FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-For the "Blonde Blur" it went by way too fast

(David Watson hosts today's CARDINAL COUPLE. He takes a look at one of the most popular Lady Cards to wear the Red and Black...or grey and white...Shelby Harper.)

For Jeff Walz, it was a decision based on attrition. With barely enough guards available to hold practice, the third-year Louisville head women's basketball coach turned to the bench and saw injuries and a diminutive freshman guard that had walked on the team near the start of the fall to help out with practices and to fill a chair on the Cardinal bench. Attention Cardinal fans --this lineup change -- Shelby Harper is now your starting point guard.

The freshman from Allen County-Scottsville, near Bowling Green, KY. had delivered a solid high school career and a couple of the current Lady Cards were familiar with her mad dash, up and down the court style of point-guardmanship. They got quite used to it the majority of the 2009-10 season, for the former walk-on began starting in January and was in the starting lineup for 17 games. She ended up second on the team in assists and second in three-point shooting percentage.

The 2009-10 team took their lumps and ended up with a 14-18 record. It was a season of being out-numbered at times but the squad will probably be one of my favorites for a long time because they battled against adversity, low numbers and injuries and never gave up.

One wondered how Harper would fit into the 2010-11 Cardinal women's basketball plans. Stellar guard Shoni Schimmel had arrived on campus and Becky Burke and Tia Gibbs were available to give the Cards good strength in the backcourt. Harper returned to the bench but appeared in 27 games for UofL as a valuable substitute. She continued to draw oohs and aahs and applause from the Cardinal fan base for her helter-skelter, continual hustle appearances and Louisville came back from the depths of despair to record a 22-13 season and advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.

More guards unloaded their baggage in the UofL dorms in 2011-12. Jude Schimmel and Bria Smith proved their mettle and Harper continued her role as an off-the-bench spark for the Cardinals. This Cardinal squad was beset by the injury bug again but managed to go 23-10. Harper saw action in 30 games and fans delighted in seeing her and Jude as a backup guard tandem on the court together. Both barely tall enough to get on the adult rides at the State Fair but delivering large performances whenever they entered games.

We see Shelby Harper as a senior this season and the spark plug, motivator role continues. A rare start on senior night, a season of providing brief stretches of inspired, hard-working minutes for a Cardinal squad that will play its (hopefully) final TWO games in front of the faithful at the KFC YUM! Center on Sunday and Tuesday.

Where has the time gone? It seems like only yesterday she was bringing Cardinal fans to their feet with her five-threes made against Cincinnati. 

Her take? Her advice to those that will remain after she graduates?

"Enjoy every minute of it. Try as hard as you can. It goes by way too fast."

It's gone by way too fast for us also, Shelby. Hard to believe we won't see that face -- showing that look of determination when on defense -- next season on Denny Crum Court.

Coach Walz summed it up pretty well when she said:

"I told her parents that if my daughters grew up to be like Shelby, I'd be quite OK with that."

Shelby will never get any taller. She will, however, have a large spot in the hearts and admiration of UofL Women's Basketball fans forever and that spot will grow as years go by.

Blonde Blur? Love her.

David Watson


(Editor's Note: Some of the photos used in this article are from Charlie Springer. www.uoflcardgame.com  The best ones, of course.)


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Still plenty of time to get those tickets for UofL WBB in the KFC YUM! Center for Sunday and (we just know it...) Tuesday action in the NCAA Tournament.

Ticketmaster, KFC YUM! Center Box Office, from that shady guy standing on the street corner...whaever it takes. Man up, buy a ticket and support the Lady Cards. You don't want a Blue Raider in the lower bowl of the YUM! do you? Yikes!

Also, don't forget to try your luck in the CARDINAL COUPLE NCAA Women's Tournament Pick 'Em Contest.

25 entries in as of 7 a.m. today. Take a chance, fill out your dance card for a chance at a $25 Chili's Gift Card. The prestige of being the best. Totally awesome, dudes. Your not a scaredy cat, are you?

Leave your picks in the comments section of today's article or you can e-mail them to:

cardinalcouple@insightbb.com

Don't delay. The tournament is just a day away. Make your day. Have a say. C'mon and play. OK?



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Friday Cardinal Couple -- The return of Watson and Louisville softball

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-He's back...David Watson on Cardinal WBB

-Softball prepares for Louisville Softball Classic

( CARDINAL COUPLE Columnist emeritus David Watson returns today with his views on the Louisville WBB season...so far. One thing about David we've always loved...there is no grey area in his columns...you either agree whole-heartedly or I get e-mails complaining about him. You're on the tee, Dave-O...fire away!)


I am pleased to be front and center once again here at CC in today's edition of CARDINAL COUPLE. I haven't missed submitting bi-weekly articles here; life has been fast and furious for me for the last few months and I did go through successful hip-replacement surgery, so there has been a brief convalescent period as well. Nevertheless, typing on these pages again bring back some very fond memories and some bitter-sweet ones as well.

