Cards 2nd in BIG EAST Rowing, Tennis falls to Georgetown, Obama gets Osama

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

The Cards paddle to 2nd in BIG EAST

-Rowing wins Varsity Eight, 2nd overall

-Tennis falls in consolations

-Obama 1, Osama 0

Louisville rowing was just a concept several years ago. Coaches would scour the campus and directly approach students on campus, asking them if they'd like to try out for the team. The boathouse was directly behind a liquor store down on River Road and campus wide recognition was minimal. Those days have changed. With a new facility, student/athletes being recruited and signed expressly for the sport and a growing fan base, Rowing at Louisville has com a long way. That was evident yesterday...as the Louisville women's rowing team placed second in team events, won the BIG EAST Varsity Eight title and placed four rowers on the All-BIG EAST roster.

Notre Dame barely edged the Cards out for the title, scoring 114 points...to the Cards 109 up in West Windsor, NJ. The Cards Varsity Eight crew of Erin Bennett, Sam Kayser, Cara Littleton, Katya Monchenko, Kristin Falovo, Ali Woods, Lauren Mensch-Speelman, Morgan Dunham and Anastasia Prokopenko finished 1st in the highlight race of the meet...the Varsity Eight...recording a time of 6:40....two seconds better than Notre Dame.

Prokopenko, Bennett, Dunham and Mensch-Speelman were named to the All-BIG EAST squad. Louisville will compete in the BIG EAST/ACC Dual meet May 14-15 next in Oak Ridge, TN.

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Louisville women's tennis fell to Georgetown 4-2 in the loser bracket of the BIG EAST Tennis Championships. Julia Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine did win in doubles competition and Sonia Bokhari won in singles. WE'VE never quite understood the scoring and point awarding in tennis matches. There were nine games total...3 singles and 6 doubles. Louisville won all three doubles event and two of the six singles events but come up with only 2 points? Seems like that would be like having nine Cardinals play in a basketball game but only counting six of their scoring stats. Then again, WE'VE never participated in competitive tennis...WE just wish the Louisville girls well in it.

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Obama bin Laden is dead. It was the reason that US forces went to and are still engaged in combat missions in several Middle East countries. He was the mastermind behind 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the recognized leader of terrorist group Al-Queda. There will probably never be peace for all mankind, but taking out the leader of a group sworn to the death of all Americans is a good start.

Reprisals by his survivors? Probably being planned as we type this today. WE can only hope that someday, someway and somehow...insurgents and terrorist will put down their weapons and stop their plans of death and terror. In some cultures and philosophies, dying for one's cause is the ultimate religious honor. Whatever happen to peace, love and understanding?

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Kentucky Girls All-Star team Named...Smith to visit Wednesday

Natalie Greenwell is one of twelve to make
the KY. All-Star team. She's headed to
Morehead State to attend college

TUESDAY with CARDINAL COUPLE

-Ky. Girls All-Star team named

-Bria Smith to visit Louisville on Weds.

-Women's Golf in 2nd place in BIG EAST
Tournament.

-Rowing facility dedication Weds.

-Watson discusses recruits and coaches
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The 12 players performing for coach Chris Stalling as the 2011 Kentucky All-Star Girls Team have been announced. Heading the list are Miss Kentucky Basketball Sara Hammond and Elizabethtown senior Natalie Greenwell. They'll play June 10th. in Bellarmine's Knights' Gym and then at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Saturday, June 11th. The team roster:

#1 Sara Hammond (Rockcastle County)
#2 Carla Booth (Sheldon Clark)
#3 Averee Fields (Calloway County)
#4 Danay Fothergill (Southwestern)
#5 Chastity Gooch (Franklin Simpson)
#6 Natalie Greenwell (Elizabethtown)
#7 Mechael Guess (Manual)
#8 Juliann Miller (Mercy)
#9 Maddie Peabody (Sacred Heart)
#10 Caprisha Rogers (Clark County)
#11 Kristin Stanback (Scott County)
#12 Lauren Tibbs (Scott County)

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Unsigned high school guard Bria Smith will visit the University of Louisville Wednesday as she narrows down the selection process of where she will attend college. She also has a trip scheduled to Tennessee later in the week. Smith is the highest ranked guard by most recruiting services that is still unsigned.

