CARDS WIN BIG EAST VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT

LOUISVILLE WINS BIG EAST VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT

-#2 seed Louisville sweeps #1 Cincinnati in 3 sets.

-Men's soccer advances in NCAA

-Swimming results from Purdue

-Angel update in Hungary



The University of Louisville Volleyball team won the BIG EAST Tournament for the third straight year in a row Sunday afternoon...taking down top seed Cincinnati 25-20, 25-20, 25-15 in Pittsburgh. (Photo courtesy of http://www.bigeast.org/ )

Louisville freshman Emily Juhl was named the MVP of the tournament, nailing a team high 13 kills in the final match. The Cards jumped out early in the first game and led 14-10 before Cincy rallied to tie it at 15. The match stayed close until Louisville, up 22-20, scored the final three points to win game one.

The Bearcats roared back in game two and led Louisville 10-6 behind some strong kills by Stephanie Niemer and Becca Refenes. But the Cards took off on a 7-0 run to regain the lead at 13-10 and although UC would climb within one point, the Cards never trailed again and won by five. Juhl had five kills in the game and two service aces late that put Louisville ahead 20-14.

Louisville went to the attack early in game three and ripped out to a 12-4 lead. Louisville, thanks to Lola Arslanbeckova's four kills, never relinquished the advantage and won going away 25-15. It is the first time since 2007 that the championship game has not gone to five sets.
Joining Juhl on the All-Tournament team were Louisville teammates Arslanbeckova and blocker Gwen Rucker. The Cards win the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament with the conference championship and will know their fate on November 28th...when the selection show will air on ESPNews.

It's been an incredible season so far for Louisville...a team that started off slowly to begin the year and dropped matches to Kentucky, Arizona, Purdue and Illinois before entering BIG EAST Conference play. After dropping a 3-2 match to Seton Hall in Cardinal Arena, the young team began to mature and jell. They went on a eight game winning streak before falling to Tennessee in Knoxville but swept four out of their final five to gain the #2 seed in the tourney.

Led by kill specialists Arslanbeckova, Juhl, Anastasia Artemeva...and the strong blocking skills of Rucker, Taylor Brauneis and Amanda Simmons...the Cards are playing their best volleyball of the season right now and should fare well in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. All but Simmons return next year for the Cards.

Cincinnati's Niemer and Jordanne Scott were also selected to the all-tournament team along with Notre Dame's Kristen Dealy, and Marquette's Nikki Klingsporn.

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Before a record attendance for a soccer match in the state of Kentucky, Louisville advances in the NCAA Tournament with a 3-1 win over College of Charleston on Sunday night. The Cards improve to 17-0-3 in front of 5.197 in Cardinal Park with two late goals to secure the lead and seal the victory.

After a 1-1 first half, Louisvlle got a goal from Colin Rolfe to tale a 2-1 lead in the 84th. minute of action. Five minutes later, the Cards tacked on a 3rd goal from Charlie Campbell.

The Cards play Ohio State next...Sunday, Nov. 28th at 7 p.m. back at Cardinal Park.

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Louisville's women's swimming and diving finished 2nd in the Purdue Invitational in the final day of competition after leading at the end of Day 2. Krissie Brandenburg took the 200 backstroke and Therese Bergstrom captured the 200 breaststroke...setting a school record in the process. The University of Arkansas's women took the title.

The UofL men finished 3rd in the event. Wins for Pedro Oliveria, Carlos Almeida and Charlie Bolgan.

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After a brief stateside visit to see her jersey hung in the KFC YUM! Center before the Tennessee game, Angel McCoughtry has returned to Hungary to play for MKB Euroleasing Sopron in the EuroLeagues and is averaging 17 points and 7 rebounds. Teamed with former Middle Tennessee State and WNBA star Amber Holt, MKB is 10-1 this season.

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."