Sunday Cardinal Couple - Volleyball in Bowling Green

Bowling Green Ohio, not the one down south in Kentucky.  Although we did find out that there is a link.  BG OH was named for the one in Kentucky by a postal worker that had worked delivering mail in the Kentucky version of Bowling Green.

Anyway, on to the Volleyball.

Hampton Inn Invitational

Oakland

(Photo by Bryan Eakin)

The Kordes Krewe played three matches over the weekend in the Hampton Inn Invitational hosted by Bowling Green State University.  The first match was a four setter vs Oakland (from outside Detroit, not the one east of San Fransisco).  The Oakland Grizzlies were playing with a few injuries.  One player was wearing sunglasses indoors, so I suspect a concussion there; while another was on crutches.  Meanwhile, one of their better Defensive Specialists, Alli Gutschow, was playing with a noticeable limp in her step.  Despite it all, The Grizzlies put up quite a fight and played with heart, and never gave up, as can be witnessed by the set scores: 25-17, 27-25, 29-31, 25-19.

On the Cardinal side of the net, all I can say is, "Give a warm welcome to Ms. Melanie McHenry."  Get used to that name, you're going to be hearing it a lot in the next four years of volleyball.  Melanie is one of our freshman, hailing from Speedway IN (the Speedway HS Sparkplugs...that needs to be mentioned just on the basis of mascot cleverness) and is a 6'2" outside hitter with multiple skills.  She plays full rotation and does well with digging and passing.  She also fires a pretty aggressive serve, an anecdote on that later.  McHenry tallied 24 points, with nine miscues for a .300 average.

The other double-digit offense went to Janelle Jenkins with 15 and a .333 average.  Tess Clark came just short of adding the extra digit with nine but did it with an efficient .412.  Coline Coessens put up an 8 on 22 swings for .273, and Jasmine Bennett picked up three and Kali Eaken snuck one in as the setter.

On the defensive side, double-doubles for McHenry and Jenkins with 11 and 10 digs respectively.  Molly Sauer had a typical (well, typical for her) 19.  Ashley Pettibone, mostly playing as a serving specialist got three,  Eaken got 10 as Oakland tried to target her to take her out of her setting game, and Gabbie Wiley picked up six.

The Cards are showing a great serving game early this season.  Jenkins got three aces, Eaken and Pettibone picked up two each, while Wiley and McHenry each got one.

VCU

(Photo by Bryan Eakin) 

The Cards swept VCU in the evening session, 25-22, 25-23, 25-23.

Former Cardinal, and Cardinal
Couple All-Sid/Syd/Szyd Team member, Sydney Cooper now plays for VCU, but seemed to be out with a knee injury.  The Rams played tough, but were overpowered by The Cards.

McHenry again had a great match tallying another double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs.  Her hitting percentage wasn't all that high, though, with a .167, but she did pick up a service ace.  Other offense came from about the same stable of hitters that we saw in Oakland.  Tess Clark chalked up eight kills, Janelle Jenkins got nine, and Coline Coessens got four.  The butterfly emerging from the cocoon in this match was Jasmine Bennett, though.  She connected with setters Lyndsay Palmer and Morgan Miller a number of times on a slide out to the right side for 10 kills that were devastating to the opposing defense.

On the defensive side of things, Sauer continues to make it hard to write about her.  How many different ways can you say that she played excellently and chalked up dig numbers well into double digits, 15 in this case.  In addition to McHenry's 10, Coessens dug 10, Jenkins just behind with 9.

Single aces for McHenry (getting used to this name yet?), Jenkins, Bennett, and Sauer.

Eaken didn't play this match.  After taking a bit of a hit in the match against Oakland, the coaches decided to hold her aside as a precaution for concussions.  Kali suffered a pretty severe concussion during pre-season, didn't play at the Red & Black scrimmage, and largely hadn't practiced in almost two weeks.  So the coaching staff decided to take a little extra precaution here.

BGSU

The last match of the Hampton Inn Invitational matched up the Cards vs the host BGSU.  After a couple of bonus volleyball sets in the Oakland match, and three close sets against VCU, the Cardinal faithful were ready for a nice easy match to get on the road.  It wasn't to be.

A five set affair, 15-25, 25-18, 25-22, 17-25, 15-11.  BGSU showed that they should rise above their 7-22 record from last year.  Although they're not off to as great of a start on that as they would've liked, now at 1-2 (they also lost to Oakland), they are a tough team that will start tallying some victories quickly.