If you are relatively new to Paulie's whirling dervish here, my name is David Watson and I used to be a semi-regular columnist on these pages. Back in the early days. When Sonja still wrote here and before the days of Cardinal Couple Radio (A show I really like). There was no columnists "Q" or Jeff. I like their work, by the way, and Jenny and Sandy's as well. I may not contribute but sporadically anymore, but I do read almost every day. I'm happy to see the site have the successes it has. I'd like to think I'm responsible for it in a very small portion. Paulie tells me differently. But, he also told me the world was flat and that he can communicate with squirrels.

When he asked me to contribute this week, he gave me a few topic ideas. There was only one way I was going, though, and that was to write about the University of Louisville women's basketball team. What's left of it.

I looked forward to the start of this season with great anticipation. Jeff Walz had a stable of runners that looked like they could seriously be the fly in the ointment for UConn and Notre Dame's domination of BIG EAST supremacy. I was ready to see the all-court hustle of Tia Gibbs. Knew that Asia Taylor would continue her board mastery and when she faltered that Shawnta Dyer would be there to help Monique Reid score inside and rebound.

As we know, none of this either happened or lasted very long. There were plenty of things to still excite me, though. Shoni's aerial attacks on rims across the nation. The strong-willed, determined approach of Sara Hammond in the paint. I expected Nita Slaughter would finally become a consistent and steady contributor to Walz's wards and that Sherrone Vails would regain the touch that made her a freshman on the rise. Bria Smith's driving ability excited me and I knew she could become a point guard in time. I looked forward to the contributions of the freshmen Walton and Deines and hoped that Jude Schimmel and Shelby Harper could become valuable contributors off the bench.

And, for the most part -- I got what I wanted in this area of Cardinal women's basketball.

I also wanted the Cards to finally prove to me that they were a steady, unshakable team when it came to road games against good opponents. This is where they let me down.

I attended the debacle at South Bend. Barely able to hobble into the Joyce Center and having to stand for long stretches because of hip pain, the bombardment the Irish laid down hurt almost as much as my throbbing hip. One Irish fan even commented to me that I must really be a dedicated fan, standing in support of my battered Cardinals for the long stretches. I didn't correct him.

The loss at UConn was definitely expected but disappointing to me after the Cards had won a tough one at Providence. Falling at DePaul was a big surprise. Equally perplexing was the unexpected (by me) victory at Tampa over USF and then losing to them in the Roman Coliseum/KFC YUM! Center. I was also surprised by Louisville's final regular season folding of the tent at Syracuse. All in all, though -- a 11-5 record in the BIG EAST isn't anything to gnash my teeth about in angst. I thought 13-3 was achievable, but I do tend to wish for the moon and settle for moonshadows.

One thing I've noticed, however, is the lack of a definite team leader. The great teams have one. Diggins at Notre Dame. Griner at Baylor. Mathies at Kentucky (your hate mail can be sent to cardinalcouple@insightbb.com). Dolson at UConn. Alexander at Syracuse.

Angel.

Who will step up for Louisville NEXT year and be the girl? I'm relenting that it's too late this year for a candidate to emerge to assume the position. Louisville will skate through their two home NCAA games, probably end up in Baylor's bracket and eventually be sent home by 'Grinder' Griner and Sims. Or Stanford. Or UConn or Notre Dame.

You see it in the great teams. Siva on the men's team. Taurasi on the championship UConn squads. Parker at Tennessee. Adams at A&M a few years ago. Mercedes Russell will be a leader. Why she ended up in the backwoods of Tennessee playing for the third best team in the SEC is beyond me. Maybe she didn't get the memo that Pat retired and her son abdicated the throne and went to Milwaukee.

Who will lead? It's got to be a player who sees significant court time and can motivate others. A player who understands the game, isn't prone to emotional outbursts and can converse with the volatile Walz on the sidelines without breaking into tears or sulking when he does his sideline lecturing. Who is that player who can lead by example, hard work, dedication and rallying her teammates into spending the extra hours in the gym?

Who do I recommend? She may have zeroes on her back, but she's a 10 when it comes to hard work and leading by example. Take over, Sara and take this team to the final four in 2013-14.

So, dear readers, I wish you the best and we'll see you down the road again here. Make someone smile today. It'll do you both good.

Paulie, you owe me a "cold one" and if you find any good 8-tracks at yard sales, give me a call and I'll see if I have it or not.

--David Watson

( Editor's note. David Watson has over 5500 8-track cassettes and hopes someday to set a Guinness World Record for owning the most. I've seen the collection. He likes nothing better than to sit in his garage and pop one in his 8-track player for you that you've probably never heard of the artist before. )

WANT ANOTHER TAKE ON CARDINAL WBB? GO TO THE LINK BELOW:

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/6086

Thanks to Sandy Walker for the find and share!



