Cardinal Couple Thursday

Thursday Cardinal Couple

( Jeff McAdams...with the Thursday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE ...continues his fascination with sports that sticks are used in by catching us up on Field Hockey signings and Lacrosse's dominating win over Detroit. BE sure to catch his sparkling commentary and witty quips on the weekly broadcasts of CARDINAL COUPLE...when he joins Jenny O'Bryan and myself Saturday 11 a.m. for our pre-St. Patrick's Day hour-long celebration of Cardinal athletic events that have taken place in Ireland. It could be a short segement. We've got a backup plan, though...Jeff's busily rehearsing the lyrics to "Danny Boy" and will sing the song on the air with Bill the Goat and THE WALKING DEAD actors Merl and Daryl. You won't want to miss it!)

Field Hockey Signing Day Update

We've reached the finish line of the Field Hockey signing updates with the sixth and final announcement of signed recruits.  This weeks recruit comes to us from Putnam Valley, NY.  I don't think it would be fair to call Putnam Valley a suburb of New York City, but at only about an hour's car drive north of midtown Manhattan, I suspect it still falls under the sphere of influence of the Big Apple quite a bit.

Erin McCrudden will be joining us in the fall with a string of accolades and honors, including four years worth of experience in the USA Field Hockey program on the Futures and Futures Elite teams.

 Erin was a three sport athlete at Putnam Valley High School, playing Field Hockey in the fall, Basketball over the winter, and Lacrosse in the spring.  Clearly we're getting a great all-around athlete in Erin.  Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to find out whether that "u" in her last name is a long "u" sound, or a short one.

To wrap up, the 6 member signing class for Field Hockey consists of;
 

from Eastern Regional High School in Voorheers, NJ - Gianna Perrone, and Stephanie Byrne

from Assumption High School here in Louisville - Hailey Netherton

from Penn Manor High School in Pequea, PA - Shannon Sloss

from Shawnee High School in Medford, NJ - Elina Pereira

from Putnam Valley High School in Putnam Valley, NY - Erin McCrudden

Lacrosse Beats Up On Another Team, and Mother Nature

28 degrees and snow didn't slow down the UofL Lacrosse attack against Detroit yesterday.  Only allowing 9 shots by Detroit, Louisville won by a resounding 17 point margin, 19-2.

The Cards shut out Detroit in the first half while scoring nine.  Here's a name you're probably getting used to hearing...Nikki Boltja scored three, with two contributions each from Erika Eipp and Courtnee Daley.  The nine in the first half were rounded out by Jamie Redding and Colleen O'Malley.

Three of these goals were scored within a two and a half minute span.

Katie Oliverio and Kaylin Morrisette got into the action in the second half with two shots finding the back of the net, while Nikki Boltja picked up another pair.  Colleen O'Malley struck again in the second half.

A little extra recognition for Carissa Corbett who got on the board for the first two scores of her sophomore campaign, and Kelli Gerding, who claims her first mark in collegiate play.

Kellie Young's team continues their epic road trip with a visit to Philadelphia to play Drexel with the start set for Sunday at 1pm.

YOUR ATTENTION. PLEASE!

Jeff Walz and the University of Louisville Women's basketball team cordially invite you to join them Monday night at the KFC YUM! Center beginning at 6 p.m. for a selection show watch for the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament drawings. Fun for all ages and we're trying to get permission to allow the S.E.P. Lady Chimps basketball team to scrimmage the Lady Cards after the show ends. Funny, but Jurich and Walz won't return our calls on this matter. Must be busy...

Have you purchased your 1st and 2nd Round NCAA Tickets yet? The event is being held at the KFC YUM! Center, you know...and Louisville will play on Sunday March 24th and probably Tuesday March 26th as well if they win their opening game.

The Cards are being projected as a 4th or 5th seed, depending which prognsticator you check out. Come enjoy the thrill and excitement of women's college basketball with your Lady Cards!

Tickets are available at www.ncaa.com , the KFC YUM! Center ticket office and more information is available at www.gocards.com . Be sure to catch our exclusive interview with Coach Walz Saturday morning on our radio show on Crescent Hill Radio!

www.crescenthillradio.com

Having a large, Cardinal-friendly crowd to see our seniors in their final apperances in the KFC YUM! Center is important in many ways and the type of turnout that Louisville can get for this huge event could have a HUGE impact of what other NCAA Women's basketball events Louisville is awarded down the road. The tickets cost a little extra, sure...but are your Lady Cards worth it? WE definitely think so and urge you to "tell a buddy and take a friend" to see UofL quest for the national championship.

Paulie

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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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Friday Cardinal Couple -- Lacrosse Interview with Kellie Young

CARDINAL COUPLE recently had the chance to interview head Louisville Lacrosse coach Kellie Young. We appreciate the chance to provide our readers this exclusive interview with coach and here it is in it's entirety:

CARDINAL COUPLE:  Your team is ranked tied for sixth in the preseason BIG EAST poll. Is this about what you expected?

