Volleyball wrap-up

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

(CARDINAL COUPLE staff columnist Jeff McAdams takes us to the net with a UofL VolleyCards wrap-up and a preview of ACC volleyball.) 

 

Volleyball finishes for the year

*** Three named to All NorthEast Region team***

*** ACC Volleyball***

*** Random Trivia***

Three named to All NorthEast Region team

Lola Arslanbekova, Gwen Rucker and Caitlin Welch have been named to the AVCA's All NorthEast Region team.  This great honor makes the three eligible for to be named All American's, which would be a tremendous honor, indeed.

Lola was selected for the All NorthEast Region team all 4 years of her play at UofL, while this is the second year for Gwen Rucker to be selected.  This is the first selection for Caitlin Welch.

ACC Volleyball

Sandy started us off with a look at ACC Softball yesterday, so let's take a look at the competition in the ACC for Volleyball.  Overall I believe its a step up from Big East volleyball, but it is not a powerhouse conference.  No teams from the ACC have made it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA volleyball tournament, so let's consider the final standings.

At the top of the conference standings is Florida State (28-4, 18-2), Miami (FL) (25-6, 17-3), and North Carolina (26-6, 16-4).  The middle of the pack is NC State (22-10, 12-8), Clemson (21-10, 12-8), Georgia Tech (19-12, 10-10), and Virginia Tech (16-4, 9-11).  The remaining teams (excluding Maryland who's place we're taking) are Duke (15-7, 6-14), Wake Forest (11-21, 5-15), Boston College (10-22, 4-16) and lastly Virginia (9-22, 3-17).

All-time against the teams (in their ACC standings order), UofL's record is: Florida State 5-9, Miami (FL) 2-0, North Carolina 3-4, NC State 1-0, Clemson 2-0, Georgia Tech 2-1, Virginia Tech 16-2, Duke 2-3, Wake Forest 4-0, Boston College 0-0, and Virginia 3-0.

The ACC got 4 teams into the NCAA tournament.  Florida State was the 9 seed, just above us and lost a 5 set match to Purdue (We feel your pain, FSU fans).  North Carolina lost in a 5 set match to 15 seed Iowa State.  Miami (FL) lost - what I feel can only be considered an upset - in a 5 set match to College of Charleston.  And NC State lost 3-1 to Texas A&M.

So, when you consider that Volleyball is, like so many of the programs at UofL, a rapidly improving program, I rather like where we stack up against these teams.  Several of the teams are well regarded in Volleyball overall.

Random Trivia

If I can remember this right, I believe there are five schools that compete in Division 1 athletics that do not have the word "University" in their official school name.  Two of them are ACC schools, Georgia Tech (officially, "The Georgia Institute of Technology"), and Boston College.  The other three are the service academies, Army, Navy, and Air Force.

EDITORIAL COMMENTARY:

We take a brief step away from Louisville women's sports here to weigh in on a matter that has many Louisville fans talking:

Charlie Strong.

And, there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Tom Jurich has offered to change UofL's name to Charlie's College in order to entice the current UofL football head coach Charlie Strong into staying. The Louisville athletic program is getting more attention these days than Barack Obama would if he dressed in a nightgown and sang showtunes to Mitt Romney. Big East to ACC, Bowl bid to New Orleans and the Allstate Sugar Bowl, coaching rumors and drama.

What is important to remember here is that Louisville has many good and successful men and women's athletic programs on campus. Football may be an economic engine, but UofL was a powerhouse in basketball way before football caught fire. WE like the fact that Tom Jurich has already let the coaches know he wants plans and strategy ideas on how Louisville sports team can duplicate the success they've had in the BIG EAST in the ACC. That's forward thinking and we love it.  Louisville has the best athletic director in the nation and he proves it day after day.

As far as the continuing soap opera surrounding Charlie and job opportunities go, to us it's very simple. IF he wants to be here and be a part of it...stay. If not, he certainly wouldn't be the first high profile coach to leave. The program will survive. We remember when Tom Collen left the WBB program to go to Arkansas. We were shocked and surprised. Then, a young assistant at Maryland named Jeff Walz took the job. Turned out pretty well, don't you think?

The Louisville football program has a saying that has grown popular amongst the fans. "Get On The Train". It's time for Charlie to do that. Whether it's a local train or outbound...the speculation and drama concerning this football team, the athletic program...at a time when Cardinal fans should be rejoicing the entry into the ACC and a major BCS bowl game...is ridiculous.

Que sera, sera.

 

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Monday CARDINAL COUPLE -- Volleyball... the Big East Champs...Again...This Season

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( The VolleyCards have captured the BIG EAST Tournament title in convincing fashion...not giving up a single game against three opponents during their march through the brackets. CARDINAL COUPLE columnist Jeff McAdams breaks it down for us. )




UofL Volleyball got the job done in a solid fashion.  In Milwaukee WI for the Big East Championship Tournament, Louisville swept through the competition, though Marquette mounted a challenge.

Big East Dominance

Louisville has been dominant in the Big East since joining the conference, winning either the regular season title or a conference tournament just about every year, though this is the first time the Cards have managed to bring home both trophies in the same year.

Much of the run through the conference, and all of the tournament run was sweeps of their opponents.  The Cards haven't dropped a set in 8 matches now, going back to the first matchup against Marquette when they took a set off of us in Milwaukee, through Marquette visiting Louisville, and through all three tournament matches.