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Louisville softball begins the four-day Louisville Softball Classic today and the Cards will get in four games over the duration. They play two today (North Carolina at 3 p.m. and Eastern Michigan at 5 p.m.) at Ulmer. They also engage Wisconsin on Sunday and Iowa on Monday. They get Saturday off...given the power of the Cardinal bats lately, one can only hope they're flying to the Cubs spring training camp and offering some pointers to my beleaguered Cubbies.

#11 Louisville is 21-3 on the season and is 9-0 at Ulmer this season. The Cards are batting .345 as a team. Katie Keller is fourth in the nation at .500 and has defeated two top 25 teams this season...LSU and Michigan. The Classic schedule below:

FRIDAY

10 a.m.   Wisconsin vs North Carolina
12:30 p.m   Wisconsin vs Eastern Michigan
3 p.m. LOUISVILLE vs North Carolina
5 p.m. LOUISVILLE vs Eastern Michigan

SATURDAY

10 a.m.   Ball State vs Wisconsin
12:30 p.m.  Eastern Michigan vs Wisconsin
3 p.m.  North Carolina vs Ball State
5:30 p.m.   North Carolina vs Eastern Michigan

SUNDAY

10 a.m.  LOUISVILLE vs Wisconsin
12:30 p.m.  Iowa vs North Carolina
3 p.m. Iowa vs Ball State

MONDAY

11 a.m.  Ball State vs Iowa
1:30 p.m. LOUISVILLE vs Iowa


Plenty of chances to get out and see your hard-hitting, nationally ranked Softball Cards in action. We'll recap the Cards' results here at the Couple and discuss the Friday play on our radio show Saturday on Crescent Hill Radio.

www.crescenthillradio.com

Word gets to me that co-host Jenny O'Bryan will be unavailable to us for the Saturday show...so it looks Jeff and I will be donning the headphones and carrying on...unless Boy George takes me up on my invitation to join us in the studio. Or Sandy Walker replies to my invite.

We have a great show planned, though...with an exclusive interview with WBB head Coach Jeff Walz and recaps of the BIG EAST Tournament and Louisville's impending foray into the NCAA Tournament. Plenty of exciting softball and lacrosse action to discuss as well and Jeff will be ready to deliver his version of Danny Boy with Merl, Daryl and Bill the Goat in celebration of St. Patrick's Day...just in case it all falls apart and we're desperate for filler time.  

Paulie

Thursday Cardinal Couple

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Thursday Cardinal Couple - The "Spring Sports? Its Snowing!" Edition

Another Lacrosse Win

Coming off their first loss of the season in Denver, Kellie Young's young Lacrosse team came out Wednesday afternoon ready to make a statement.  While not ideal weather for a field sport, the cold, with a bit of snow on the ground, didn't chill the first half attack of the Cardinals.

Louisville Lacrosse team got out to a strong lead in the first half of the game against Vanderbilt with scoring by committee.  Seven different sources of scoring for Louisville led to the 9-4 halftime lead. Nikki Boltja found the back of the net twice, as did Katie Oliverio.  Also scoring for Louisville in the first half were Colleen O'Malley, Erika Eipp, Kaylin Morissette, Jamie Redding, and...uhm...Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt made a statement in the second half, but it wasn't enough to completely close the gap.  Carly Linthicum scored 4 of her 5 goals in the second half, including 3 in under 8 minutes, helping to narrow the 5 point halftime margin to 3, but Cardinals Nikki Boltja and Kaylin Morissette both scored twice to hold on to the win for a final score of 13-10.

Another win, over another quality opponent.  If you didn't get a chance to get out to the Lacrosse Stadium, you're going to have to wait a while.  The Cardinals don't return to play a game on Floyd St. until early April, though hopefully that means the weather will be nicer.  In the meantime, they have road games against Presbyterian (in Georgia), Detroit, and Drexel.  The road trip continues with the beginning of conference play against Loyola Maryland...yes, that is a Big East team in Lacrosse...and Georgetown, before finally returning home for a April 5th game against Notre Dame with a 5pm first draw.

National Honors

Several National honors were bestowed on Cardinal Womens Athletes this week, both athletic and academic.

Softball

Katie Keller (2B) picked up the Louisville Slugger/NFCA (National Fast-pitch Coaches Association) Player of the Week spot.  The Cards have had two players pick up this award previously Tori Collins (4/17/2012) and Chelsea Bemis (4/27/2010).

Katie breaks new ground by being named the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Week, an honor never before bestowed on a Cardinal.

The softball team will be back in action on Floyd street in beautiful Ulmer Stadium this weekend.  First pitch for UofL will be against a frequent opponent, Michigan, on Friday at 4pm.  Miami (Ohio) and Austin Peay will be the Saturday matchups with 2:30pm and 5pm starts, with a 3pm Sunday start against Illinois State.  The weather looks to be fantastic, particularly as the weekend progresses, for a trip out to Ulmer to cheer on the 13th ranked Softball team.

Congratulations to Katie, and good luck to the whole team this weekend.