COACH YOUNG:  It's what I expected but it's certainly not what we are. Being sixth in the BIG EAST is certainly below standard. That's where we were last year. We had a huge culture shift within the program and removed a number of players who weren't on board with who we are and where we want to go. It's a reflection of last year and not where or who be want to be this year. So, we take it now day by day and use that #6 ranking to show it's a huge understatement of what we're going to be. The opponents we face in the BIG EAST are monumental. And, that's an exciting thing. You have to be able to beat the best to become a champion. Syracuse played last year in the national championship game. They lost a close battle. They'll be moving to the ACC with us. Notre Dame historically is a powerhouse in Lacrosse and they're joining us in the ACC also. Georgetown...the same thing. I had coached at Georgetown years ago and had some championship teams up there. They may have not returned to that venue but they're still a very challenging opponent. Loyola, another top ten team, is a historic program out of Maryland, which is a hotbed for our sport. They have the pickings of whoever they want, just to leave high school and come next door to play in college. Other good teams are Rutgers and UConn and they gave us challenges last year.

CARDINAL COUPLE: When most people think of Louisville Lacrosse last year the name Nikki Boltja comes to mind. All-region last year and a preseason All-BIG EAST pick this year. Talk a little about her...

COACH YOUNG: Nikki is the definition of a work-horse. She truly is on the field, on her own, just about every day. My office overlooks the field, so I get to see whose out there and she is a constant. Whether it's shooting a bag of balls on her own, working on her dodges with the coaching staff, working on plays with her teammates...she really does do it all. She is a competitor. Her emotional drive to win is why she scores so many goals. But it's not about personal attainment with her. Not about how much she scores but about what helps this team. Her emotion, her passion for this game is what drives her every day. She is someone who shows up at practice every day emotionally, mentally and physically ready to go. And, she's a great kid. A great student-athlete.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Would you consider her the team leader of the squad?

COACH YOUNG: No, and that's the interesting thing. She is a leader by what she does but she is a very quiet kid. At least around the coaching staff. She's not very quiet when she goes back to housing. (Laughter) She doesn't need to speak, she's going to do it through her actions. Her teammates are inspired by how hard she goes. But she isn't really driving anyone else. Our leader is really Janave Dzikewich. She is our sixth year senior. She's had three ACL injuries but is now playing better than ever. We did have to petition to have her come back for the sixth year. We were granted that and we are just so thrilled we have her again. She is the main reason our culture has changed. Just raising the bar, expectations on and off the field. In the classroom. A vocal leader every game. She sees things so well on the defensive end. People just follow her and do what she tells them to do.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Katie Oliverio returns for her senior season after sitting out last year with an injury. Talk about what her return to the team means.

COACH YOUNG: She is in better shape now than when she hurt herself. She's part of our offensive attack, so she'll be attacking 95% of the time. She's fast! She'll also help us re-defend. What Katie brings is that she's also one of our leaders, one of our tri-captains. She's our emotional leader. Janae Dzikewich is the driver, Katie is the voice. She's so passionate about what she does, about returning. She's like a point-guard in basketball, seeing things that other people don't see. She can dodge from the top, feed from anywhere around the eight. I'm really impressed with how she's returned and recovered from such a major injury.

CARDINAL COUPLE: It looks like I'll need to brush up on some lacrosse terms before the season starts...

COACH YOUNG: (Laughter)

CARDINAL COUPLE: Discuss the eight new freshmen and one red-shirt freshmen. Are there any of them that will step in and have an immediate impact on the team?

COACH YOUNG: Absolutely. The first year class has been so important in helping change our culture, along with Janave. When you're building a program in the midwest, there's not a history or culture out here about the sport. This is the first class...from top to bottom...that has true lacrosse players in it. We've had a lot of good athletes in the past, but we were teaching them the game. This class knows the game. Kay Morrisette, from Canada, was the captain of the U19 World Cup team for Canada...a big, powerful player. You look at her and you know she's an athlete. She'll be taking the draw for us at the start of every game or goal. You just want to get out of her way. She's had a great influence on us in the fall practices and fans will notice her right away. Cortnee Daley is a high school All-American out of Philadelphia. She's a gritty, doesn't take 'no' for an answer, player who will chase you down. She has that "I'm going to grind this out" attitude, I'm going to win this game."
She has an arrogance out there, but she's a great kid.

You see our freshman out there every day, doing the work and if your a junior, you're thinking to yourself...I better step it up and do the work as well, because I don't want them taking my spot! We've got other freshmen beside Kay and Cortnee fighting for starting spots, too. We could have a potential of four freshmen starting for us.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Impressive! I'm guessing Morrisette is no relation to pop singer Alannis Morrisette?

