Basketball Gameday vs the Hokies - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Basketball Goes to Virginia Tech

at least the Cards don't have to deal with this guy...

It's another game later in the day thanks to TV, but the time is still a pleasant one and more TV coverage is always nice.

Unlike 9pm weekday starts, 4pm on a Sunday is quite civilized and the Cards will get some more ACC Network time vs Virginia Tech.

She wont be playing but she'll be there

The Hokies will be retiring Elizabeth Kitley's jersey, while I don't know how much Louisville fans necessarily want to celebrate her college career, I think we can celebrate that she's no longer playing at Virginia Tech!

Of course, VT is also without Kenny Brooks at the helm since his move over to Kentucky, but they are now led by Megan Duffy who spent her last five years building Marquette's program into an NCAA tournament team, and two years before that at Miami (OH).  She sported a 70% win rate in those seven years and is currently on a pace to equal that this season as well.

VT is 12-5 so far (.706) but struggling a little more in conference at 3-3.  Losses have come to Iowa, Michigan, Duke, Florida State, and Virginia in their most recent outing on Thursday.  Their best wins are all in conference to the likes of Miami, and Georgia Tech.

Rose blooming in Blacksburg

So who does VT turn to these days with Kitley having moved on?  They have four players that score at a double-digit clip, Carleigh Wenzel, Rose Micheaux, Matilda Ekh, and Carys Baker; ranging from just over 14 ppg to just over 11 ppg.  Lani White and Samyha Suffren fall just short of the 10 ppg mark.

In comparative stats, the team stays pretty even with their opponents in rebounds, but well outpaces them in assists (one mark of a well-coached team).  They are a disciplined team avoiding large numbers of fouls compared to their foes, but they aren't particularly aggressive on defense, getting the ball pilfered more often than they steal the ball from their opponent.  They do outblock their foes by a bit, tho, so taking well considered shots and moving the ball to get an open look will be important.

Most of their shooters are outside threats, will all the above mentioned players hitting in the 30% range with the exception of Micheaux and Suffren who just don't take many from beyond the arc at all, and White at the other end, who is the sharpshooter of the squad at 48%.

As mentioned, the game is at 4pm on ACC Network (linear).  And I would suggest that you mentally prepare yourself for near-non-stop patter about Elizabeth Kitley.

More Volleyball

I promise, I will not single-handedly try to turn this into a Volleyball blog, but I do want to bring significant news items to attention.

Firstly, Sofia Maldonado Diaz, the brilliant right side hitter than joined us from Arizona has signed with a Romanian volleyball club to play professionally.  The club is the defending champions of their league, so she should be getting the opportunity to play with some high caliber teammates.  Our congratulations to Sofia!

Secondly, we got an announcement on Thursday of the startup of a new professional volleyball league in the US.  Yes, yet another one, because apparently we need four!

The new startup will be called "Major League Volleyball", a name that has been used before for a professional volleyball league, in the late 1980s.  The new organization claims $100+ million investment, which, honestly, is not that big for a professional sports league.  The Omaha Supernovas, currently a member of the Pro Volleyball Federation league will be one of the launch teams for MLV.  An ownership group for Sacramento has already been lined up as well.  The league is expecting to launch with 10+ teams, will apparently require teams to have home facilities that seat 10k+ fans, and are targeting teams in Nebraska, Wisconsin, California, Minnesota, Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, Kansas, Ohio and Washington.  Other than Omaha and Sacramento, no ownership groups have yet been identified.

Initial response within volleyball communities have been mixed at best, with many people questioning whether MLV will be able to distinguish itself from PVF, which uses the same franchise ownership model, as well as questioning whether they'll be able to deliver on their claims of attracting top level talent (80% of the USWNT plays in LOVB).

While I'm certainly excited about the possibility of a team here in Louisville (the likely location, when they talk about Kentucky), and am just generally positive about the growth of the sport, going from no professional volleyball to four leagues in just four years seems....a bit much?  An honestly, you can largely discount Athletes Unlimited with their odd-ball scoring system and small size and narrow that time frame down to two years and three leagues.

I rarely make absolute proclamations about the future, but I feel safe making one here.  There will be consolidation of these leagues in the future in some form or another.  To borrow from Howard Schnellenberger, the only variables are time and what form that consolidation takes.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We get all  kinds of opinions on what we do here at Cardinal couple

A show about basketball was what the CCRHP was yesterday.  We did have the usual meet and greet session at the beginning, and particularly welcomed Daryl, she of the new last name (Irwin), back from her brief hiatus for her nuptials and honeymoon.