Field Hockey

UofL Field Hockey was named to the 2012 Gladiator by SGI/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Nation Academic Team Award list...boy that's a mouthful.  This list is for teams that achieve a team GPA of 3.0 or above.

Contributing to that, were the seven players named to the NFHCA National Academic squad.  This squad is players that have earned a 3.30 or higher GPA through the first semester of the 2012-13 school year.  The seven are: Elisa Garcia, Natasha Leickly, Becca Maddock, Mallory Mason, Paige Monsen, Kelsey Rosenmeier, and Kendall Weedling.

Congratulations to the Field Hockey team for representing the University and community so well, even in the off season.

The Signing News Continues

This is a marathon, not a sprint; but I'm going to throw you a bit of a curve-ball by starting with...

Volleyball

Alex Wilharm has joined the Volleyball coaching staff as an assistant coach to Anne Kordes.  If you've been to a volleyball match in the past couple of years, you've seen Alex; he's the (very) red-headed guy who looks like he's about 17, but in reality is in his mid-20's.  Alex has been serving as the volunteer assistant coach for the past two years, but now joins the coaching staff officially.  He joins Lee Maes and replaces Melissa Stark Bean.  Melissa has been up front about only filling the assistant coaches position temporarily (due to the late departure of Dani Busboom to become an assistant coach at her alma mater Nebraska) until Kordes could find a longer term replacement.

Kordes has, in the past, spoken about wanting to hire an older more established coach to help bring a bit of a different perspective to the staff, but apparently decided that it was worth hiring Alex, and lowering the age of an already youthful staff, in order to retain his immense talent and drive.

I've had the opportunity to speak with Alex several times and he is a genuinely nice guy and very enjoyable to talk to.  He knows the game of volleyball very well...far better than his youth would suggest...and is clearly an immensely hard worker.  This is another great hire for the UofL Athletic Department and UofL Volleyball.

Field Hockey

Justine Sowry has clearly been spending a lot of time in the Camden, NJ area in the past couple of years.  Field Hockey has announced their 5th (of 6) signing of the year in Elina Pereira from Shawnee High School in Medford, NJ.  Previous announcements included 2 from Eastern Regional High School in Vorhees, NJ about 10 miles down the road.

Elina is a goalkeeper and is expected to compete for the starting position this fall.  Welcome, Elina.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Jeff pleads his point on the CARDINAL
COUPLE Radio Hour

I had a lot of fun with Paulie and Jenny on Crescent Hill Radio on Saturday, and am really looking forward to doing it again this week.  No doubt we'll give some time to the Big East Women's Basketball tournament...we'll have the results of the first round in to talk about and analyze.  We'll also have the Michigan Softball game to talk about.  Be sure to tune in to http://www.crescenthillradio.com Saturday at 11am ET.  Paulie's flights of fancy are worth the price of admission alone.

Paulie insists Rutgers is in
New Jersey on the show...

Editor's Note: And it was a great show...Jeff and Jenny providing the perfect Moe and Larry compliment to my Curly/Three Stooges ramblings. Despite a nagging back pain that has me less than my usual chipper self, I'm hoping to creep down to the Belknap Campus early this afternoon to also get some audio for the show from Coach Jeff Walz and a few players about the upcoming BIG EAST Tournament, random thoughts on the season, the aspect of nuclear war with North Korea and dental hygiene in the 21st. century.

I'd also like to remind you of the CARDINAL COUPLE BIG EAST WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT PICK 'EM going on currently. It's free to enter, a $25 Chili's Gift Card to the winner and great fun and fellowship as you try to pick the 14 games that await us beginning Friday. You can leave your picks in the comments section of this column, e-mail them to cardinalcouple@insightbb.com or call our customer service number and one of our talented chimps will write them down and post them on the "big board" for study, pie-throwing and ridicule.

Sonja smiles, knowing she will win the 'Pick Em'

WE promised staff picks to be presented and although the majority of the staff HAS NOT submitted their picks yet (notorious slackers and underachievers that they are...) Sonja has charged out of the defensive secondary, stole a wicket and charged toward the net with hers.

WE have had a very good response so far for the contest, with 32 entries as of 7:00 a.m. Thursday morning. Even the staff chimps at CARDINAL COUPLE have gotten together an entry and Timmy the Intern is trying to get his smuggled out of a Mexican jail to us. Bill the Goat also came up with an entry, but promptly ate it. Join us, won't you?

--Paulie "Where's the Aleve?" Sykes

SONJA'S SELECTIONS?
HERE THEY ARE!

ROUND 1 : Seton Hall, Marquette, Georgetown
ROUND 2 : St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Villanova
ROUND 3 : Louisville, Notre Dame, Connecticut, Syracuse
ROUND 4 : Notre Dame, Connecticut
ROUND 5:  Notre Dame

 

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Lacrosse only action on Wednesday

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

It’s a quiet day in the ‘Ville.  After a disappointing loss at Syracuse Monday night, the basketball Cards returns home for some rest, classes and practice before heading to Hartford for the Big East Tournament. 

