YELIN RETIRES...KORDES NEW VOLLEYBALL COACH

LEONID YELIN RETIRES AS UofL VOLLEYBALL
COACH...ANNE KORDES HIRED.


We had heard the news a couple of weeks back that changes could be in store for University of Louisville Volleyball. Today, it was announced that long time coach Leonid Yelin has retired as the head coach of the CARDS and St. Louis head coach Anne Kordes has accepted the job as Louisville's new skipper.
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If you're familiar with local volleyball in the Louisville area...the name Kordes is familiar to you. Anne's father, Ron, has coached on the high school and club level for several decades and is the coach at Assumption High School in Louisville. (Photo from slu.com)
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Anne played for her dad at the club and high school level before accepting a scholarship to Cincinnati. She was the Great Midwest Conference Newcomer of the Year in 1994 and was named second team All-Conference USA as a sophomore. She transferred to the University of Louisville after two years as a Bearcat.
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At Louisville, she led the Cards to the C-USA Tournament championship and NCAA Sweet Sixteen her senior year. She was also a three time C-USA All-Conference selection. After graduation, Anne began her coaching career in 1999 as an assistant at Indiana. A better opportunity quickly came along, though...and she accepted the top assistant job at Illinois. In six years at Illinois...they qualified for the NCAA Tournament three times and Sweet Sixteen twice.
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Anne accepted the head coaching job at St. Louis in 2004. In seven years there, her Billikens made three NCAA Tournament appearances, won four A-10 championships and she was selected A-10 Coach of the Year three times. Her teams has a combined league record of 59-1 over the last five years. Her lifetime record as a head coach is 146-75 (.661).
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The Louisville high school volleyball circuit is considered one of the most talented and competitive in the nation. Anne's experience with this area, the Kordes name recognition and her success and skill at developing young players will continue to create growth in the Cardinal Volleyball program for many years. Her work with youth national, select and high performance teams over the last ten years makes her an easily recognizable figure among the elite national high school programs also.
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Louisville has become a recognized power in Big East volleyball and has won the Big East Conference tournament three years in a row. They've come in second to Cincinnati in regular season play twice in a row. The 2010 Cards were a young team that improved greatly as the season progressed. Kordes will have stars Lola Arsanbeckova, Anastasia Artemeva, Emily Juhl, Taylor Brauneis, Gwen Rucker and Caitlin Welch among those in the returning class for 2011. Cardinal Arena is a great home advantage venue for Cardinal Volleyball and the 2012 NCAA Final Four Volleyball Championships will be held at the KFC YUM Center.
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Once again, Tom Jurich and Julie Hermann come through with a grand slam in a coaching hire. Or, in this case, should we say a game winning service ace...

Softball? It's only a month away...

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:.

-Softball soon. .

-Cards Big East top performers.

-Collen clouts Cats.

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With the wintry mix swirling around the Louisville area this morning, it's hard to think about the crack of a softball off an aluminum bat or sitting in the bleachers and wearing sunglasses in Ulmer Stadium...but UofL Softball gets underway on Feb.10th., and the first home game will be Feb. 25th. Sandy Pearsall (pictured right) has a powerhouse returning.

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Louisville will play 22 games at home this year and the BIG EAST Softball Tournament returns to Ulmer Stadium in May 2011. Besides conference foes Villanova, Seton Hall, Connecticut, and Providence visiting Louisville...the Cards will also play host to Kentucky, Michigan, WKU, SIUE, Boston University, Wright State and Miami (OH). They'll play in six tournaments or classics to begin the season...travelling to Austin, Tuscaloosa, Cookeville (TN), and San Diego in addition to hosting two tournaments in Ulmer.

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Louisville lists 19 players on the 2011 squad...five of them freshmen. Caralisa Connell is a pitcher/infielder who saw fall action for the Cards and is out of MTSU territory (Murfreesboro, TN.) Taner Fowler hails from Union County, KY. and is an infield player/catcher. Katie Keller, a infielder from Livermore, CA. hails from the west coast...as does utility player Hannah Klyohara...from Auburn, WA. Maggie Ruckenbrod, a catcher/infielder rounds out the freshman class and comes from St.Louis.

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The Cards lose Melissa Roth and Kristen Wadwell to graduation but return a powerful hitting lineup featuring Chelsea Bemis, Kristin Austin, Jennifer Esteban, Chelsea Jordan, Katelyn Mann, Christina Roesel, Jordan Trimble, Colby Wherry and Alicja Wolny. The Cards also bring back two experienced hurlers from 2010 in Tori Collins and Chelsea Leonard.

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CARDINAL COUPLE will endeavor to get a pre-season commentary and preview with head coach Pearsall before the season begins. She was a tough one to catch for commentary last year. Heck, we may even try to get in a little batting and fielding practice as well. I'm guessing Paul could still put one over the left field fence (as long as they're 'slow pitching' him...). The "big guy" was a fence clearer back in his prime...

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No surprise here...Louisville leads BIG EAST schools in home attendance for women's basketball. The LADY CARDS have drawn an average of 11,394 for the first seven home games...those numbers aided by 22,000+ crowds for Tennessee and UK. Connecticut is pulling in 9000+ after eight home appearances and Notre Dame is seeing crowds of 8400+ in the Purcell Pavillion after nine home games. No other BIG EAST squad is over 3000 in home attendance...although all but Georgetown and Providence have access to facilities that will handle 3000+. With the excellent season DePaul is having...would have figured Doug Bruno's Lady Blue Demons would be drawing more. There is a lot to in the 'Windy City', though...

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Shoni Schimmel was second in the Big East in assists thru 13 games and Monique Reid second in shooting percentage at 58.6%. Becky Burke second in three point shooting % at 42.6% and Sherrone Vails third in blocked shots for the season.