Otherwise, it was pretty much all basketball for the hour with Case, Daryl, Paulie, and I.  It's a good time of year to dive into it and we start really getting into the heart of the conference season.

Available at your favorite podcast directly as always, you can find it directly at:

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/WBB-Streak-Continues-e2tln9m

-- 

JMcA

Track and Field Strong Again; McDonald's All-American Nominees -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Have Big Day at Bellarmine Invitational

While it is easy to think that the schools that aren't traditional powers in major team sports must not have top athletes in individual Olympic sports, that's often not the case. A great runner or thrower could come from anywhere. Louisville participated in the Bellarmine Invitational yesterday against athletes from EKU, WKU, NKU, Bellarmine, Midway, Spalding, and other small schools. The beauty of the Olympic events is that the mixed divisions don't matter. If you have a great throw, that will reflect whether you're in D1, D3, or NAIA. 

Louisville didn't have some of their biggest names participating this week, but they still had another good showing. The Cards picked up four wins, all on the women's side, and had a total of 10 podiums, with eight of those coming from the women's team. The big event of the day for Louisville was the triple jump. Anna Panenko and Sophia Day took first and second with a tied jump of 12.31m. That mark also put them in a tie for ninth in program history. Autumn Bell made it a podium sweep with a personal best 12.16m. 

Louisville had first and second in the women's weight throw as well, with Demaria King putting up a personal best in back-to-back meets. Carys Gossett took second. Maya Follmer had two wins for Louisville, setting a personal best in the 60m hurdles and tying a personal best in the high jump. Louisville's last women's podium was a second place for Lydia Stuart in the pole vault with, you guessed it, a personal best. Iliana Triantafyllou finished in fourth. 

Louisville will leave the friendly confines of the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center next week when they head to the Crossroads of America Invitational in Indianapolis. 

Mbugua Nominated as McD All-American

Louisville's incoming 2025 power forward, Grace Mbugua, was among the 805 boys and girls nominated for the McDonald's High School All-American Games. Mbugua, a 6'-5" senior from Danville Christian, is one of four girls from the state of Kentucky to be nominated. She is joined by Ciara Byars (George Rogers Clark), ZaKiya Johnson (Sacred Heart), and Leah Macy (Bethlehem). The official rosters of 24 will be announced at the end of the month. 

Mbugua climbed the ladder in the recruiting rankings last season as she posted the fifth best average scoring performance (26 ppg) in the state and led the state in rebounding (15.4). Officially, Mbugua finished second in the category, but the only player ahead of her (Abigail Brothers - 17.4) played only five games. Mbugua would have been chasing the state record for career rebounds (1,978) this season, as she entered with 1,527. However, she only returned from a knee repair surgery last week. In two games so far this season, she has 53 points and 28 rebounds. 

It would be great to see another future Cardinal in the game that has been a coming out party for so many in the past. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have four on board today as we trade Jared for Daryl. Our resident photographer will be out snapping pics of Louisville's fantastic Dirt Bowl-inspired uniforms at the men's game that starts at noon. We'll continue to sing the praises of Louisville's current win streak and look at some of the other news and notes of the week. You can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WBB outlasts Syracuse 72-62 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL



Hello readers! I am back and covering the joy of Louisville women’s athletics after a (what to me seemed like) a quick wedding and honeymoon.  I appreciate the guys handling my coverage and I am looking forward to some more exciting moments in 2025.  

Here's a fun photo from the wedding :D   

You can find Jared and Katy in there and our very special guest, Louie!! 
  

Paulie also invited me back to the Yum! Center for some ACC WBB action with the Syracuse Orange so lets jump right on in. 


WBB



The Cards are hot and on a 7 game winning streak as they beat the Cuse by ten and now hit the road for 3 games.   Six Cardinals finished in double figure scoring as Louisville outlasted Syracuse 72-62 and move to 13-5 on the season.  Nyla Harris went 5-11 for 10 points and 11 rebounds, Jayda Curry went 4-8 from 3 point range.

Photo: Jared Anderson

End of 1Q  Cards 21-15
FG %
10-18 55.6% Cards
5-11 45.5% Syracuse
Reb. 10-5 Cards
3-pt %
1-4 25% Cards
2-4 50% Syracuse

Georgia Woolley took it to basket (missed) and grabbed the defensive board to start the game.   She also sported a black eye and a large mouth piece so I quickly remembered how tough she plays.  She was all over the floor the entire night even though the stat sheet doesn't reflect as much. 