In the meantime, the fields were quiet on Tuesday, too.  Next up for Louisville Women’s Athletics is lacrosse.  Lacrosse hopes to return to their winning ways as they take to the field on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. at U of L Lacrosse Stadium. 

The Cardinals had a brief encounter with national rankings last week checking in at #20.  After the first loss on the season against Denver, the Cards fell out of the rankings this week, but are still receiving votes.  Denver, the lone loss for the Cards, also unranked, received votes in this week’s poll.

The Cardinals return home to face Vanderbilt.  Vanderbilt is 1-5 on the season with two top 10 losses to Duke and last years Champions, Northwestern.  Vanderbilt leads the series against the Cards, 2-1, with their most recent win over the Cards coming last season in a close match where the Cardinals fell 15-12.

 Looking to redeem that loss, no doubt, the Cardinals will need to put their 6^th ranked defense to work.  The Commodores are ranked 10^th in overall goals and have two senior standouts in attacker Carly Linthicum and goalkeeper Chelsea Pasfield.
 

The two are ranked 2^nd and 1^st, respectively, in their specialty on the field.  Cardinals will have their work cut out for them. 

If you are like me and are working during the match today, you can watch for free online at CardsTV at www.gocards.com.  The game will also be broadcast statewide on WHAS Channel 11.2, Insight 432, or Comcast 207.

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Don't forget to try your luck in the Cardinal Couple BIG EAST WBB Pick 'Em Tournament contest we are having. Entries by Friday noon. $25 Chili's gift card to the winner. You can leave them in a comments section or e-mail them directly to cardinalcouple@insightbb.com Be sure to add your name and a way to contact you if you win.


Former CARDINAL COUPLE columnist David Watson is in. His winners are below

DAY 1.  Seton Hall, Marquette, Providence,
DAY 2.  Seton Hall, USF, Marquette, Villanova
DAY 3.  Seton Hall, Notre Dame. UConn, Villanova
DAY 4.  Notre Dame, Villanova
DAY 5.  Notre Dame.



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Sunday Cardinal Couple - Softball takes two. Lacrosse takes a loss

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Softball downs Longwood, Ga Tech in Citrus.

-Lacrosse falls in Mile High City

-UofL women's swimmer "three peat"

-With a little help, WBB earns double bye


#15 Cardinal softball won both outings Saturday in the Citrus Classic in chilly Orlando...breaking Longwood 9-1 and stinging the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 6-3 on ESPN 3.

LOUISVILLE 9 - LONGWOOD 1

Six innings was all it took to win the first game on Saturday, Louisville getting a strong pitching performance from Rachel Le Coq and the Cards bats producing 11 hits.

Longwood took the early lead 1-0 after one inning but Louisville responded with two runs in the second frame. Maggie Ruckenbrod singled and scored on Hannah Kiyohara's three-bagger. Kiyohara got greeted at home when Chrisanna Roberts singled. Roberts has been playing center field a lot lately...not sure what's going on with Jordan Trimble, but we do have a call in to Louisville Softball Sports Information.

The Cards made in 6-0 in the fifth. Kayla Soles' double brought home Katie Keller and Jennifer Esteban and Ruckenbrod doubled later in the inning to score Soles and Alicja Wolny.

The Cards added the final three runs in the sixth. Esteban drilled a double that got Kiyohara and Keller back to the dugout and Esteban made it 9-1 when she scored on a Longwood error.

LeCoq gave up just one run on five hits, Caralisa Connell pitched the final 1.2 innings for the Cards allowing just one hit and fanning three.

LOUISVILLE 6 - GEORGIA TECH 3

UofL got a huge performance from Alicja Wolny in the battle against the Yellow Jackets with two home runs and Whitney Arion added a third round-tripper. Carl Connell went the distance in the circle for Sandy Pearsall and the Cards improved to 15-3 on the season with the win over the future ACC opponent.

Louisville used four hits in the first inning to sprint out to a 3-0 advantage. Keller scored after doubling and Esteban reached the plate on a Ruckenbrod single. Soles put the Cards up by three...scoring on an Arion single.

The Cards went up 4-1 when Arion took one out over the right-center field barrier. Wolny increased the Cardinal advantage to 5-1 with her first homer in the top of the fifth to right field and she made it 6-2 in the top of the seventh with her second "touch 'em all"...a massive blast over the center field fence.

Connell (9-2) gave up three runs, on seven hits and stuck out nine G.T. batters.

Louisville ends their stay in Mouseville with a matinee versus LSU today.

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Four goals each from Nikki Boltja and Katie Oliverio went enough Saturday in the Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium in Denver, Colorado...Louisville Lacrosse losing for the first time this season....as the Denver Pioneers take a 19-13 win.

Defense not as efficient as in the first three games of the year for Coach Young...and the Cards had 13 first half turnovers...trailing 8-5 at the intermission. Denver scored the first three goals of the match and got a score with just 26 seconds remaining to go up by three.

