Monday Cardinal Couple -- Volleyball rolls over Georgetown

.
MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Lola's 21 kills spark Cards

The University of Louisville, led by Lola Arslanbekova's 21 kills, handled Georgetown easily in the KFC YUM! Center Sunday in straight set triumphs 25-10, 25-18, 25-12. With the win, the VolleyCards go to 23-3 on the season and 12-1 in the BIG EAST.

Louisville discovered that Georgetown isn't exactly the best team in the league at returning service and used that to their advantage in front of the home crowd, stretching their lead to 18-5 and winning the first game going away by 15. Lola picked up 10 kills in the set and the Cards were off to a flying start.

The Hoyas did make a game of it in the second set, actually grabbing a 12-11 lead midway through the contest before a 8-1 Cardinal surge put Louisville in the driver's seat at 19-13. The Cards kept the momentum rolling and jumped to a 2-0 game advantage with a seven-point victory.

Anne Kordes' Cards kept that momentum alive in the final game. Up 12-3, UofL gave the bench some valuable minutes and they produced very well, especially Davionna Holmes, as the Cards went up 20-8 and coasted in with the match-ending 13-point win.

Great play by Brooke Mattingly, Gwen Rucker, Kaitlynn James, Caitlin Welch and Emily Juhl added to the Cardinal domination in front of a crowd announced at almost 2500. James had eight kills and Juhl seven for Louisville.

Louisville gets two at home this weekend. A return match Friday at 4:30 p.m. against Marquette and a Sunday noon contest against Cincy. Both will be played at Cardinal Arena...on the UofL campus.

Watching the matches on television, we were pleased with the play-by-play and color commentary coverage by Sean Moth and Jennifer Hoffman. Besides providing accurate and descriptive account of the play-by-play, they went into detail with explanations of offensive set strategy and different formations.

The Cards back in the cozy Cardinal Arena will keep the crowd attendance down a bit this weekend but it is an intimidating place for an opponent to come in and play. Basketball occupies the YUM! Friday and Sunday.

We wonder if a possible WBB/Volleyball double-header in the YUM! could ever be a possibility...maybe for next season? The logistics of floor removal and re-installation of the proper court the probable drawback here, we suppose...but how long would Cards' fans of both sports hang around while this would be swapped? Imagine 12,000 for a hoops game and then...say 90 minutes later...Volleyball? Or maybe temporary lines could be put in place and a net set up? The Cards are 10th in the nation in Volleyball attendance this year. Introducing the game to 10,000 potentially new fans
might be a way to boost that fan attendance further up the top ten ladder.
Yep, always thinking here at the Couple..
.
..
...

Volleyball takes huge win over Marquette

.
MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Volleyball beats previously undefeated Marquette in four games.

-Shine, Fellerhoff advance to quarterfinals.

-Swimming finishes fifth in SMU Classic.

Lola's 24 kills lead Cards to road win

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fellerhoff, Shine reach ITA quarterfinals

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

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

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

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

Louisville women's swimming finishes fifth at SMU

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

-- Hannah Gadd, winner of 3-meter diving

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

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

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

Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- Volleyball week wrap-up

.

( Welcome to another Tuesday at CARDINAL COUPLE. We have a two-for-Tuesday special with Jeff's article catching us up on Louisville Volleyball today and Sandy's Laundry day!

You have a great chance to see Anne Kordes' exciting team three times beginning Saturday in two different venues. If you haven't caught a UofL Volleyball match this season...you owe it to yourself to see these ladies in action. It'll be your first of many treks to see Lola, Gwen, Emily and the squad do battle! )

This week in Volleyball

Louisville played this weekend in volleyball at South Florida in Tampa, and at Pitt in Pittsburgh...what a road-trip that was...and I didn't make the trip, so I don't have much to offer in match recaps other than what Paul already posted, but I do think its worth it to do a week wrap-up as there is some other news to be shared.

-- UofL Team News

-- Top 25 upsets

-- New, or not so new, rankings

-- First RPI release

UofL Team News

As was mentioned in other articles, Gwen Rucker is back playing full bore, with no apparent lingering effects of her illness.  She had some great stats, particularly against Pitt.