COACH YOUNG: She is apparently! (Laughter) I have never asked her that, but they're second cousins or something. My director of operations knows more about that relationship than I do.

CARDINAL COUPLE: I guess we know what the pre-game and post-game recorded music will be this year...

COACH YOUNG: ( Laughter ) Exactly!

CARDINAL COUPLE: A wide range of geography location for the players on the roster this year, but none from Louisville. Talk about that and the talent level here on the high school.

COACH YOUNG: It's improving at a rapid pace here in Louisville. We've run a ton of camps, encourage club teams. One player has recently gone up to play Division I from here to Harvard. The players graduating now have a great work ethic and will have a big impact on DII and DIII lacrosse. They could probably play at DI schools, but will have an IMPACT at DII and DIII schools. We're starting to see some talent very possible for us to recruit here local from sophomores down to seventh and eight grade levels now. That wasn't there before.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Talk to us about the upgrade and competition level when you go to the ACC next season.

COACH YOUNG: It's pretty similar. A lot of our current opponents battle with UNC, Duke and UVA. The ACC might
be a slight step ahead. It's not dramatic. For us, it's moving from one great conference to another. Where we'll benefit it that a lot of the ACC teams are located in the hotbed for high school lacrosse. We can go to kids and tell them...you may not have been recruited by UNC, Duke or UVA, but you'll get a chance to play them, and your parents and friends may be only a few hours away from those games when we go there to play. It's a historic conference and they've been in existence since the start of D1 Lacrosse.

CARDINAL COUPLE: How important is the Louisville name, the Louisville brand when you're out on the recruiting trail?

COACH YOUNG: It's huge. When your trying to convince a family to send their daughter away from home, this far away from home...the brand does attract them and a lot of our marketing materials stress the successes of Louisville athletics. Final four appearances, Sugar Bowl. We tell them to watch our teams on TV, how they are excelling and our fantastic fan base at home games. The piece at the end that really seals the deal, though...is when you talk about Tom Jurich's vision. The humble and hungry philosophy of giving back for all you have received. We talk about the community service commitment that he installs in all of us. Parents are really inspired by that. They see their daughter is not just only going to be a Division I athlete, we want her to be a great student. She's going to give back to the community.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Give us a first-time fan primer of lacrosse.

COACH YOUNG: Think about basketball without the arena or hoop. Watch how we move the ball in transition. How we set plays. How we defend. How we score. We set picks for players. We drive from the top to score. We can run man-to-man defenses or zones. We press and try to force opponent's offenses into turnovers. Watch the power of the players on the field and listen to the leadership and help they're sharing with each other.

( We appreciate Coach Young's remarks and practices are open to the public. Louisville begins the season with three straight home games....Canisius on Sunday, Feb. 3rd., and Ohio State and Old Dominion on Saturday Feb. 9th and 16th. Join us out there! )

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Staff columnist Sandy Walker opens her weekly can of mixed nuts for us to sample with a look at softball, basketball, volleyball, fiscal cliff solutions, the extinction of dinosaurs, Chef Boyardee selections and the entire catalouge from Harry and David. Put the callers on hold and lock the office door...Sandy reveals all...)




Lots of laundry this week with games, matches and banquets to attend.

SOFTBALL

The league’s 13 head coaches have picked Louisville in a preseason poll to finish third in BIG EAST Softball. USF was the preseason favorite with Notre Dame edging the Cards for second place.  As reported last week, the National Fastpitch Coaches Division I Preseason Poll have ranked our ladies at number 18 in the nation.  It is soon time to show them wrong, starting in Las Vegas with a win against UCF then UNLV on February 8 in the Sportco Kick-Off Classic.  The tournament continues the next day against Minnesota then Texas Tech with Depaul on the 10^th.  It will be a busy 3 days for the Softball Cards but also a great way to begin the season with a 5-0 sweep.
 

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BASKETBALL

REPLAYS

At the YUM center Sunday I found myself wondering and wishing to see replays of exciting plays on a regular basis.   This weekend against St. Johns I believe there were 2-3 replays which found me wishing for more.  The Sugar Bowl was exceptionally great to attend as every play was shown again on the big board – maybe we can soon see replays shown more regularly during basketball as it adds a lot to the in person experience.

 

SOUTH FLORIDA WBB GAME

 

This Wednesday finds our women at South Florida in what should be a particularly tough game.  More info on that tomorrow from Quentin as he scouts the game for us. At the moment all I have found for video of the game is the Bulls all access streaming video broadcast and local radio with Matt and AJ who are suffering on our behalf through the Florida weather.   The site will publish additional means of broadcast as we learn of them.  

( Editor's note. We considered tying a string between two cans and stretching it from Louisville to Tampa. Cletus volunteered to travel to Tampa and give us a verbal account of the action. That's a whole lotta string. We recanted. Listen to A.J. and Matt instead. And sing along each time the Fischer's commercial comes on.)   