After three straight Pioneer scores to start the final half , the Cards rallied to cut the lead to 11-8, Nikki Boltja leading the charge with two goals. Denver responded with their own run, though, and pushed their advantage to 15-8. Louisville did outscore the Pioneers 5-4 the rest of the way...but it wasn't enough to produce a win.

Lacrosse returns home for a Wednesday, March 6th draw against Vanderbilt. Game time is 1 p.m.

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Congratulations to the Louisville women's swimming and diving squad, who captured their third straight BIG EAST Conference title in Indianapolis yesterday...defeating Notre Dame and the eight other BIG EAST schools involved in the swimming championships.

Coming up big for Louisville was Kelsi Worrell, who won the 100-free...barely defeating teammate Breann McDowell. The Cards also won the 400-free relay with Worrell, McDowell, Krissie Brandenburg and Grite Apanaviciute combining to set a new BIG EAST record in the process.

Hannan Gadd came in second in women's platform diving for Louisville.

Great job, splashers! Best of luck in the NCAA...

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Louisville WBB got some huge help Saturday from Villanova and Seton Hall...the VU Wildcats knocking off Syracuse in three overtimes 77-75 and SHU downing St. John's 61-50.

What it means is that the Cards are assured of a double bye in the BIG EAST Conference, regardless of the outcome Monday night in Syracuse between the Orange and the Ville.

A win against the Quentin Hillsman coached Syracuse team would keep Louisville in third place in the final conference regular season standings. A loss would drop them into a tie with Syracuse for third but they would still own the tie-breaker of St. John, if the Red Storm wins Monday.

A little pressure off now, the Cards can go up to the Dome and take care of business against the tough 'Cuse team. We'll preview it tomorrow here at the 'Couple!

WE discussed how impressed we were with the Seton Hall bunch after their appearance here Wednesday during our CARDINAL COUPLE Radio Show on Saturday. They were probably listening and went out and proved us right yesterday. Pirates rock, anyway and I'm having Jenny and Jeff wear eye-patches and say 'ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!" a lot on this upcoming Saturday's broadcast.
 
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Finally, thanks to Jenny O'Bryan and Jeff McAdams for co-hosting the inaugrual broadcast of The Cardinal Couple Hour on Crescent Hill Radio Saturday with me.

WE had a fun time, didn't mess up too much on 'live radio' and discussed a lot of Louisville women's athletic topics.

Miss it, did you? Not to worry, the broadcast is hanging out up there somewhere on a sound cloud and you can find it at:

http://www.crescenthillradio.com


Just go to the site and click on the ARCHIVES link. We're there waiting for you.

Paulie

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Cardinal Couple Friday Edition

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Staff columnist Jeff McAdams accidently found his lap-top and decided to do the Friday Edition of CARDINAL COUPLE. This was after he sent the words below to several reputable and well-known sports web-sites and had the offerings returned. Nevertheless, he's one of ours and chips in when it's time for the weekly washing of the staff animals....so read at your own risk...)

 

Spring has sprung...well, sort of.

The winter sports season is nearing an end.  There is still plenty of excitement to be had, but the regular seasons of basketball and...the other basketball team...is drawing to a close.  That means that we here at the Cardinal Couple are starting to turn our attention to spring sports.  We've talked quite a bit about Lacrosse, and we'll touch base on the latest in the Lacrosse world here in a moment.

Softball is also a popular spring sport here at the Cardinal Couple as Paulie is a big fan...and we'll go there in a moment as well.  First, though, let's catch up with our recurring item from the past few weeks...news from a fall sport...Field Hockey.

Field Hockey signing announcement, round 4

We're in week four of an expected six signing announcements for UofL Field Hockey.  This week we hear about Shannon Sloss from Pequea, PA.  You may have noticed that I like to give a description of where the towns are that newly signed student-athletes list as their hometown.  This one may be the biggest challenge yet.  Pequea is roughly the midpoint between Harrisburg, PA; Philadelphia, PA, and Baltimore, MD, and that doesn't really help, does it?  Pequea is on the Susquehanna river, a bit south of Lancaster, PA.

Shannon picked up three All Pennsylvania Region team selections in her time at Penn Manor High School, two of which were first team picks.  She also collected a third team All-America honor in 2011.

Again, we expect two more signing announcements for Field Hockey in the coming two weeks.  Stay tuned.

Lacrosse reaches new heights

UofL Lacrosse heads out, and a mile up, for a Saturday meetup with Denver University, in the mile high city on Saturday the 2nd, with a first...draw, I believe is the term...at 1pm ET.  UofL Lacrosse is riding high after a 21-3 beatdown of Old Dominion this past weekend which, of course, comes on top of a major upset of the then #13 Ohio State University the previous weekend.

The big news, however, is that, for the first time in UofL Lacrosse's 6 years of play, the team is nationally ranked.  In the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) poll, Louisville Lacrosse is ranked 20th.  Unlike many other sports, which rank the top 25 teams, Lacrosse only seems to rank the top 20, so we've only just snuck into the poll, but this is a historic high for Louisville Lacrosse and reflects on the upward trajectory of so many of UofL's Athletics programs.

