Starting lineups announced for Lady Cards vs. Lady Vols

FRIDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE

-The Vols are coming, the Vols are coming

-Dyer could be out several weeks

-Marra keys Cardinal MBB romp

-Those crazy Underdogs

-Volleyball on the road

Welcome to the Friday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE. Tonight it happens in the KFC YUM Arena, with the Tennessee Vols facing Jeff Walz's Lady Cards. The #4 Vols are searching for the right starting lineup and Pat Summitt (pictured here) will send Angie Bjorklund, Shekinna Stricken, Taber Spani, Alicia Manning and Glory Johnson out for the opening tip. It is a first attempt for Summitt to find a starting five out of her talented troop. Seeing them go "small" without 6'6" Kelley Cain or 6'4" Vicki Baugh getting the starting nod would appear that "the Pat" is looking for defense and mobility.

Jeff Walz will counter with Monique Reid, Tia Gibbs, Shoni Schimmel, Asia Taylor and Keisha Hines out as starters. Four out of the five have played against UT in the past and Schimmel, a freshman from Portland, Oregon, gets the nod at point guard.

Expect both teams to do quite a bit of rotation and substitution. Louisville will need some long range bombing from Becky Burke and Antonita Slaughter to keep UT honest on the defense.

Walz vs. Vols. The action starts at 7 p.m. and will be shown on a delayed basis on CBS College Sports at 9:30. ET. If you go, try to be in your seats early for the 6:45 p.m. ceremony for Angel McCoughtry. Her jersey will ascend to the rafters of the YUM. About as high as she used to jump in Freedom Hall....

CBS College Sports will also show the BIG EAST Soccer Tournament semifinal match between UofL and WVU at 7:30 p.m. If you're not in the YUM cheering on the Lady Cards tonight, give it a view...

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Freshman forward Shawnta Dyer suffered a fractured heel in the scrimmage against Marshall last weekend and will miss several weeks of action. She started against Indiana Wesleyan and was expected to see significant playing time this season. Hate to see the injury bug rear its head so early in the Lady Cards season. Dyer will either be put in a cast or have a pin inserted. Dyer's length and defense will be missed...at least this year there are others available to step it up in her absence. Get well soon, Shawnta'.

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A nice 96-54 exhibition win last night for the men's team against Kentucky Wesleyan. Mike Marra had the hot hand from outside...burying six of eight treys and finishing with a game high 22 points in only 20 minutes of court time. Peyton Siva (18 pts.) and Terrence Jennings (15 pts.) joined him in double figures. Preston Knowles sat out the contest with a thigh bruise.

Marra's deep range bombing and several electrifying dunks by Jennings got the 19,227 in the YUM fired up. Pitino played 12 and 11 scored, with George Goode failing to swish the hoop. Elisha Justice is a scrapper...nailed two of his three treys and showed some excellent passing and ball handling skills. The crowd, in typical Cardinal fashion, began the exodus at the half...with Louisville up 51-25. The road gets harder for Rick's guys Tuesday night with NCAA Tournament runner-up Butler in town.

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Volleyball is in Milwaukee tonight for a match against the Marquette Golden Eagles. Louisville can solidify their hold on 2nd place in the BIG EAST with a win tonight. The BIG EAST Volleyball tournament is a week away...in Pittsburgh. The Volley Cards will close out the regular season at Syracuse.

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Dave Jennings and Tony Vanetti are the AFTERNOON UNDERDOGS and they host a sports talk show on WKRD 790 AM/101.7 FM Monday thru Friday that starts at 3 p.m. It's usually a pretty good show and they get some great guests on there. They got a little off topic (and off color) yesterday in OUR opinion when talking about Lady Vols head coach Pat Summitt. References to her looking like Denny Crum and comments about her wearing a cheerleading outfit last year and the questionable innuendos surrounding that is pretty much sophomoric humor. Stick to sports, guys. There was a great comedy duo on Louisville radio years ago when Terry Meiners and Ron Clay hosted a morning show on WLRS and WQMF.

You ain't the second coming...boys.

Why does sports talk radio have to be all about the "shock and wow" effect these days? Van Vance never needed it and he was the best at it ever on the Louisville airwaves. The "Dogs" lost a good one when Adam Neft skipped town to do Columbus, OH. radio. Some say they haven't recovered his leaving. If you're going to talk about women's sports, try to put the events in a favorable light.

Why drag down the show's credibility with potty humor about the best coach in women's basketball? I guess that's what happens when you stick a classic rock disc jockey and 'has been' bowler on sports radio...

(Pictured above is former UofL men's basketball head coach Denny Crum. We see no resemblance between Denny and Pat. Maybe Jennings and Vanetti need glasses or lasix surgery...)

EPILOUGE

I ran into Tony Vanetti at the Tennessee game and told him of the displeasure his actions had given one of the co-owners of CARDINAL COUPLE. He pointed out that it had been a caller who made the original Crum reference. He did offer an apology, though. Vanetti is a class guy...even if he is a disc jockey. He also thinks Pat is an attractive woman. After a couple of glasses of wine....