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Louisville is fifth in the BIG EAST in scoring...averaging 78.6 points per game. The LADY CARDS are fourth in field goal percentage (46.8%) and second in 3-point field goals made with 99 thru 13 games. They lead the BIG EAST in 3-point field goal percentage (37.4%). The Cards also have the most steals in the BIG EAST this year with 173 thru 13 games. Steal, shoot and score....sounds like a pretty good formula for wins....

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Ex UofL head coach Tom Collen must have watched the UofL vs. UK game video...his Arkansas Razorbacks defeated UK 78-67 last night in Fayetteville. Arkansas jumped out to a 35-27 halftime lead and won going away. Former (Louisville) Fairdale star C'eira Ricketts led the Hog charge with 19 points. # 25 Arkansas is 13-1 this season, defeating Oklahoma and losing only to Florida. The Hogs held UK to 28.4% shooting while going 50% from the field. Like Louisville, though...they had no answer for UK senior Victoria Dunlap. 'V.D.' punished Collen's crew for 26 points and 13 rebounds. Her 11-18 efforts from the charity stripe weren't spectacular...but UK outscored Arky 23-6 on 2nd chance points and had 10 steals. 42 total fouls in this one and whistle happy Dee Kanter was part of the officiating crew... along with Tina Napier. UK guard and (Louisville) Iroquois product A'dia Mathies fouled out after 13 points. Two losses in a row for Mattie Mitchell's Big Blue and a disappearance from the top 25...

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Collen has had a history of building great pre-conference records in his 4 years at Arkansas and then falling by the wayside in SEC play. The SEC West doesn't look all that powerful this year, though...and with LSU falling to South Carolina last night...the Hogs may finally have a plus .500 effort in the SEC. WE wonder if the LADY CARDS will ever schedule a home and away with Arkansas?

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Big East womens basketball...the in-fighting begins

WELCOME TO THURSDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE

(Hang your coat over there and sit and chat a spell)

-BIG EAST: Now it's for real

-Angel moving...Taurasi dumped.

The BIG EAST women's basketball teams have pretty much finished with their non-conference opponents and the battle for supremacy in the league is ahead. Two key match-ups Tuesday Night...where Louisville thumped a good St. John's team (we had them picked in our conference top 4) and Georgetown rolled past Syracuse. Wednesday night saw six games and eleven conference members in action. The results were pretty much according to form, except for PITTSBURGH losing to cross-town rival Duquense and CINCINNATI travelling to Tampa and knocking off SOUTH FLORIDA.

The 'ugly' ones...

#1 Connecticut was ready to take names and kick tail after the streak ended and poor Villanova was the unfortunate next opponent. The Wildcats saw their two game winning streak swept out of the gym with the trash as the Huskies applied a 46 point pasting to 'Nova.

Providence is another team that probably wished they could have cancelled travel plans...their trip to the Windy City for a game against #16 DePaul wasn't a stroll down Michigan Avenue...the Blue Demons are powerful, deep and talented...cooking the Friars 71-38.

Marquette put up some very impressive pre-conference numbers. You aren't in Kansas any more Golden Eagles...#13 Notre Dame makes the Milwaukee bunch 0-2 in the conference by beating Terri Mitchell's squad by 18.

Seton Hall figured hosting the #6 West Virginia Mountaineers couldn't be all that bad, could it? Guess what...it was pretty bad. The South Orange bunch got "hillbillied" at home by Liz Repella and the Eers 67-46.

So...what we have here....is the beginning of separation between the contenders and the also rans. We'll spell it out below...it can always change, of course...but indicators right now are pretty strong and indisputable.

Queens of the Castle:

1) UConn. 3-0 in the conference. The Notre Dame matchup Saturday in the Joyce Center will be a tough road test for the Huskies...but they should pass it. This one on CBS!

2) WVU. Would still like to see how they handle a tough opponent on the road...but for right now, you can't argue with undefeated. 2-0 in conference play...Cincy visits Saturday.

3) DePaul. Their beatdown of Stanford served as notice that the Blue Demons were a force. They take a road trip to Queens to play a revenge seeking St.John's Saturday. Trap game?

4) Notre Dame. Muffett has her Catholics serving mass....destruction. The Marquette win was impressive. UConn visits Saturday. Rut row...

5) Louisville. Forget the 11-5 overall. The Cards are 2-0 in conference, beat 3 top 25 teams this year and will pummel Pittsburgh Sunday. If they ever realize just how good they are...look out.

6) Georgetown. Despite the loss to Rutgers, the Hoyas won't have too many more "L" s scribbled next to their name this year. Marquette visits next. They may not like D.C...

Ladies in waiting:

7) St. John. Not ready to throw in the towel on Kim's bunch just yet...Louisville loss maybe a wake up call. We'll see how they handle DePaul Saturday in Little Louie Arena.

8) Syracuse. The loss to Georgetown could make Quentin's crew an angrier team. If that's possible. Brutal ball rears it's ugly head next hosting the woeful Seton Hall sailors.

9) Marquette. 0-2 a tough way to open up conference play. Losses to UConn and Notre Dame fully plausible, though. They'll beat up on some cream puffs down the road.

10) Rutgers. This isn't one of C.Viv's best teams...but they can lay it on people when motivated. They handle Villanova Saturday in the RAC.

Chambermaids:

11) USF. Had high hopes for this Florida bunch...but losses to Cincy and Nebraska indicate these Bulls may be just cows.

12) Pittsburgh. The loss to Duquense surprising. The prospects bleak. Louisville next and then a brief rest (Seton Hall) before Connecticut, Notre Dame and Syracuse. Get out the ADVIL...

13) Providence. If you're barely breaking .500 before conference play...and losing to teams like Hofstra...the BIG EAST in your headlights just can't be a good thing.

14) Villanova. They won the Fordham Holiday classic. It may be their biggest achievement of the year. A lot of BIG EAST member will treat these Wildcats like house kitties.

15) Cincinnati. Will give them due credit for upsetting USF in Tampa. We'll see how games against WVU, Rutgers, St. John's and Louisville go. I expect no more miracles...