Smith is one of the best
one-on-one guards entering
the freshman class

Enjoy your stay here in Louisville, Bria. Cardinal country is a fun place to be and you'll be playing in front of the most rapidly growing fan base in women's college basketball when you choose Louisville.

The Lady Cards are building a BIG EAST powerhouse squad. You need to be a part of the magic and excitement that is unmatched in women's college basketball when the Louisville women take the court at the KFC YUM.
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Louisville women's golf moved up to second place in the BIG EAST Tournament with a 302 yesterday in second round action at Innisbrook, Florida. They trail front runner Notre Dame by 18 strokes with one round to go. Sophomore Anna-Karin Llungstrom fired a 72 to lead the Cards. She's tied for third place with a two day total of 148. Senior Sara-Maude Juneau carded a 76 on Day Two. Laura Anderson finished with a 76 along with Tara Lyons. Maria Castellanos toured the 18 in 79 strokes.

The Cards are 21 strokes ahead of Georgetown, so at least second looks wrapped up for Louisville...but they'll need their best efforts of the tournament to catch the Irish . They play the final round today.

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The new rowing facility is located directly
on the Ohio River..next to Waterfront Park.

The University of Louisville G.Garvin Brown Rowing facility will be unveiled Wednesday at 4 p.m. with grand opening speeches and ceremonies. Located off River Road and just 3 miles from the Belknap Campus...it gives the Cards one of the top facilities in the nation to train, practice and hold meets on the Ohio River. The Cards will compete in the BIG EAST Championships on April 30th in West Windsor, NJ.

Louisville's coming off three wins over Syracuse in the Charles River Challenge last time out.
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(David Watson is a special correspondent for CARDINAL COUPLE. The opinions expressed by David do not necessarily mirror those of CARDINAL COUPLE. He likes those mixed fruit jelly packages on toast, for example. WE hate the mixed fruit ones...) 

It looks like Jeff Walz has gone out hunting and brought back a whole knapsack full of game. And, he's got his sights set on more recruits. Sara Hammond, Jude Schimmel and Monney Esther Niamke have certified and DI level skills. They constitute a heck of a class for 2011. Adding Bria Smith would definitely make this a top five class. Walz has more talent lined up on campus for next hoops season than there are construction workers standing around on I-70 watching road improvement heavy machinery equipment.

Recruiting. It's 24/7, 365 days a year and continual. I have the pleasure of knowing a former DII coach who prowled the hardwood at a college not too far from my hometown. Even at that level, the recruiting process is fierce, competitive and can cause a coach to reach for the Pepto-Bismol as frequently as the cell phone. College coaches spend their summers attending the AAU Tournaments, watching highlight reels and zeroing in on their job security intangibles. You gotta win. You need players that will accomplish that for you. You go out and try to get them.

My buddy was 62-20 in three years in coaching locally before accepting another coaching  job out of state for more pay, more competition and more headaches. Did well there with 52 wins in two years at that next job and it led to a position further up the food chain. Unfortunately, that final job was four years of sub .500 records and an eventual resignation as the head coach. My buddy remains on campus as a assistant professor in sports related academia...but coaching isn't out of his blood. My buddy spoke about it:



Coaching isn't always celebrations,
championships and champagne.



"I could tell you about so many close misses on recruiting players that could have turned any or all of those seasons around for me. I could tell you about games decided by several points, a missed shot here, a crucial turnover there. The hours of visiting, researching, practices...but, in the final chapter...it's all about the win to loss ratio. I replay some of those games in my mind. I guess I'll always be a coach...but right now, I'm a commander without a battalion."