Lacrosse returns to the UofL Lacrosse Stadium for a game against Vanderbilt on Wednesday the 6th with a 1pm first draw.

Softball

To round out the discussion of ranked UofL Athletic teams, Softball, with a 12-2 record, is showing up in the rankings at either 15th or 16th, depending on which poll you look at.

The Cards swept the weekend with victories over Kent State on Friday, Buffalo on Saturday, and a double-header on Sunday against Kent State again, and Eastern Illinois.  I had the opportunity to make it out to Ulmer Stadium on Sunday to catch most of the Kent State game and all of the Eastern Illinois game.  While it got a bit chilly towards the end of the second game as the sun dropped behind the back of the seating, leaving most of the fans in shade in the cool weather, it was a wonderful day to be out at the ballpark cheering on Sandy Pearsall's squad and visiting with random other UofL fans in the stands.

Softball is always a great opportunity to visit with your fellow Cards fans, though this weekend, they are in Orlando, FL with match-ups with 5th/8th ranked Texas, Temple, Longwood, future conference-mate Georgia Tech, and 11th/11th ranked LSU out of the softball powerhouse SEC conference.  They will return to the friendly...and hopefully warmer as spring makes its presence felt...confines of Ulmer Stadium the weekend of the 8th through 10th with games against Michigan, Miami (Ohio), Austin Peay, and Illinois State.

I Still Can't Believe We're Doing This...

A reminder that Crescent Hill Radio has been crazy enough to let Paulie have an hour of time on their Internet radio station  http://www.crescenthillradio.com starting at 11 o'clock this Saturday.  At this point, Jenny O'Bryan and myself are slated to join him...at least until someone gives us a better offer...anyone?  Please?  Let's hope that Bill the Goat doesn't eat the mic shields, at least.

Tune in, I expect we'll have a lot of fun, and hopefully not too much embarrassment.





( Editor's Note: It should be noted that we invited Jeff solely because Timmy the Intern is being
held in a Mexican jail...probably for illegally listening to Mexican radio...we can't raise the bail and we need someone to help CoCo make mudpies out in front of the studio. We showed CoCo a picture of Jeff and then a picture of Shoni Schimmel and CoCo picked Jeff to help make the mudpies. Probably just as well, Shoni would most likely make round mudpies and tossed them successfully into the trash can....one by one...25 feet away. No profit in that. We realize that Co-Co will have to train Jeff in the art of mud-pie making, but feel confident his parents will be glad to finally see a degree in SOMETHING hanging from the den wall. Bill the Goat will NOT be allowed in the studio. Period. We're still paying off the damage he did to Lt. Governor Abramson's office...)

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Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Softball win, Big Sports weekend!

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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Connell blanks Kent State in Cardinal Classic

-Lacrosse hosts Old Dominion today

-Oh, yeah...it's on!


The University of Louisville Softball team is glad to be home and playing softball after two straight weekends on the road playing in tournaments in Las Vegas and Jacksonville. Probably no one more happier than junior pitcher Caralisa Connell...who blanked Kent State Friday in softball action at Ulmer Stadium. "Carl" allowed one hit in the win, picking up her second shutout of the year in a 5-0 win over the Golden Flashes.

How much is enough? Coach Pearsall waxed philosophical about the win:

"Caralisa pitched a very good game. Defensively, I thought we did what we needed to do. Even though we scored five runs, as an offensive coach, I'm always thinking we can improve and make better decisions. Overall, I was pleased with the win."

( Awwww...Coach P, we love ya and don't find anything at all offensive about ya. Unless you let your dogs do their business in the outfield berm..)

Louisville broke open a scoreless battle in the second inning, using hits by Jordy Trimble ( my favorite player!) and Whitney Arion...plus a couple of Kent State defensive errors to go up 2-0. Louisville added three more runs in the fifth, Arion getting a triple and scoring on Katelyn Mann's single and Katie Keller driving home two more.

Connell (2012 CARDINAL COUPLE reader-selected Favorite UofL women's athlete) retired the final 10 batters she faced. What she's doing pitching to people getting ready to retire...we have no clue...but I hope their financially ready for the "golden years".

#18 Louisville (9-2) plays again tomorrow at Ulmer. Get out there and cheer them on. They face Buffalo at 12:30 p.m.

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Lacrosse attempts to go 3-0 against Old Dominion at 1 p.m. in the Lacrosse Stadium today. Been to a lacrosse game yet? It's a shame that softball and lacrosse are within a half-hour of each other...gotta choose Cardinal fans...but Kellie Young has a heckuva team and they are a lot of fun to watch.

Go see one or the other, Cardinal fans. You'll have a big time at either.