Double-doubles in this one?  Yup, there's that McHenry name again, joined by Jenkins again.  15 kills and 12 digs for Melanie, and double 11s for Jenkins.  Tess Clark almost got into double digits once again with nine, but an impressive .444 average.  It turns out this Jasmine Bennett upstart can play pretty well, too.  Give her 11 kills and a stellar .529 average.  Morgan Miller came in off the bench in a hitting role in this match with Kali back at setter.  She barely played in the first set, but still tallied 13 kills in the match with a solid seven digs as well.

On defense, in addition to the 12 and 11 for McHenry and Jenkins, Molly Sauer had a bit of an off match as she "only" tied for the team lead with 12 digs.  She did also pick up two service aces, to help the cause.

Speaking of aces, though, let's go back to McHenry once again.  Four service aces for the freshman and I have to describe one because it was particularly awesome.  Late in the 5th set, the score was about 13-10.  McHenry backs up to serve, right in front of the healthily populated BGSU student section (props to the BGSU students for showing up to support their team).  The students start chanting "FRESHMAN" at McHenry.  In response, she fires a hard serve that clears the net by only about an inch, targeted directly at BGSU's libero.  A shank pass that went out of bounds and the student section was no longer a factor.

Active Ankle Challenge

The Cards are in action against this weekend for the Active Ankle Challenge.  There is a venue
change for this event as it is moving down the KFC Yum! Center downtown thanks to a cancellation of an event at the downtown arena.

If you are a ticket holder, you should have received an email concerning how tickets will be handled for this, but if not, here's the summary.

If you have season tickets for the matches at the KFC Yum! Center, you will be sent tickets for these matches at no extra cost, and they will be your usual season ticket seat locations.  If you have season tickets for the matches at Cardinal Arena, which was to include the Active Ankle Challenge, you will be refunded for the cost of those tickets AND be sent tickets for the matches in the KFC Yum! Center at no cost.  Obviously, if you have season tickets to both, they will be your normal seats as mentioned above, otherwise, they will be the best available seats.

If you have purchased single match tickets to the Active Ankle Challenge matches at Cardinal Arena, those cost of those tickets will be refunded AND you will be sent best available tickets to the KFC Yum! Center matches at no extra cost.

Tickets will be mailed to the address on record for your account.  If you have purchased a parking pass for the KFC Yum! Center matches, alas it will not be usable for this event.

Kudos to the UofL Athletic Department for the stepping up with the upgrade for the venue for this coming weekend, and the generous handling of the ticket upgrades for ticket holders.


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THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

In case you missed the live broadcast....you can catch the replay at the link below. Thanks to Case Hoskins for joining in, Worldwide via phone and LG&E for getting the power back on in time to do the show.

LINK:  
THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR 8/27/16

-- JMcA

Tuesday Cardinal Couple - All Syd/Sid Team

(WORLDWIDE JEFF MCADAMS REVEALS HIS "ALL SYD/SID TEAM" TODAY. I CAN'T WAIT FOR HIS "ALL MERCEDES TEAM" WITH MERCEDES BINNS AND MERCEDES RUSSELL...)

Paulie likes to talk about his all-name team, with Hall of Fame All-Namer Precious Person who was with the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team (she's transferring, no word as to where she has landed).  I thought I'd go with a bit more specific team, though.

I'm not sure what it is about the syllable "Syd" (or Sid or other variants), but it seems to have been popular 18-20 years ago.  So here is the Cardinal Couple/Worldwide All-Syd Team.

Brackemyre

We have to, of course, start with Cardinal Couple favorite Sydney Brackemyre.  Syd the Kyd is a 6'1" freshman forward for the women's basketball team out of Clinton Massie High School in Wilmington, OH.  Perhaps the youngest of the All-Syd Team, having arrived on campus this year as a 17 year old, Syd joins a packed house of talent with Jeff Walz, but is the only Syd on the team.  Don't despair for the Basketball Team, though, Sam seems to be the popular name on the hardwood.

Syd may also be the only UofL WBB player that has worn two sets of braces at one time on the team...a set on her teeth and a set on her knee after surgery. Thankfully, both have been removed now.

King

From the youngest, to the oldest.  Sydney King is a Redshirt Junior goalkeeper on the Field Hockey team
.

Still likely celebrating a program-changing victory, Sydney gets plenty of attention by being a veritable wall in front of the goal at Trager Stadium, including two stops in the win over top ranked UNC.  Field Hockey also sports just the one Syd, but they do have a couple of DuFours, twins Anna and Rene.

