Volleyball takes huge win over Marquette

.
MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Volleyball beats previously undefeated Marquette in four games.

-Shine, Fellerhoff advance to quarterfinals.

-Swimming finishes fifth in SMU Classic.

Lola's 24 kills lead Cards to road win

The University of Louisville Volleyball team knocked Marquette out of sole possession of first place in the BIG EAST with a convincing 20-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-19 win over the Golden Eagles in Milwaukee Sunday.

Leading the way for birthday girl Anne Kordes' squad was the irrepressible Lola Arslanbekova with 24 kills. Huge efforts from Emily Juhl (a season high 13 kills) and Caitlin Welch (22 digs) helped the Cards advance to 20-3 and a league leading 9-1 in the BIG EAST. Marquette falls to 18-4 and 8-1 in conference play.

The Cards fell behind early in the first game but battled back to gain a 14-13 advantage against MU. The Golden Eagles zipped off a 8-2 run after that before a rowdy crowd to go up 21-16. Despite scores from Juhl and Kaitlynn James, Marquette prevailed by five in the opener.

In the second game, Louisville broke open a close 11-8 contest with a 9-2 run to double up the Golden Eagles at 20-10. Louisville prevailed with the eight-point victory...Lola getting five kills, Juhl four and Tanya Lukyanenko adding three kills and three blocks.

After the break, the two teams battled closely before Marquette broke open a 13-13 tie with five unanswered points. That necessitated a Kordes timeout, and it worked for the Cards...finishing the match with an 11-1 run to win by four. Juhl's four kills led the Cards.

In the final game, Louisville held a 13-7 lead before Marquette countered with a 7-3 run to climb within two at 16-14. From there on, the teams exchanged mini-runs...Louisville getting a game ending 6-3 finish to take game and match.

v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

Fellerhoff, Shine reach ITA quarterfinals

Louisville's top two singles players, Rebecca Shine got to the quarterfinals and Julia Fellerhoff reached the semifinals of the ITA Ohio Valley Regional on the Purdue campus in West Lafayette, IN. before bowing out.

Shine fell to Brynn Boren of Tennessee 3-6,6-2,6-2 and Fellerhoff lost to #2 seeded Kata Szekely, also from UT, 5-7,7-5, 6-1.

"Julia and Becca had an incredible tournament. Neither one of them had advanced to the quarterfinals before, so it was a huge accomplishment for Louisville Tennis. They keep adding to their resumes as the two best players to play here at Louisville" - Mark Beckham, head women's Tennis coach.

v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

Louisville women's swimming finishes fifth at SMU

#24 Cards swimming and diving ends of fifth in the highly ranked SMU Classic Saturday night. The Cards finishing with a total of 236 points, which placed them behind USC, UNC, Florida and Texas. Some highlights for Arthur Albiero's squad:

-- Hannah Gadd, winner of 3-meter diving

-- A fifth place finish in the 200-medley relay, from Eszter Povazsay, Lucy Kramer, Tanja Kylliainen and Kelsi Worrell.

-- Kylliainen grabbing third place in the 200-fly.

-- Fifth place in the final event, the 200-free relay for Povazsay, Worrell, Erika Belcher and Hanna Cowley.
.
..
...

Soccer wins over Wildcats -- Field Hockey and Volleyball today

.
SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Charlyn "Corrals" Villanova 1-0

-Volleyball hosts Pirates in Cardinal Arena

-Field Hockey takes on #3 UConn today

-Next up in the contest: Katie Keller vs. Rebecca Shine

Second half goal good enough for Louisville women's soccer.

If high scoring matches are your thing, you might have been disappointed in last night's Louisville vs. Villanova women's soccer game at Cardinal Park, but there was no disappointment on the scoreboard at the end of ninety minutes...Louisville 1- Villanova 0

Charlyn Corral worked through Villanova defenders in the 74th minute of action and booted a 22 yd. rocket over the head of 'Nova goalie Jami Kranich for the game's only score. 

