Softball Key Returners and Departure -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

While the NCAA Softball Tournament moves onto the Super Regionals, we turn our focus to Louisville softball. The Cards did not make the NCAA Tournament, but we can start to look at who is departing and who should be returning.

Departures

Possibly the most common name across the departures is Ally Alexander. The Spencer County native spent all four seasons with the Cards and played a utility position role. Whether she was thrown in at shortstop, second, third, or catcher, Alexander quickly accepted that position. She posted a career high in batting average her final season.

Sam Booe is another common name. Hailing from less than two hours away in New Palestine, Ind., Booe was one of the go-to pitchers over the span of her career. In her later years, she provided a great deal of leadership to the pitching staff.

Maddi Grant saw her role increase in her final couple years, primarily playing first base. She also proved to be a strong hitter, consistently putting balls in the outfield.

Returners

Alyssa Zabala has been the ace almost since the moment she stepped foot on campus. As a rising senior, her role in the circle should not change and she will be able to mentor the other pitchers.

Easton Lotus had a healthy season this past year and proved to be her most successful yet, as she was one of the top two on the team in batting average and led the team in hits and runs scored. She will have her redshirt senior season left.

Bri Despines transferred in this past season and immediately assumed the starting catcher position. She was one of five players to hit over .300 while also limiting stolen base attempts by opponents. Despines was second on the team in rbis. She will have one season remaining.

Char Lorenz is the odd one out on the returners as she just completed her redshirt freshman season and has three years of eligibility remaining. Lorenz led the team in batting average, doubles, home runs, and rbis. 

With NIL and the transfer portal dominating college athletics, it would not be surprising to see a couple folks transfer out or transfer in. As of right now, no one has declared their intent to enter the portal.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

ACC Struggles in NCAA Regionals -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ACC Sends Less Than 50% of Teams to Supers

ACC Softball Logo

Happy Monday to our Cardinal Couple readers out there! Daryl had a big birthday yesterday and celebrated into the evening and asked me to help her out today. We certainly wish Daryl the happiest of birthdays!

The NCAA Softball Tournament was in full swing this past weekend with all 16 NCAA Regionals taking place. Despite having nine teams making the NCAA Tournament, the ACC did not fare so well with only two (maybe three as one game was still playing late last night) advancing to the NCAA Super Regionals.

Photo by ACC

5-seed Florida State won their first two games before Auburn got an upset in the winners bracket. Fortunately, it is double elimination so the Seminoles had a second chance and took down the Tigers in the winner-takes-all game. They outscored opponents 25-9 on the weekend.

11-seed Clemson also advanced , but only needed three games to do so. They went undefeated on the weekend with their final win coming against Kentucky. The Tigers outscored opponents 16-3.

14-seed Duke could not capitalize on hosting a Regional and fell to Georgia. The Blue Devils won their opening round in run-rule fashion before being bested by Georgia in their second game. Duke went on to win in the losers bracket by scoring eight runs in the eighth inning to pull off the win. They turned around beat Georgia easily to force the "if necessary" game. Duke scored both of their runs in the first inning and then had to go to extra innings, where the Bulldogs put up a three-spot in extra innings for the upset.

NCAA Softball Logo

Virginia was in the region with 8-seed South Carolina. Despite never facing the host Gamecocks, Virginia went 1-2 with both losses coming to North Florida by one run each.

Georgia Tech was in the region with 3-seed Florida. The Yellow Jackets went 0-2, falling to Florida Atlantic and Mercer.

North Carolina was in the region with 7-seed Tennessee. The Tar Heels went 0-2, losing to Ohio State and Miami (OH). I'm sure they would've preferred playing anyone from the other 49 states.

NCAA WCWS Logo

Virginia Tech was in the region with 15-seed Alabama and nearly came out of the weekend still playing. The opened with a dominating win over Belmont before losing to Alabama by one in the second round. They responded by run-ruling Belmont before falling to the Crimsons by one run in the finale.

California was in the region with 2-seed Oklahoma. After a 1-0 win over Omaha to start the weekend, the Bears were run-ruled by the Sooners the next game. Cal would shut out Omaha for a second time to force a rematch with Oklahoma, but had the same result with a run-rule defeat.