VOLLEYBALL

Jeff McAdams wanted to make sure that everyone is aware of this Saturday night's Volleyball Banquet.  Doors open at 5:45 for the 6:30 event which is being held at the PNC Club.  Attendance is $40 a person with a table costing $400.  The banquet is a celebration of the successful season which has resulted in Gwen, Lola and Kaitlynn now occupied with their pro teams.

Contact info for the event is:

Ms. Christy Waltrip

Special Events, Louisville Athletics

Louisville, KY 40292

christy@gocards.com

(502)852-0706

( Editor's comment -- Thanks to Christy for extending two media passes to CARDINAL COUPLE for the banquet! It'll be either Sonja and Paul or Timmy the Intern and Mondo Vendo attending. Attempts to get Charlie Sheen to fly in were unsucessful)

 

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TRACK AND FIELD
 

Last weekend found Margret Harris taking first in the 60 meter semi finals and finals as well as 4^th in the 200 meter.  She ran her personal best in the 60 with a time of 24.27.  The complete meet results can be found at http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-track/recaps/012613aaa.html

Link to http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/lou/sports/w-track/auto_pdf/2012-13/stats/season_stats.pdf to find a copy of the 2013 Women’s indoor performance chart.  In the meantime the team plans to add to these numbers by participating in the Meyo Invitational on the 1^st and 2^nd in South Bend, Indiana prior to the Big East Championships n Geneva, Ohio on the 16^th and 17^th of the month.
 

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SCHOOL SONGS

When Nell on Wheels visited during the UL v UK she decided to have a competition between the fans where the singing our school song was part of the competition.  Sadly, it was obvious that most of the UL crowd did not know their school song(s).  Just in case you are interested:

( Editor's note. Nell also delivered a stirring rendition of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" for the crowd...accompanied by Al Greener on guitar and Sean Moth on wind chimes and tuba.)
 

"All Hail U of L" - by Alan Greener

All hail to thee our U of L
As we stand up for her fame.
All hail to thee our U of L
As we fight to win this game.
Sing praises for a victory,
We wish our heroes well.
All hail the Cardinal Spirit.
All hail our U of L!
GO CARDS!

"Fight! U of L" - by R.B. Griffith

Fight now for victory and show them
How we sure will win this game
Fight on you Card'nals and prove to them ( Card'nals....really?)
That we deserve our fame.
Rah, Rah, Rah!
Roll up the score now and beat the foe
So we can give a yell
With a FIGHT! give them all you've got
For we are with you U of L.

"All Hail U of L" - by Alan Greener

All hail to thee our U of L
As we stand up for her fame.
All hail to thee our U of L
As we fight to win this game.
Sing praises for a victory,
We wish our heroes well.
All hail the Cardinal Spirit.
All hail our U of L!
GO CARDS!
 

The audio files can be found at http://www.gocards.com/trads/lou-trads-songs.html

( Editor's note. Did you know NCAA referees have a spirit song as well? It's true, they do! Google the words to "Three Blind Mice" and sing along! )

 

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LACROSSE

Rules of the Week

Courtesy of US Lacrosse

AND

http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-lacros/spec-rel/081506aab.html

Women's lacrosse is a non-contact game played by 12 players: a goalkeeper, five attackers and six defenders. The object of the game is to shoot the ball into the opponent's goal. The team scoring the most goals wins.

(If the game is non-contact ---- why is protective gear worn during the games?)

 

The collegiate game is 60 minutes long, each half being 30 minutes. The high school girl's game is 50 minutes long, each half being 25 minutes. In both collegiate and high school play, teams are allowed one timeout per half.

 

2013 SEASON

 

This year’s team was picked by the BIG EAST Coaches Preseason poll to finish 6^th in the conference.    Our first chance to see them play this season is on Sunday February 10^th against Canisius.  The match is played at U of L’s Lacrosse Stadium at 12:00.  Gear up for the weather but you are forewarned not to purchase foot warmers from Timmy the Intern as they are rumored to actually be freshly packaged “Bill the Goat” droppings.

Monday head coach Kellie Young announced the signing of seven student-athletes for the 2013 season.  “The 2013 class is comprised of Carolyn Dottino-Buenahora (Huntington, N.Y.), Hannah Koloski (Lakeville, Minn.), Anne L'Heureux (Winter Springs, Fla.), Steph McNamara (Melbourne, Australia), Ashley Peacock (Crofton, Md.), Kaelyn Sclavounos (Ashton, Md.), and Heidi Smith (Ashburn, Va.).