Also racking up some great stats, as was mentioned, was Emily Juhl.  Its great to have so much depth and so many offensive weapons.  Emily seems to be recovering from her off-season surgery well and returning to form.  If you've never heard (yes, I said heard) her serve in Cardinal Arena, you should come to the match Saturday.  Its intimidating!  Its great to have her back and performing well as it gives us yet another great offensive weapon.  Lola may be the star, but with so many options, opponents really can't afford to key on her completely or they'll get beaten up by the likes of Gwen, Emily, and Brooke Mattingly, who continues to play great ball, and others.

Courtney Robison got her cast on her right arm removed this morning and has, apparently, been cleared to play by her doctor.  That gives her most of a week to get back in practice and back into form.  Its great that she didn't have to be in a cast for that long.

Lastly, as an amusing anecdote, on the return trip from Pittsburgh, flying through Chicago, the team was surprised to see, when they got to their gate to board the flight to Louisville, that the Field Hockey team was on the same flight.  I wonder if the ever-personable flight attendants on SouthWest led the passengers in a C-A-R-D-S cheer.

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

Top 25 Upsets

Pretty quiet on the upset front for top-25 ranked teams this week.  The only upsets within the Top 25 shows that #5 Washington had a really great weekend, with slight upsets over both #3 USC, and #4 UCLA.  When you're ranked in the single digits, it pretty much takes a team ahead of your losing, in order for you to move up.  Its pretty nice when you get the opportunity to make that happen, not once, but twice, in a single week.

The bigger upset is #11 BYU losing to unranked St. Mary's (Ca.).  St. Mary's (Ca.) also had a good week as they knocked off #18 Pepperdine. Pepperdine had a bad week as they also lost to unranked Santa Clara.

#19 Iowa State lost to unranked-but-getting-votes Kansas, and #25 Tennessee got swept by now-unranked Kentucky, which certainly will help our RPI.

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

New, or not so new, rankings

Well, there was some movement in the rankings, just not for us.  I thought that BYU loss might cause them to drop enough to land behind us, but not quite, as they ended up dropping 7 spots to land just in front of us at #16.  We retained our #17 ranking.  Washington's big weekend nets them a tie for 2nd with Oregon.  St. Mary's (Ca.) is now getting votes, but isn't ranked.  Tennessee, unsurprisingly, dropped out, but are, of course, still getting votes.

Western Kentucky is turning out to be quite a bit more of an RPI booster than I think any Louisville folks expected, they keep creeping up the list and have made it to #20 now.  Nothing but love for the Hilltoppers from me.

We play Texas in a week, and they're still hanging out at #9. They play #14 Kansas State on Saturday before coming in to Louisville Monday night.  Someone remind me to throw out some "Hook 'em"'s on Saturday night because I don't want us to have to play them coming off of a loss.

Illinois is at #21, Purdue at #12...so things seem to be settling down in the coaches' polls after some big early season movements.

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

First RPI release

The NCAA put out its first RPI (Ratings Percentage Index, in case you care to know what that acronym expands out to) for the Volleyball season.  The RPI tends to get a lot of scrutiny paid to it when it comes tournament selection time, which is why you'll see Anne Kordes pay a lot more attention to it rather than the coaches poll.

Good news!  UofL is ranked 4th in the RPI.  With wins over 6 Top 50 RPI teams...#10 Purdue, #17 Kentucky, #23 Miami (Fl.), #31 WKU, #37 Duke, and #43 Illinois...and only two losses...#1 Penn State, and #50 Notre Dame...we're looking pretty good.

Texas is #15 in the RPI, so a win over the Longhorns in a week would be a nice boost for us as well. The next highest Big East team is Marquette at #42, and then the aforementioned Notre Dame.  We play Marquette, in Milwaukee, on October 21st, and then back here at Cardinal Arena, on November 9th. We do not have another match against Notre Dame in the regular season.

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

Next?

This weekend, we welcome Seton Hall to Cardinal Arena (not The KFC Yum! Center for this one) for a noon first serve on Saturday.  Another noon start Sunday against Rutgers...this one is back downtown.  And while technically the volleyball world considers it next week, not this week, I'll go ahead and mention that Monday night brings #9(poll)/#15(RPI) Texas for a 7pm first serve.  This one, too, is downtown at the KFC Yum! Center.  Texas will be the last big RPI match we'll likely play for the season, so bring your friends and neighbors for this one.