I would venture a wager that someday my buddy will pace the sidelines again. For now, though...the headaches, stress, knots in the stomach and hours of recruiting and training are on the shelf. Heck of a life, if you ask me...when your future and paycheck are dependent on the skills and abilities of teenagers and young women...



(David Watson stresses each and every week over the successes and failures of the bowling team he captains on Wednesday nights. His "buddy's name" was withheld by request.)

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Catching up with...

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THIRSTY THURSDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE

-Lacrosse Cardinals face Stanford Cardinal.

-Volleyball will play in Great Lakes College Challenge.

-Women's Tennis to face Austin Peay and Marquette.

-Rowing wins BIG EAST Boat of the Week

-Sideline announcers challenge continues

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Time to play a little catch up here at CARDINAL COUPLE..

as we update something else besides Lady Cards hoops and softball.

Louisville Lacrosse faces undefeated #7 Stanford this afternoon at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. This battle of the undefeated comes after Stanford slammed Cincinnati Tuesday 20-8 on the Bearcats turf. Louisville gulped down Manhattan 20-2 at the L.L.S. last time out. For the Cards to defeat the Trees, they'll need a big effort out of top scorer Bergan Foley and her goal producing teammate Liz Lovejoy. Louisville is second in the nation in scoring offense and Stanford seventh. The Cards, under freshmen goalie and BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week Emily Dashiell, are fifth nationally in scoring defense and Stanford is 24th. It'll be the toughest test of the season for the Louisville squad and Louisville will need to pay close attention to the Stanford attack of Sarah Flynn, Lauren Schmidt and Leslie Foard.

Game time is 5 p.m. It's also Kidszone Day at the L.L.S. and Astro Events will have events, including a giant slide set up. Admission is free to UofL Lacrosse events. Lacrosse is a fast paced, high scoring and exciting sport. WE like to call it field hockey on steroids, If you haven't caught a match yet, you owe it to yourself to get out there. Who knows, you might even see Paul out there with the staff chimps wailing on the giant, inflatable Steve Kragthorpe punching bag...

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Louisville women's tennis is 9-6 on the season and faces two foes this weekend in the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. Austin Peay comes in Friday and BIG EAST Conference foes invades Saturday. Louisville defeated Loyola Marymount 5-2 last time out in Los Angeles.

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Louisville Volleyball will be playing in the Great Lakes College Challenge beginning March 26th in Chicago. The Cards will be in a field with Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Marquette, Western Michigan, Toledo and Valparaiso. New Volleyball head coach Anne Kordes will face Wisconsin in the first match. This will be Kordes' first match as Cardinal head coach.

The Cards return most of last year's BIG EAST Tournament Championship team...losing only Amanda Simmons and Lindsey Mango to graduation.
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Louisville Rowing's Varsity Eight was selected BIG EAST Boat of the Week as the Cards defeated Kansas State and #10 Wisconsin last week in the Longhorn Invitational. Louisville went 2-2 in the events, losing to Texas and Oklahoma. The Cards travel to Knoxville next to compete against Dartmouth and Tennessee on March 26th. Varsity Eight consists of Ali Wood, Anastasia Prokopenko, Morgan Dunham, Kayla Monchenko, Kristin Falovo, Lauren Mensch, Cara Littleton, Samantha Kayser and Erin Bennett. Congratulations to the girls who make it happen down by the Ohio River!

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Allison Williams snuck by Tony Siragusa in the sideline reporters challenge brackets. She advances to take on Erin Andrews in the Final Four. Today's match-up pits Alex Flanagan (left)vs. Pam Oliver. Paul and David Watson are going with the popular Oliver...a sideline fixture for NFL Contests, Sonja sides with the willowy Flanagan. Bill the Goat was unavailable for voting...he's on a UPS truck or plane currently en route to Spokane for the Lady Cards basketball team regional matchup against Gonzaga. Hopefully, some of the reservation folks in the area will pick him up at the McDonalds we've sent him to and adopt him as a mascot. Would hate to think that the burgermeisters would put him to work in the drive-thru, or worse...stick him on the back line and have him flip burgers. WE saw Lady Cards impresario and fan in the stands reporter J-Bone at the softball game yesterday (by the way, he does an excellent job on the P.A. mic announcing Lady Cards softball) and gave him 'up front' money to keep an eye open for Bill in Spokane. Just don't feed him, J...it'll cost you plenty. And don't let him get near the court...Bill likes to lead the fast break... with disasterous results.