Stout defense by the Cardinals kept the Wildcats at bay for the entire contest, allowing only six shots on Louisville goalkeeper Chloe Kiefer...who picked up her 16th career shutout. 

Louisville moved to third place with the win in the BIG EAST National Division and returns to action  Sunday at Cardinal Park for a 1 p.m. match against #11 Georgetown.

"Villanova is a good team and this is a great win for us. We will refocus and get ready for a very good Georgetown team on Sunday" -- Louisville head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes.

*********************************************

Seton Hall first of three matches for VolleyCards

Anne Kordes' VolleyCards take to the court for Saturday, Sunday and Monday matches. Seton Hall is the first opponent for UofL...this one in cozy Cardinal Arena today at noon.

The Pirates (15-2, 3-1) are having their best season since 1994 with losses only to Villanova and #19 Ohio
State. Fans who attend the match will notice the Manthorpe twins for Seton Hall. They have a combined 315 kills between them this season and will pose a tough challenge to the Cardinals' blocking game...along with outside hitter Molly Grammer.

We'll have a recap of this one for you tomorrow...and then it's Rutgers (15-4, 1-3) Sunday at noon in the KFC YUM! Center and Texas (11-3) Monday night at 7 p.m. also in the YUM!  

A busy three days for Louisville Volleyball, get out and cheer them on!

********************************************

Field Hockey faces tough weekend tests

If the Cardinal Volleyball schedule seems tough over the next couple of days, they'll not get a sympathetic ear from Justine Sowry's stick swingers. #3 UConn and Louisville will do battle today at noon and #11 Iowa squares off against the Cards Sunday at 1 p.m.

Both matches are at Trager Stadium.

A pregame Kids Clinic will be held this morning from 10-11 a.m. on the field. Poster making, face painting, jumping and pizza will be available for the kiddos as well. Maybe they can invite the Huskies out, too, and get them filled up and sleepy....at 12-0, UConn is one of only two undefeated teams in Division I women's college field hockey...Syracuse being the other.

Goalkeeper Sarah Mansfield allows a scant 0.75 goals per game for the Huskies. Louisville goalkeeper Erin Conrad and the defense will have their work cut out for them trying to contain UConn's Chloe Hunnable who is atop the BIG EAST scoring charts with 25 points this year. If she fails, teammate Marie Elena Bolles is second with 24. 

The Cards come into the match at 7-5 and 1-1 in the BIG EAST. 

********************************************

Next up in the Cardinal women's sports favorite contest. 


We have a battle lined up between softball's Katie Keller and tennis star Rebecca Shine as the Sweet Sixteen Contest to pick your favorite Cardinal women's sports athlete continues. 

Keller, the hard slugging infielder for Sandy Pearsall's softball team will also be in action today at Ulmer Stadium in exhibition games against Bellarmine and Tennessee State. A junior from Livermore, CA...Keller batted .277 in 60 games last season.

Shine advanced to the semifinals of the ITA Tournament a few days ago and is the #1 singles player for Mark Beckham's women's tennis team. She and Julia Fellerhoff combine as the #1 doubles team for the Cards. She hails from Augusta, GA.

Congratulations to cross country's Michelle Molodynia, who advances to the "Great Eight" by out-distancing rowing's Erin Bennett.

.
..
...

.
FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Softball hosts Georgetown for final regular season home series starting Saturday. 


-Shine, Fellerhoff get tennis awards


-Jeff Walz Lady Cards Camps and Clinics info


-Louisville WBB tidbits.


The University of Louisville softball team (44-2, 14-2) will host Georgetown (19-29, 3-12) in the final regular season home-stand of the season for the Cards. Two games...beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday...and one game Sunday. 

Louisville sits atop the BIG EAST leaderboard by one game with six BIG EAST games remaining. USF is 13-3 in BIG EAST play, Notre Dame 10-3 and Syracuse 12-4.


Georgetown comes to Louisville after hosting and dropping a double-header to Villanova on Wednesday 4-1 and 4-3. 


After the Georgetown series, the Cards will play a non-conference game in Knoxville against Tennessee next week on Wednesday and then conclude the regular season with three games at St. John's over Derby weekend. 