( Just a quick reminder that the first round action in picking your favorite UofL women's athlete is underway on the left side of the board and our first match in the first round has become a nail-biter between Gwen Rucker and Nikki Boltja. You have through today to vote and determine who moves on to the "Elite Eight". We'll feature Rowing's Erin Bennett against Cross Country's Michelle Molodynia starting Wednesday...) 
.
..
...

Volleyball, Softball get Sunday wins

.
MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Volleyball sweeps Panthers in Pittsburgh

-Softball outhits Racers 7-1

-Soccer battles to tie with USF

-Field Hockey falls to Albany

-Atlanta headed to third game in WNBA playoffs

Quite the active day for Cardinal Sports Sunday! Here's a recap of the action...

VolleyCards earn a sweep over Pittsburgh

Pitt focused their concentration on trying to stop Lola Arsanbekova yesterday and they found out that there are plenty of weapons on this Louisville Volleyball squad that can and will defeat you. Emily Juhl provided nine kills and Brooke Mattingly and Gwen Rucker chipped in seven each and combined for seven blocks in the Cardinals' 25-18, 25-12, 25-22 win.

Lola did get 12 kills in the contest, far below her season average, but it was teamwork and a bit of revenge for the Cards...who lost to Pitt last year in the KFC YUM! Center.

UofL and Pitt battled early in the first game, neither squad getting a clear advantage until a 5-0 Cardinal run put some distance between the two teams, thanks to Juhl's six kills.

The Cards jumped out to a 7-1 early lead in the second game, extending that to 13-3 and taking a 13-point victory...thanks to 15 kills between Juhl and Arslanbekova.

After halftime, Pitt refused to cave in...never gaining a lead but never letting UofL pull away. Forcing a 14-14 tie, the Panthers stayed close until kills by Gwen Rucker and Juhl gave the Cards the game and the sweep of the match.

Louisville (14-2, 3-1) returns home for three in a row...facing Seton Hall Saturday at noon in Cardinal Arena, Rutgers Sunday at noon in the KFC YUM! Center and #9 Texas Monday night at 7 p.m. in the YUM!

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

Softball mauls Murray State in Fall Scrimmage

Led by sophomore shortstop Whitney Arion's 2 for 2 batting...that produced a home run and four RBI's...Louisville easily downed Murray State yesterday at Ulmer Stadium.

A five-run fourth inning was the deciding blow to the Racers. Leading 2-0 coming into the inning, the Cards posted the runs when Arion's three-run blast scored her, Brittany Sims and Katelyn Mann. Singles from Jennifer Esteban, Jordan Trimble, Katie Keller and Alicja Wolny added two more for the Cards to provide a comfortable lead for Sandy Pearsall's squad.

Junior Rachel LeCoq started in the circle for UofL and got the win with four innings of pitching. Caralisa Connell struck out four in the final three innings for the save.

With Tori Collins graduated, it's time for Sonja to pick a new favorite on Sandy Pearsall's softballers. Arion may be that player...as for me, I'm torn between Taner Fowler and Jordan Trimble. All good picks.

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

Women's Soccer forces a 1-1 tie against the Bulls

Louisville capitalized on a late penalty kick from Angelika Uremovich to tie USF with six minutes left in the game. The Cards then battled South Florida for two scoreless overtime periods to create the tie and go to 7-3-2 overall.

"I'm happy with our performance in the second half and both overtimes. Our kids battled to the end and we had our chances. I'm proud of how we responded in the second half. We are a mentally tougher team because of this game" -- Louisville women's soccer head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes.

The Cards return home to host two BIG EAST contests...Villanova on Friday (7 p.m.) and Georgetown on Sunday (1 p.m.)

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

Filed Hocked foiled by Albany 3-1

Despite Amber Thomas's sixth goal of the season, UofL Field Hockey takes their second weekend loss...falling to Albany 3-1. The Cards battled the Great Danes to a scoreless first half tie, but three straight Albany second half goals left Louisville in a hole too deep to climb out of.