The Cardinals Ja’Leah Williams drove in to score and got fouled, she grossly missed the FT but followed up with a rebound and Roberts gets the second chance bucket to get the offense going.  Nyla Harris joins the scoring party and the Cards are off to a 6-0 start to the game. 

With about 5:30 on the clock in the first quarter, Jayda Curry hits the Cards first three pointer beyond the arc.  At the media timeout UofL had a 17-7 lead on the Orange.

Sophie Burrows controlled the offensive charge for Syracuse, going 4-4 for all of the Orange’s points before Woolley was finally able to convert for something making it a 19-12 game, Louisville.

A couple of UofL turnovers in the paint lead to more scoring opportunities for Syracuse as the clock ticked down its final minute.  The two TOs committed by Merissah Russell and Olivia Cochran got Walz visibly frustrated after too many pass attempts...leading to the easy steals by Syracuse.

End of 2Q 15-12 Syracuse

FG %
5-19 26.3% Cards
6-15 40% Syracuse
Reb. 12-11 Cards
3-pt %
1-5 20% Cards
0-3 0%. Syracuse

The Cards open the quarter with a missed 3 point attempt.  Coach Walz made it a point to mention in yesterday's press conference that this team is capable of making a lot of 3-point shots, as they do it often in practice but they started the game 1-6 from 3 point range.

Both teams were struggling to find any offensive rhythm, and the Cards went on a scoring drought for almost 4 minutes where they went 0-4. 

And after another turnover, the Orange put together a scoring run of 8 more points to tie it 23 all.

Then the Cards turned it up a notch and found themselves with a 33-26 cushion after an 8-0 run of their own when Imani berry hit a 3 pointer, prompting an eruption from the crowd heading into halftime. 


HALF 33-30


Photo: Jared Anderson


End of 3Q 26-21 Cards

FG %
11-15 73.3% Cards
9-17 52.9% Syracuse
Reb. 6 all
3-pt %
3-3 100% Cards
3-5 60% Syracuse



Syracuse started the scoring in the second half but the Cards took control scoring 7 straight points before Nyla Harris lost a shoe and played that way for about a minute and a half.  A Syracuse timeout would give her the opportunity to grab the 2nd shoe after she tossed it in Cardinal Couple’s direction.

The Cards went on a 5-5 run and extended the lead to 15 points 54-39 before another Syracuse timeout with just under 5 minutes on the clock.

It looked like the Cards were going to pull away before the Orange found a spark to close the quarter on a 12-5 run and bring the score to 59-51.  Jayda Curry went 3-3 from 3 in the quarter.  


End of 4Q

FG %
3-11 27.3% Cards
5-16 31.3% Syracuse
Reb.  12-7 Cards
3-pt %
0-0 0% Cards
1-4 25% Syracuse



The Louisville defense held Syracuse scoreless for more than 2 minutes to start the quarter but then went on their own scoring drought for more than 7 minutes going 0-8 along with 3 turnovers in that time.  With 2:30 to go, Syracuse pulled it within 5.

Olivia Cochran's trip to the line was productive extending the Cardinals lead with a much needed 2 points.  Louisville went 7-8 from the free throw line in the quarter.   

Photo: Jared Anderson

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Virginia Tech

Sunday January 19th

4pm ACCN

FRED REPORT

Freddie Freeman is today's "Fred" The Dodgers first baseman slugged 22 homers in 2024.


FREE THROWS -- Louisville went 9-12 which is good for 75%.  They came up big in the fourth quarter when they really needed some points and the Cards found a way to get to the line.  Capital F

REBOUNDING -- The Cardinals out rebounded the Orange 40-29 with Nyla Harris and Ja’Leah Williams leading the charge with 11 & 10 boards respectively.  Given Syracuse's height advantage, this was a large advantage for UofL.  CAPITAL R

EFFORT/EXECUTION --  The Cards established control to start the game and held on tight towards the end to continue the win streak.   It seems to me, this team is starting to have some fun.  Nyla Harris lost a shoe for several trips ups and down the court and a part of me thought maybe she felt some joy and excitement and some of the crowd giggled and cheered her through it.  Because of the silly turnovers due to passing it too many times when they should've taken the shot, I give it a lower case e 

DEFENSE --  Both teams went on some runs here and there, most notably at the end but it happened a couple times in the first half too.  Holding Woolley 1-5 from 3 point land was a huge factor in the victory.   The Orange still shot 42.4% in the game.... i give it a lower case d



FINAL FRED TALLY:   F_R_e_d


The Cards head to Virginia Tech next for a Sunday tilt, then to Virginia and SMU completes the three game road trip. Tje VT game could be a tough one...the Hokies are inviting Liz Kitley back to laud and praise her and the Gobblers are 12-5 on the season. 

