her 11 kills. Chicoine struggled early and had to dig herself out of a negative hitting percentage midway through the second set, but she finished with .111, so not terrible. Kalyssa Blackshear also had 11 kills and Cara Cresse had 14. 

Nayelis Cabello finished with three kills and two errors to go along with her 42 assists. She had two of Louisville's five aces (including one to win the second set) and picked up seven digs. Cabello also had a block assist and an incredible solo block against the Creighton middle blocker after a Louisville over pass. The birthday girl was everywhere, and the sophomore is showing that she is well-deserving of all the praise she has received and more. 

Defensively, Louisville wasn't able to be as effective on the block as Wednesday night. The Cards finished with just six total team blocks and were out-blocked by the Blue Jays (10). Creighton did a good job of tooling blocks, with a large number of their kills coming off of Louisville hands. The Jays actually outhit Louisville .279-.258. Kamden Schrand had 12 digs and Hannah Sherman led the team with three block assists. 

For Creighton, it's a tough result at home that moves the Jays to an unfortunate 3-4 record on the year. If there's any consolation for them, it's that all four losses have come against top-25 teams and they have picked up a win against a ranked opponent (Kansas). If they can pick up wins over UNI and Rice to finish the weekend, they'll likely remain ranked. Louisville moves to 5-1 on the season, and Creighton marks their first ranked victory of the year. Louisville is back in action against UNI at 7:30PM tonight. The match will be streamed on the Creighton Athletics YouTube channel. 

FH Falls Late to Northwestern

Louisville forced the #1 team in the country to concede their first goal of the season, but they were ultimately unable to close out the win against Northwestern in an overtime heartbreaker. The Cards withstood relentless pressure from the Wildcats and needed just 153 more seconds of scoreless hockey to notch a massive win. Louisville got a huge boost from an overturned goal by Northwestern late in the fourth, but they couldn't keep the NU offense at bay when they pulled the goalie with four minutes remaining. A goal at 57:27 tied the game, and the golden goal rule sealed Louisville's fate when Northwestern scored two minutes into overtime. 

Gigi Edwards took the honor of marring Northwestern's perfect clean sheet record when she scored an unassisted goal early in the second quarter. The goal came at Louisville's third time of asking in a flurry of shots. NU goalie Juliana Boon saved a shot from Lauren Masters and a rebound from Edwards before Edwards's second rebound attempt found the back of the cage. Those three shots on goal, which came in a span of seven seconds, were Louisville's only shots on target in the match. The Cards managed eight total shots, with six coming in that second quarter.

NU also had six shots in the second quarter, which followed four shots in the first and which they matched in the third. The Wildcats ended with 19 total shots and put 11 of them on target. Their fewest shots came in the fourth quarter. They tallied just one, it was on target, and it was the equalizing goal. Field hockey can be a brutal game. Emily Young was incredible for Louisville, as the defense faced seven penalty corners and she finished with nine saves. 

Northwestern is an incredible team, and a 2-1 result would be encouraging in other circumstances. It will likely still be viewed positively when it comes time to review resumes, but being less than three minutes away from a 1-0 win over the top-ranked squad takes just about all of the shine off of a quality loss. 

The Cards get no respite from tough competition as they'll face the 15th-ranked Hawkeyes of Iowa at 1:30 tomorrow. The match in Trager Stadium will be streamed on ACC Network Extra. 

No CCRHP This Week

With hosts scattered about, we're taking the week off from the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast. We should be back next week, but we'll let you know if that changes. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Take Care of Business in Openers -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Sweeps Auburn

Louisville volleyball brought the Auburn Tigers in as part of the 2025 Cardinal Classic and opened the season with a close but convincing win. It was a great way to get the Dan Meske Era underway, as the Cards dazzled a capacity crowd (including Charitie Luper, Anna DeBeer, and Elena Scott) with a sweep of Auburn, winning all three sets with a matching 25-21 score. 