 

Each recruits profiles can be found at  http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-lacros/spec-rel/012813aad.html

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TENNIS
 

The Bass-Rudd Tennis Center was the location of Louisville’s sweep of visiting Miami of Ohio Saturday night.  The 4-0 Cardinals took the doubles point as well as all six singles positions.  Nancy Allison Worley, Associate Director, Sports Information produced the match results article with these results below:
 

Singles competition

1. Julia Fellerhoff (LOU) def. Nimisha Mohan (MIAMIOH) 6-3, 6-4

2. Rebecca Shine (LOU) def. Christinana Raymond (MIAMIOH) 6-0, 6-3

3. Manuela Velasquez (LOU) def. Alix Thurman (MIAMIOH) 6-2, 6-2

4. Stefanie Villajuan (LOU) def. Christine Guerrazzi (MIAMIOH) 5-7, 6-4, 10-6

5. Mandy Brown (LOU) def. Ramona Costea (MIAMIOH) 6-2, 7-5

6. Becky Bodine (LOU) def. Ana Rajkovic (MIAMIOH) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles competition

1. Julia Fellerhoff/Manuela Velasquez (LOU) def. Christine Guerrazzi/Nimisha Mohan (MIAMIOH) 9-7

2. Becky Bodine/Rebecca Shine (LOU) def. Christinana Raymond/Alix Thurman (MIAMIOH) 8-4

3. Mandy Brown/Stefanie Villajuan (LOU) def. Ana Rajkovic/Chloe Heerden (MIAMIOH) 8-2

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SWIMMING / DIVING
 

Men's and Women's Swimming Both Beat Kentucky

 

The University of Louisville men's and women's swimming and diving team beat Kentucky Saturday afternoon at the Lancaster Aquatic Center. The men won 152-148 and the women prevailed 168-132.  Check it out at http://www.gocards.com/sports/c-swim/recaps/012613aaa.html where all of the individual results are shown.

 

Swimming’s season top times can be found at http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/lou/sports/c-swim/auto_pdf/2011-12/misc_non_event/womentoptimes.pdf

 

SENIORS NIGHT

 

Next Friday is seniors night when our men and women meet Indiana in their final home meet.  First race begins at 5:00.  See you at the Ralph Wright Natatorium.

BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

February 27 will find the team in Indianapolis at the Big East Championships.  They run through March 2 are in preparation for the Championship Qualifying Meets then the NCAA tournament.

 

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                                                                    GOLF

The golf team continues to take one for the school by struggling through their preparation for matches in the Florida then Hawaiian weather.  As someone who is preparing for travel to St. Paul, Minnesota – I look forward to hearing of their results in the UCF Challenge beginning February 10 in Sorrento, FL.


( As you can tell from Sandy's report today, it's not just basketball that occupies the sports calender during the month of Feburary on the Belknap Campus. CARDINAL COUPLE also has interviews planned with Jeff Walz, Sandy Pearsall and...hopefully...Kelly Young from Lacrosse in the next couple of weeks. Some coaches and assistant sports information directors are easier to catch up with than others. We're pretty certain Ira Green is just an alias for someone else down at UofL...Ira never returns our e-mails and requests. We also heard that when it was made known to Coach Walz we wanted an interview with him, he specifically requested either Bill the Goat or Timmy the Intern conduct it. Sorry, Coach. They're booked...)

Another day in the life...More pizza, sir! 
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Monday Cardinal Couple -- Sandy's Laundry Day

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


(Staff Columnist Sandy Walker appears a daily earlier than normal this week, due to some creative scheduling to fit Cardinal Women's Basketball and her column today focuses on several of the team's schedules as well.)

Today’s Focus Is On Many Small But Important Laundry Loads.

Now that I am back from my travels to New Orleans and back I find that I had so much laundry that it has taken awhile to sort through it all which includes a picture of the Cardinal Faithful at the top of the column. LIC4!

                                                         BASKETBALL

Formula for a Louisville Win at Providence  

On a night when Sara Hammond was not having her best game others stepped up to create such a balanced attack that Providence could not shut Louisville down by focusing on only one.  Note: Shoni Schimmel with 17 Bria Smith scored 17 Nita Slaughter 12 and Monique Reid 11.

                               University of Connecticut ahead

Be sure to check the site tomorrow for Quentin and Paul’s planned in depth pre-game report regarding Tuesday’s away game at Hartford against UConn.   It is reported to be available on the CBS Sports Network at 9 PM.

                                               Bearcats to visit the KFC YUM! Center

We have to wait until this Friday to again see the basketball women in person.  They will be playing Cincinnati at the home beginning at 7:00.   The fans have been great with almost 10,000 at last mid-week week’s game against Rutgers but it is time for us to step it up.  This week the holidays are behind us and the game is not on a weekday night so this is the time for Louisville to challenge Tennessee for the #1 school for fan attendance.

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GOLF

UCF CHALLENGE

Women’s Golf is gearing up for a February 10-12 winter challenge located in Sorrento, FL. while later  in the month they will strain themselves to spent time in Miami Lakes, FL so they can participate in the Sir Pizza Challenge.  A trip to Hawaii follows in March.   Congratulations to the team’s scheduler!  I am sure their future recruits are taking note and just in case they are I found a woman’s golf recruiting form at http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-golf/spec-rel/lou-w-golf-recruit-form.html.