POST GAME JEFF WALZ

POST GAME JA'LEAH WILLIAMS AND JAYDA CURRY



As always
Go Cards!

~Daryl 

Louisville Hosts Syracuse in ACC Match-Up -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Welcome Cuse to the Yum!

Photo by GoCards

Louisville women's basketball remains at home for the second of a two-game homestand and will welcome Syracuse to the KFC Yum! Center tonight. The Cards and Orange are slated for a 7:00pm tip-off and will air on ACCNX. It is Salute to Service night.

The Cards enter the game on a six-game win streak, most recently coming off an upset victory over ranked Georgia Tech. Louisville is 12-5 on the year and 5-1 in the ACC, putting them at second in the conference.

Photo by Jared

Syracuse brings a 7-9 record into the game. ACC play has proved difficult for the Orange as they are just 1-4 in conference play. Most recently, Syracuse took down Miami 66-61. Prior to that, they had lost three straight to SMU, Florida State, and Georgia Tech. 

The Orange have outscored opponents 1,176 (73.5 ppg) - 1,143 (71.4 ppg). They have been exceptional on the boards, outrebounding opponents by 3.5 rebounds per game. Georgia Woolley (15.3 ppg) and Kyra Wood (11.2 ppg) have been the top scorers this season and are the only two averaging double figures. Wood has also been the top rebounder with nearly seven boards per game.

Photo by Jared

Louisville is 20-8 all-time against Syracuse. In their most recent match-up last season, Syracuse hit a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining to earn the 73-72 win. Prior to that, the Cards had won eight straight. Louisville is 12-1 at home in the series.

Cardinal Couple plans to have in-person coverage for the game.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

DeBeer named CSC Academic ALL-AMERICAN OF THE YEAR for DI Volleyball -- Wednesday CARDINAL COUPLE

 DeBeer Honored by DI Volleyball

If you are a Louisville volleyball fan, we really don't need to tell you what Anna DeBeer has meant to Louisville Volleyball since she arrived on campus for the 2020 season. A product of the successful programs out of Louisville Assumption High School, DeBeer was named ACC Freshman of the year and made the AVCA All-Region First Team. 

But, there is a different side to DeBeer...one that doesn't get nearly enough recognition...and that is the academic side.  She graduated with a 3.92 GPA in health and human performance exercise science. 

She also made the first team all AVCA squad last year.  last season. As she works toward her Masters of Business Administration, she leaves her career on the college court behind as possibly one of the best ever volleyballers to don a UofL uniform. 

She was also drafted by the Indy Ignite squad in the PVF -- Professional volleyball Federation. She's still out of competition, recovering from the effects of her ankle injury in the 2024 Division I National Semifinal match against Pittsburgh.

On the Indy squad with her is teammate/libero Elena Scott, who played at Louisville with DeBeer for  several years. 

We have no doubt that once DeBeer recovers from the ankle injury, she going to do great things in the PVF, and you can be assured that the Cardinal Couple crew will be following her career and reporting on her successes here. We'll miss her on the Cardinals court, but know she's on her way to greater things. 

The Ignite was successful in their first outing of the season, defeating Orlando 3-1 in the Fishers Event Center,. They return to the center Thursday night to face Grand Rapids. 

paulie

WBB Climbs Conference Standings -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Sits at Second in ACC

When it comes to the point in the season where winning becomes crucial, no one does it better than Jeff Walz. Year after year, Walz and his staff have managed to have this Louisville team starting getting hot in conference play and peak right as tournament time begins. 

This year's Louisville team to appears to be trending in that direction... with a few speed bumps. This is the time of the season where we see the first increase in how well Louisville plays. We typically see another jump right about the time tournament time begins. 

Welcome back, Kasa!

Louisville women's basketball has won six straight with all but one of those coming after Christmas break. Not all of those wins have been easy. The Pitt game came down to the wire. Wake Forest took Louisville to overtime. Boston College led in the second half before the Cards pulled away. Georgia Tech tried to rally before the Cards slammed the door shut. But, Louisville won those games.

At the end of the day, a win is a win regardless if it's by one or one hundred. That's what this team is doing. They are finding ways to win.

Louisville currently sits alone in second place in the ACC at 5-1. Only Notre Dame is further ahead at 5-0. There are a handful of other one-loss teams including Duke, California, and NC State. The Wolfpack got the best of Louisville earlier this season. Four of Louisville's wins have come to teams in the ACC with four conference losses or more: Miami, Boston College, Pittsburgh, and Wake Forest. Louisville is playing much better now, than they did when NC State put their beating on them.