Championship Match

The coverage on ESPNU focused heavily on Lola Arslanbeckova and Gwen Rucker...which is certainly understandable in their effort to make it good for TV...but the Cards weapons just don't stop there, and that's a big part of the UofL success.  Marquette tried to shut down Lola by putting double blocks on her as many teams have, but all that does is leave Gwen and Brooke Mattingly open in the middle, along with Emily Juhl and Tanya Lukyanenko on the opposite side.  You could see this in action during the match a number of times, when Lola struggled to get through the double blocks, you started to see sets going to some of the other offensive weapons.

Gwen had another absolutely fantastic match.  She hit "only" .400 vs Marquette...compared to her hitting percentage for the whole tournament where she was hitting in the .800 range, that is a pretty big drop, but still ridiculously strong.  Add to that, 5 blocks, and you have a player that gets awarded the tournament MVP honors.

I made the oversight of not mentioning Caitlin Welch in yesterday's article.  I won't make that mistake twice. Welch tallied 21 digs...an impressive total in a 3 set match...keeping the team in the action and with great passing allowing Katie George and Hannah Kvitle to have all of the offensive options available to them on the sets.  The primary goal of digging and passing is to get the ball up in the air to let the play progress, but ideally you want the pass to go just to the right side of the center of the net where the setter should be waiting.  The more the setter has to run to get the pass, the fewer options they have to set up the hitters, and particularly middle hitters like Gwen and Brooke.  The good passing from Caitlin and others let Katie and Hannah distribute the sets out to multiple offensive options, keeping the Marquette team guessing.

Credit to Marquette, they played well, especially in the 3rd set, forcing the extra point for the win.  The ESPNU crew described them as a scrappy team, and I can't think of a better term.  Great defense and digging kept many volleys alive that most everyone thought was a Cards point, and several ended up being points for Marquette.  Playing scrappy, though, is a far cry from running a strong offense to reliably score points.  About the best you can hope for is to be able to keep the ball in play and wait for the other team to make a mistake.  Honestly, that probably works pretty well when playing most of the Big East, but as the competition gets stronger in the post-season, that style of play just doesn't hold up as well.

Next up

Belmont won the OVC tournament, upsetting Morehead State in the finals, so they will be our opponents on Friday November 23 at Cardinal Arena.  The NCAA tournament selection show is Sunday, November 25th at 4pm and will be televised on ESPNU.  As has been covered already, expect Louisville to be a first and second round host.  Looking at the schedule for the KFC Yum! Center, those matches would almost certainly be in the November 29th and 30th slots as there are basketball games scheduled for December 1st and 2nd.  Presumably tickets will be able to be purchased through the UofL Ticket Office.

Late Breaking News...around the league

#1 Stanford lost to #8 Southern California

but that's unlikely to affect our ranking, though it does mean that Penn State should take over the #1 ranking again.

#4 Oregan lost to #6 Washington in an epic battle that I mentioned the other day, but again, probably won't affect our ranking.

However, #9 Nebraska, one spot in front of us, lost to #14 Minnesota.  Minnesota dropped two matches last week to allow us to move up into the top 10, and now we'll probably reap the benefits of Minnesota's victory over Nebraska.

I would expect a #9 ranking for the Cards when the new poll is released later today.

In the RPI last week, we got a 2 spot bump from #7 to #5, largely on the strength of our win over Marquette at the KFC Yum! Center.  Will another win over them on their home floor help bump us another spot?  It's possible, but much harder to predict in my experience.

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RUCKER, ARSLANBEKOVA KEY IN STRAIGHT SET SWEEP OF MARQUETTE

Tournament MVP Gwen Rucker recorded 10 kills, six digs and five blocks on Sunday and Lola Arslanbekova, named to the All-Tournament team, led the way with 13 kills and 11 digs for her 20th double-double of the season.

The Cards used a 10-1 run to break open a close first game...benefitted by three Rucker kills. They also held Marquette to .050 hitting in the contest. Leading 17-10, they withstood a brief Golden Eagles rally which cut the lead to 20-17. Louisville won five of the final seven points, though, to take a 25-19 first game.

The Golden Eagles started strong in Game 2 and jumped out to a 6-2 lead. Down 9-5, the Cards relied on Arslanbekova and Tanya Lukyanenko to rally them and went on a 11-3 spree to hold a 16-12 advantage. Marquette answered with a 4-0 run to tie the contest. After that, it was Louisville's turn with a 4-0 run. After the Golden Eagles pulled within one at 24-23, Brooke Mattingly produced her sixth kill of the contest and the VolleyCards held a 2-0 advantage going to the half-time break.

It looked like Louisville had demoralized the M.U. squad and roared out to an early 8-4 lead in the third game. The Golden Eagles rallied, however, and went on a 5-1 run to tie the contest at 9-9. Back and forth it went from there...neither team gaining a clear advantage. Marquette held a 18-16 lead...but Emily Juhl's three kills and a Mattingly block helped the Cards knot it at 20-20. The Cards were at match-point at 24-21...but Marquette held off the final match point temporarily and tied it back up at 24-24. Lola put the Cards at match point again with a kill to make it 25-24 Cards.