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LACROSSE

The Lacrosse team’s scheduler should confer with the golf team’s person  for instead of suffering through Florida and Hawaii  like their fellow Louisville athletes, instead, in less than a month, they begin their schedule here at the U of L LaCrosse Stadium on Feb. 10^th, 16^th and 23 against Canisius, Ohio State then Old Dominion.  Coach Kellie Young enters her 6^th season as head coach.

(Editor's note)

Lacrosse is a sport that several of us here at CARDINAL COUPLE haved vowed to learn more about this season. Our current plans are to send Sandy to a lacrosse boot camp and have her go through the day-to-day practices and activities that the players in training participate in. We'll probably have Timmy the Intern and a EMS staffer or two accompany her. In our never-ending quest to provide you the best in Louisville womens' athletics, we feel this is a novel idea and ground breaking.

We just haven't told her about it yet...


http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-lacros/mtt/young_kellie00.htmlCoach.

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TRACK

Fortunately for the track team, indoor arenas not only exist but are scheduled for their January 25-26 participation in the IU Relays being held at Bloomington, Indiana and in the Rod McCravy Memorial being held at Lexington, KY.  Without the indoor arenas, imagine the hurdlers in full snow bunny outfits where all of the hurdles are knocked over by their bunny feet shoes.  Instead, they have posted three wins and hit 18 Big East qualifying marks on the final day of the Kentucky Invitational, which was last Saturday.   Details of the meet are available at http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-track/recaps/011213aaa.html.

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TENNIS

Xavier and Morehead State arrive in Louisville for a match at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center this Sunday, January 20 with Southern Illinois and Miami of Ohio following on Saturday the 26^th.  They keep a pretty busy schedule through February with the Big East Championships set for Mid-April.   You can check out their complete schedule at http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-tennis/sched/lou-w-tennis-sched.html.  They go into this season for “the first time in program history”, with two players ranked in the top 100 going into the dual match season.   Those players are Junior Rebecca Shine and junior teammate Julia Fellerhoff ranked No. 84 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

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SWIMMING AND DIVING

Our swim and diving team has only 4 events left before the Feb 27 Big East Championships at Indianapolis.  They swept visiting BIG EAST rival Cincinnati Saturday afternoon at the Ralph Wright Natatorium. The Cardinal men won 184-100 and the Cardinal women won 188-104.  All but 1 of the upcoming matches are away starting in Dallas but on the January 26^th they will be in Lexington Kentucky before a final match against Indiana is held at the Ralph Wright Natatorium on February 1.

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SOFTBALL

The softball team scheduler seems to have split allegiances with that of the golf and Lacrosse teams folks.   They open the season Feb 8th. in Las Vegas and will then spend time in Jacksonville, Florida for games on the 15^th, 16 and 17^th.   The women will play Stony Brook, Bethune Cookman, Ohio State, Jacksonville, and again against Stony Brook.  They next show a split decision of scheduling with games at Ulmer Stadium on February 22, 23 and 24 in the Cardinal Classic.

Feburary in Las Vegas, Jacksonville or Louisville can be hit or miss on the weather. Here's hoping for blue skies and sunny days for Sandy Pearsall's squad. 

didyouknowthatPearsallistheonlyheadsoftballcoachinthehistoryoflouisvillesoftball?thecalifonianativeplayedcollegeballatoregonstaeandstillthrowsbattingpractice

Skipping Laundry and Going to Tonights B-ball Game

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Tuesday brings us Sandy Walker's transition fast-break through the world of Womens' Sports at UofL. Our hearts go out to Shawnta Dyer, the versatile Cardinal front-liner done for the season with an ACL and MCL injury to her left knee.)

TONIGHT AT THE KFC YUM! CENTER

Our 9-2 Louisville women return home tonight as part of an away and home agreement with Washington State and also welcomes the return of leading rebounder Sara Hammond.  Tipoff is 7:00 and begins a 3 game home stand which will complete the 2012 calendar of games for this year’s team. The Cougars 3-5 record is deceptive as they are fresh off a Saturday 62-55 upset win over 20^th ranked Ohio State.  Last year it took a Shawnta’ Dyer breakout 16 point game and a late game surge by the Louisville team to pull off a 75-71 win.   

Dyer is done for the season. An ACL and MCL injury to her left knee...suffered in practice Sunday will have her on the sidelines for the rest of the season. A starter of late on the front line, Dyer had 14 points in the Cards loss to Oregon. WE wish her a full and complete recovery.  