The toughest part of the conference schedule is yet to be played with teams like Notre Dame, Duke, and California on the horizon. Louisville will need to find ways to do so, but at least for now a 12-5 overall record and 5-1 mark in the ACC is a good start.

Updated ACC standings from ESPN

Caption This

Caption this picture in the comments below.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards WBB upsets #13 Georgia Tech 69-60 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 FRESHMEN LEAD WAY IN LOUISVILLE WIN

Louisville womens' basketball got a combined 29 points from freshmen Tajianna Roberts (16) and Ja'Leah Williams (13) and held off a late Georgia Tech charge to pick up  the nine point win in front of 8917 fans on a chilly Sunday in Louisville at the KFC YUM! Center.

UofL started slowly in the contest, giving up the first five points in the game, but closed the first quarter strong, on a 9-0 run over the final 3:26 to graB a five-point advantage at 18-13 after Williams had six of the Cards final eight points in the quarter. 

The Cards pushed the margin to 10 at 25-15 three and a half minutes into the second quarter on a Merissah Russell layup and closed the half on a 9-1 run over the final 4:27 to go in the locker room at halftime ahead 37-23. It was a 19-10 second quarter for Louisville and they shot 7-10 from the floor (70%) for the quarter and were at 60% (15-25) from the floor for the half while holding GT to just 40% (10-25) in the first 20 minutes.

 Louisville...with the 37-22 lead in a bit of a surprise to many. 

Walz played just eight players in the first half, Williams playing all twenty minutes and she led all scorers with nine points The Cards were dominating in points off turnovers (22-9), points in the paint (22-10) and in rebounds (16-13). It was a fairly clean half for the Cards in the foul department too, committing just four in the first half. 

The third quarter proved to be the scoring quarter for both squads...Georgia Tech going for 26 points while the Cards mustered 22 points. Those 48 points were just nine short of what was scored in the entire first half. The Yellow Jackets had chipped away at the Cards advantage to trail 59-49. Kara Dunn had come alive for the visitors, with a 14 point quarter on 6-6 shooting and the Cards looked to be in for a battle in the final ten minutes. 

Give Louisville credit for not letting the lead slip below eight in the first seven and a half minutes of period four. The Cards were able to shut down Dunn  in a low scoring quarter, (11-10 Georgia Tech)  and the Cards were making the most of the shot clock when they had possession of the ball. With 1:29 to play, Tech converted on 1-2 free throws to get the closest they had been at 65-60, but would fail to score the rest of the way.  Williams nailed a jumper for the Cards with 59 seconds to play, and a Harris layup off a steal made it 69-60 with 27 seconds to go. GT would miss a three, in the final shot of the game, and Louisville had picked up their fifth conference win in a thriller. 

Fred Durst is today's Fred. No limp biscutz on this Cardianls squad sunday

THE FRED REPORT

Free Throws -- The Cards were 8-12 from the charity stripe...Jayda Curry going 3-3. That's 66.7% and not quite at our letter-mandate of 70% so...NO LETTER

Rebounds -- Louisville won the battle of the boards 31-24 and guard Ja'Leah Williams led the way with seven. Four were on the offensive boards. That's good for a CAPITAL "R".

Effort/Execution - The Cards led in points off turnovers, points in the paint, shooting percentage and second chance points. They took the fight to the visitors all game long and didn't wilt when the pressure was applied in the final minutes, It's worth a CAPITAL "E". 

Defense-  Holding Tech to 60 was quite the accomplishment and Louisville tied Tech with steals (7) and forced GT into 16 turnovers. 50% shooting for Ga. Tech was a bit head-scratching, but when you shoot 53%, it's another 'win". Defense was huge in producing this win and I'll award a CAPITAL "D". 

FINAL FRED TALLY:   _-R-E-D

So, we saw a Louisville squad that has played increasingly better in the last month and a half get a tier one win over a foe that started the season 15-0. Williams and Roberts continue to do great things as freshmen for Louisville...and they'll see any more tough tests as this season progresses...but, this win should do wonders for the team's morale and spirits. six wins in a row now, and this heat check continues Thursday when Syracuse comes to town. 

GUESS WHO CAME BACK FOR  VISIT? KASA ROBINSON!!

PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON

POST GAME ROBERTS AND HARRIS

POST GAME WALZ

paulie

Basketball Faces a Big Test - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Georgia Tech Comes to Louisville

The Georgia Tech Ramblin Wreck comes to visit Louisville today, and honestly, it's impressive that a 1930 Model A could make the trip.  Of course it won't literally be here, and honestly I don't expect much of the GT student body to be here either.  (The Ramblin Wreck is officially the mascot of the GT student body, with Buzz the Yellowjacket being the mascot for the school and athletic teams.)