Albany out-shot the Cards 22-7. Erin Conrad registered 11 stops for Louisville, who goes to 7-5 and 1-1 on the season.

The schedule doesn't get any easier for Justine Sowry's squad, facing two more top ten opponents next weekend in Trager Stadium. #5 UConn comes in for a noon Saturday tilt and # 10 Iowa visits Sunday at 1 p.m.

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

McCoughtry's 22 not enough as Dream fall 103-88

With home court advantage and a 1-0 lead in the playoff series against Indiana, one would have figured the Atlanta Dream would be the prohibitive favorite to pull off the sweep and advance to the WNBA Eastern Division finals.

Indiana disagreed. Breaking open a close first half, the Fever out-pointed Angel and company 31-20 in the third quarter and pushed that lead to 20 in the fourth en route to a 15-point thumping of Atlanta in Philips Arena.

Tamika Catchings produced 18 of her game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter to secure the victory and the two teams will face again Tuesday to see who advances to the division finals against the Connecticut Sun.

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

Finally, a reminder that the Choose Your Favorite UofL Womens' Athlete contest has started here at Cardinal Couple. Over on the left side of the site, you'll find first round action in this sweet sixteen. The current match-up pits Volleyball's Gwen Rucker vs. Lacrosse's Nikki Boltja.

Boltja grabbed an early advantage in the duel, but Rucker supporters have pushed her to the lead. Only two more days to vote on this one...who ya got?
.
..
...

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.!).
.
..
...

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

.
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...)

.\..

Two Volleyball Cards selected for AVCA honors...BIG EAST to expand?

.
WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Arslanbekova, Brauneis named to All-Northeast Regional 1st team

-BIG EAST GETTING READY TO ADD FIVE?

Lola Arslanbekova and Taylor Brauneis have been selected for America Volleyball Coaches Association honors by being named to the Northeast Region's All-Star 1st team. Emily Juhl received honorable mention status.

Taylor Brauneis is one of the best
setters in the BIG EAST.

Lola is a junior and both Taylor and Emily are sophomores, so the future bodes well for Anne Kordes' squad. The Cards lose just two from this year's squad to graduation and Anne Kordes had been recruiting well...so the power and strength for Louisville return virtually intact for next year.

Emily Juhl a
definite scoring
threat.

Lola may just be the best volleyball player to ever don the red and black. Consistently the leading kill shot artist on the Cardinal squad, opponents scheme to stop her and few are rarely successful. Juhl compliments the Cards offensive attack from the outside hitter post and is a threat to post double-digit kills anytime she walks onto the court. Brauneis has been the set and assist "go-to" for the Cards and a valuable part of the modes of the defense and attack sets of the Cards. Along with Caitlin Welch's excellent ability to dig and Kaitlynn James on the front line...the Louisville volleyball team returns a strong nucleus for the 2012-13 season. If the Cards go for and get an extra year for middle hitter/blocker Gwen Rucker...all the better.

Congratulations to all three girls for their outstanding efforts and award this season. And, to Anne Kordes, good job in your first year as Cardinal skipper. The future looks very bright for the wide net sport at Louisville and the dominance that the Cards have had in BIG EAST Volleyball over the past several years shows no signs of slowing down...

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

Marinetto has lost more teams to rival
conferences than any other BIG EAST
commissioner.

BIG EAST commish John Marinetto could announce, as early as today, the addition of five new schools to the BIG EAST. It's been speculated that Houston, Central Florida and SMU are coming on board for all sports and Boise State and San Diego State will join for football only.

What does it mean for women's sports in the BIG EAST down the road? None of the three all-sports additions play field hockey or lacrosse. None of the three are shaking up the NCAA in women's basketball or women's soccer. The three schools are a combined 7-16 in ladies hoops this season...Houston with a woeful 0-8 record...so the BIG EAST isn't gaining any Notre Dame or UConn type powerhouses here...Softball might benefit slightly with the addition of these three...Syracuse was a strong member of the diamond powers in the BIG EAST, Pitt an also-ran and WVU didn't field a softball team.  