At 25-24, Marquette's Holly Mertens hit a kill attempt out of bounds and Louisville was the BIG EAST TOURNAMENT champs. 

Caitlin Welch sparked the Cards with 21 digs and was also selected to the tournament team. 

One more chance to see the Lady Cards before NCAA Tournament play begins. They'll play OVC champ Belmont in Cardinal Arena at 5 p.m. Friday. Louisville seniors Rucker, Arslanbekova, Lukyanenko and Kaitlynn James will be honored before the contest.

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Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Volleyball & Softball gain victories

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Volleyball sinks the Pirates in straight sets

-Softball takes two Saturday

-Field Hockey narrowly defeated by #3 UConn

Cards sweep Pirates to go to 15-2

Lola Arslanbekova had 17 kills and Kaitlynn James added 10 as Louisville downed Seton Hall 25-21, 25-23, 25-20 in volleyball action Saturday afternoon in Cardinal Arena.

"We were led by Kaitlynn and Caitlin (Welch) in this match. Welch passed lights out and James hit .417, which is crazy. It was good to see Gwen Rucker gain strength and energy after being off." -- Anne Kordes, head volleyball coach.

The Cards jumped out to an early lead in the first game but a 7-1 Seton Hall run gave the Pirates a 10-8 advantage. They increased that margin to 14-10 before UofL got busy and rolled off seven straight points to go up 17-14. Seton Hall would rally to get close in the contest at 23-21, but two straight James kills tipped the game to Louisville.

UofL traded points with the Pirates in the second game, eventually putting together a 5-1 run to gain a 18-13 advantage. SHU rallied back to get within two, but consecutive kills by Arslanbekova and a game-winning tip pushed the Cards to the close win.

Louisville dominated early in the final game, enjoying leads of 9-2 and 16-7. A late Pirate rally closed the gap to three at 23-20, but kills from Carly Sahagian and Rucker closed out the contest and the sweep.

Louisville heads downtown to the KFC YUM! Center tomorrow for a 1 p.m. match against Rutgers.

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Softball shuts out Bellarmine and Tennessee State to end fall season.

The Cards finished fall training, if you will, with two wins yesterday in Ulmer Stadium.

They blanked the Bellarmine Knights 2-0 in the first contest...a two-run homer from Alicja Wolny in the fourth inning giving pitcher Rachel Le Coq all the runs she needed in the six-strikeout performance. Taner Fowler went 2 for 2 for Louisville.

Tennessee Tech faced the Cards' Caralisa Connell in the nightcap and failed to score on her...Fowler continuing the hot bat with a 2 for 3 performance and Jordan Trimble driving in two runs for the victorious Cards. Cards win 4-0.

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UConn goes to 13-0 with 2-1 win over Louisville Field Hockey.

Louisville spotted UConn two first half goals before rallying for one of their own in the second half in Trager Stadium yesterday.

Becca Maddock found the back of the net off a pass from Alyssa Voelmle's pass for the lone Cardinal goal early in the second half.

"One thing that we have to continue to really focus on is believing that we are capable and that with hard work and persistence we can beat teams like Connecticut. It's back to the drawing board so we can focus on tomorrow's game against Iowa." -- Justine Sowry, UofL head Field Hockey coach.

The Sunday contest against the Hawkeyes is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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A potential first-round upset brewing in the Sweet Sixteen Choose Your Favorite Cardinal Women's Athlete contest on the left sie of the side. Women's tennis star Becca Shine has jumped out to an early lead over softball slugger Katie Keller.

One day left to vote in this contest...can Shine down the popular Keller? You have the power, cast your vote!
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Monday pinch hitting

 

Monday Substitute - Wins for Field Hockey and Soccer

Word is that Paul and Sonja are back, but are cleaning up after the block party we threw Friday night...either that or Paul is fighting some computer troubles, I'm not sure.  Either way, let me see if I can help out a little bit and post an update on Sunday events.

(Editor note...a laptop crash and no PC has us at the mercy of the public library for the next couple of days. We're not sure exactly what happened but Co-Co covering it in banana pudding and trying to feed it to Bill the Gaot probably didn't help any.)

Field Hockey wins convincingly at Kent State

Kent State struck first, early, on a penalty corner, but it was all Cards after that.  The Golden Flashes and the Cards got their first penalty corners, and goals, at 3 minutes and 5 minutes respectively, but that would be the only time Kent State produced.  The Cards picked up another score just before halftime and took the 2-1 lead into the break.

After halftime, the Cards picked up two goals within about a minute and still didn't look back from the 4-1 lead.  Chalking up another point 6 minutes later, and then sneaking one in with less than a minute left in play.

The Field Hockey team next travels to #2 ranked Syracuse on Saturday, and #21 Albany on Sunday.

Soccer puts a hurting on St. John's

It was a high scoring affair for the women's soccer team when they faced St. John's here at Cardinal Park.  The soccer team hasn't scored 6 or more points in a game in eight years.  They get style points for holding St. John's scoreless in the process.

The scoring was fairly evenly spread out in the first half, with goals coming in the 8th, 30th, and 42nd minutes, taking a 3-0 lead into the break.

The Cards scored a bit more rapid fire in the second half...finding the back of the net in the 52nd, 59th, and 61st minutes to finish out the 6-0 win over the Red Storm.