Stanford was in the region with 16-seed Oregon. As of 11:15pm ET last night, the winner-takes-all game was going on with the Cardinal holding a 7-3 lead. Stanford had a great start to the weekend by cruising past Binghamton and run-ruling host Oregon. The Ducks turned around with a run-rule victory themselves, forcing the "if necessary game". A Stanford win would place three ACC teams in the NCAA Super Regional round.

Photo by Jared

There was another exciting game going late into the night too, but this one did not involve an ACC team. 1-seed (top overall seed) Texas A&M was upset by Liberty 6-5, meaning the top overall seed did not advance to the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time since seeding became a thing in 2005.

There are a few teams of note that were playing in the NCAA Regionals that Louisville faced this season. The Cards fell to Liberty 9-4 in the second game of the season. Louisville defeated Florida Atlantic 4-0 while still down in Florida.

Of the ACC teams in the tournament, Louisville went 3-13 against them this year. The Cards were swept 0-3 by Virginia Tech and Duke. They went 1-2 against Florida State, North Carolina, and Virginia. The Cards and Cavaliers met again in the ACC Tournament with Virginia taking the walk-off win.

Photo by Jared

The Cards posted a strong non-conference result, but a 9-15 record in the ACC regular season proved to be the downfall this season. The addition of two new softball teams in Stanford and California has raised the level of the conference. The Cards will need to look at beefing up the roster and making some noise in the ACC next season in hopes to be back dancing in the tournament.

Happy Monday and Go Cards!

Jared

Women's Rowing with successes in ACC Championships -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 VARSITY EIGHT TAKES SECOND PLACE

We don't cover rowing very often here at Cardinal Couple, but follow their progress and are fans of the women who take to the boats and oars for the Cards. 

In the ACC championships, the Varsity Eight squad gave great effort and finished second in the finals, only two seconds behind winner North Carolina. The squad, consisting of Mackenna Billington, Grace Rodebaugh, Lexi Bernard, Bradlie Hicks, Madeline Giron, Gabriella Allen, Donata Eliz, Mary Noschang and Lauren Stedry. 

The Cards second Varsity Four finished third in a three way close finish between them. Miami and Clemson. They were one second behind Miami and four seconds behind Clemson.  The Varsity Four squad consisted of Angels Rodriguez, Stella Mancini, Bria Ragauckas and Neala Marshall. 

Overall, the Cards finish tenth out of the 12 teams participating.  Stanford won the championships in runaway fashion, with 132 points, The Cards amassed 39 points, in a scoring system I will probably never fully understand.  

 The contests were held at Lake Hartwell basically Clemson's home water.  

paulie

T&F at Outdoor ACC Championships -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Ulrich Among ACC Champs Again

It has been a strong weekend for Louisville at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. So far, the Cards have picked up two gold medals, while also bringing in a heap of other podiums entering the final day of the event. Jayden Ulrich defended her shot put title by winning the event with a throw that bested the remainder of the field by almost a meter. She has a chance to take the double again later today in the women's discus event. Ulrich will have her eyes on the pair of ACC golds as well as strong performances in the national meet in a few weeks. 

The men's team holds the other gold medal so far, with Paul Kallenberg taking the men's decathlon gold and Louisville getting a 1-2 finish with KJ Byrd finishing as the runner up. The men also got podiums in shot put and pole vault to sit in 3rd overall in the competition. 

The women's team is currently first overall. In addition to Ulrich's gold, Louisville has earned silver medals from Ashley Callahan (pole vault), Layla Roebke (3000m steeplechase), and Synclair Savage (long jump). Lucy Fellows finished third in the women's heptathlon, earning a personal best in four of the seven events along the way. Kiyah Yeast will contest two finals today, having earned school records in both the 200m and 100m sprints. She had the second-fastest qualifying time in the 200 and the third-fastest in the 100 in the prelim races.

Louisville will look to hold their lead with discus, high jump, and Yeast's sprints among their top point-scoring opportunities. Events begin at 2PM eastern and can be streamed on ACCNX. 

No Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

The CCRHP will take a brief hiatus over the next two weeks. Hosts are scattered to the wind this week and next week is Memorial Day Weekend. We're looking to return to action on May 31st, but we'll be sure to let you know if things change. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

CARDS In the Ville -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Good Friday morning readers   

My favorite day of the week is here again.  I am also excited to share some news from around campus this week.  