Hugo the Hippo is no relation to the
Big East commissioner.


Let's face it. This is all about football. Are the five schools equal to...or better that the eventual departees (West Virginia, Syracuse and Pittsburgh?) in the gridiron game? We'd have to say "No" at this point and time. But, the markets are large (Dallas, Houston and Orlando) and it gives the BIG EAST some notoriety in the high school rich football tradition of Texas.

One thing that Cardinal football fans will probably grumble about is, when completed and set in place, the re-alignment will probably see Louisville in the western division of the BIG EAST with SMU, Houston, Boise St. and S.D. State.

The eastern division will probably have Rutgers, Cincinnati, South Florida, Central Florida and Connecticut. That's a whole lot of travel and new playmates for the Cards.

As far as women's basketball goes, who knows? A divisional split would be a tough one to figure out and the Cards would most likely end up not playing UConn, Rutgers and the east coast schools as often.

Interesting times ahead. With BYU thumbing their nose at the BIG EAST because of unwillingness to share or give up their television contract, the service academies not ready to sign on...and the woeful, regrettable decision not to bring in Memphis and East Carolina into the mix...one has to wonder if Marinetto and the BIG EAST decision-making conglomerate is seeing with 20/20 vision.

And, get ready for Saturday afternoon tailgating in....San Diego and Boise? Yikes...
.
..
...

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

.
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.

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

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.
.

Volleyball splits in the Courtyard Marriott Classic...Field Hockey & Soccer Sunday

.
CARDINAL COUPLE SUNDAY

-Cards top Kansas State, fall to Georgia Tech in Volleyball

-Field Hockey faces Michigan State tonight

-Soccer vs. Illinois today

-Uncle Mo second by a nose

-How you doin?

Louisville Volleyball started Saturday's action in fine fashion in Atlanta with a sweep of Kansas State 25-12, 25-21, 25-20. Gwen Rucker stepped up big for the Cards 10 kills, five blocks and four serving aces against the Wildcats. Anne Kordes' team took an early 12-2 lead over KSU in the first game...pushing that to 17-7 and going on to the 13 point victory. 

The Wildcats weren't going to go away easily, though...and led early in game two. Louisville eventually gained the lead at 10-9 following a couple of kills and a block by Rucker. KSU battled back to get within one at 21-20 but UofL took four out of the final five points to secure victory.

The teams battled closely in the final game...Louisville tied with KSU at 18-18...but finished with a 7-2 run to sweep the match. 

Saturday evening against the Yellow Jackets started off very well for the Cards. They bombarded Georgia Tech early in game one...led by Kaitlynn James' seven straight service points and led 19-8. The Cards ended up a 13 point winner. Game two saw Louisville hot early again and jump out to a 10-4 advantage. The Cards increased that to 22-11 and coasted in with a 10 point victory.

The Yellow Jackets were far from ready to concede, though. Led by spiker Monique Mead they grabbed an early 14-8 lead in game three and held off Louisville rally attempts to take the game by six. The fourth game was back and forth for most of the time...the Cards trailing 21-20 before Mead and Georgia Tech finished with a 4-1 rally to knot the match at two games each. In the fifth game, UofL fell behind early 6-2, rallied to make get within one at 12-11 but the Tech squad scored the final three points to take game and match.

Louisville gets a few days away from action before hosting Ole Miss in Cardinal Arena on Friday, Sept. 2nd @ 7:30 p.m.

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

Field Hockey will square off against Michigan State tonight in Trager Stadium. Michigan State lost at close one to California yesterday 4-3. The Cards come into the game after losing to Cal 3-1 on Friday. Action starts at 6 p.m.

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

You might as well make a day of it if you're headed down for the Field Hockey match tonight. Women's Soccer will host Illinois this afternoon at Cardinal Park...beginning at 1 p.m. Free t-shirts for the first 150 students and key chain Soccer schedules for the first 1000 fans. Karen Ferguson-Dayes squad faces the #19 Illini after the Cards tied Toledo 1-1 Friday night.

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

UNCLE MO turned for home at Saratoga in the Grade I King's Bishop Stakes race yesterday and it looked like the 3 yr. old was gone...baby..gone. CALEB'S POSSE mounted a furious rally down the stretch, though and caught Mo right at the wire...winning by a nose over the Mike Repole owned, Bob Baffert trained runner.