It was a... less than stellar hitting day for both teams, as Auburn managed to break .100 in just the third set and finished with an .084 hitting percentage for the match. While Louisville had nearly double that (.162), that's not saying a whole lot. The big problem for the Cards was one that Jared mentioned could be an issue for this team: they have a fairly low point of attack. Here's a statement we haven't said about Louisville volleyball after many matches in recent years: the Cards were outblocked. Auburn picked up 11 compared to Louisville's six. That mean's nearly half of Louisville's 23 errors came off the block, and they were very dependent on self inflicted wounds from Auburn, who finished with 22 errors. 

Don't get me wrong, the Cards still got the hammer down on offense. Louisville finished with 45 kills, and 43 of those were assisted. They also had a decent serving day, finishing with five aces and just five errors. Auburn finished with just one ace and three errors, giving the Cards a +2 day at the service line. 

Offensively, and this may shock you, Louisville was paced by Cara Cresse and Chloe Chicoine, who each finished with 11 kills. Where it might actually get surprising is that those two were joined on 11 kills by freshman Kalyssa Blackshear. We have mentioned Blackshear a few times as a player to watch out for on the opposite side. Blackshear's 11 kills came on 22 attempts, and she, like Cresse, had just two errors. Those two paced the team in hitting percentage with a .409 from Blackshear and a .474 from Cresse. 

It looks like Louisville is set to run with one setter, as Nayelis Cabello finished with 31 assists, but Cabello will need to be careful not to depend too much on Chicoine. Blackshear's 22 attack attempts were second on the team in yesterday's match, but it wasn't close: Chicoine took 42 swings. She finished with 11 kills and nine errors. The next highest outside hitter was Payton Petersen, who hit 5/5 on 20 attempts. Ava Utterback was 0/1 on one attempt. Not ideal. Interestingly, we didn't see Alanna Bankston or Reese Robins at the outside or opposite hitter positions, respectively. We also didn't see Molly Wilson spell Cabello in any rotations. 

Defensively, I've already mentioned the blocks, but everyone for Louisville had to hit the floor. The Cards had no solo blocks, so it was good team play at the net, but they finished with 70 digs, making up for those balls that got past the block. Petersen led the way, playing strong out of the back row in full rotation despite not having the best offensive day, as she had 16 digs. Kamden Schrand finished with 15, and Hannah Kenny, who also cycled through as a libero had ten. Cabello showed why she only had 31 of Louisville's 43 assists as she had three block assists and 13 digs. Chicoine wrapped up the high numbers with nine digs, narrowly missing the double-double. Cabello (2), Petersen (2), and Kenny also had the aces for the Cards. 

As you might suspect based on the final scores, Louisville never really ran away with a set, somewhat missing that "boom" we've gotten used to. At the same time, they never really had a scare outside of the second set when they faced a 17-12 deficit. Though they would go on to outscore Auburn 13-4 over the remainder of the set, they had to do it largely through consistent pressure, not seeing a run of more than three points until taking the score from 20-20 to 24-20. 

Meske will surely have plenty to cover with the team regarding the net play, but at the end of the day, it's a sweep of a Power 4 team. The Cards have today off while Auburn and Morehead State play, but they'll be back in action on Sunday against the Eagles. The Cards get St. John's on Labor Day. 

Field Hockey Thumps Michigan State

Louisville field hockey opened their season with a fairly tough matchup against a Big Ten opponent in the Michigan State Spartans. In the run-up to the season, we talked a fair amount about how similar these two teams were last season. This didn't look like it would be a straightforward season opener for the Cards, but Justine Sowry's 2025 squad showed that they have been working on a few things since last year. One of the major hiccups in 2024 was an inability to score. Louisville showed no signs of that being an issue, at least early in the season, as they scored early and often against MSU on their way to a 6-1 victory. 