 

The women need your attendance and support so take a break from the pre-holiday madness and continue to be a part of the growing national recognition of Louisville as a women’s sports town.  If you just can’t be there you can tune into WHAS (Channels 11.2, Insight 432, Comcast 207 or you can listen in at WKRD 790 and @ www.GoCards.com with Louisville’s own Matt Andrews and Adrienne Johnson call of the game.

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GAMES ON TV THIS WEEK




 

Tuesday December 18

Tennessee at Baylor Tennessee at Baylor Southeastern Big 12 ESPN 8 p.m.

UC Santa Barbara at BYU UC Santa Barbara at BYU Big West West Coast BYUtv 4 p.m.

Ole Miss at Cleveland St. Ole Miss at Cleveland St. Southeastern Horizon horizonleague.com 7 p.m.

Butler at IUPUI Butler at IUPUI Atlantic 10 The Summit HTSN 7 p.m.

New Mexico at New Mexico St. New Mexico at New Mexico St. Western Athletic Mountain West AggieVision 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday December 19

Missouri St. at Iowa Missouri St. at Iowa Missouri Valley Big Ten BTN.com 6:30 p.m.

Georgia at TCU Georgia at TCU Southeastern Big 12 FSSW 8 p.m.

Western Ky. at Wright St. Western Ky. at Wright St. Sun Belt Horizon horizonleague.com 5:30 p.m.

Stanford at South Carolina Stanford at South Carolina Pac-12 Southeastern FSS/FSC 7:30 p.m.

Grambling at LSU Grambling at LSU Southwestern Southeastern CST 8 p.m.

Thursday December 20

Duquesne at West Virginia Duquesne at West Virginia Atlantic 10 Big 12 Root Sports 7 p.m.

East Tenn. St. at Iowa St. East Tenn St. at Iowa St. Atlantic Sun Big 12 Cyclones TV 8 p.m.

Valparaiso at Michigan Valparaiso at Michigan Horizon Big Ten BTN 6 p.m.

Oral Roberts at Nebraska Oral Roberts at Nebraksa Southland Big Ten BTN.com 8 p.m.

UC Riverside at Oklahoma UC Riverside at Oklahoma Big West Big 12 SSTV web stream 8 p.m.

Cornell at Texas Cornell at Texas Ivy League Big 12 LHN 8 p.m.

Akron at Youngstown St. Akron at Youngstown St. Mid-American Horizon horizonleague.com 7:05 p.m.

Oral Roberts at Nebraska Oral Roberts at Nebraksa Southland Big Ten BTN.com 8 p.m.

Thursday 20-Dec Seattle at BYU Seattle at BYU Western Athletic West Coast BYUtv 5 p.m.

Friday December 21

Washington at Georgia Tech Washington at Georgia Tech Pac-12 Atlantic Coast ESPN3 12 p.m.

Xavier at Indiana Xavier at Indiana Atlantic Coast Big Ten BTN.com TBA

Illinois St. at Illinois Illinois St. at Illinois Missouri Valley Big Ten BTN.com 8 p.m.

Southern U. at Ohio St. Southern U. at Ohio St. Southwestern Big Ten BTN.com 7 p.m.

IUPUI at Purdue IUPUI at Purdue The Summit Big Ten BTN.com 12 p.m.

Saturday December 22

Duke at Southern California Duke at Southern California Atlantic Coast Pac-12 Pac-12 3 p.m.

Tex.-Pan American at TCU Tex.-Pan American at TCU Independents Big 12 FrogVision 3 p.m.

Madonna (Mich.) at Detroit Madonna (Mich.) at Detroit No Classification Horizon horizonleague.com 2 p.m.

Northern Ill. at Ill.-Chicago Northern Illinois at Ill.-Chicago Mid-American Horizon horizonleague.com 2 p.m.

New Hampshire at Cleveland St. New Hampshire at Cleveland St. America East Horizon horizonleague.com 2 p.m.

Chicago St. at Loyola Chicago Chicago St. at Loyola Chicago Independents Horizon horizonleague.com 3 p.m.

Stanford at Tennessee Stanford at Tennessee Pac-12 Southeastern SPSO 4 p.m.

Sunday December 23

NJIT at Penn St. NJIT at Penn St. Independents Big Ten BTN.com 1:30 p.m.

 

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ANGEL CONTINUES TO GIVE BACK TO LOUISVILLE

 

Angel McCoughtry, Louisville’s undisputed all time top Louisville player is giving back to Louisville. She has founded the Angel McCoughtry Dream Foundation, who announced a personal contribution of a $15,000 grant to fund educational and learning.  Information is available at her website http://angel35dreamfoundation.com/.  “AMDR is committed to helping youth gain a positive experience by choosing sports as an instrument to compete athletically, as they strive to be enriched as lifetime learners.” Her “Team Angel Basketball Camp included a stop in Louisville last August.