It's still early in the conference season, so the 18 team ACC still has lots of big ties between teams, and Georgia Tech is in one of the biggest ones at 3-1.  Louisville at 4-1 avoids being a part of that tie only by virtue of having played, and won, an extra game.

 

Today, however will be a test for the Cards.  With no quadrant one wins, though conversely no quadrant two, three, and four losses, Louisville will be looking for a statement win.

 

Some might be tempted to think that GT's main weapon is Nell Fortner's overwhelming southern drawl, but, of course, she is a very good coach and has built the Yellowjackets into a competitive squad.

 

They have three players that average in double digit points - Kara Dunn, Dani Carnegie, and Tonie Morgan, at about 16, 15, and 13 pts/game respectively.   But everyone on the team is at least a minimal scoring threat, with every player that has gotten on the court for GT scoring at a clip of at least two and a half points per game.

Between the lot of them, they add up to a high scoring offense, averaging almost 84 points per game, along with a couple of games that got into triple digits.  OK, one was an exhibition against a vastly inferior team, but the more recent one was against the defensively oriented Pitt team, who they beat 100-61.

The Cards will need a stiff defensive set to take slow this Georgia Tech offense, but they also will need to keep an eye no the passing lanes to keep the Buzzters from racking up the totals in the steals column.  GT pilfers the ball one and a half times as often as their opponents.  They have six players that average a steal or more every game, so make those passes crisp and make sure you're aware of where the defenders are.

The game today is a little bit later than typical Sunday games are as it has ACC Network linear coverage and will be in the 4pm time slot.

Indy Ignite Trip Report

After the CCRHP yesterday, I hit the road up to Indianapolis to go to the franchise debut of the Indy Ignite volleyball team in the Pro Volleyball Federation.  The Ignite is an expansion team this year, although the whole league only started play last year and all of the players last year were only on a one year contract, meaning everyone was a free agent in the off season, so the Ignite aren't at much of a disadvantage getting started.

As we covered the other day, two Cardinals are on the roster of the Ignite, Elena Scott and Anna DeBeer.  DeBeer is still recovering from her ankle injury suffered in the NCAA Semifinal match, but Scott did see the court and played a fair bit.  She didn't get to don the libero jersey, but did sub in to play as a DS in place of Kentucky alumna Azhani Tealer.

After a pretty disastrous first set, that the Orlando Valkyrie won 25-13, the Ignite came out looking like a different team and took the next three sets 25-19, 25-17, 25-21.  Scott played some in all four sets, got a couple of digs, and a trio of assists in error free play.

After the match, I did get to visit briefly with DeBeer and Scott.  The report from DeBeer, who was not dressed to play and was still in a boot, is that they are going to try to move her into wearing an ankle brace and starting to do some light practicing with the team, so that is definitely progress and is right in line with the 4-6 week estimate from just after the injury occurred (it's been just over three weeks so far).

The Ignite, who play their home matches at the brand new Fischer's Event Center, sold out the arena for their franchise opener.  Announced attendance was just north of 6,000.  The arena is listed with a capacity of 7,500, but that clearly is assuming a different seating configuration, likely including floor seating, as the 6,000 that were there last night filled every corner and seat, and more.  The energy in the crowd was good, and while only time will tell for sure, I think the Indy market has a hit on their hands.

A number of people of some interest to Louisville volleyball fans were also in attendance.  Two members of the Louisville coaching staff, Associate Head Coach Dan Meske was there with his wife and also his good friend John Klanac who is an Assistant Coach at Purdue.  Klanac's wife Carly serves as VP of Marketing and Game Day Experience for the Ignite.  Louisville Assistant Coach CC McGraw was there as well with her fiance'.  As you look down the baseline floor seats, next up was Louisville Football Head Coach Jeff Brohm.  Continuing down the row, you also saw Wisconsin's Head Coach Kelly Sheffield, and Kentucky's Head Coach Craig Skinner.

Most, if not all, of the 2025 Louisville team (that is on campus at this point) were in attendance as well, that includes Purdue transfers Chloe Chicoine, and incoming freshman Hannah Kenny.

Overall it was a great road trip and experience.  I can heartily recommend such an outing, particularly since it can be accomplished as a day trip up and back.