The Cards scored first, nearly ten minutes into the game, with senior Chloe Cuzzupe picking up her first goal of the season. She was assisted by Gigi Edwards. Two minutes later, Lauren Masters doubled Louisville's advantage with an unassisted goal, which would stand as the final goal of the first quarter. The second was similarly uneventful early, but Louisville earned a penalty corner with six minutes remaining in the half. Gracie Potter took the honors and sent the ball to Annabel Sep, who became Louisville's third goal scorer of the half. The Cards went into the break with a 3-0 lead. 

At halftime, Louisville's returning goal leader, Rylie Wollerton, must have decided that she was disappointed to not have gotten in on the action. Wollerton scored four minutes into the second half on an assist by Luciana Carpenter, who had just entered the game 30 seconds earlier. A minute later, Louisville conceded their second penalty corner of the half. The Michigan State shot attempt was blocked but corners breed corners and the Spartans converted on their next attempt. The onslaught continued, as MSU earned another corner a couple of minutes later, but Emily Young picked up a save to end the threat. 

Louisville returned the favor with five minutes left in the half, as Potter took Louisville's fourth corner attempt of the match. An earlier corner had seen Izzy Bianco have her shot blocked, so she worked the play a little differently this time. Bianco received the corner and touched it off to Wollerton, who fired in her second goal of the quarter. A minute and a half later, she completed her first career collegiate hat trick on an assist by Emily Eaton. The quarter ended 6-1, which was the final score of the game. Michigan State threatened with a pair of shots in the fourth, both saved by Young, and Wollerton missed out on her chance for a fourth by firing a penalty corner shot high. By the end of 60 minutes, I think both teams were ready to close this one out. 

Louisville opens the season with a big win, and they largely dominated Michigan State in every facet. The Cards had more shots in every quarter but the fourth, and even that was only 2-1. Louisville had 13 shots to MSU's six and put nine on frame compared to just four for MSU. Both teams had three saves and five corners, but Louisville converted two of their five while MSU could convert just one. We'd like to see that corner conversion rate move north of 50%, but 40% is a good starting spot. 

JUSTINE SOWRY POSTGAME

RYLIE WOLLERTON POSTGAME

You can see interviews with both Justine Sowry and Rylie Wollerton at the links above. As you might expect, they were pretty excited with the win. Louisville is back in action tomorrow against Ohio University at 1PM. If you don't make it out to Trager, the match will be available on ACC Network Extra. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

With Louisville football getting their season underway today, we'll be without Jared for the show, but Paulie, Daryl, and I will have plenty of joy and excitement to cover with all the fall sports now in action and rolling. You can check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Breakout Candidates for Volleyball -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Breakout Candidates for Volleyball

Jared checking back in this week as we played some musical chairs with coverage this week. All good for everyone here at Team Cardinal Couple. 

With things still pretty slow this summer, we continue to look forward to the upcoming fall seasons. Each season, we see players have breakout years and go well above and beyond what their expectations are. Star players and players that are preseason All-American or All-Conference do not qualify as they are already expected to have big years.

Payton Petersen

With the graduation of key players such as Anna DeBeer, Elena Scott, and Charitie Luper, there are plenty of key roles that need to be filled. Transfer Chloe Chicoine is already a top-tier player with high expectations and returners Cara Cresse and Nayelis Cabello already have preseason and postseason honors to their names, so we won't give them breakout contender marks.

Hannah Sherman has played a backseat role to Cresse and Phekran Kong in past years. PK has graduated so her biggest competition is Cresse. You often rotate a pair of middle blockers in a match so it is Sherman's time to step in and shine. She has shown glimpses of her raw strength in the past and she could be one of the top blockers in the ACC this year.

Hannah Kenny

Payton Petersen played a limited role last year as an outside hitter. She sat behind DeBeer, Luper, Sofia Maldonado Diaz, and Reese Robins, and often only played as a sub in blowout matches. When DeBeer went down, Petersen had a chance to show off what she is capable of and didn't let the fans down. She will see plenty of reps this year and can truly make a name for herself this year.

Hannah Kenny is a true freshman that could see valuable minutes. I think Kamden Schrand gets the nod at libero, but Kenny is similar to Scott in terms of size, versatility, and having a background as a setter in high school. If she cleans up her serve receive a little then she could be fighting for that libero spot by the end of the year.