The BIG EAST Tournament is a single elimination affair that will begin on Thursday, May 10th at Notre Dame. The top eight teams in the regular season standings participate. If it were starting tomorrow, here's how the seeds and games would match up: 


#1 Louisville vs. #8 St. John's
#2 USF vs. #7 Connecticut
#3 Notre Dame vs. #6 Rutgers
#4 Syracuse vs. #5 DePaul


DePaul is the only team to beat Louisville this year...taking two out of three in Chicago back on March 31st. and April 1st. Syracuse is last year's tournament champion and returns All-Big East pitcher Jenna Caira.


We'll have full coverage of Cardinal softball action this weekend and throughout the BIG EAST tournament and NCAA Tournament here at CARDINAL COUPLE.


*******************************************


Congratulations to women's tennis team sophomores Becca Shine and Julia Fellerhoff on being named to the All-BIG EAST Team. 


Coach Mark Beckham has this to say about the honors bestowed on the duo:

"It's good to see that the other coaches in the conference have a lot of respect for Julia and Becca's games. This is a great reward for Julia, since she missed the beginning of the year with a broken foot. She worked really hard to get back and had a successful season. This will definitely motivate her for next year. Hopefully, she'll stay injury-free and push for player of the year. She definitely has the ability to do it. Becca is unbelievable. She came to us from Augusta, GA. and nobody really knew who she was but I thought she could be really good in time. She is way ahead of schedule, for her to have already been ranked nationally in singles and doubles. To only be a sophomore is a quick progression. Now that she has been named BIG EAST All-Conference, I can't say enough good things about her. She is a special player, for sure." 


UofL finished tied for third in the BIG EAST Tournament...going in as a #6 seed. They upset #3 seed Syracuse but were defeated by #2 seed Notre Dame in the semi-finals. 


*******************************************

"OK! Hustle that firewood in here
and someone start making S'mores!"

So...who wants to go camping with Jeff Walz? Mind you, this won't be a  tents, campfire, roasting weenies and marshmallows type of camping...it's three women's basketball skills camps for individuals and teams. 


The fun begins June 4th. with a Day Camp for grades 3-8. It goes thru June 7th. 


Two other camps will also be offered...a team camp June 8-10 with JV and Varsity Divisions and a Elite Skills Session for grades 7-12 on June 14th. 


You can contact Mary Beth Whitaker at 852-8355 or mbwhit08@Louisville.edu for pricing and more information. 


Also, here's a link for additional info:


Lady Cards Camps and Clinics

Sonja laughing about the whirlpool
and how much "Ben-Gay"
she'll need tomorrow.

We hope Walz will also have a 'past their prime' refresher camp someday for ex-high school players over 35 who still think they 'got it' and thought they were 'all that'. Sonja would dominate in that one. Unless A.J. or Valerie Owens Combs showed up to play. And, we're not saying either of them are over 35. I learned a long time ago, when it comes to things not to bring up...


Never reveal or ask about a woman's age.


Charlie Strong holds a day long women's football skills and learning camp each year. We're thinking a day- long WBB camp just might draw a few ladies. 


*******************************************


UofL WBB fans will be glad to know that Monique Reid has received her notice from the NCAA that she can officially play in the upcoming season...we're hearing from a very credible source. 

We knew she would. We think it's great! Watch Mo & Co. lead the Cards past the Elite Eight! 


We also have fielded a few e-mails about Jeff Walz's sudden interest in players from overseas. 


Talent is talent, no matter if it comes from your backyard over overseas. Both Monny and Amanda got serious experience playing for their national teams while in high school. Experience is good, folks. 

We remember a few years ago when Tom Collen had Yuliya Tokova, Valeriya Musina and Tatjana Boston on the roster...all foreign players in high school. They were valuable contributors to the Cards during their stays and just because foreign players are being recruited doesn't mean that state-side talent isn't available. 


Good basketball player are good basketball players...whether they're from Russia or Russellville. 




.
..
...