Volleyball takes huge win over Marquette

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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.

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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.

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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.
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Women's Soccer downs Dayton 2-0...Swimming splashes past Notre Dame...Football falls to Pitt.

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE PRESENTS:

-Women's Soccer shuts out Dayton

-Swimming wins over Notre Dame

-Football loses to Pitt 21-14

-Women's hoops play today @ Missouri State.

The University of Louisville's women's soccer team won their first ever NCAA Tournament game in a windy Cardinal Park last night over Dayton 2-0. The Cards got a goal from Kaitie McDonald in the first half and Angelika Uremovich in the second half to advance in the tournament. Louisville will face Memphis next, who was a 7-0 winner over Tennessee-Martin.

"First and foremost, I want to say congratulations to Dayton because through our preparation, we knew they were a fantastic team and today they made us earn this one. We knew we had to raise our level of play and battle the way we did tonight. I'm incredibly proud of our team because I thought the difference tonight was that we did battle. At times it wasn't always pretty soccer, but we had to win this one physically and we did that."  -Karen Ferguson-Dayes, UofL head women's soccer coach.

Chloe notches another
shut-out in goal.

The Cards had the wind at their back in the first half and scored in the 35th. minute when McDonald knocked in into the net with a head shot past UD goalie Jordin Melchert. It appeared that the Cards had just scored seconds before that when Jennifer Jones fired a kick that looked to be deflected in the goal, but the ball was stopped and found its way to McDonald who headed it back in.

Louisville added an insurance goal in the 76th. minute of play when Uremovich took a pass for Casey Whitfield and knocked it in from about 20 yards out into the left corner of the goal.

Kiefer had six saves in goal for Louisville while in the process of getting her eight whitewash of the season. Dayton had a 18-16 advantage in shots over Louisville and a 7-6 edge on shots on goal.

The Cards will travel to Memphis for round two NCAA action on Friday for a 8:30 p.m. game against the Tigers. The Cards were the second of four BIG EAST teams to record wins in the tournament...Marquette advanced with a 1-0 win over Toledo, but West Virginia lost to Virginia Tech 1-0. Notre Dame plays at Illinois today.

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Louisville Swimming and Diving took a 188-112 win over Notre Dame in the Ralph Wright Natatorium yesterday. The men won, too. Winners for the women:

Gadd an excellent
diver for the Cards.

-Eszter Povazsay (100 and 200 backstroke)
-Hannah Gadd (1 and 3 meter diving)
-Victoria Mitchell (1000 freestyle)
-Abby Chin (500 freestyle)
-Krissie Brandenburg, Lindsey Rogers, Raine Thompson and Aileen Cole (200 medley relay)
-Tanja Kylliainen (200 fly)
-Dani Barbiea (50 free)
-Raine Thompson (100 fly)

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Tough loss in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium yesterday for Cardinal football, falling to the Pitt Panthers 21-14. The Cards were ineffective in the first half and trailed 7-0 after Pitt scored on both their first drives of the first and second half and with less than two minutes to go in the game. Louisville got a touchdown in the third quarter from a Vic Anderson run and with 12 seconds left in the game on a Teddy Bridgewater pass to Scott Radcliff.

Near kickoff at the Louisville vs. Pitt game

Louisville drops to 5-5 on the season and 3-2 in the BIG EAST, same record Pitt has in both.

We made a bold prediction over at http://www.uoflcardgame.com/ that the Cards would win yesterday but the Cards couldn't continue the offensive successes that they had demonstrated in the previous three games against a better than average Pitt defense.

Wouldn't wanted to have been around the Cardinal locker room yesterday afternoon after this one...

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Lady Cards are in Springfield, MO. today to face Missouri State. 3 p.m. tip off.

Are the Cards in MO without Sho? Internet rumors and scuttlebutt are circulating that the sophomore guard for Louisville could possibly be facing some sort of NCAA rules infraction because of playing in a 3-on-3 tournament this summer.

We know nothing, just reporting what we've seen on Twitter and from Cardinal Couple reader e-mails to us. UofL has said nothing about it...so it could all be a bunch of unfounded rumors and reports.  