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You can vote for either Pammie or Alex in the comments section here (although no one ever does) or e-mail your pick to cardinalcouple@insightbb.com (which a lot of you do...while making comments ).

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Volleyball sweeps WVU

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE PRESENTS:

-Volleyball defeats West Virginia

-Cards get a second in rowing

-Walz prepares for the Vols



Pictured above, Emily Juhl had 13 kills, eight digs and seven service aces in the sweep of the Mountaineers Sunday in Morgantown. The Cards had no trouble in the 25-15, 25-17, 25-11 win over their BIG EAST foe. Juhl closed out WVU with five straight services aces in the third game to end the match.



Louisville never trailed in any of the three games. The Cards also got big efforts from Lola Arslanbeckova with 14 kills, Taylor Braunels' 40 assists and 29 digs from the combination of Caitlin Welch and Maci Wachtel. Louisville hit an outstanding .349 for the three games.

The Cards (17-6, 11-1) continue the road swing with a match at Marquette Friday night at 8 p.m.





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The University of Louisville rowing team finished the second day of the Head of the Hooch regatta by finishing second in the Women's Open 8+ event. The Cards had four boats entered in the field of 29 boats. Louisville's top squad finished behind winner Clemson in the 5,000 meter course with an impressive time of 16.06.6. The other Cardinal squads finished ninth, 19th and 22nd.




This event ended the fall training part of Louisville' season. The Cards will spend several months in training before opening the regular season against Dayton on March 5th., 2011.





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Tennessee is unhappy with a 50 point win in their exhibition basketball game? The Cards will face the Vols this Friday in the KFC YUM Center to kick off the regular season and it looks like Pat Summit is back to her old self. Sue Favor, of 'They're Playing Basketball', has posted up an interesting piece on the demands of the fiery Pat and her staff. You can access 'They're Playing Basketball' in our 'Sites We Recommend' column on the left side of CARDINAL COUPLE. The question is...how will Louisville fare against the UT squad that bowed out in the Round of Sixteen during the NCAA Tournament last year.




One thing Jeff Walz doesn't need to worry about is available bodies. 14 Cards dressed and participated in the Indiana Wesleyan win. Some things he might be thinking about, though...in our humble opinion might include:




-The best rotation out there. The freshmen looked awfully good at times and Shoni Schimmel can play at any pace or speed. Monique Reid showed that she can still fill up the bucket and Asia Taylor, despite the turnovers, is going to the boards with authority. So is freshman Sherrone Vails. Wouldn't surprise us at all to see 2 or 3 freshmen start against U.T.



Or, how about an all "S" lineup of Shoni, Sherrone, Shawnta, Shelby and Slaughter or Story?






-Avoiding the slow start. After the Cards jumped out 2-0 against I.W., it took over six minutes before the next UofL points. Such a gap in scoring Friday night will be lethal against a Vols team that easily topped the century mark last time out. Maybe it was the nervousness of the new arena. Let's hope the stage fright has passed.





-Get back, get back. The Cards showed good transition against I.W. but the Vols are considerably faster and looking to run with each rebound. The guards will have to be ready and can't get caught watching the paint dry on the handrails.

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The game is sold out. All 22,000 tickets gone. Angel's jersey ceremony will be at 6:45 p.m.

Field Hockey falls in the BIG EAST semis to UConn

SUNDAY EDITION OF C.C.