Next up, the soccer teams racks up some frequent flyer miles with a road trip to #21 Marquette Friday night at 8pm, then heading south to USF for a 1p.m. start on Sunday.

Volleyball suffers a setback

Notre Dame came into the KFC Yum! Center with an 8-5 record, but 4 of those 5 losses were to ranked teams.  This is never a team you want to take for granted.

The Cards got off to a good start, with mistake free hitting, great digging, and more than a few service errors from Notre Dame. 

Taking the first set 25-16, they got it done with commendable .350 hitting.

Some cracks started showing in the second set where the Cardinals hitting eased off to .256, but still managed to take the set 25-22.

After the break, the Irish got the defensive game on the right track, with great digging, and some good blocking at the net.  A game of runs, Notre Dame claimed it in the end at 20-25.

Louisville started to look a bit ragged in the 4th set, but lots of scrambling and out-of-system play kept the score pretty close.  The Cards reached match point, but Notre Dame didn't give up and scored 5 straight points to snatch the set victory away at 24-26.

The score pretty much tells the tale for the 5th set.  Notre Dame controlled it from start to finish, taking the game, and match, with a 3-15 score.

One piece of good news is that this match saw Gwen Rucker's return to the court with some limited playing time.  With four kills, and two miscues on nine attempts, and three shared blocks it was a good effort, and I'm sure everyone is glad she's feeling better.

Other commendable play came from Brooke "Stomp" Mattingly who tallied up 12 kills, with only three errors on 28 attempts, for a respectable .321 hitting percentage.  She also got credits for two digs, and a share of four blocks.

Lastly, Caitlin Welch topped her career dig effort with 35.  Records like this may be a bit bitter-sweet since they almost always come from five set matches, and the team would much prefer to bring home a win in three or four sets, but nonetheless, "C-Dub" continues to play very well in the libero role and should be recognized for the crucial role she plays for the team.

Volleyball is also getting their share of frequent flyer miles as well with their own Friday/Sunday road trip to South Florida and Pittsburgh.
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Volleyball vs MTSU, UNLV, and Miami (Fla.)

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE PRESENTS:

(Columnist JEFF McADAMS takes us through the Fri-Sat UofL Volleyball matches with his 

always excellent observations, analysis and comments!) 

Chalk up 3 W's for the Kordes Krew

It wasn't always pretty, and there was some epic come-from-behind play going on...and I'm not talking about football.

MTSU

Middle Tennessee State University is a school that has frequently given the Volleyball Cards challenges.  Eliminating UofL in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2007, and giving them a bit of a scare in the first round of 2010.  They're a pesky team, that can be counted on to give solid play.

In the first set, MTSU again gave the Cards a bit of scare, with MTSU leading most of the way.  After coming off two big wins last weekend, I suspect there may have been of big game let down, again.  Much like the let down after the Kentucky match, however, it lasted less than a set...if that's how this team is going to react to post-big-game-let-downs, that's not bad.

The second set was never much of a contest, and the third looked to be much the same.  The Blue Raiders made a run at a comeback, but then a bunch of errors derailed their efforts.

The setting pair of Hannah Kvitle and Katie George...still splitting the second hit duties...spread the offense around quite a bit, but the most success and momentum building happened up the middle with Brooke Mattingly, and Tanya Lukyanenko.  Tanya was back in the middle position to fill in for Gwen Rucker, who was on the bench all weekend, but not dressed out, due to illness.  With Tanya playing in the middle the fans had more opportunity to appreciate the play of Carly Sahagian, a transfer from the University of Tennessee.  Carly hit a mistake free 6 of 14, for .429 which put her third in percentage behind the .462 numbers of Brooke and Tanya...that's ignoring Katie George's single successful attempt that gives her a statistical 1.000, but isn't really fair to compare with hitters taking upwards of 10 swings a match.

UNLV

Keep your eyes on this team.  While I don't expect them to be back at the KFC Yum! Center for the national championship December 13th and 15th, I think a lot of people are underrating their play, as I think the VolleyCards did coming into this match.

I would say that the Cardinals weren't really fully awake for this 11am start-time, but the Rebels were effectively functioning on an 8am start time, so that excuse doesn't really stand up to scrutiny.

With only .109 hitting in the first set, and no blocks...Gwen's presence was really missed there...the first set looked really rough for UofL.  It ended up being a tight game with the Rebs taking it 23-25.

The second set was only marginally better.  Kaitlynn James started to come alive with several successful attacks that blunted the UNLV momentum and helped UofL scratch out a win in the second set...taking an extra point to get there...at 26-24.

Anne Kordes was clearly unhappy with her team's play heading into the break...I wonder if they had to repaint the locker room walls as I imagine she blasted her players for their poor play in the first two sets.  Whatever she said, and however she said it, the team responded.  With .560 hitting in the set and 4 blocks, this looked more like the team that played Purdue and Illinois last weekend.  Winning the set 25-6, I imagine UNLV wishes they could forget this one.

Credit UNLV with digging deep and making the 4th set a contest.  They responded to the withering attack of the third set and stepped up their play.  Both teams had big runs, first the Rebels, then the Cardinals, but after being chastised during the set break, UofL continued playing well and was able to put the match away.