Hannah Sherman

The Cards are two weeks away from their Red and Black Scrimmage at LN Arena on Friday 6:00pm ET.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball Falls; Volleyball Beats UK -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Can't Repeat Upset at UVA

After the big win on Thursday evening, Louisville looked to sneak the series from Virginia last night, but they'll have to wait until today if they want to finish the job. The Cavaliers scored first and poured it on late to break away and ultimately take an 8-2 victory. Louisville will get another chance at noon today. 

Louisville ran a bit of a different lineup yesterday, with Easton Lotus leading off but Char Lorenz following her instead of Chelsea Mack. Lotus bunted out before Lorenz had an infield single. Madison Pickens was next, and the box score gives her a single with Lorenz out at second, so I'm not quite sure what happened there. Sounds like a fielder's choice to me, but so it goes. Pickens stole second but Bri Despines ended the inning with another infield ground ball. Hey... at least the Cards were putting the bat on the ball. 

Brooke Gray got the start and UVA jumped on her quickly. A double down the left field line opened the inning and a sac bunt turned into a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. A steal put two in scoring position and a ground ball back to Gray allowed both runners to advance, scoring a run. The trail runner taking the base was what haunted, as the next ball was a sacrifice fly to center. A ground out ended the inning but the Cavs led 2-0. 

Louisville got those runs back in the third. Chelsea Mack, batting ninth, singled up the middle and advanced to second on a Lotus sacrifice bunt. Lorenz got her second infield single and Mack moved up to third. Lorenz then ran herself off the base paths with a caught stealing, which is an interesting choice in the situation. Either way, Pickens singled to score Mack and Despines singled to keep the two-out rally alive. Camryn Lookadoo then hit a sharp grounder to short, but the shortstop missed the throw to second, allowing Despines and Lookadoo to reach safely and allowing Pickens to score, unearned. The defense recovered, with the shortstop herself refielding the ball and throwing Despines out at third. Inning over, but the score was tied again. 

The tie remained to the bottom of the fourth when UVA again grabbed a leadoff double. Instead of a sac bunt turning into a single this time, it turned into an error when the ball wasn't caught cleanly at first. The unearned run was returned, and UVA regained the lead. A fielder's choice erased the lead runner (and the second potential unearned run), but a two-run homer made it 5-2. Gray recovered for a line out to make it two outs, but a single and a walk ended her day. Zabala came on in relief needing to just get one out, but a single to center was booted and two more unearned runs came in to score. A flyout ended the inning, but the lead had grown to 7-2. 

The Cards stranded six runners on base over the final three innings and were unable to cut into the lead. UVA added an insurance run they didn't need to set the final score at 8-2 in the bottom of the sixth. With two on and nobody out in the seventh, Louisville's chances ended on a strikeout, an infield fly, and a flyball to straightaway center. Ballgame. 

With Zabala having only thrown 1.1 innings yesterday and Sam Booe having come in to throw one of her own, it's anyone's guess who will take the start in the rubber match this afternoon. Louisville will need another strong offensive showing if they want to get a series upset. The game will air on ACC Network Extra. 

Meske Wins First Battle of the Bluegrass

Does a spring exhibition count as a true rivalry game? You bet it does. At least when we win. If we lose it doesn't count. Makes sense, right? Either way, the Cards took on the Cats in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena last night in their fourth and final spring match in the first season of the Dan Meske Era. Over 1,000 fans were on hand to watch the Cards take the 3-1 victory. We're still selling out the L&N FCU Arena in spring ball. I think the volleyball support is doing just fine. 

The Cards won 25-17, 20-25, 25-16, and 25-14 and were led by Payton Petersen and Reese Robins who each had eight kills. Defensively, the Cards were on fire. Kamden Schrand, officially wearing the libero jersey full time, finished with 22 digs, and Nayelis Cabello was close behind with 18. Cabello also contributed three blocks and six kills to go with her 24 assists. Petersen added four blocks and Robins had two. Those four will certainly be names we'll get used to hearing throughout the season. 