16) Seton Hall. Someone has to finish last. Here's your candidate. Losses to Florida Gulf Coast and Drexel? They may go 0-16 in the BIG EAST...

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Former UofL great Angel Mc Coughtry is moving again. This time, she's headed to Turkey...to play for international Eurobasketball powerhouse FENERBACHE. The Turkish club bought her contract from Hungary's MKB Euroleasing Sopron...where McCoughtry was leading them to a 15-1 record, tops in the division. Most suspected the purchase was part of a larger change in the scenery for Fenerbache and today the Turkish squad announced that they had voided the contract of Diana Taurasi because of doping issues. Taurasi's "B" or second urine sample also tested positive for Nodafinil.

Nodafinil is a stimulant used to combat excessive daytime sleepiness, narcolepsy and jet lag. Although not a classic form of amphethimine...it is banned in most European federation leagues.

It is also used to produce weight loss and combat ADHD symptoms.

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Taurasi could face a two year ban from playing in international events...which would keep her off the 2012 United States Olympic team that will play in the London Olympics.

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McCoughtry joins WNBA star Penny Taylor on the Fenerbach squad. Taylor, an Austrailian...plays for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA.

Not just another win...

WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY @ 'DA COUPLE'
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-Commentary on win over St.John.
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-Inside the numbers.
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-Post game comments.
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(This just in....downgrade the Red 'Storm' to a probable depression. No unbrellas or rain bonnets needed. )

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Debbie Antonelli (in black, second right) tries to keep her eyes off Paul while calling the St. John vs. Louisville game on CBS College Sports. Actually, her tech (in the blue jeans) was much more friendly to the "common folk" (like Paul) and pretty cool to talk to. I guess if you have your choice of hugging Paul or Julie Herrmann...most people are going to go with 'Jules' every time. And, it beat the world out of having to sit next to Domine for 2 hours.
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Tuesday night's win over #18 over St. John in the KFC YUM Center was much more than a typical BIG EAST win for Louisville. It served notice to the rest of the league that the Lady Cards are dangerous, filled to the rim with playmakers and shooters and won't be an easy out for anybody. Pre-season pundits failed to take the gadzillion percent improvement in Louisville's guard play from last year. When Louisville throws Becky Burke, Shoni Schimmel and Tia Gibbs at you... you best be a little feared and scared. Charmaine Tay off the bench doesn't slow the hyper guard attack down one bit and when the 'blonde Yorkie' (Shelby Harper) gets her several minutes...you can expect the pace to reach an even more frenetic level.
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Jeff Walz stresses that this team needs to 'get to know each other' better as BIG EAST play continues. Without calling the coach wrong, the recognition level already looks pretty good. Shoni Schimmel could find Monique Reid with a 'spot on' pass in blinding, white out blizzard conditions.
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They both know where gunslinger Becky Burke is going to be...ready to pull the trigger and notch another trifecta up on her wrist band. Everybody looks for Keisha Hines low and the battling senior quickly finds the guards for outlet passes on the defensive boards. Tia Gibbs is the "wow" factor. You don't expect the sophomore to be eighteen places at once but every loose ball, transition break or defensive trap seems to include Gibbs in the mix.
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Gotta love the hard-nosed, quality minutes Asia Taylor gave the Cards last night when Walz went with the 'no center' look. Asia grabbed three big boards, did a shutdown job St. John's Amanda Burakioski and Centhya Hart and played with the best hustle and intensity we've seen out of her this year. Taylor may not be the scoring machine here at the 'Ville like she was in high school...but I sure wouldn't want her guarding me or blocking me out in the paint. Same for Keisha Hines. The vet knows the ropes when it comes to BIG EAST post play and she filled her role last night.
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This game is a joyous triumph for a team that has had its share of bumps and false starts in the 2010-11 season. The road doesn't get any easier for the next three...but I really like the chances of the Lady Cards in these upcoming fights. Pitt should be a solid win for the Cards in the YUM. Louisville may not grab the wins in South Bend or Hartford...but both teams will know and remember the 'take no prisoners' bunch from the 'Ville. Don't count them out.
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Louisville used a nine point advantage in the first half to secure an eight point win over St. John last night. The Cards actually outshot the Red Storm by 20 in the first half...going 15-38 and 39.5%. The Cards had an impressive three point night...10-24...even more impressive when you consider Schimmel was 1-6 from behind the arc. Gibbs and Burke went a combined 9-15 from three point land and Louisville was 50% in the second half from out deep.
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Despite the closeness in fouls (Louisville 20 - St.John 19) the Cards did a much better job at converting the free shots...going 80% for the game (12-15) compared to 16-23 shooting for the Red Storm and 69%. What you don't see here is that Louisville went 1-1 in the first twenty minutes and St. John 8-10. Read what you will into that...but the refs called 14 fouls in the first half and 25 in the final twenty minutes. Must have been new whistles...
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The Red Storm outscored Louisville in the paint 36-34 and captured points off of turnovers 17-13...despite having four more turnovers (23-19) than Louisville. The St. John bench produced 12 points (10 for Nadirah McKenith) and the Cards got 4 points off the bench (Vails and Tay 2 each). Walz used nine Cardinals in the contest...seven scoring...and Reid and Gibbs led in minutes played with 37 each. Walz was asked in the post game presser about not playing freshman Antonita Slaughter and actually looked bewildered for a brief few seconds. He went on to say that it was nothing personal or discipline related...he simply forgot to get her in the game and she'd probably come back and have a big game against Pitt. She's one of five that have the three point range down on the Cardinal roster.
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The freshman class accounted for 15 points and 14 assists last night. Those who played in the game against St. John's last year had 51 points and 17 rebounds. Transfer Tia Gibbs was the difference...with 18 points, 10 boards and 2 blocks. Bet she isn't missing Vandy one bit...
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Becky Burke doesn't like to be called 'soft' and although it is an admirable quality for most young women...it doesn't translate well out on the hardwood. After Walz got through preaching the point to her at halftime about her 'softness'... she drew two brutal charges in the final twenty minutes and will probably need that day after game massage from the training staff.
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A rare start for Monique Reid last night. It paid off for the Cards...Reid had seven points, three rebounds and three steals in 17 first half minutes. Walz made reference to the fact that Sherrone Vails wanted a chance to come off the bench last night and watch the flow of the game before going in.
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Good to see Candyce Bingham back on the sidelines in the YUM. Back from playing EuroBall in Luxembourg, the powerful forward is assisting with marketing duties for the Lady Cards the rest of the season. Bingham thinks she'll go back over to play again in Europe but ruled out any chance of returning to Luxembourg. "C.B." could teach this current group of Cardinals a thing or two about "toughness"...kind and gentle off the court but a fierce warrior once the whistle blew.
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Keep Kim Pemberton and her mom in your thoughts and prayers. Mom was recently diagnosed with congestive heart disease and hospital trips and treatment are a part of the future. Kim does a great job with the Lady Cards as assistant sports information director at UofL and any kind words or encouragement you can send her way during this tough stretch would be well offered and appreciated. Drop her a note if you can via the Sports Information Office at UofL...
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POST GAME WALZ:
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On Tia Gibbs:
"She played really, really well. Tia shoots the ball well, she always has but what I was most impressed with was how she took the ball off the dribble. She made a couple of pull up jump shots...we work on it everyday in practice. Three jump shots and a layup. We're finally starting to carryover what we work on everyday in practice into games. I was really pleased with offensively how well she played and she did a great job rebounding the basketball.
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On the win over St. John:
"I thought we played extremely well in the first half. We defended well. I thought we boxed out. We took care of the basketball. The only thing we didn't do very well is that we didn't convert turnovers. We turned them over 17 times in the first half and got only eight points. That's not a very good number. You really want a 1-1 ratio, so you want to get 17 points. We have to work on that and try to improve. They're (St. John's) a very talented team. We got them in foul trouble...but we had our own foul trouble, too. ....We've got to figure out how to make a stop in the last four minutes of a game. All we needed was one or two stops and the game is over...and with two minutes left we could be up 16 or 18. (The Cards led 71-61 with 2:04 left in the game.)
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On toughness:
"We did 'bull in the ring' ...what I call it... a couple of weeks ago. I put one player in the middle, I put four scout guys around and I call one of the scout guys name out and they run the kid over. It gives them toughness. And if our scout guys don't really hit them hard, I tell them that I'll run them over. We have to learn to take charges. I think (St. John's DaShena) Stevens picked up two fouls off of charges and that was really impressive.
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On the schedule ahead:
"Pitt's a good basketball team. There aren't really any bad basketball teams in our league. You've just got to be prepared to play and it's one game at a time. I told our kids to enjoy the win tonight. You gotta enjoy every win you get. Especially after coming off last year when we didn't enjoy too many."
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On whether Louisville should be ranked:
"We stubbed our toe a few times. We go to a very good Old Dominion to play and we lose. We miss some free throws. We don't box out. Then we go to Vegas and did not play very well our first two games. Marist is a fantastic team, though and Houston is very good, too. You can't expect to get ranked, though. when you don't take care of games you should have taken care of. I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about our next game."