Miami

The marquee matchup of the Louisville Invitational was Louisville vs Miami.  Miami, technically unranked, is getting votes in the coaches poll for an effective 26th.  This isn't a team to be trifled with.  Kaitlynn James continued to play well after the afternoon match...really a great day for her overall.  The most efficient play, though, came from Brooke Mattingly...who I'm going to start calling "Stomp" because after she makes a great play, she stomps on the floor and cheers...really a honest, heartfelt expression of excitement that her teammates, and the fans, really feed on.  "Stomp" hit an phenomenal .714 and helped out in a couple of blocks.

In the first set, Miami got out to a solid lead.  At 22-15 the crowd largely thought the set was over and were thinking about how to respond in the second set.  Kaitlynn, Lola, and Tanya thought otherwise as, starting with Kaitlynn's serving, Lola and Tanya killed and blocked their way to a 7 point run.

Good solid play in the second set got Louisville to a solid match lead.  It looked like the Cards were going to have another good sweep of a good team.

The third set, however, went to the Hurricanes powered by a 9-0 run.  Louisville dug down deep and started to make a comeback, but ran out of time.

Solid play across the board in the 4th set netted UofL the match and tournament win.

Takeaways

I think there are a couple of UofL teams that I'm glad I'm not going to be in their practice sessions this week.  While both UofL Football and Volleyball came away with wins, there's plenty to praise and critique in the play of both teams this weekend.  Both teams also came away with unblemished records for the weekend, but I suspect practices will be grueling dissections of what went wrong at times.

I'll leave the analysis of Football to those who know more about it, but for Volleyball, we've got good and bad.

The good is that we saw what this team can do when they meet adversity.  They dug down and gritted out some wins even when things weren't going their way and they weren't executing well.  To be able to dig down and turn their play around within a match like they did several times this weekend speaks well of the team's ability to tap into reserves of discipline and pull themselves together.  We saw that happen this weekend during set breaks, timeouts, and even just between plays.

The bad, of course, is that they played in such a way to begin with that they found themselves in situations where they had to tap those discipline reserves.  It would be great if all of their matches just went well enough that they wouldn't need to turn their play around.  Of course, eventually a team will be tested, so its good to know that they have it in them to make the comebacks in tough situations.

Up Next

The Cards start their conference slate, starting Friday at 7pm with DePaul, followed by Notre Dame on Sunday at 2pm, both at the KFC Yum! Center.  Come check them out.

Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Volleyball wins two

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Sunday Cardinal Couple

-Volleyball takes two

The #12 University of Louisville volleyball team continued its hot streak by defeating UNLV and Miami (FL) yesterday to win the Louisville Invitational. The Cards triumphed over UNLV in the morning session 23-25, 26-24, 25-6, 25-21 and downed Miami 26-24, 25-19, 19-25, 25-17 in the nightcap. 

UNLV falls in four sets to Louisville

Kaitlynn James took charge of the net in the match against the Runnin' Rebels with 16 kills. 

Louisville started slowly by losing the first game after trailing most of the way before taking a brief lead at 21-20 late. UNLV ran off four straight points, though, to get a 24-21 lead and hold on for the win. 

Louisville responded in the second game slowly again, falling behind 14-6 at one point before James went to work. Her three straight kills got Louisville to within three at 15-12. Managing to tie the contest at 20-20, James gave the Cards a one-point lead with a kill and UofL pulled out a close one by two.

After the break, the Cards roared out to an early lead they never looked back from. Runs of 3-0 and 9-0 had  Anne Kordes' team sitting comfortably at 16-3. Emily Juhl put the Runnin' Rebs out of their misery with a slam to give Louisville the 19-point romp and a 2-1 lead in the match. 

UNLV was not ready to quit, though, and jumped to a 8-5 advantage in the final game. They increased that to 12-5 before UofL pieced together a 9-1 run and a 14-13 edge. The Cardinal hot streak continued behind Lola Arslanbekova and it was 23-18 after a service ace by her. James finished the match with a kill and the 25-21 win.

Cards fend off Miami in four sets

Lola stepped up big in the evening session with 21 kills and UofL improved to 11-1 on the season with a four game win against the Canes. 

The Cards started slowly in game one and trailed deep into the contest at 22-15 before four Lola kills and a block and two Tanya Lukyanenko kills and a block late rallied the Cards to the narrow two point win. Lola had 10 kills in the first game. 

Louisville jumped out to an early lead in the second contest 16-11 but Miami rallied to get back to just a four-point deficit at 21-17. After a timeout, the Cards regrouped and won four of the final six points to take a 25-19 win and go 2-0 in the match. 

The teams played fairly evenly in the third game until a 9-0 Canes run boosted them to a seven point advantage that the Cards could not overcome. At 24-16, UofL managed to get three straight points but Caitlin Welch's serving error gave Miami a six point win.

Louisville and Miami played the final game evenly at the start until a 6-2 Cardinal run took a 7-7 score to a 13-9 UofL lead. Miami would get no closer and the Cards coasted in with a 25-17 victory. 

Middle blocker Gwen Rucker sat out both contests with an illness.

Lola earned MVP honors for the Cards and James and Brooke Mattingly joined her on the All-Tournament team. 

( BE SURE TO CHECK BACK LATER TODAY FOR JEFF MCADAMS ANALYSIS AND REPORT ON THE WEEKEND VOLLEYBALL ACTION)

2500 for the evening game. On a football Saturday. Best college sports town in America.  Right here in River City.