Other players that earned shoutouts from the official gocards writeup were Cara Cresse, Chloe Chicoine, Hannah Sherman, Kalyssa Blackshear, Ava Utterback, Hannah Kenny, and Alanna Bankston. There will be a lot of new names to get acquainted with after a fair amount of turnover from last season, but things appear to be just fine after Louisville went 4-0 during their spring season. Last night, the Cards also honored Elle Glock with a special senior day ceremony of her own after Glock decided to forego her final season of eligibility to graduate and depart UofL in May. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have three on hand today, as house projects keep Daryl away. Given the updates from last time she was on the show, we'll definitely let that slide. Join us as we talk softball, lacrosse, volleyball, and a little WBB. Check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case 

Volleyball Sweeps Chicago State in NCAA Opener -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Maldonado Diaz Leads in Louisville Romp

Louisville opened the NCAA Tournament last night in the KFC Yum! Center and welcomed Chicago State into what was likely the largest crowd the Cougars faced all season. It was Chicago State's first ever NCAA tournament appearance, and Louisville didn't welcome them to the party very gently. The Cards didn't necessarily play their cleanest match, but when all was said and done, Louisville outhit CSU .290 to .009 and won the match 25-10, 25-18, 25-13. 

Dani Busboom-Kelly got plenty of players tournament experience yesterday, with 13 Cardinals seeing the floor. Those players included Payton Peterson, who got the opportunity to play with her mom Bobbi scouting in the stands. Bobbi is the head coach of the Northern Iowa squad that Louisville will face today. Peterson played in one set and got two kills on four attempts while also picking up a dig. The 8th-seeded Panthers of UNI defeated Illinois 3-1. 

Louisville set the tone very early, winning the first seven points of the match. From there, it was pretty straightforward. Although the second set score is a lot closer, Louisville and CSU tied at 3-3 and the deficit was never smaller than one after that. CSU won three points in a row to bring the score to 12-11 at one point in the set, but Louisville won the next five to put the set fairly well in hand. Like the first, the Cards were all over the Cougars in the third, with Louisville jumping out to 10-1 lead. There is not a lot to dig into with the play-by-play, as there wasn't very much drama. 

Louisville was led offensively by Sofia Maldonado Diaz, although the usual suspects of Charitie Luper and Anna DeBeer were hot on her tail. Maldonado Diaz had nine kills and hit .368, while also adding a solo block and four block assists. She picked up an assist and two digs to go along with the offense. Luper also finished with nine kills, but hit just .273. Luper added an ace, a block assist, and five digs. DeBeer was relatively quiet outside of her hitting (seven kills; .235) as she registered no other stats except for five digs. 

Defensively, Louisville was stout, allowing just the .009 hitting I mentioned earlier. The Cards finished with ten blocks, compared to just four for CSU. Hannah Sherman was the blocking leader, as she finished with seven block assists. The Cards had just two solo blocks (PK had the second), so the defense was reading CSU very well. Louisville also allowed no aces, while the Cougars committed five serving errors. The serving game benefited Louisville decently, as they were net +6 in that category. Louisville had five aces and just four errors. 

Louisville will face a familiar foe this evening when they take on UNI. The Cards swept the Panthers earlier this season, but that win was actually their first in the historical series. The two teams have played in early season events on four occasions, but their last meeting prior to this season was in the 2017 NCAA tournament. You may remember that upset loss, a sweep at the hands of UNI in Minneapolis. All five matches in the series have been sweeps, coincidentally, with UNI taking wins in 1987, 1989, 2013, and 2017. Louisville will be looking to add to their list of victories in the head-to-head tonight. As DBK mentioned in her postgame comments, this Louisville team is nothing new to UNI. In addition to having played earlier this year, UNI's head coach has had plenty of reason to watch every Louisville match to this point. 