Cards shoot past St. John's 84-73

-Burke's 21 help Lady Cards down #18 St. John's by eleven.

Getting double digit scoring from four players, Louisville grabbed the lead early in the first half and never relinquished it to the Red Storm in the KFC YUM! Center Tuesday night before 6500 rabid fans. The Cards (11-5) took a 8-7 lead at the 15:04 mark with a Burke three and steadily built on it throughout the first half to go in at halftime up 36-27. Burke drilled her third three with 2:02 remaining to end the scoring and had 13 first half points for the Lady Cards. The Cards took twenty more shots than the Red Storm in the first twenty minutes and scored 15 points from beyond the arc to overcome 50% St. John shooting and a severe disadvantage at the foul line. The Red Storm went 8-10 at the charity stripe in the first half and Louisville went 1-1.

Jeff Walz wanted more aggressive play out of Burke and the team in the final twenty minutes and the Cards responded...jumping out to a 45-31 lead after Red Storm forward Da'Shena Stevens went to the bench after her fourth foul at the 16:09 mark. St.John's would try to rally the rest of the half against the Cardinals and cut the lead to eight several times but Louisville found a way to keep the lead around double digits until a Eugeneia McPherson three capped a late 9-3 Red Storm run and made it 75-70 with 58 seconds to go in the game. Louisville rallied to score the next seven points, though...with four Schimmel free throws and a Monique Reid basket and free throw to go up 82-70 with 20 seconds left and secure the win.

Joining Burke in double figures was Monique Reid with 24 points and a rare start for the junior. Tia Gibbs had a double/double with 18 points and ten rebounds in 37 minutes and went 4-6 from three point range. Schimmel got a double/double also with 11 points and 11 assists.

Louisville created 23 turnovers in the contest but was only able to score 13 points off the miscues. The Cards did win the rebounding battle 34-32 and had 11 steals to St .John's 10.

St. John placed four players in double figures also...Shenneika Smith leading the way with 23. McPherson, with some late long range bombing, added 15. Stevens had 11 in twenty minutes and Nadirah McKenith finished with 10.

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We don't normally harp on officiating here at CARDINAL COUPLE but the refs absolutely blew the call on a driving Schimmel with 9:25 left in the final half and Louisville up 53-41. The basket was waved off and Schimmel charged with her fourth foul. It was the immaculate foul...because no one touched Schimmel and she didn't make contact with the St .John's player who dropped to the floor after the shot went in. The crowd wasn't too thrilled with the refs crew most of the evening...Keisha Hines fouled out with 3:08 to go in the game with another call that probably should have gone the other way.