We don't do a lot with football here, of course...we're a women's sports site...but wanted to share with you this series of texts between me and a buddy who was unable to attend and watching on TV...

Buddy:  ACC? No wonder ND wants to leave. EZ pickings.
Paul: ACC! ACC! ACC! I just busted one of my thundersticks.
Buddy: U staying for 2nd half?
Paul: For at least 3 quarters. Need to get over to 80 u 80.
Buddy: U at 80 u 80?
Paul: Leaving in a few. It's on TV there. Ladies behind me driving me nuts. 
Buddy: What in the world?
Paul: Need D. C'mon cards!
Buddy: Ugh. Fumbled kickoff? 
Paul: We're fine. Good deflect. Run clock out now.
Buddy: L1C4.
Paul: Wow. I've still got my sunglasses on. 
Buddy: Go change your drawers.
Paul: LOL. A W a W no matter how u get it.   
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Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Volleyball from the YUM!

(Louisville easily handled Marshall in Volleyball Saturday morning 25-9, 25-25, 25-12. They face Samford tonight at 7:30 p.m.)

Jeff Adams reports on Volleyball against Duke...he'll be attending the matches today and we'll have a full update on them for you here at C.C.)

Its another weekend of quick turnarounds for the volleyball team...and their fans...which doesn't give us much time to digest and analyze.  So here's a few quick thoughts.

Lola...same song, different verse.

Any regular readers of any coverage of UofL Volleyball know that Lola Arslanbekova is an amazing player. What many may not realize is that she's not only a great hitter, but also pretty darn good in other roles on the court. That having been said, in the opening matches of the season against Western and Morehead, she seemed to be struggling with her passing. Those woes have apparently passed as last night she was passing quickly and precisely.  She's not going to threaten Caitlin Welch for the libero spot, and not just because we would miss her explosive hitting, but its good to see her getting all aspects of her game under control and contributing all around.

Speaking of Caitlin Welch.

She had another great match. Only three games in this match, so the numbers don't look as impressive on the surface, but she was doing her job quite well.  Welch's digging numbers may also be a bit down because the setters Hannah Kvitle and Katie George are taking a fair number of digs. As mentioned Thursday, this mean Welch is setting, which is reflected in her 6 assists.

Let down from beating Kentucky.

Yes, the team had a bit of a let down after winning the big match Wednesday night against Kentucky, but not for long. The first set against Duke was a bit listless, but the Cards got it in gear for the second and third sets. That, of course, is big for a team that has such a tough schedule. It would lessen the impact of any wins against the many great teams UofL is playing if they turned around and lost to a less quality team right after.

A new weapon in Brooke Mattingly.

Brooke Mattingly essentially finished off the match in style, reeling off three straight kills. Its always great to have another weapon in the arsenal. I'm not sure if other teams have figured out that Mattingly is such a threat, but until they do, she should continue to have great opportunities. Of course, once they figure out how much of a threat she can be, that pulls some of the defense and attention off of others like Lola, Emily Juhl, and Kaitlynn James.

More to come...

That's all for now, I need to pack up to head back down to the KFC Yum! Center for the 11am match against Marshall, followed by the 7:30 match against Samford. Hopefully I'll have a few moments to write up some thoughts from those before getting into some activity or another on Sunday.  Anyone have any plans?

( Want to read more about Cardinal Volleyball? Make sure and check out Paul's report on the action from last night and stay tuned to Cardinal Couple for updates on today's matches.!).
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THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE EXTRA EDITION

( Our newest columnist Jeff McAdams files this commentary on last night's Cardinal Volleyball win over Kentucky. We pleased to have Jeff on board and reading today's article is like getting college course credit because of the information shared and learned. We may jut have to start calling him Professor Jeff....) 


There was a clinic put on last night the KFC Yum! Center on the topic of defense in volleyball.  The clinic was put on by the Kentucky Wildcats, and yet UofL picked up the win, which means there may be more to learn from the play of the VolleyCards than from the Wildcats.

Stephanie Klefot is a fantastic libero and kept plays alive that had the mostly red crowd cheering thinking the play was over.  Overall, this Kentucky team was digging balls that would've found the floor against most other teams.  If you want to learn how to dig and pass, you could do a lot worse than study UK game film.

So, how did Louisville get the W?  They did several things right in the last 3 sets to counter the frustrating UK defense.

First was good passing.  UK is not a particularly strong offensive team, so Caitlin Welch, and a committee of others, were able to get good, clean passes to our setters, Hannah Kvitle and Katie George.  Occasionally, or maybe not so occasionally, Hannah or Katie had to dig the ball (8 and 11 digs respectively), in which case, a role reversal occurs and Welch takes the set.  When a setter gets an accurate pass, it gives them lots of options of who to set.  When you have lots of options on who to set, the defense of the other team has a much tougher job to anticipate where the shot is going to be coming from and how to set up to receive it.  Traditionally, UofL has not had a strong digging and passing team, but Coach Kordes put a lot of emphasis on defense in practices and recruited several very good defenders for the team.  Also, Welch has taken her play to another level this season, chalking up 21 digs last night.