I got the chance to meet the new Associate head coach for Field Hockey, Mike Pallister the other day.  I helped him get onboarded and we got a chance to chat for a few minutes and I'm wishing them success on the pitch next season!   Let's get some more wins for the Cards !! 

I'm also really pumped and proud to share that I had been working on a fun fan project for the men's basketball coach, whose 50th birthday was yesterday.  An idea that came to me sometime last year turned into a crazy fun project where I was able to create and collect over 630 fan signatures and well wishes on 50 birthday CARDS to deliver to him for the big day.   It was such a fun engaging project for me and a lot of people who participated.  

And I'm happy to report that I did get a Thank You message back from coach this week, as well.  He seemed super appreciative and impressed so many people were able to contribute to the project.  

It was a really good Cardinal week if you ask me, have a great weekend all! 

As Always, 
Go Cards

~Daryl 

WSOC Players Stay Local for Summer -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Four Cards on Racing Louisville USLW Team 

Davy (20) and Huckaby (2)

Racing Louisville announced the roster for their 2025 USL W League season, and four Cardinals will spend their summer playing for the local club. The four Louisville players are among 18 Division I players on the 46-player roster, with 10 of those coming from Power 4 conferences. This season, Cards trading the red and black for lavender are Fina Davy, AG Gibson, Betsy Huckaby, and Grace Maddox. That marks an increase in UofL representation by one, Davy and Maddox join for the first time and Brooke Dardano graduated this past season. 

Other local schools represented include UK (Mallory Glass), EKU (Kaitlyn Rowlett), Breanna Dardano (Xavier; and yes, they're related), and Bellarmine. Callie McKinney's squad ties UofL for the largest non-Racing Academy contingent on the roster with four representatives of their own: Dakota Bramer, Sidney Rigsby, Shelby Smith, and Lucy von Stefenelli. 

Racing got their USL W season started with a bang yesterday evening on a beautiful night down at the Lynn Training Complex, beating the Dayton Dutch Lions by a whopping 9-0 scoreline. The win kicked off a 10-match schedule against local clubs. From now, Racing will play a home-and-away with Kings Hammer FC (Cincinnati/NKY), Lexington SC, Indy Eleven, and Dayton with one extra road game against Kings Hammer. The season is short, as the last game will be played on June 24th. 

Maddox (5), Gibson (24), and Avery Oergel

The UofL representatives on the team had a big game in last night's win, with Grace Maddox getting a start, playing all 90 minutes, and leading the team in scoring with three goals. Fina Davy also played all 90 and scored one goal. AG Gibson started and played 59 minutes, and Betsy Huckaby's 31 minutes make it seem as though Huckaby may have subbed on for Gibson. Neither of the two scored, and assists weren't tracked. 

Regardless of the outcome and the stats, Louisville players getting more touches on the ball, especially with one another, is extremely valuable. One of the biggest issues with the Cards last season was seeming disjointed, especially in the middle and final thirds. Having more opportunities to develop an on-field relationship can only help, considering that the four players on the Racing squad will likely make up the core of Louisville's attack in 2025. 

The team will head to Covington for their next game on Saturday before returning to Louisville against Lexington SC next Wednesday at 6PM. Home games are open to the public and free to attend. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Louisville Field Hockey adds assistant coach -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 MIKE PALLISTER JOINS JUSTINE SOWRY'S COACHING STAFF

In the offseason and summer break for sports at most DI schools, it is not too unusual to see coaching adjustments, additions and changes on staffs.  The term "coaching carousel" isn't too inappropriate, and, we have found out that Louisville field Hockey is picking up a new assistant coach to join Justine Sowry's staff in Mike Paliister.  

Sowry's squad had a rough ending to the 2024 season, finishing 6-11, going 1-7 in ACC play and losing eight of their final nine games. Mind you, these weren't blowouts, seven of those losses were by a mere one goal.

Maybe with that in mind, Sowry brought in a coach with a long and colorful history of success. Pallister was at Princeton from 2011-18, where he helped lead the Tigers to eight NCAA tournament apperances. When Pallister was at Long Island last season, his squad had a three game winning streak where they scored 14 goals. He spent two years at LIU, coming in from Syracuse, where he was an assistant. 

Pallister also coached his squad to a 3-0 win over Bellarmine last year. His squad in 2024 scored 34 goals in 17 games,. Pallister replaces Will Holt, who leaves the Cards for Maryland. 