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Schimmel only went 1-6 from the three point circle but the one she made was a doozy. Right before the questionable foul...Schimmel missed a three and went over to the bench seemingly dejected. Jeff Walz told her she better take the next open shot she was presented with or he'd pull her out of the game. When play resumed, Tia Gibbs fed Schimmel a pass and the freshman launched about a 28 footer that swished the net. A few more steps back and she would have been in the Evan Williams Bourbon Bar beneath section 115.

The guys describing the action...

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE PRESENTS:


-Kelch and Sanderford call it as they see it for Lady Cards.


-Sara Hammond rolling along for Rockcastle County

-From the Mailbag
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The University of Louisville Lady Cards women's basketball team goes into BIG EAST action tonight at 7 p.m. against #18 St. John's in the KFC YUM Center. Seven BIG EAST teams are ranked in the AP top 25 and (believe it or don't) Baylor has actually replaced UConn as #1 in a couple of polls we've seen.
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At courtside for this game, like they are for all Lady Cards games, will be Jim Kelch and Paul Sanderford. They handle the play-by-play and commentary for UofL Womens Basketball and can be heard on 790 AM / 101.7 FM WKRD "Cards Radio". They are Sonja's eyes and ears when she listens at work or if the Cards are on the road. I'd put the two up against anyone calling women's basketball in any venue for their knowledge, game call and interaction.
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Kelch began calling Lady Cards games when he was the radio voice for the Louisville Baseball AAA baseball team. Now in his 16th. year of UofL Lady Cardinal games, he is also now part of the Cincinnati Reds baseball broadcast team. Kelch calls a precise and detailed game, giving listeners a great "mind's eye" visual of where the players are on the court and ball movement.
He's not above making commentary on questionable calls or "no calls" at times during the action...but certainly isn't a "homer" nor does he show the biased and opinionated traits of a certain women's play by play announcer due east of Louisville. Professional, accurate and witty...Louisville is still lucky to have Kelch after his being "called up to the big leagues."
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Joining Kelch is Paul Sanderford as color commentator. In his first year of Cards Radio, Sanderford is certainly no stranger to women's college basketball. The former women's basketball head coach at Louisburg College, Western Kentucky and Nebraska complied a 453-189 record in his career and is widely considered one of the top 25 women's college basketball coaches of all time. Sanderford offers commentary from a coaches' point of view, providing excellent breakdowns of patterns, plays, trends and tendencies. He also interacts well with Kelch on air and like Kelch, isn't afraid to point out controversial on court happenings. Baseball may have been his first love...and he was an All-American catcher at Methodist University...but basketball and Louisville are very lucky he chose the "orange" ball sport.
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Adrienne Johnson resumes commentary duties when Sanderford can't make the games. The popular "A.J." handled the duties for several years with Kelch before assuming increased responsibility with UofL in the Marketing department and relinquishing her radio gig. A.J. will always be a favorite of ours at CARDINAL COUPLE...her skills on the high school. college and WNBA levels make her the perfect commentator from the player's aspect and you'll never meet a more friendly, caring and engaging person to be around....unless it's her mom.
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Cards on internet can be a dicey proposition. Even though the WKRD website has a "Listen Live" option...whenever we've tried it during away games...we've ended up getting the FOX SPORTS Radio show that is on the air. That was particularly distressing when Paul was in St.Pete and the Lady Cards were in Vegas...but thanks to some website scrambling...the action out there was available from the other school's networks and Gametracker. You'd think the nation's leader in women's basketball home attendance would be able to put up an easily accesible inernet feed for the fans out of WKRD's limited range. Shell out the $$$$, Tom.
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Occasionally, the Lady Cards get on TV. Tonight's game will be on CBS College Sports. WAZOO Network has done some TV broadcasts and Bob Valvano and Drew Deener normally handle those. Both are capable and they're like Oscar and Felix on the air...from what we've heard.
You determine which is who. Neither one can dunk. Deb Antonelli and some pretty boy in a suit usually do the Cards' apperances on CBS College Sports...
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University of Louisville women's basketball signee Sara Hammond recently led her Rockcastle County Rockets in the Greenville (TN) Ladies Classic tournament. They won first day action against South Greene (TN) 58-40...Hammond with 19 points. Next was North Greene (TN) and Hammond led the Rockets to a 66-37 win with 15 points. Mt. Juliet (TN) defeated Rockcastle County on the final day of play 60-47...holding Hammond to four points.
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Bill the Goat sends these submissions up from the communications center deep in the bowels of CARDINAL COUPLE Central:

CARDINAL COUPLE:
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Who do you think the most popular current Lady Card is? I like Monique Reid the best!
-Jessica (age 9) Louisville.
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Thanks for e-mailing Jessica! We have our favorites, too. We decided to run a poll over on the left side of the site to see what the readers think. Vote for as many as you like if you can't narrow it to just one.
-CC
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Paul and Sonja,
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What are you hearing about Becca Greenwell out of Owensboro Catholic? Cardinal?
-Donna
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The Catholic Church does not have women Cardinals. OK, all kidding aside...she's a top prospect in the 2013 class and Louisville, Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina have offered schollys. Tennessee, Purdue and Vandy are also showing marked interest. She hasn't named a favorite list yet. I'll see if high school recruiting guru Jody Demling has any more details next time I run into him.
-Paul
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Oh wise and honored bearers of the UofL women's sports chalice:

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Have you ever considered changing your site to a 'straight dot.com' instead of going thru Blogger? And, how about a little more men's basketball?
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-Jack
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Hiya, Jack!
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We HAVE considered the switch to a 'dot.com' venue and will probably buy the domain name for Cardinal Couple in the near future. It's a step we won't go into without a lot of thought and deliberation, though. We're non-profit right now and any expenses are easily covered by our sole advertiser...PANERA BREAD. Going to 'dot.com' costs...and we'd have to go with a different site engine probably and other things we're not really sure that we're ready to add to the soup yet. We experienced tremendous growth in 2010...almost 350,000 "hits" in a 12 month period and the baby has become a adolescent. BLOGGER has been good to us, we're comfortable with the posting, design and setting formats here, and we've never been knocked out of commission for several days because of 'hackers' that have invaded other 'dot.com' sites we know... In short, how big do we want to be? It's never been a prime directive here. We're tickled when people tell us they access our site or greet us in person. We never imagined this growth when we first started...
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As far as men's hoops, we do occasional pieces over here. Shannon of CD is always good about adding stuff and Paul does articles on the guys over at CARDINAL DOMINANCE and UOFL CARD GAME from time to time. Until we can get a media pass from Kenny Klein, though...we'll be content to watch the games from the corner of the YUM and cheer, have that occasional beer and skip the media buffet for nachos...
-Paul
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Red Storm headed to the 'Ville

MONDAY @ THE COUPLE:

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-Interesting BIG EAST facts

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-The "Ville" prepares for the Red Storm.