In other Louisville rooting interests in the PVF, the Columbus Fury, with Tori Stringer nee Dilfer, and Wilma Rivera were in action against the San Diego Mojo.  Rivera started all four sets with Stringer subbing in some during the 3rd and 4th as the Mojo went on to win the match 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-19, 25-22).

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

And finally, the CCRHP was on the air yesterday with a foursome.  Case, Jared, Paulie and myself covered the current state, with recaps and looks ahead, of WBB, and talked a bit about the emergence of pro volleyball with an outline of the (admittedly a bit messy) landscape of leagues and teams.

It's always a good time, and you can check it out at:

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/Basketball-Win-Streak-and-Pro-VolleyCards-e2tc6mc

-- 

JMcA

Yeast Runs Into Record Books -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Indoor Track and Field Seeing Success

The Cards are once again in the midst of competing in the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center for three straight events hosted by three different schools. This weekend, they're participating in UK's Rod McCravy Memorial Invitational. The event began in the snow yesterday and will wrap up starting today at 11am. 

Yesterday saw Louisville pick up eight individual top-five finishes, with two event wins. Surprisingly, Kiyah Yeast didn't pick up one of those top-five finishes, despite a 38.19 in the 300m that took almost two seconds off her personal best and beat the previous school record of 39.10 (Je'Nyia Burton; 2022) by almost a second. Yeast finished just 0.15s behind UCF's Twaniese Johnson in 5th and just 0.71s behind the winner, UK's Oneika McAnnuff.

The Cards' victories came from familiar names in Soledad Jean and Synclair Savage. Both won in the events you may expect, with Savage taking the win in the long jump with a 6.24m leap which would be top 5 in the country and best in the ACC before the meet. Jean, meanwhile, made her season debut in the high jump and cleared 1.75m in her victory. 

Other jumps saw Natalie Lark finish second in the pole vault with Paris Bond (pb for PB) coming home in fourth. On the track, McKenzie Bell ran a 1:33.24 in the 600m to place third and take the second fastest time in program history. Jalasia Lewis took fourth in the event with a 1:37.80. The last top five finisher in a final was Jade Whitfield, with a fifth place finish in the women's weight throw. Olivia Jenkins won her heat in the women's 60m sprint to advance to today's semifinals. 

Pro VolleyCards

As Jeff mentioned yesterday, a number of Cardinals were making their season or career debuts in professional volleyball last night. It went better for some than it did for others. 

In LOVB, Anna Hall and Claire Chaussee's Madison squad was swept by Austin. Hall had two kills on 11 attempts but led the team with three blocks. Chaussee had a bit more success offensively, though not a ton. She was 8/25 with three errors (two blocked). Austin outhit Madison .247 to .093. 

On the PVF side, Aiko Jones and the Atlanta Vibe fell in five sets to the Omaha Supernovas. Jones was hitting into a brick wall, unfortunately, with three blocked hits on four attack attempts. I promised it went well for someone, though, and that was Charitie Luper in the Vegas Thrill vs Grand Rapids Rise match. The Thrill won in reverse sweep fashion, and it was Luper leading the way. In a manner not unfamiliar to her, Luper led all hitters with 18 kills on 50 attempts. She had just three errors and two were blocked. She also added a block of her own, had 15 digs, and dropped in an ace. If you were curious whether Luper's dominance was limited to a Cardinal uniform... it isn't. 

As Jeff mentioned, the remainder of the pro cards will be in action tonight, with Elena Scott and Anna DeBeer playing for Indy and Tori Stringer and Wilma Rivera playing for Columbus. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

I'm back after a couple of weeks off, and we'll have four on the call today for the first time in a bit. We'll talk basketball, volleyball, and some odds and ends. Spring sports are just around the corner, and schedules are being released. You can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Basketball Eventually Beats Pitt - Friday Cardinal Couple

A Slow Start

What are the values of m and n on the line L1?

Substitution Happy Friday readers!  Jeff in today for Daryl who is trying to dig out of the craziness of final wedding plans, getting married, and honeymooning for a week in Vegas.  Congratulations Daryl, and I hope you can catch your breath soon.

The Cards basketball team escaped the snow to head northeast...that sounds weird to say it that way, but the previous winter storm did stay south of Pittsburgh and today's storm is expected to do mostly the same for them.  The team did seem to take a little while to warm up on the court, however, with a really slow shooting start marring what otherwise looked like a decent game of basketball.

 

UofL does take the win 65-56, but to borrow from Paul Harvey, stay tuned "For the rest of the story...".

The Cards started the game scoring only 21 points in the first half of play, though Pitt didn't do much better with 28.  Louisville shot 28.6% from the field in the first half, on 35 shots, though they went one for 15 from beyond the arc.

