Volleyball falls to Illinois

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Volleyball against the Illini

-Grieshaber finishes second

-Football Cards: Shoulda been...

Charlie Strong (pictured right) appears to be a bit disgruntled...maybe it was the pre-game meal? Stick with Panera Bread next time, coach.

We'll have some observations on the Cards 35-28 loss at Oregon State at the end of this column. Meanwhile, let's talk women's sports... (photo by H. Lindsey/Cardinal Sports.com)

The University of Louisville women's volleyball team gave a good effort yesterday against #5 Illinois but lost the match 22-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-18. Louisville looked ready to pull the upset early on, winning the first game by three...thanks to the play of Emily Juhl. The freshman had five kills and the Cards finished strong in the opener with three of the final four points.

Illinois regrouped, though, and swept the remaining three games. Besides Juhl, Lola Arslanbeckova, Anastasia Artemeva and Amanda Simmons played well for the Cards. Arslanbeckova and Artemeva finished with 12 kills each. Louisville (5-4) placed Simmons on the All-Tournament team.

Tough competition on both Friday and Saturday that will undoubtedly help the Cards as they prepare for the BIG EAST schedule. Leonid Yelin's young team has shown flashes of being a top 25 caliber squad and will only get better with each game...learning and improving as they've gone thru a murderous pre-conference slate of matches.

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Kim Grieshaber finished second in the Navy Invitational cross country event in Annapolis Saturday. The UofL women finished fifth out of the nine teams participating in the meet. Louisville's men's team did very well...finishing second...just three point back of Navy.

Grieshaber was only seven seconds behind the winner and the Cards placed three runners in the top eleven. The Cards return to action in two weeks...hosting the Greater Louisville Classic at Sawyer Park in eastern Jefferson County.

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A big time comeback got Louisville within seven points of the Oregon State Beavers in football action Saturday but it was the start of the game that actually did the Cards in. Two blown scoring opportunities in the first quarter had Cardinal fans watching the game at Tailgaters Bar and Restaurant ready to tear their hair out yesterday. A yard short on a fourth and two run by Bilal Powell deep in Beaver territory and a wacky sequence a few minutes later when Louisville QB Adam Froman appeared to run one in for a touchdown but had the ball poked out of his grasp as he reached the end zone. Out of bounds, a touchback and Oregon State ball at the 20.

I'm not Charlie Strong...nor would I ever pretend that have better judgement than him...but you take the field goal and get the lead during that first drive....in my opinion.

The Cards rolled back from a 21 point deficit early in the third quarter and had a chance to tie it late but Froman threw one right into the paws of a Beaver defensive back.

This very well may have been the toughest opponent Louisville will face this year. These Cards will be just fine and this writer can see UofL winning the next four.

As for Charlie...enough can't be said. A Steve Kragthorpe team would have thrown in the towel and gone thru the motions down by 21. This team, with this leader, was moving late in the game to send it to overtime...shocking the 45,000 in attendance.

Tom Cahill, in attendance at Tailgaters to view the televised match, summed it up perfectly when he said:

"Nobody gave Louisville a chance before the game. They should have won this thing at least by three. Louisville may have lost the game...but they won the hearts and minds of every Cardinal fan out there tonight...including me."