Secondly, with good passing, the setters can play a quicker game.  When setting a hitter, you can set the ball in a high arc that gives your hitters plenty of time to adjust to the path of the ball, but of course that also lets the other team's blocking and defense to adjust to the path of the ball.  Alternatively, you can set the ball in a flatter arc which gets the ball out to your hitters faster, giving the other team less time to anticipate and get set up.  Again...though, that cuts both ways, as your hitters have to be prepared to get the ball that quickly and be in the right position to be able to hit it with less ability to adjust in flight.  To play the offense more quickly, you have to have a team that's in sync and communicating well.  The Cards communicate well, but as we talked about after the Penn State match, this is a team that is still really putting all the pieces together and jelling.  You couldn't tell that last night, however, as Kvitle and George ran a smooth offense and were able to pick up the pace a bit, particularly in the second and third sets which rocked the UK defense back on their heels.  The ultimate expression of a quick offense would be a quick set to a middle hitter.  Gwen Rucker and Brooke Mattingly are our primary middle hitters and they both executed on the middle game quite well last night with 15 and 13 kills respectively.

Last, you can play better against a good defense by avoiding the need to play against it altogether.  Louisville has a long tradition of good blocking (who can forget Lecia Brown's blocking efforts, being among the best in the nation, and spending some time topping the charts as the best blocker in the country).  Gwen Rucker continues that tradition, Brooke Mattingly has shown that she is going to hold up her end of the bargain as well.  While we haven't seen her on the court, yet, I suspect freshmen Davionna Holmes will be part of the next round.  The stats from last night don't directly reflect a strong blocking effort, but the front line, anchored by Rucker and Mattingly, nearly always had a good block up.  UK, rather than trying to hit through a block (which, to their credit, is usually a bad idea) made an effort to hit over and around it.  Hitting around a block, of course, risks hitting the shot out.  Going over the block similarly risks hitting the shot long, or you have to take enough off of the shot that you give Caitlin Welch another good opportunity to add to her dig stats leading back to the first point of good passing and we come full circle.

Want to improve your digging?  Watch UK  Want to improve how you play against a good digging team?  Watch UofL.  Either way, there's a lot that volleyball players could learn from that match.

Another couple of quick points.  I don't think I have ever seen anyone on the court show more enthusiasm and energy than Katie George.  The joke has been that the challenge for Cardinal Volleyball fans this year is to keep track of which blonde ponytail belongs to which player.  Apparently the blurred one is Katie's, which reminds me of another blonde blur that has gotten attention here on Cardinal Couple in the past - Shelby Harper.

A crowd size of over 5,000 for a volleyball match?  That compares favorably with Nebraska's average attendance for 2011 (4,522, 2nd in the nation).  The women's basketball team showed that moving to a large facility (in their case Freedom hall at the time) can help lead to larger crowds to justify the larger facility.  Could we see the same sort of attendance growth for volleyball that we saw for women's basketball?  Let's hope so.  Way to go, CardNation.

Volleyball next hosts the Cardinal Classic, again in the KFC Yum! Center, with Duke, Marshall, and Samford coming to town Friday, and two matches Saturday.  And, of course, UofL gets the next opportunity to hand UK another loss with Football on Sunday.

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You decide? Save or not? See the pic below. From the action last night. Refs called it a UK point, not a UofL pancake save. Sure looked like Haley Pouliezos got all ball...

(Great report from out newest columnist Jeff McAdams! Be sure to also check today's earlier article about the game...directly below this post.) 

Thursday Cardinal Couple -- The Paulie sees all. Predictions on volleyball.

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THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- "The Paulie" looks at UofL Voleyball.

I was asked recently how I thought the UofL Volleyball team would do this season. Taken back a bit...usually I get these questions about women's hoops and softball...I managed to piece together an answer that noted they were the BIG EAST favorites, that they had a few tough early season contests and that I expected them to win the BIG EAST again and advance a few rounds in the NCAA Tournament, since it was home court advantage for them. 

My quizzer, though, was not placated with the general answer. She continued by asking if they'd win 20 matches or not. The jig was up. I had to confess that I wasn't actually sure how many matches they had in the regular season. 

The encounter led me to doing some research on the season for Anne Kordes' players and opponents.  

In what may be the first ever prediction of its kind on the internet, I now bring you The Swami's...no, let's call it The Paulie's predictions for Volleyball this fall. Remember, these are coming from the same guy who gave you DULLAHAN as the Kentucky Derby winner and the Chicago Cubs as the World Series champs...so results may vary. 

LOUISVILLE VOLLEYBALL

The VolleyCards will participate in 28 matches before BIG EAST tournament play...and then a game against the OVC Champion after that (which I've never really figured out why)...so let's call it 29 games. Here's how The Paulie sees it. 

After wins against WKU and Morehead State, Louisville gets perennial power Penn State in the KFC YUM! This will be the Cards first loss of the season. 

Kentucky had Louisville's number last year...but this one this year is in the YUM! and Louisville gets by the Kitties this year. After that, Duke, Marshall and Samford should be wins at the YUM...then Louisville travels to Cincy for the BIG EAST/BIG TEN CHALLENGE. Big 10 Volleyball is always pretty decent, and Purdue and Illinois beat Louisville last year. Time for wide net revenge...and I'm calling for Cardinal wins in both matches. The Cards end the pre-conference slate with a weekend YUM! fest with MTSU, UNLV and Miami...which they should sweep. 