We'll wait and see who's on the court for Louisville against the Bears today. We don't normally report or write on these kind of things...but chatter has been heavy and from some sources that have been pretty reliable in the past.

It's not like Louisville would miss her. They've got more capable and qualified guards on the roster than Burger King has ways to make a Whopper.

Missouri State defeated La. Tech 78-65 Friday night in Ruston, LA. to open the regular season. They've also won all three exhibition games this year.

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eventhoughlouisvillelostinfootballyesterdaytheyarenotoutofthebowlpicture yetthecardsstillhavetwogamesleftontheroadatconnecticutandsouthfloridathisregularseason
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WVU gets the BIG 12 slot...WBB Tipoff Luncheon today...Swimming and Diving fall to Tennessee...19 in a row

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FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-BIG 12 says...WVU, not Louisville

-Sold out luncheon today for Lady Cards

-Tennessee defeats Cards in swimming

-RAPID REDUX wins 19th. in a row

Make room, guys. The Mountaineer
is joining you...

The BIG 12 has chosen, and it not Louisville. The Mountaineers. Knowing how these kinds of things work, there will probably be more to this than we currently know. Conference re-alignment is like sitting through your niece's piano recital...it never seems to end.

Surprising that they chose to announce it at 7 a.m. Must have been a sleepless night for the decision makers.

Next step? In Jurich we trust.

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Congratulations if you got a seat at today's University of Louisville women's basketball tip off luncheon today. The event is sold out. CARDINAL COUPLE will have two of our writers in attendance, though, if you can't go...and we'll look forward to their reports and observations. 

The Lady Cards will open their season Sunday with an exhibition game against Lindsey Wilson. Most preseason polls we're seeing have Jeff Walz's team ranked in the top ten nationally.

The Cards return their top two scorers from last year in Monique Reid and Shoni Schimmel. Four starters from the team that upset Xavier in the NCAA tournament are back on campus, and three very talented freshmen join the mix.

The schedule looks to be a tough one, with pre-conference tilts against powerhouse Texas A&M, ACC member Florida State, in-state rival Kentucky and a trip to the Pacific northwest for two games. The roster is deep, though and competition has been spirited in the pre-season practices. Toss the ball in the air and let's get it started!

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The University of Louisville lost a dual meet in swimming and diving yesterday to nationally ranked Tennessee. The women fell 183-117 to the Vols in the Ralph Wright Natatorium on campus.

Hannah Gadd placed second in the 1 meter diving event. Fanny Lillestrom won in the 200 meter breaststroke for the Cards. The women failed to win any other events but had a lot of close second and third place finished against UT.

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5 year old RAPID REDUX won his 19th. straight horse race yesterday...splashing past four foes in the sixth race at Laurel Race Course in Maryland. The streak began on October 13, 2010 and has taken him to seven different race tracks and he's had nine different jockeys on board for the wins.

Talk about playing well on the road...

None of his wins have come at any Kentucky tracks...his owner prefers to keep him close to the Maryland and Pennsylvania racing circuits...but an attempt to get him to ship into  Churchill for a fall race this year is picking up steam.

He isn't racing against the best competition out there and he's definitely not Breeder's Cup quality...but nineteen in a row is nothing to sneeze about.

Yesterday's win was a typical effort for the gelding. Took the early lead, was well rated and relaxed through the first quarter by jockey J.D. Acosta (who's been on board for four of the wins) kept to the rail as the horses hit the stretch and gradually pulled away from the field.

The nineteen in a row ties him with Peppers Pride and Zenyatta for most consecutive wins on North American race tracks. He paid $2.60 on a $2.00 win ticket yesterday.

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nochoiceisachoice

Ljungstrom named BIG EAST Golfer of the Week

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

-Anna Karin Ljungstrom takes honors.

-Softball at San Diego Classic.

-Gadd qualifies for NCAA Championships.

-Lacrosse to face Sacred Heart.

-Men's hoops tips it off today.

Erin Go Bragh AND MAY THE LUCK of the Irish be with you and all Cardinal sports programs as they head into a busy weekend.