After the race it was revealed that Mo had lost his right rear horseshoe at the start of the race. This runner just can't seem to avoid bad luck lately. Baffert and Repole teamed up for a win in the next race, though...with Belmont winner STAY THIRSTY destroying the competition in the Grade I Travers.

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

We know a sizable share of our readers are on the East Coast. We hope you're safe and remain that way. Been watching Irene on the Weather Channel and she's one mean and nasty wind.
.

BIG EAST recognizes Volleyball, Red and Black Saturday

TUESDAY AT CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Volleyball's Emily Juhl named Freshman of the Week

-Red and Black Day for Rowing Saturday

-Ben is a little upset...

Laura Aubrey, pictured right, would like to invite Cardinal fans to the Red and Black Day for rowing on Saturday. The event features several intra-squad races followed by a cookout with Cardinal rowing team and staff members.

Things kick off on the Ohio River at 11 a.m. with a welcome and introduction. Six rowing contests follow, beginning at noon, including a varsity vs. alumni race and International vs. USA contest.

The Cardinal Boathouse is located on River Road at Waterfront Park. They are directly across from Stop Light Liquors and near the Tumbleweed on River Road. It's a chance to meet your 2010-11 UofL rowing team, see the Cardinal Bird and UofL Pep Band (under the direction of Al Greener) and chow down. Louisville rowing gear and merchandise will also be available for purchase.

Rowing on the River. Sounds like a fun few hours. Load up the kids, that cranky neighbor next door and that guy that says you never call him to do stuff with you and hit the Park for great times!

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

We knew Emily Juhl could spike a volleyball through a concrete wall. The BIG EAST has recognized her talents and named her Freshman of the Week. Juhl helped lead the Cards to a victory Saturday with 16 kills and 12 digs against Notre Dame. She also had 11 kills and seven digs against DePaul on Sunday. Juhl leads BIG EAST freshmen with 3.86 kills per set.

Also, Lola Arsenbeckova has been named to the BIG EAST honor roll for her double-double performance against UND and huge game against the Blue Demons. Lola knows a thing or two about Volleyball and, in the words of Emil Faber:

"Knowledge is good."

The Volley Cards defend Cardinal Arena Saturday when perennial BIG EAST power Cincinnati (17-3, 6-0) comes calling. Louisville (10-5, 5-1) defeated the Bearcats for the BIG EAST tournament title last year. These 'Cats are coming in looking for a little revenge and this is one match that you don't wanna miss. The volleying starts at 2 p.m.

Hmmm...Cardinal Football Friday Night vs. the Bearcats. Saturday Volleyball vs. the Bearcats. Sounds like the perfect time to get out the broom and sweep the weekend games against the UC invaders.

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

WE review mail occasionally here at CARDINAL COUPLE...if we can get to it before Bill the goat recycles it...but decided we needed to address this rather terse communication we got right away, instead of waiting for the normal "We Read your Mail" segment.

CARDINAL COUPLE:

I like your site and I check it almost every day. I'm writing about a rather unpleasant incident I had recently while attending a UofL sporting event. I took my young daughter to this event and she was treated rather harshly by one of those Yellow Shirted people that monitor and assist at UofL sporting events. We were their (sic) way before game time and she was trying to get the attention of the players warming up so she could get an item signed. She was approached by this Yellow Shirt and told that she could not be in this area and had to go sit down. She came running back to me in tears and it traumatized her so much that we had to leave. Is this the way that Cardinal Athletics usually treats fans? I won't be back.

Ben (last name withheld by request)

DEAR BEN:

The CARDS CARE personnel (the Yellow Shirts) are voluntary fans who are there to provide information, seating help and assist fans during UofL sporting events. I know several of these volunteers and can only tell you that they are fine people, dedicated to making your Cardinal sporting event experience as enjoyable as possible. Even Jack Wimsett. They also have responsibilities to ensure the safety of all Cardinal fans. Without knowing all the details here, perhaps it was a case of where your daughter might have potentially been in harm's way or there was a concern about her being unattended.