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Sky Lindsay, pictured right, is one of six returning St. John's players that saw significant minutes against Louisville last year in BIG EAST regular season play. The Red Storm blew the LADY CARDS out of the water in Queens last year 91-56.

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How many BIG EAST teams are still undefeated as we roll into 2011? WVU. At 14-0, the Lady Mountaineers have been rolling up the points against non-conference foes...including a 63-37 beatdown of Central Connecticut on Sunday. All 16 BIG EAST squads are .500 or better.

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The Maggie Dixon Classic in New York City's Madison Square Garden drew 15,232 to see UConn play Ohio State and Rutgers face Texas A&M. It was the second largest crowd to see women's basketball game in MSG history.

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#18 St. John's women's basketball team 'storms' into the 'Ville Tuesday night with an impressive 12-2 record. The Red Storm returns nine letter winners from last year's team and six key players from the win over Louisville last year.

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Shenneika Smith leads St. John with 14.7 ppg. and 7.2 rebounds. The 6'1" wing is equally dangerous from inside or out and put 21 points on the Cards last year.

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Da'Shena Stevens is another returnee from 2009-10 who is a major player for St. John. With an average of 12.7 ppg. and 7.3 boards, Stevens is another full court threat. Had 14 last year.

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Eugeneia McPherson is next in scoring with 11.0 a game. A quick and talented player that had a rough shooting night last year against Louisville...going 1-7 for only 2 points.

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Centhya Hart gets 9.2 a game for the Red Storm. She totaled four points in mop up minutes last year vs. the Cards.

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Nadirah McKenith adds to the Storm scoring attack with 7.1 ppg. She's a ball hawk. She had 12 points and 7 steals against the Lady Cards last time.

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Sky Lindsay, a quick and talented guard for St. John has totaled 6.3 ppg. for St. John this season. She got nine points in win over Louisville last year.

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St. John has some local talent returning to Louisville tomorrow also. Zakiyyah Shahid-Martin is a 6'2" freshman F/C that played for Louisville DuPont Manual last year. In limited action this year for the Red Storm, she's scored 3 points in nine games...with no starts.

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St. John's two losses have come on the road, against Kansas State early in the season and most recently at Maryland. The Cards and St. John share one opponent this year...St. John beating Marist in Kansas and Louisville losing to them in Las Vegas. St. John averages 67.2 points a game and limits opponents to 51.7 a contest. They're out rebounding foes 42.5 to 34.4 a game.

The Red Storm has 157 steals per event and opponents only 89. St. John has forced 274 turnovers this season and turned the ball over 213 times.

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St. John has reached the 80 point plateau twice this season, scored 70+ four times, 60+ five times and 50+ three times. Coached by Kim Barnes Arico, in her eighth year at the school, the Red Storm went 25-7 last season, 12-4 in regular BIG EAST play and made it to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. Barnes is 130-113 during her time at the Queens, NY. school. Louisville leads the all-time series 5-2 and Jeff Walz is 3-1 against St. John.

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Game time is 7 p.m. Tuesday. This one will be a tough one for Louisville and may show how far the Cards have come from last year. Monique Reid and Keisha Hines both had good games against the Red Storm (if any one can have a good game on the short side of a 91-56 final) but will need to improve from the 31 turnovers that plagued the Cards' guards last year...(Harper, Burke, Story and Radde.)

2011 1 2 SPANKIN' NEW! - The Ville’s King Kuric Gives Back - EXCLUSIVE From Steve Springer!

CD Photo - JR G/F Kyle Kuric

By Steve Springer

One of the quality attributes of a student-athlete is not only what the athlete does on the court or field but what he does going above and beyond athletics. Studying and trying to earn a degree is paramount, but also notoriety provided to these athletes through the exposure by the media extends their reach and endearment further into the community, especially through means of charitable actions and contributions. Now for the typical college student athlete, financial contributions are generally hard to come by, so appearances and elbow grease are sometimes just as meaningful, if not more, especially to little kids.

Cardinal junior Kyle Kuric is no stranger to the latter kind of contributions. Somehow, the Evansville, Indiana native finds a way to balance a business management major, an entrepreneurship minor, and an infamous Rick Pitino practice/conditioning regimen. Not only that, Kyle has found a way to squeeze in time to serve a community in which he is not a native, eagerly and generously donating his time and whatever energy he can possibly have left. Of the many organizations/activities that Kyle participates in, the one that fits the philanthropic category the best would be his dedication to the kids of the local community.

Kyle Kuric as Homecoming King

Kyle coaches youth basketball at a local church. Not your typical 10- or 12-year-olds, though. He chose to coach the little guys — 5-year-olds! I know from lots of personal experience how hard it is to try to teach something as complex and intricate as basketball to a group of riled up kindergarteners. You have to have more patience than actual basketball expertise. And most people grab their clipboards because they have a child on the team and feel obliged to help. Not this Cardinal. He has no kids but there he is week in and week out on Sundays working with those kids as if they were his own. He really loves to “give back with any time that I can”.