The Cards should be prepared for a major test. There haven't been many upsets in this year's tournament so far, but Missouri proved last night that the top-two seeds are not invincible. SMU fought off a sweep by winning the third set in their match, but the 7th-seeded Tigers ultimately won 3-1. The winner of tonight's match between Louisville and UNI will face Purdue in the next round. Purdue was the beneficiary of one of the few upsets that have happened. Loyola Chicago swept the 5th-seeded BYU Cougars before becoming the second team to be swept by the Boilermakers in the tournament. Should Louisville win, next week's match will be in Freedom Hall. 

Tonight's match gets underway at 6PM eastern time and will likely be available to watch on ESPN+. No official broadcast is listed yet. 

WBB Looks to Bounce Back in Big Matchup

After the shocking fourth quarter collapse against Oklahoma earlier this week, there's no rest for the weary when it comes to Louisville women's basketball. The Cards face another huge test tonight, this time on a neutral floor. Louisville will take on UConn in the Women's Champions Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Tonight's game is part of the first ever edition of the Women's Champions Classic, so I imagine there will be plenty of eyes on the game. 

UConn is currently ranked #2 in the country, taking seven first-place votes in last week's AP Poll. The Huskies have two ranked wins so far this season, having beaten UNC 69-58 on the road and Ole Miss 73-60 in the Bahamas. Apparently they've decided to do the thing where they're good no matter where they play again. 

Louisville will be looking for their first major win of the season, having come close in a number of big matchups. Tonight's game will air on FOX and is scheduled for 9PM. With the event styled the way it is, tipoff will be dependent on the first game, which features Tennessee and Iowa. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Daryl and I are out this week, but the three stooges remaining hosts will have plenty to talk about. Jeff will be buzzing to talk about exciting volleyball, and I'm sure Jared and Paulie will be thrilled to give him the floor and ignore the WBB midweek game. You can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Lots of Volleyball News -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville volleyball seemed to have good news after good news pour in yesterday. Between climbing to #2 in the rankings, Claire Chaussee being named ACC Player of the Week, and a new commit to the program, Louisville spent much of the day smiling.

Cards Climb to #2 in AVCA Poll

Following a week highlighted by two ranked wins on the road, Louisville volleyball moved up a spot to #2 in the latest AVCA poll. The Cards traveled to Kentucky Wednesday night to win a five-set thriller on ESPN that lasted three hours. They followed that by traveling to Stanford Saturday night to take the win in four sets.

The pair of wins helped the Cards improve to 9-1 on the year as they prepare for their 18-match ACC schedule.

They'll start the ACC slate by traveling to Miami and Florida State this weekend before returning home to close out September and open up October to host Clemson and Georgia Tech.

Claire Chaussee Named ACC Player of the Week

Super senior Claire Chaussee was named the ACC Player of the Week following a strong showing against Kentucky and Stanford. Chaussee is the first Cardinal to earn the honor this season.

Against UK, Chaussee had 16 kills while hitting .371. She also logged six digs and two blocks. Then against Stanford, she 19 kills and four digs while hitting .310. She now has 113 kills on the season while hitting .310.

Payton Petersen Verbals to Louisville Volleyball

(Petersen sends a missile across the net) 

She's an outside hitter in the Class of 2024 and players her high school volleyball at Dike-New Hartford High School in Dike, Iowa. The Cards beat out Creighton and Kansas State for the 6'0" star

She has a twin sister (Baylee) who is headed to Northern Iowa to play for their mom -- Bobbi, who is the head volleyball coach for the UNI Panthers.  

Payton was named to the all-state team as a freshman and sophomore and has amassed 1227 kills, 200 blocks and 905 digs in her playing time, with still a couple of months left for her in her junior season. Her Wolverines have won back-to-back Iowa 2A state titles and Payton was named all-tournament captain both years. 

She also has a set of older, twin sisters who played in college. 

Dike-New Hartford is 22-1 on the season so far and ranked #1 in Iowa 2A Volleyball. 

Have a great Tuesday!

Jared