We'll predict that they're 11-1 going into BIG EAST play. 

Games against DePaul and Notre Dame in the YUM! will be battles...especially the Irish...but the crystal ball  deflated volleyball shows me two wins. The first conference road trip takes Louisville to USF and Pitt...they lose in Tampa but triumph in Steel City....ending September at 14-2.

October sees them with eight matches...the first three at home. I predict wins over Seton Hall and Rutgers...but a narrow loss to #2 preseason ranked Texas...the third match in three days for the VolleyCards. 

Five matches on the road close out October...and the Cards should prevail in New York, Storrs, Syracuse and Milwaukee. The Oct. 27th. match in Cincy against the Bearcats should be a doozy...Louisville narrowly escaping with the "W". The end of October sees Louisville with a 21-3 record. 

Four home matches greet the Cards in November before the BIG EAST Championships. Villanova, Georgetown and Marquette leave with losses. The Cincinnati Bearcats visit the YUM! on 11/11/12 and head back up I-71 with a "L" also. The Paulie sees Louisville at 25-3 going into BIG EAST Tournament play. 

Not sure, obviously, who the OVC Champ will be but Louisville should polish them off pretty easily before starting NCAA Tournament action.

So, there you have it.  

And, just in case anyone was wondering...72 days till women's basketball starts. (People always ask...)

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Cards Start Big East Play 2-0 at the Yum! Center

The UofL Volleyball team swept both St. John's and UCONN to start Big East play 2-0. They also started out their stretch of Yum! Center games 2-0. The Cardinals were never seriously threatened in either match. They beat St. John's 25-19, 25-14 and then 25-23 and they beat UCONN 25-7, 25-13 and 25-20. The 7 UCONN had in the first set Sunday was tied for the lowest score in any set in the 25 set era (2008-present) for a Louisville opponent.

Lola Arslanbekova was amazing Friday night as she notched her fourth straight double-double. Sunday, she added 18 kills and moved into 10th all-time in kills for a career passing Jackie Bryne.

Emily Juhl also had a nice night Friday, she had 4 aces and 12 kills. Sunday night Caitlin Welch and Taylor Brauneis looked great. Welch had 21 digs and 2 aces, the 21 digs set a record for the Cards in a three-setter in the 25 set era. Brauneis recorded a double-double with 37 assists and 11 digs.

Coach Anne Kordes told me she was very happy with the atmosphere, and called the Yum! Center "the best Volleyball venue in the nation." However, she urges all Cards fans to show up for the remaining 4 games at the Yum! Center.

The two wins set the Cards record at 10-4 (2-0). Their next 5 games are on the road starting with DePaul September 30th. They return to the Yum Center October 23rd against Pitt.

WE remember 911....Volleyball wind Bobcat Classic with wins over Virginia & Marshall

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SUNDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE

-WE remember 9/11/01

-Volleyball takes Bobcat Classic

WE take a few paragraphs today on this 10th. anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to reflect on the tragic day and remember.

Paul had arrived at one of his customer's offices and walked into a room of people standing around one of those small 12-inch televisions. (remember those?) He watched in shock and disbelief the smoldering World Trade Center building...and then the next attack on the twin towers.

The rest of the day went by in kind of a surreal state as he went about his business but the topic of conversation certainly wasn't about business.

Sonja was just getting ready to go to work...watching television and enjoying a final cup of coffee when they cut away from the talk show she was viewing with a special announcement.
She got a late start on her duties that day...not leaving until almost 11 a.m.

David Watson had just arrived at a customer's house to do a claim report on a client's automobile. The lady, in tears, told him what had just happened, invited him in and they watched the horrific scene continue to unfold from her couch.

Where were you and what were you doing when 9/11 unfolded? Feel free to share with us in the comments section at the end of today's column or you can e-mail us at cardinalcouple@insightbb.com . WE'LL run a special column over on the left side of the site about your recollections...feel free to report anonymously if you wish.

Let us never forget and always honor those who died innocently and in service.

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Louisville volleyball took two matches yesterday in the Baymont Bobcat Classic in Athens, OH.

The morning session had the Cards matched up against ACC power Virginia.  How do you spell win? How about L..O...L..A? Ms. Arslanbekova had 17 kills in the 4 game triumph for the Cardinals. Make it 25-16, 21-25, 25-23 and 25-18.

"It was a huge win for us because Virginia is a strong ACC team and the biggest team we've faced so far." Cardinal skipper Anne Kordes commented after the win. "We relied on defense and I thought Maci Wacthel came in and did a great job for us on the back row. This was also two solid back-to-back matches for Kaitlynn James. Good to see Lola get a double-double for us with kills and digs."


The Cards held a 63-50 advantage in kills and outhit the Cavs .254 to .174

In the evening match, Lola led the way again with 18 kills and Louisville swept Marshall 25-18, 25-19 and 26-24.

"This was a great weekend to bounce back from the loss to Kentucky on Wednesday." Kordes said after the win. "Emily Juhl did a fantastic job and setter Taylor Brauneis made some phenomenal decisions at some key times. Caitlin Welch kept us system and made it easier. Lola Arslanbekova gets to a spot where she cannot be stopped."

Arslanbekova was selected as the MVP of the tournament and was joined on the All-Tournament team by Emily Juhl and Caitlin Welch.
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