Kyle also shows great initiative beyond this, though. His desire to excel on the basketball court is paralleled by his thirst for helping the local youth. His newest endeavor is with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Kentuckiana program. This program is locally based and is all about “expanding the horizons through the power of one to one friendships.” Kyle is very excited about the future of this program and his involvement.

His humanitarian affections are not just limited to the Louisville community, however. His munificence can’t even be contained within this hemisphere. Over the summer, he and his sister, Katie (a fellow Cardinal athlete on the women’s soccer team) vacationed to Egypt. They knew some people there and he engaged in a basketball clinic. During off days, he visited a children’s cancer hospital in Cairo and handed out new sports equipment, hats, and t-shirts to sick little ones there. They were fascinated by this towering American basketball player and his generous spirit.

Kyle and his soccer-playing sister Katie, in Egypt

Back on campus, King Kyle is a very busy guy. He is engaged in numerous activities on campus with people his own age. The nickname was earned after being named Homecoming King this past fall. This has been quite the story around campus and even back with Coach Pitino. During UofL Basketball Media Day, The Godfather could be heard quipping, “Make way for The King!” and “Last chance for an interview with The King!”. When Hall of Famer Rick Pitino addresses you as “The King”, you know you’ve made it big time.

A few other activities:

* Honored as the Outstanding Sophmore Student award UofL’s 2010 Award Ceremony in May for academic excellence and community service
* Participates in the Leadership Academy for Student Government leaders
* Serves as a member of the Student Government Association
* Actively involved in the Student Athletic Advisory Committee
* Sits as the student representative for the UofL Athletic Association Board of Directors
* Serves as a math tutor for elementary kids

Somehow during his crazy schedule this amazing student athlete finds a way to escape the hectic machine that is life for a UofL basketball player and give back to his community, children, peers, and even his elders. The term “above and beyond” gets thrown around a lot when describing efforts of altruistic people like Kyle. This phrase could have been invented specifically for him. Not only does he sky and two-hand slam above the defense on the court, he elevates above the multitudinous responsibilities that accompany the life of a Big East basketball player.

Big East is coming, Cards ready?

WELCOME TO SUNDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE !
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- Cards resume BIG EAST play with two at home.


- Looking back at the 2009-10 BIG EAST journey

Louisville resumes the hunt for excellence in the BIG EAST Conference on Tuesday, Jan 4th. when St. John's comes to the YUM for a 7 p.m. contest. The Red Storm has done very little wrong so far this season and will be a test equal to those Louisville has had with Tennessee, Xavier and Kentucky. Shenneika Smith and DaShena Stevens lead the Red Storm blizzard and the two had a combined 35 points against the Lady Cards in a 91-56 romp last year in Queens, NY. After that, Pitt rolls in for a visit on Sunday, Jan. 9th. The Panthers are having a good pre-BIG EAST season and will be a tough out for Walz's crew. Two road games loom after that...at Notre Dame on Weds., Jan 12th. and a Saturday, Jan., 15th. stop at Connecticut.
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We're 'glass half full' people here at CARDINAL COUPLE...but seeing Louisville break .500 in this four game swing stretches even our optimistic viewpoints. Louisville went a combined 1-5 against these four last year...the only win coming against Pitt in the first game of the BIG EAST Tournament. Road wins against Notre Dame and UConn come very infrequently for anybody in college women's basketball and a 1-3 tally against these looks probable. Prove us wrong, LADY CARDS...
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The BIG EAST was a tough conference for the 2009-10 version of Jeff Walz's Cards. They got an early win in conference play, like this season, against Cincinnati and started the rest of the schedule with a 9-5 record. Compare that to the 10-5 mark so far this year. Louisville went 5-11 in the BIG EAST last year...3-5 in Freedom Hall and 2-6 on the road.
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After the 63-49 Lady Card win over Cincinnati on the road, the Cards travelled to DePaul and lost a close 76-70 decision in overtime to the Blue Demons. Reid had 21 in the loss. The Cards rallied with a 67-48 win over Providence in Freedom Hall...Becky Burke leading the way with 16 points. Next was Georgetown...and after the pre-game fight...the Cards fell on the road 60-56. Hines and Reid had 15 each.
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Notre Dame came to Louisville for the next game. Louisville got 23 from Reid and 16 from Burke but couldn't beat the Irish in a 78-60 final. The Cards stayed home as Syracuse visited next but couldn't defend Denny Crum Court successfully against the Orange, falling 64-58. Burke led all with 24. Once again at home, the Cards squeaked by Villanova 53-30. Reid leading the way with 20. Louisville took to the road after that and fell to WVU 72-66. Reid put 29 points in the books with the loss. Halfway thru the regular conference slate, the Cards were 3-5 in league play
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The Cards hosted Cincinnati to begin February and UC surprised with a 74-68 win. Reid with 19 and Burke with 18 in the disappointing loss. Brandie Radde suited up for the first time in the season for this one. Connecticut entered next and Louisville was schooled 84-38 by the eventual national champs. Louisville shot a pitiful 21.4% for the game. It was the last game Ashley Rainey would play in a Cardinal uniform. The road to Queens produced at 91-56 loss to St. John's. Monique Reid had 20 against the Red Storm. The losing streak went to five games at Pittsburgh with the Panthers on top of a 72-69 contest. Reid led the eight Cardinals on the trip with 20 points. Louisville was now 3-9 in BIG EAST play with four regular season games to go.
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The Cards broke the losing streak with a 77-61 win over Marquette in Freedom Hall. Reid's 26 led the way. The win streak continued in Jersey, as the LADY CARDS handled Seton Hall 72-49. Reid shone again with 28 points. South Florida topped the Cards next in Freedom Hall 63-60. Reid's 32 the lone bright spot in this one. The regular season ended in Piscataway, NJ and Rutgers thumped 'Ville 72-52. Rachel Story came off the bench to lead Louisville with 16 points.
The regular season finished with Louisville at 5-11 and playing the first day in the BIG EAST Tournament.
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Louisville did win in their first round of BIG EAST Tournament play over Pittsburgh 79-71. Reid went wild with 32 for the Cards. The next day ended the Cards tournament hopes, though, with a 89-52 loss at the hands of Notre Dame. Reid bowed out with 23 in the loss. Louisville stood at 14-17 overall and 5-11 in the BIG EAST.
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Louisville hosted a post season game in the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament against Bradley but fell behind early and fell 69-59 to the Braves. Reid's 27 weren't enough. The Cards never appeared interested in this one and ended 14-18 on the year and Walz's worst of his three seasons at Louisville.
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The experience learned by those players who made it to the end of the year last season will help as Louisville gets into conference play in 2011. Reid, Burke, Harper, Hines, Taylor, Story and Johnson. In looking at the games, Louisville lost eight of their eleven by six points or less. With stronger guard play and the addition of a top 5 recruiting class, the Cards should fare much better in the BIG EAST this year. Way too early to guess at a probable season outcome...but it wouldn't surprise us if the Cards managed a +.500 season in the BIG EAST. We'll give you a sweep of Cincy, home wins over Pitt, Rutgers and Seton Hall and road victories over Marquette, Villanova, USF and Providence. The Cards could contend with Georgetown in the YUM but could struggle against WVU, St. John's and DePaul in the palace by the Ohio. Syracuse on the road looks tough...as does UConn and Notre Dame. 9-7 against this lineup doesn't look too bad, realistically...
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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