That being said, I am sure that the University of Louisville is definitely not in the business of driving fans away or terrorizing them at athletic events. If you'll get me some more details, I'd be happy to contact the S.I.D. that covers that particular sport and see if I can arrange for your daughter to meet the players and get her autographs.

I'm not an autograph seeker...but I'm pretty sure that at most Cardinal sporting events, there is a time where fans can approach the players and get autographs. I've seen it at UofL women's basketball games...for example...the Lady Cards basketball players absolutely love to talk to the young fans after a game and sign, pose for pictures and such. Chauntise Wright really looked forward to and loved this aspect of being a Cardinal and she was great with the kids.

Let me know if I can help.

Paul
cardinalcouple@insightbb.com


I can understand Ben's frustration here but have to wonder if it might be a case of over-reaction to a possible safety issue. I also remember years ago when I tried to get Wesley Cox's autograph after a UofL men's basketball game and was denied access. Maybe it was because I was trying to get him to sign a UK poster. Go figure.

Volleyball, Field Hockey, Golf successful on Saturday

SUNDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Volleyball snaps Notre Dame win streak

-Field Hockey wins at Rutgers

-Women's Golf second round action

-Soccer today on TV

-How about that Charlie Strong?

A great day for many UofL sports contests yesterday!

Emily Juhl had a career high 16 kills in Louisville's win over Notre Dame 3-1 in CARDINAL ARENA yesterday morning. With the win, the Cards improved to 9-5 on the season and 4-1 in the BIG EAST.

The Cards won the first game behind the strong arm of Juhl and Anastasia Artemeva...overcoming an early Irish lead with a 8-2 run late in the contest to post a 25-21 victory. Notre Dame jumped on Louisville early in the second game, going up 9-4 and although the Cards rallied back to get with two at 22-20 they could get no closer and fell 25-23.

After the intermission, both team battled back and forth in the third game of the match but a key Louisville 7-2 stretch put the Cards ahead 21-15 and went on to score the 25-19 victory. In the final game, the Cards steadily built the lead to hold a 19-11 advantage and finished out to take game and match 25-17.

Volleyball fan Jack Wimsett was in attendance and told CARDINAL COUPLE:

"Juhl was out of this world. She and Anastasia just kept blasting rockets over the net against Notre Dame and Simmons dominated the net with some great blocks. It was a great morning!"

Louisville returns to the court Sunday afternoon to face DePaul. Action begins at 2 p.m.

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

Field Hockey pitched a shutout in Piscataway, N.J. Saturday afternoon, blanking the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 2-0 in BIG EAST action. Amber Thomas broke open a defensive battle in the first half when she scooped up a Nicole Youman (WOO HOO! for Nicole!) and sent the ball sailing past Rutgers goalie Sarah Stuby for a one point Cardinal lead. TEAM CARDINAL took the advantage into the half-tine break and continued to hold Rutgers scoreless in the final frame. They added a second goal midway thru the second half when Jenna Ahern knocked a missed Youman attempt (WOO HOO! for Nicole! ) past Stuby for the final goal of the match. Did we mention how much we like Nicole Youman?

With the win, Louisville improves to 9-4 and 3-1 in the BIG EAST. Goalie Erin Conrad had five saves in the game and the Cards outshot the Scarlet Knights 15-10. Louisville travels to Princeton next for a Sunday match in the Garden State against the #3 Tigers. Thanks to Louisville assistant S.I.D. for keeping CARDINAL COUPLE in the loop on the womens' East Coast swing.

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

Sara-Maude Juneau continues to find the sweet spot in Carolina, firing a 69 in the second round of the Tar Heel Invitational. Her great round moved her up to 5th place after two days and only five shots off the lead as the teams wrap up play on Sunday. Juneau had a 70 yesterday.

Laura Anderson, pictured above, had a 71 Saturday, her best effort of the season so far, and has a two day total of 147. Anna-Karin Ljungstorm carded a 78 in day two and Maria Castellanos toured the 18 in 80 strokes. Sophomore Candice Wiley impressed with a 73 yesterday, seven strokes better than her opening round 80.