To see Louisville Field Hockey under .500 and with just one conference win is a very sad situation. We hope things can be turned around.

We welcome Mike to Cardinals Field Hockey and hope he has a successful stay here with UofL. 

WBB Adds Late Signee -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Pick Up Post Player in Putra

Photo by Caledonia Gladiators

Jeff Walz wasn't quite finished building his roster for the 2025-2026 season. Louisville women's basketball announced the signing of Yevheniia (also spelled Yvheniia) Putra, a post player from Ukraine.

Putra is currently playing professionally overseas, which does not impact her NCAA eligibility. Most recently she was playing in Slovakia for MBK Ruzomberok. The 6'3 post player has played in 32 games, averaging 8.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game. She also has experience playing in FIBA for the Ukraine National Team.

Photo by Caledonia Gladiators

Putra adds depth at a position that has been slim for Louisville in recent seasons. She also has the potential to be another dominant post player alongside players such as Elif Istanbulluoglu and Isla Juffermans.

She joins two other incoming freshmen for the upcoming season in forward Grace Mugua and guard Peyton Bradley. The Cards also have three incoming transfers in forward Laura Ziegler, guard Reyna Scott, and guard/forward Skylar Jones.

Louisville isn't a program that rebuilds, they just reload. In the era of the transfer portal and NIL, massive roster changes are becoming more common and the Cards have been able to handle that fairly well.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

UofL athletics in photos -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good morning readers, 

Welcome to the new week and also the sports dead season.  As Paulie mentioned, we will keep our eyes out on transfers and off season news and notes from each women's athletic program at UofL.  

For now, lets start out the week with some UofL athletics in photos.  Below are some of my favs from our own, Jared Anderson. 

As always, 
Go Cards 
~Daryl 

 

And now, the summer hiatus -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 NOW THAT THE BALLS HAVE STOPPED BOUNCING

And, so, we now go into the time of year at Cardinal Couple, where there are no events to follow at the UofL campus, no scores to report and no games to cover. 

It is a time of year when we reflect on the upcoming season and what we think we happen with the fall sports. We are also likely to cover how some of the Cardinals women's athletes that are in the "pros" are doing with their particular teams and any changes that may occur in player personnel on the various UofL women's sports squad rosters. 

Obviously , we will keep out eyes open for transfers, both in and out of the program. Since I tend to follow women's basketball very close and am our designated courtside reporter for all home games, let start with Jeff Walz's program

Transfers out, so far, from the squad are Isela Arenas, Eseosa Imafidon and Nyla Harris. Arenas went to Auburn, Harris to UNC and we don't have an update on where Imafidon went. Losing Harris is the biggest blow to the squad. She averaged 8.6 points per game and started 23 times for the Cards last season, She played three seasons for Louisville. 

Transfer in...the Cards WBB squad has Reyna Scott, previously with Oklahoma coming in and Skylar Jones, from Arizona. Both are guards. Scott averaged 5.3 points a game and Jones averaged 10.7. Jones is listed at 6'6" and Scott is 5'10". 

The Cards projected starters for the 2025-26 season?  Experts seem to think Imani Berry will land the point guard spot and Taj Roberts will be the starting shoot guard. Skylar Jones and Mac Randolph should battle for the "3" spot and power forward looks to have Elif Istanbulloglu slotted to start there. The big question is, who will be the center? Isla Juffermans, the Aussie, at 6'4" looks to be the prime contender for the spot, but Anaya Hardy could get a long look. Incoming freshman Grace Mbugna might weave her way into a starting or strong supporting role on the front line as well. She's 6'5" out of Danville Christian Academy and chose Louisville over Kentucky, Baylor, Duke, Florida, LSU, NCST and West Virginia.

We'll certainly report more on the WBB squad's news and notes as they occur this summer and other items that could affect the Cards WBB squad. With longtime associate coach Steph Norman leaving the staff in April to join Arizona St. WBB, we will also monitor any additions to the staff.

Stay with Cardinal Couple all season long for out unmatched coverage in women's sports. 

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

To all our mother readers out there, a Happy Mothers Day to you!! If you still have a mother, please wish her a Happy Mothers Day and do something special for her. You never really miss them until they are gone. I think of my late mother daily and wish I could tell her the things I forgot to say, or didn't say enough... while she was still living. 

Remember...A mother's hug lasts long after she lets go. 

paulie