-Field Hockey falls to UConn

-Volleyball downs Pitt

-Rowing gets a second in Hooch

-Football Cards win at 'Cuse

-The "Big girl" misses by a head.

Lots of things going on Saturday to catch up on today. Pictured here, the belly dancers caught CARDINAL COUPLE'S attention at the Dos Equis hospitality tent in the Churchill Downs grandstands on Saturday Breeders Cup Day. Poor little thing must have been freezing out there...

Pam Bustin's TEAM CARDINAL Field Hockey squad lost 2-1 to #4 Connecticut on Connecticut's home field yesterday in the BIG EAST Field Hockey semifinals. The Cards trailed 2-0 at the half and despite a hard fought effort and being one player short, they fall and await to see if they'll be included in the 16 team NCAA Tournament. The Huskies got both their goals with less than 11 minutes remaining in the first half. Louisville scored in the second half when senior Tuli Lim took Hayley Turner's pass for Karah Nall and fired it into the net.

Louisville was hindered when senior Nicole Youman was penalized with a red card and ejected from the game. According to the rules of Field Hockey, no player could substitute for her and the Cards had to play 10 against 11 the rest of the match.

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Volleyball improved to 10-1 in the BIG EAST with a 3-1 road win over Pitt yesterday. Big for the Cards was Lola Arslanbeckova...with 20 kills...part of the Cards 58. Louisville won the games 25-18, 25-2, 18-2 and 25-19. Louisville got big games from Emily Juhl (10 kills) Taylor Brauneis (43 assists) Caitlin Welch (20 digs) and Amanda Simmons (six blocks).

The Cards had 21 kills in the final game of the match after losing the third game due to a weak .172 hitting percentage

A quick turn around for the Volley Cards, they travel to WVU for a Sunday match against the 'Eers at 2 p.m.

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Cardinal Rowers got a runner up finish in the Head of the Hooch meet in Chattanooga on Day One of the event. The 4+ team in the Women's Championship event lost to Texas by just three seconds over the 5,000 meter course. The Cards will have four entries in the Women's Open 8+ event today. The 8+ team in the Women's Championship event finished seventh to Texas.

Louisville had 10 boats entered in the various events yesterday. The Novice 4+ team finished 10th to Duke and the Women's Championship Double finished 12th out of 20.

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Congratulations to the University of Louisville Football Team in grabbing a 28-20 win on the road at Syracuse. No Froman, no Powell? No problem for Louisville, who got a 98 yard rushing effort and 2 TD's from freshman Jeremy Wright and two TD tosses from senior quarterback Justin Burke. The Cards hadn't won a BIG EAST road game in their previous 12 attempts.

The Cards got huge defensive efforts from Brandon Heath, Rodney Gnat and converted on a crucial 4th and inches late in the game to keep the ball out of Syracuse's hands.

Louisville goes to 5-4 with the win and will face the USF Bulls next Saturday in PJCS.

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ZENYATTA came flying down the Churchill Downs stretch yesterday but narrowly lost to BLAME by a head in the Breeders Cup Classic yesterday at the Twin Spires. Throngs of disappointed fans filed out in disbelief after the final race of the day.

CARDINAL COUPLE, although disappointed in "the Big Girl's" loss, couldn't cry too much...having hit a $1425 late .50 cent pick three. Down slightly on the day...WE pressed the "all" button in the ninth race, followed by DANGEROUS MIDGE, BEHKABAD and AL KHALI in the second leg and ZENYATTA, BLAME and FIRST DUDE in the final. The $54 wager left the pocket almost empty but it was filled nicely after the BLAME upset victory. Yes, we had to fill out the IRS form...WE also had the exacta and trifecta in the final race, a mere $30 investment there brought back a payout of $240 on the $1 boxes. WHEEEEEEEE!!!!!