 

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2013 FULL COURT TOP RANKED RECRUITS

 

Full Court has published their updated top 50 player rankings for the 2013 class.  The top 10 are indicated below with the remainder found at http://www.fullcourt.com/prep/2013players. Rankings are determined by the independent, panel of Clay Kallam, Bob Corwin, Dan Olson, Kelvin Powell and Kelly Kline  One interesting observation is that Diamond De Shields has taken over the number one class ranking from former Louisville recruit Mercedes Russell.

1	Diamond DeShields	Guard	Norcross, GA
2	Mercedes Russell	Center	Springfield, OR
3	Kaela Davis	Guard	Suwanee, GA
4	Taya Reimer	Forward	Fishers, IN
5	Oderah Chidom	Forward	Oakland, CA
6	Tyler Scaife	Point Guard	Little Rock, AR
7	Linnae Harper	Point Guard	Chicago
8	Rebecca Greenwell	Guard	Owensboro, KY
9	Kailee Johnson	Forward	Portland, OR
10	Erica McCall	Forward	Bakersfield, CA

2014 FULL COURT TOP RANKED RECRUITS

The Full Court Fresh 50 for the 2014 class is interesting in that only 8 are currently indicated as having given a verbal commitment to a college and none of the top 10 have done so.  The complete list can be found at http://www.fullcourt.com/prep/2014players.

1	Brianna Turner	Forward	Pearland, TX
2	Aja Wilson	Wing	Hopkins, SC
3	Jordin Canada	Point Guard	Los Angeles, CA
4	Kelsey Mitchell	Point Guard	Cincinnati, OH
5	LaJanna Drummer	Forward	Inglewood, CA
6	Jatari White	Center	Charlotte, NC
7	Azura Stevens	Forward	Raliegh, NC
8	Gabby Green	Guard	Oakland, CA
9	Bianca Cuevas	Point Guard	Bronx, NY
10	Sierra Calhoun	Guard	Brooklyn, NY

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SOFTBALL

 

Saturday January 26 at 7:30 is scheduled for the 2013 Softball Team’s Class Act Federal Credit Union Bullpen Club Dinner. Olympian Danielle Lawrie will be the keynote speaker which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
 

Last year’s team completed a program-best 55-5 season which included winning  of the BIG EAST regular season and tournament titles.   10^th year head Coach Sandy Pearsall’s team opens this year’s season at the UNLV Sportco Kickoff Classic Feb. 8-10. Louisville returns seven starters and 12 letter winners.
 

Banquet, team and season information can be found at http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/121012aab.html.
 

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LACROSSE

 

I know it sound crazy but it truly is not too early to add to your 2013 calendar the Lacrosse teams first match will be against Canisius on February 10, 2013 which will be held at the U of L Lacrosse Stadium.  Coach Kellie Young has announced her 2013 schedule at  http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-lacros/spec-rel/121012aaa.html which includes 9 home games.

 

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ROWING

 

This month Rowing announced the signing of 9 new additions during the sports early signing period.  Write ups of each new player in the 2017 graduation class can be found at  http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-rowing/spec-rel/120512aaa.html.

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SWIMMING AND DIVING

 

Ralph  Wright Natatorium

The swimming and diving team continues their season with Lindsey Stephens being selected as the Louisville Student-Athlete of the Week.  Check out the teams Media Guide @ http://www.guide.provations.com/louisville/swimming2013#pg1.  Their season continues at home on January 12 vs. Cincinnati at the Ralph Wright Natatorium.  

Arthur Albiero

Coach Arthur Albiero is in his 7^th season. 

Something  you may not know is that the Ralph Wright Natatorium is available for use by the public for daily, monthly, semester or annual fee amounts.   Membership information can be found at http://louisville.edu/athletics/natatorium/membership.html.

 

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TENNIS

Coach Mark Beckham

Not to be outdone by swimming’s cold weather schedule, the Tennis team features their next match on January 20 vs Xavier and Morehead State.  It will begin at 10:00 at Louisville’s Home court, the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.  Recruiting has been a part of Head Coach Mark Beckham

recent schedule as he has announced the signing of Cassie Pough of Miramar, Florida and Gabrielle Paul of London, England. Check out complete current team information at http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-tennis/spec-rel/112912aaa.html.

 

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TRACK and FIELD

 



Michelle Theophille

Margret Harris

At the team's December 7 first meet of the year Louisville’s Margret Harris won the 60m finals behind a collegiate-best 60m mark of 7.38. Her time is currently the third fastest at the Division I level. The Lancaster, Texas, native also took second with a leap of 5.60m/18-4.50

Earlier this month Margret Harris and Michelle Theophille

 

swept the BIG EAST track and field's weekly awards with Harris being name as the BIG EAST Women's Track Athlete of the Week.  The indoor schedule for Track continues on January 11 as our team will compete in the Kentucky Invitational at Lexington, KY.  Team information can be found at   http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-track/spec-rel/121112aaa.html
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