Anna Karin Ljungstrom has been named Big East Golfer of the Week after a huge performance at the LSU Gold Classic. The sophomore tied for first place but lost in a playoff to #3 ranked Lindy Duncan from Duke at the University Club Golf Course in Baton Rouge on the third hole. Ljungstrom had a third day round of 69 to tie for the lead. The Cardinals finished 1oth as a team in the event...which featured 20 other of the top golf teams in the nation.

Ljungstrom is a red shirt sophomore from Skovde, Sweden and played her high school golf at Vasterjojdsgymnasiet (try getting that on a golf shirt!). She participated in all the Cardinal golf matches last year and this year and is undecided on a major yet.

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Louisville Softball heads to San Diego for weekend softball action in the San Diego Classic II. The Cards will get five games in during the three day event...starting with CS Northridge and San Diego on Friday. Louisville (14-8) has two pitchers that are holding opponents to less than three runs a game in Tori Collins and Carlisa Connell. The Cardinal offensive attack is spearheaded by Chelsea Bemis, who is hitting .407 for the year. The All-American has 10 doubles, four home runs and 23 runs batted in in 22 games, despite a slow start. Alicja Wolny has a .406 average and freshman Katie Keller leads six other Cards that are hitting over .300 for the year. Louisville lost additional firepower when Jordan Trimble's season ended with a broken ankle.

Louisville is getting outstanding play from several of the newer additions to the roster. Freshman Maggie Ruckenbrod has assumed catching duties this year and handled them well, in addition to batting .335. Katie Keller and Taner Fowler, both freshmen, have played well and see the field for Sandy Pearsall's squad on a regular starting basis. Sophomores Alicja Wolny and Jennifer Esteban are also contributing heavily...as was Trimble...before the broken ankle.

The Cards and Kentucky Wildcats will take the diamond at Ulmer Stadium on Weds. March 23rd. Game time is 6 p.m. They're charging $5 for this one and if you want advance tickets...call the UofL Ticket Office at (502) 852-5151.

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Hannah Gadd is the first diver in Cardinal women's history to advance to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Her fourth place finish in the qualifier got her the berth and she'll head to the University of Texas Swimming Center to compete beginning today (Thursday). Gadd is a sophomore out of Fort Thomas, KY. Make a big splash, Hannah!

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Louisville Lacrosse travels to Sacred Heart for a road game . The 5-0 Cards have been getting spectacular play from Bergan Foley, who is one of the leading scorers in the nation and Liz Lovejoy, who was recently named BIG EAST Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week. Lovejoy (pictured here) scored five goals in a 15-3 upset of Oregon last week. The Greenwich, CT. senior has netted five or more five times in her career. Foley is a constant scoring threat and when the Ducks keyed on stopping her...Lovejoy took the job. Also hot right now for Louisville is freshman goalie Ashley Herbst. She stepped up big in the Cards 17-7 win against Jacksonville with 10 stops.

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Today is the first day of the men's NCAA Basketball Tournament and Louisville faces Morehead State today around 1:30 p.m. The games are not on ESPN this year...Louisville's contest will be shown on TBS. That's channel 27 on Insight. This first round of tournament action is always a fun time for Paul here at CARDINAL COUPLE. He'll take a half day at work today and tomorrow (believe it or not...he actually has a full time job) and gather with buddies to watch the game at a secretly guarded location. Then, it's off to Cincinnati for Sunday Lady Cards basketball against Vandy. WE think both Cardinal hoops teams will prosper this weekend and advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

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The road for the Lady Cards will be tough...#10 Vandy is ridiculously under seeded and one of those teams you hate seeing in the first round. If the Cards get by them, it's #2 seed Xavier, on Xavier's floor. The Cards lost a 71-59 decision to the Musketeers early this season at Xavier...but it was a Cardinal team still trying to work in plenty of freshmen and find an identity. Identity crises had been solved and if Louisville can run the court against both opponents...they'll 'take two' and head to Seattle for regional action. GO CARDS GO!

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WE love this edition of Pitino's hoopsters and think they'll go far in the NCAA Tournament. You just never know which Card is going to beat you and that makes it awfully hard for opposing coaches to get ready for Louisville. Preston Knowles is on a mission right now and let's hope 'Kuric Corner' is open and doing a brisk business. Paul is picking the Cards to take the entire thing (he usually does each year) and Sonja has them advancing to the Final Four.

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