On the day, our selections were pretty good. If you had put $2 across the board on each of our top 4 picks in all eight BREEDERS CUP races, you would have made a $8 profit. Of course...CARDINAL COUPLE didn't follow its own advice early and some foolish early Daily Double and Pick 4 selections left us a little in the "red" leading up to the 9th race. All's well that ends well...

We did see one of the most incredible runs we can remember in a long time from 2 year old colt UNCLE MO in the BREEDERS CUP JUVENILE. Trained by Todd Pletcher and under John Velazquez, he flew away from the other nine rivals at the top of the stretch and roared to a 4 length victory. He's my early Derby pick for next year. Stunning...

Cards field hockey rocks Radford 7-1

Monday Cardinal Couple covers:

- #12 Field Hockey rolls at home

-Women's soccer loses on the road

-Rowing competes in Lemonhead Regatta

-The Hammond question

A busy Sunday for women's sports at UofL. Let's get to the action and results...

Nicole Youman continued with the hot stick...scoring three goals and adding two assists at Trager Stadium against Radford. The Flock (7-1) used a big second half to defeat the Highlanders (6-1) by six in front of a nice crowd on the Belknap campus.

Radford hit the scoreboard first when Lara Canker popped back a blocked shot by Cards goalie Erin Conrad less than two minutes into the contest. Louisville countered near the 30 minute mark when Youman set up Simone Attles for a score on Jennifer Wisniewski. The score remained tied for the rest of the first session.

Louisville struck early and often in the final stanza. Youman got the scoring started with a penetrate and shot at the 1:24 mark to put the Cards ahead for good. A couple of minutes later, Youman added her second goal...recovering her blocked shot on Wisniewski and finding the net for a 3-1 Cardinal advantage. Youman picked up her second assist minutes later, finding Haley Jurich on the right side...who planted one deep in the net to make it 4-1.

The Cards continued the scoring fiesta when reserve Heather Stevens drove thru the circle and slapped one in for a 5-1 advantage. Youman picked up her third score less than a minute later, guiding the ball in at the 50:16 mark to put the Cards up by five. Freshman Elizabeth Vance recovered a missed Karah Nall attempt and closed out the scoring for the game.

Louisville out shot the Highlander 21-4 and returns to action at #8 Syracuse...who defeated Rutgers yesterday...Saturday, September 25th.

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Soccer lost their first game of the year in Champaign, Illnois...falling to the Illini 3-0. The Cards (7-1) were guilty of 11 whistles in the contest and #21 Illinois outshot Louisville 8-2 on shots on goal.

#16 Louisville hung tough most of the first half but surrendered the only tally of the half when Taylor Vancil just missed blocking a Megan Pawloski kick to the right corner.

Illinois (7-1-1) increased the margin in the final half thanks to a Julie Ewing feed to a wide open Shayla Mutz who took it past Conrad for a 2-0 lead. The Cards surrendered the final goal of the game late in the contest to Marissa Holden's boot past Conrad.

Karen Ferguson-Dayes brings the Cards back home for a Friday match against DePaul. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at Cardinal Park.

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Cardinal Rowing opened the fall season in Bloomington in the Lemonhead Regata on Lake Lemon. (Wonder what color the water was?) The Cards fared well in the dual meet, gathering a win and a tie against the Hoosiers.

In the first race, the Cardinal "A" team defeated the IU "A" crew by three seconds over the three mile course. This one was for crews of four. IU's "B" squad nipped the Cardinal "B" bunch for third.

The Cards and Hoosiers "A" squads battled to a tie in the second event each hitting the line in 17:04 over the distance for crews of eight. Louisville's "B" squad finished third.

Louisville hosts the Red and Black Day next...at the Cardinal Boathouse off River Road on Saturday, October 16th.

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To answer the many e-mails we've gotten about Kentucky girls' basketball star Sara Hammond and her college choice...we can tell you that she's made no decision between UofL and UConn the last time we heard...around 8 a.m. Monday morning...but it's rumored she could announce as early as tomorrow.

We'll keep you posted on any breaking news we hear. Keep those fingers crossed.