Louisville climbed the ranks to 16th. place after second round action with a 592 total. Alabama leads the pack with 551.

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

Louisville Women's Soccer will play on local television today with a 1 p.m. game at Cardinal Park against Georgetown. WHAS-11 TV will show the match live. It is Senior Day for the Cards. While we're on the subject of "futbol"...congrats to UofL men's soccer team...still undefeated after yesterday's 2-1 win over host Rutgers. Bad day to be a Rutgers' fan yesterday...

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

What in the world has gotten into this Charlie Strong football team? Paul and I sat there yesterday in the baking sun and watched touchdown after touchdown and surmised that either Memphis really was that pitiful or Charlie Strong has fined tuned these guys to success. Friday night will be a much more true test of how far Strong has taken these Kragthorpe leftovers when the CardStrong Nation welcomes those dreaded Cincinnati Bearcats to PJCS. The Bearcats did some growling of their own yesterday, smacking around Miami of Ohio 45-3.

The Cards did better with their 56-0 whitewash of the Memphis Kittens. I sure wouldn't wanted to have been in that feline locker room when the sun set to the west of the Pizza Palace.

Volleyball falls in 5 games vs. Seton Hall

MONDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Volleyball loses in 5 to the Pirates

-Women's Tennis @ Michigan State

-TEAM USA advances in World Championships Photo courtesy of ESPN

The University of Louisville Volleyball squad lost their first ever match to the Seton Hall Pirates Sunday in Cardinal Arena...falling 20-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 13-15. A slow start for Louisville in the final game proved to be the deciding factor. Louisville fell victim to a 6-0 Pirate run and despite tying the match 10 all...could not pass the Pirates in the final eight serves.

Anastasia Artemeva led the way for the VolleyCards with 16 kills and 4 blocks. They ran into hot hitting Pirate slammer Sarah Osmun, though, who had a game high 21 kills.

Emily Juhl and Lola Arsanbekova led the way for Louisville in the first game with a combined 11 kills but the Cards fell behind 6-1 and never led. In game two, Louisville managed to take a 20-19 lead late but surrendered six of the last eight points to Seton Hall.

The Cards came out slow after the break and didn't gain the advantage until midway thru the contest. Reserve Tanya Lukyanenko spured a Cardinal finish with three straight points and the Cards took game three by six points. Artemeva took over in game four for Louisville with four of her kills and the Cards looked ready to win the match in the fifth game.

Louisville (6-5) leaves the friendly confines of Cardinal Arena for their next two...visiting UConn on Friday and St John's on Sunday.

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

Mark Beckham's UofL women's tennis team met with success in the Michigan State Invitational in East Lansing over the weekend. Sarah Miller and Becca Shine won the "B" flight doubles for the Cards...downing a team from Eastern Michigan 8-2. Freshman Julia Fellerhoff had a big tournament for the Cards..reaching the finals of "A" flight singles play before falling in three sets.

She and Mandy Brown teamed up for "A" flight doubles and reached the finals...losing to Akron 8-3 in the championship decider.

Amelia Harris performed well in "C" flight matches...reaching the finals before bowing out in three sets to BGSU's Nikki Chiricosta.

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

Some catching up to do here on TEAM USA in the World Championships. They won their second game easily over Senegal 108-52 on Friday and outlasted France 81-60 on Saturday. USA was 3-0 in preliminary round action and faces Canada in the quarterfinals Monday.

The France game wasn't as easy as the score would indicate. Facing a tough France defense, USA managed only three points in the opening six minutes of the game. Six costly turnovers had the Americans reeling early but a Tina Charles jumper drew USA back to a 11-10 lead near the end of the first quarter. They never trailed after that but France stayed close in the first half...down only 36-29 at the intermission.

USA pulled away in the third quarter, helped by a 7-0 run featuring Angel McCoughtry and Candace Dupree and pushed the margin to 58-41. Diana Taurasi led the American scorers with 15 points.

Geno Auriemma discussed the difficulties of World Championship play after the US win:

"The difficult thing about this tournament is that you play three in a row early and the players are tired. You really can't practice very much because they're tired and they're not going to get much better because it's only a six game format."

Angel and company face up against 2006 winner Australia after facing Canada.