SATURDAY 1/1/11

From all of us here at Cardinal Couple to ALL of you... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Paul insisted we put the first pic

here on the site. Dirty ol' man..

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(See Sonja's report on the annual UofL vs. UK party below)

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The second pic is a pretty good synopsis of how 2010 went...

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Some thoughts from the crew:

Paul (Giving up nothing this year)

Sonja (Happy New Year, readers!)

David Watson (Go CARDS in 2011)

Tommy Boy (May all your wagers be profitable..)

Bill the Goat (Haaaappyyy Neeww Yearrrrrr!!!!)

The Chimps (More egg nog!)

Tilly the Tour Guide (Best wishes and...SMILE!)

Tom da Bomb (I'm giving up bad beer in 2011.)

Poobah (May the blessings of this season be upon you...)

MArkyMArk (Oh...yeee-ahhh!)

Bonnay Saybel (Where's my luggage!)

Shannon CD (Where's the Tylenol?)

The interns, staff and government officials joining us today...Happy New Year!

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(Sonja used a tape recorder to capture her observations on the annual Uofl vs. UK basketball party that she attends pretty much every year. Paul was with her this year. Her report below.)

It's a party I go to every year. About 15-20 couples, equally divided most years, between Red and Blue fans...held at the home of a "mixed" couple (one is Red, the other Blue). Sometimes, usually in the "odd" or Rupp Years, Paul makes the party. This year he did because of new arrangements with season hoops tickets and sharing 1/2 the games with an old and dear friend.

It's darn early to be playing this thing...but we get the morning things done and we're in the host's driveway by 11:30 a.m. Crowd is rolling in, looks like we'll have about 40 people this year and Paul has brought plenty of champagne for the post game toast. There is a 'pick the final total points' jackpot up and going and I go in low...at 119. Paul is a bit higher...seeing this one at 146. There are guesses from 101 to 170. It's tip off time!

-We look good early and the Red in attendance is whooping and yelling. 12-6 and about 14 minutes left in the first half. Someone brought a delicious quiche and it's getting my attention as well.

-OK, that lead evaporated. Cats tie it after Knight knocks in a uncontested three. Nervous time.

-21-14. Cats on a 7-0 run. The Blue is in full voice here and I'm thinking maybe an egg-nog might help. DeAndre Liggins looks like he could use one, also. A little over seven minutes to go in the first half. Paul and his buddy Bob are sitting rather gloomily in their chairs...not speaking.

-Terrence Jennings got all of that dunk! 28-22 and everybody in this basement is yelling now. Ernie leading a CATS cheer. Bob countering with the CARDS version.

-35-24 at the half. Nothing worse that a bunch of gloating, smirking UK fans. Paul, Bob and Case discuss the Cardinal collapse in the final minutes. I start looking at a jewelry/home demonstration catalogue that one of the ladies here is having a party for next month. Second half team, right?

-Harrellson just hit a three? Good gracious! 44-26. Can someone on this team please guard him and could we get a score? Sixteen minutes to go...plenty of time, but UK definitely has "the mo" right now.

-Three by Knowles. At least he's scoring. The egg nog is getting refilled and Paul is in full Bud Select, ex-coach and drill sergeant mode...shouting out instructions to the Cardinals that are down by 15 and 13:50 left.

-Go Preston Go! Down to nine points now and a little less than half of the final half to go. Sounds loud in the KFC YUM! Center. It's definitely loud here at the party.

-Would someone guard Terrance Jones? A layup from him and Cats up 66-52 with about six minutes left. My 119 total points isn't going to be a winner.

-Well, that was ugly. 78-63 and a bunch of happy blue clad here at the party. Paul's point guess barely loses to Ernie...who had nailed 141 on the head. The customary congratulations, hugs and Paul breaks out the champagne and glasses for the annual toasts from a winner and a loser. Paul's is classic.

"Here's to the winners. They played with no fear. Enjoy it while you can. We'll get you next year!"

-It's 8:30 and I'm pretty much done for the day. Up too early,not enough sleep last night and way too full of food and beverage. Paul's upstairs playing poker with the boys (and winning rather handsomely I'm told). I'm here in the basement watching FSU and South Carolina. The UK fans and I finally have something in common. We both dislike Spurrier.

This party will roll on until midnight and beyond but I won't see it. Too early a start for this ol' gal and as we leave around 10 p.m....stuffed full of food.... Paul taking the keys because he stopped several hours ago and I'm still with beverage. Happy New Year ALL!

Paul and Sonja did indeed make it home safely and watched Dick Clark bring in 2011. They were asleep by 12:30.