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And, yes...it's true! CARDINAL COUPLE will be going on the radio with a weekly show beginning next Saturday (March 2nd.) on Crescent Hill Radio

http://www.crescenthillradio.com

We report on the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports here. It's what we do. We're going to do the same on the air. We've got our favorite Robbie Bartlett for the intro and exit song, the staff chimps have been bathed and dressed for the occasion and Bill the Goat will be out front nibbling on the hedges and chasing people down Frankfort Avenue.

A guaranteed good time for all...




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Friday Cardinal Couple

Softball, Soccer Stadium, Signing, Sticks and Soundchecks

Softball Schedule and Honors

Anyone have a synonym for "honors" that begins with "s"?
 

Softball is off to a good start to their season, with ten games under their belts already, and only two losses.  Today is the home opener for softball, against Kent State, with a first pitch scheduled for 2:30pm.  Kent State plays an earlier game, starting at noon, against Buffalo.  While we were worried about sleet, ice, and other wintery weather last night, game time is expected to be mostly sunny at 53 degrees, which for the end of February, isn't too shabby of a forecast to go watch a Softball game.  I may play hooky for the afternoon and head out to Ulmer Stadium to catch at least a few innings. 

Softball continues play in the Cardinal Classic at 12:30pm on Saturday in a game with Buffalo.  Buffalo starts off the play Saturday at 10am against Eastern Illinois, and there will be a late game at 3pm between Kent State and Eastern Illinois.  The Cardinal Classic finishes off on Sunday with a 10am first pitch between Eastern Illinois and Buffalo.  UofL will play the last two games at 12:30pm versus Kent State, and 3pm against Eastern Illinois.

Sandy Pearsall's squad is sitting at number 18 in both softball polls and has already shown that they're going to be putting a lot of shots over the fences this season.  If you sit out on the berm, keep alert when the Cards are at bat.

In addition to the team ranking, Hannah Kiyohara picked up a Big East Player of the Week award, and Rachel Lecoq was named to the league honor roll.

I saw several games last year and was mightily impressed by the intelligence of the play of this team.  I saw very few mental errors in their play...occasional bobbles and mishandled balls, which just comes from being human...but almost never mental mistakes.  This is the type of play that I really love to see as a spectator.  Many people get excited about athletic prowess, like who can run the fastest and jump the highest...and that can certainly be exciting...but I find there's a sublime pleasure in watching a well executed play, regardless of the sport, and even if it doesn't require amazing jumping ability or speed.

( How about salutations, Jeff?  --Paulie)

Soccer Stadium Announced

Hard to miss the coverage yesterday of the new soccer stadium that Tom Jurich is building for Louisville Soccer.  Both the men's and women's squads will play in the new home for Louisville Soccer which will be basically across the street from the Yum! Center on Floyd street on campus.

The soccer teams have been playing in the infield of the track and field stadium...not bad digs, to be sure...but will have their own dedicated facility with all the features that you would expect of a world class facility, as well as all the features that you would expect of a UofL athletics facility...but I repeat myself.

The plan to build a soccer stadium has been anything but secret around the UofL Athletic Department, but the official announcement of the plan was being held until the initial funding was in place.  A more than generous gift from Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn has gotten the effort to that point.  The Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium is expected to be ready for the 2014 season to start off UofL's tenure in the ACC.

Signing News Continue

Justine Sowry continues to ration the National Letter of Intent signing news for Field Hockey.  This week, announcing the signing of Stephanie Byrne.  Also out of Eastern Regional High School in New Jersey, she'll be joining her teammate from that school, Gianna Peronne, who's signing was announced on signing day two weeks ago.

There are three more Field Hockey signings to be announced, so I expect I'll have another three weeks to run the singing vs signing joke well and truly into the ground.  Will there be more Eastern Regional teammates joining Gianna and Stephanie?  Stay tuned and we'll be sure to let you know.

Lacrosse Sticks in Action Saturday

Lacrosse is in action against Saturday against Old Dominion at 1pm in the Lacrosse Stadium. Lacrosse is off to a perfect start in early season play at 2-0.  The Lacrosse team is coming off of a huge upset win over Ohio State last weekend.  It may be a bit chilly, but Lacrosse appears to be a team on the rise, so let's support them in what looks like it might be a break-out season.

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TESTING, TESTING...

Look what we've done now, Ma.

CARDINAL COUPLE is taking to the radio. Beginning Saturday, March 2nd., CARDINAL COUPLE will have an hour-long show on Crescent Hill Radio from 11 a.m. to noon.

http://www.crescenthillradio.com

Just when you thought it was safe to return to the Internet and this happens...

Crescent Hill Radio (for now) is an internet-only station. That, in itself, though is pretty cool. Tibetian Monks, huddled around a laptop...listening intently to Paulie discuss the Villanova game. Day-traders in Hong Kong grimacing as Jenny describes the horrid refereeing in the USF contest. Ranchers in Montana on their smartphones reacting to the BIG EAST Standings report. The possibilities are endless!

This site is about the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports. That's what the radio show will be about also.

We will look at Louisville women's sports for an hour each week. You just might never be the same.



Join us, won't you?

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