(Be sure to hear her post-game interview after defeating UNC @ CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO this Saturday)

Cooper

Sophomore Sydney Cooper graces the Volleyball team as a Middle Blocker out of Woodward Academy in Atlanta, GA.  At 6'0", she has the height and the hops.  She has plenty of competition in the middle though, a position where UofL Volleyball is deep and powerful.  Volleyball doesn't have any duplicate names, though I expect another Georgiafandis to join the team any day now.

Szydlowski, Melton and Benz

The mother load of Syd names is found on the Softball team, and they're all freshmen.

Alison Szydlowski

Up first is Alison Szydlowski, the "Szyd" is pronounced "Sid", and she uses "Sid" as her nickname, because....
of course she does.  A 5'5" infielder out of Seckman High School in Imperial MO.  Szydlowski clearly earns the Most Creatively Spelled superlative of the All-Syd team.

Next is Sidney Melton, the only Sid on the All-Syd team.  Also an infielder, Melton is a 5'7" infielder out of Bishop Hartley High School in Columbus, OH.

SIDNEY MELTON

Last, but certainly not least is Sydney Benz.  Yes, Sydney is an infielder as well.  Benz is 5'5" and hails from Carol Stream, IL, just outside of Chicago where she attended Glenbard North High School.  Benz played and contributed well in fall ball for Softball Sunday, taking a line drive to her left shoulder while playing first base, knocked down a line drive with her bare hand to make a play, and advanced in one of her at-bats by being hit by a pitch.  We here at The Cardinal Couple hope the bruises fade soon.

SYDNEY BENZ

In an effort to corner the market on duplicated names, Softball also sports two Brittanys, Sims and Duncan.  Sims is listed as a 5'2" junior outfielder but was, I believe, spotted playing second base Sunday.  Duncan is a 5'9" senior first baseman and slugger who joined the Cardinal squad last year as transfer from Valparaiso.

Other non-Syd Duplicate Names

While the Rowing squad doesn't have any Syds, they do have an interesting name duplicate.  We mentioned on the Cardinal Couple radio show in the spring the presence in the third varsity eight boat of Lauren and Nicole Ditommaso.  Nicole and Lauren are unaware of any family relation between them.


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FIELD HOCKEY TODAY

Looking for a little afternoon delight today? Why not head down to Trager Stadium and watch the UofL Field Hockey team in action against Ohio State? Game time is 3 p.m. The Cards are coming off the monumental upset of #1 UNC Saturday. The Cards will most certainly move up from their #14 ranking in the NCAA polls due to be released later today. Although Ohio State isn't currently ranked, they always play Louisville tough. Admission for Louisville Field Hockey is free. GO FLOCK!!!!

Ohio State
Tuesday, Sept. 23, Trager Stadium - 3 p.m.
Series Record: OSU leads 16-7
Last Meeting: Oct. 1, 2013: Louisville won 6-3 at Ohio State. Alyssa Voelmle had two goals and an assist and senior Erin Schneidtmiller added two goals to help lead then-No. 17 University of Louisville field hockey team to a 6-3 win over host Ohio State.
Scouting the Buckeyes: Ohio State (3-4) is coming off of a 9-1 win over Appalachian State. Prior to that, OSU fell 4-3 to No. 16 Michigan State in overtime in their Big Ten opener.
• The Buckeyes are led offensively by Maddy Humphrey who has 19 points (7G, 5A).
• OSU is coached by Anne Wilkinson who is in her 19th season at the helm.

Series Note:

In four of the last five meetings between Louisville and Ohio State, the game has been decided by one goal and has gone into overtime three times.

Last five meetings:

Oct. 14, 2009 - at Ohio State: Ohio State 2 - Louisville 1 (OT)

Sept. 8, 2008 - at Louisville: Ohio State 4 - Louisville 2 (2OT)

Oct. 4, 2011 - at Ohio State: Ohio State 2 - Louisville 1

Oct. 22, 2012 - at Louisville: Louisville 4 - Ohio State 3 (OT)

Oct. 1, 2013 - at Ohio State: Louisville 6 - Ohio State 3

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Louisville women's golf is hanging in there after the first day of competition in Colorado. Fore (or four) is the Cardinals' standing after 18 holes. 

TEAM STANDINGS (top five) 
1. Pepperdine - 284; 2. Tennessee - 285; 3. Campbell - 290; t-4. Louisville - 293; t-4. Denver - 293

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 
t-9. Laura Restrepo - 72; t-13. Katie Mitchell - 73; t-21. Katie Petrino - 74; t-21. Shannon Gramley - 74; t-43. Emily Haas - 77

jmca