 

So it really looked like the game was going to be a "first to 40" type of outcome, but UofL did get the shooting in gear for the 2nd half, and particularly the 4th quarter where they hit almost 70% from the field, and over 55% from range, scoring more in that fourth of the game than in all of the first half.

 

Freshman Taj Roberts led the scoring, going 5-9 from range, plus another field goal for 17 points.  Three others hit that double-digit mark, Ja'Leah Williams with 11, and Nyla Harris and Jayda Curry with 10 each.

 

Add a couple of steals, and four rebounds for Roberts and she had herself, ultimately, a quite nice game.  Harris gathered up a very impressive eight rebounds, and Williams grabbed five.

 

Other than the shooting, the Cards looked like they were playing reasonably well and taking reasonable shots...for the most part anyway...but they just weren't falling at the beginning.  To be fair, though, that assessment does have an air of, "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?" given that the whole point of the game is ultimately to get the ball through the round bit of metal.

But the Cards do get it done in the end and return to another winter wonderland.  They'll take the court next at the KFC Yum! Center on Sunday at 4pm, hosting Georgia Tech.  Yes, that is a TV decided start time, with the competition being on the linear ACC Network.

FRED Report

(Dancing to the end, just like Fred Biletnikoff used to for the Raiders)

So let's take a look at the FRED report...

F - Free throws.  The Cards hit five of six free throws in the fourth quarter up in the 83% range.  Alas, with such a small sample size the one missed free throw in the first quarter drops the overall for the game to 5-7, which is 71.4%.  UofL got no attempts in the 2nd or 3rd quarter.  I do use the variant of the FRED report where 70-75% is a lower-case "f", but if you want to think it's an "F" particularly due to the great 4th quarter, I wouldn't blame you.

R - Rebounds.  Louisville out rebounded the Panthers, but not by a large margin, 38-35.  I feel like that's worthy of acknowledging, but not particularly celebrating, so we'll go with the lower case "r" here.

E - Execution/Effort.  I mean, what can you say, ultimately you've got to get the ball through the hoop.  The team did start doing so in the 4th quarter, but 28% for half of the game isn't great.  The total of 65 isn't exactly where we'd like to see the offensive production as well, so again I don't think we can award the full capital letter.  "e"

D - Defense.  11 steals, and a pair of blocks is decent, that beats Pitt's eight steals and matches their blocks.  Pitt did get more defensive rebounds, though that direct comparison is a little less relevant in my mind.  Again, I don't think we can award the full "D", here.  "d"

That results in f-r-e-d, which is at least consistent.

Pro Volleyball Leagues Get Underway

(with Jeff substituting today for Daryl, of course there is going to be volleyball...)

Both traditional pro volleyball leagues got underway this week.  Though no UofL rooting interests have yet taken the floor.

LOVB got started Wednesday in the first match ever for the league.  Salt Lake beat Atlanta in four sets.  Play continued with Houston taking five sets to dispatch Austin. 

 

PVF started last night with the Orlando Valkyries dispatching the San Diego Mojo in a sweep.

A quick rundown of Louisville alumnae in the leagues:

LOVB

:

LEAGUE ONE VOLLEYBALL 

Both Claire Chaussee and Anna "Stevie" Hall nee Stevenson play for the Madison squad.  They will start their campaign tonight vs Austin in Houston.  You can catch it on ESPN+ at 5:30.

PRO VOLLEYBALL FEDERATION

:

Aiko Jones is on the Atlanta Vibe squad and will start their season tonight at 8pm on Youtube vs the Omaha Supernovas

The whole setting squad for the Columbus Fury are Louisville alumnae, with Tori Stringer nee Dilfer joining Wilma Rivera on the team.

We've covered here that both Anna DeBeer and Elena Scott have joined the Indy Ignite for their inaugural season. They'll host Orlando for their season opener Saturday night in Fishers, Indiana.  First serve is at 7pm and can be watched on Youtube.  Depending on weather, I plan on making the drive up to see this one firsthand.  The event is officially sold out but they are selling "Standing Room Only" tickets still.

San Diego was slated to have Erin Fairs on their squad until she made the difficult decision earlier this week to hang up her knee pads and retire from competitive volleyball playing.  She has played significant roles with Athletes Unlimited in their volleyball efforts, so I wouldn't be surprised if she showed up in their front office in some role.

Lastly, Charitie Luper will be spicing things up for the Vegas Thrill.

The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast should return tomorrow. 11 a.m. .Line up to be annonced. 

--

JMcA