Cardinal Couple Friday Edition

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

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

 

Spring has sprung...well, sort of.

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

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

Field Hockey signing announcement, round 4

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

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

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

Lacrosse reaches new heights

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

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

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

Softball

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

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

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

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

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

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





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

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Sandy Walker brings us the weekly Walker walk through Cardinal Women's Athletics. Whether it's wickets wildly waving thru the wicked winter wind or balls bouncing briskly by Bearno's By The Bridge...Sandy's knows about it and isn't afraid to share it with us, you and the staff chimps. It's Laundry Day at CARDINAL COUPLE and Sandy gets to keep all she finds in the pockets.) 



This week Sandy has spent time checking the laundry provisions for all of the women's teams.   We are happy to report that every squad appears to be well supplied with the materials they need.

Coco's young niece Stinky reacting to the Cardinal Couple's Corporate office new installation.  The

national impending budget crisis has resulted in orders for the staff to cut costs.  ( Editor's note: We have also 

cut out the Thursday afternoon buffet and jousting events which were costing us a forutne and blocking traffic on Floyd Street for rush hour. Things came to a head when Co-Co accidently rode her steed over Tom Jurich's car during competiton.)

This great invention allows us to re-use the laundry water to flush the toilet.  She just realized that we must wait until there is laundry being rinsed before she can flush. 

SOFTBALL

Junior Pitcher Caralisa Connell     

4-0 for the week by pitching two

one-hit shutouts  brought her the title of BIG EAST pitcher

of the week.   To date they have a team 12-2 record for the season.

The 18^th ranked team will next play this weekend in Orlando, FL at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex.  Games begin in the 2013 Citrus Classic on Friday and conclude on Sunday where they will meet 9^th ranked Texas, Temple, Longwood, Georgia Tech and 10^th ranked LSU.

After that battle the team should be happy to return home the next weekend where they begin a 10 game home stand which extends through March 20^th before again hitting the road so after marking your calendars from http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-softbl/sched/lou-w-softbl-sched.html get out your lawn chairs and blankets and plan to spend some time at Ulmer Stadium.

 

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LACROSSE

Lacrosse wins again!

Saturday the team again charged to victory, this time over Old Dominion 21-3.  Six players scored multiple goals all contributed to the teams 3-0 win-loss start. 
 

For her efforts junior goalkeeper Ashley Herbst  

was named this week to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.  In 56 minutes of play against Old Dominion she made eight saves and collected two ground balls. Stats over the 3 games played to date find her ninth-best nationally in goals-against average, 11^th-best in save percentage clips while also ranked 26th in the nation for saves.

Coach Young is as happy as a pig with boots!

Next the team is packing their bags for Colorado as they play again this Saturday against Denver.

LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL LACROSSE NEWS

Lacrosse magazine author Robbie Levin has named Sacred Heart Academy as the 10^th ranked high school team from the South region.  In addition the magazine has listed among the girl’s games to watch the March 1 Kentucky Country Day verses the No. 10 ranked Sacred Heart Academy.  Looks like KY has some up and coming Lacrosse players available where Head Coach Kellie Young

Kellie Young

can continue this year’s change in pattern which is to recruit then train experienced Lacrosse players instead of good athletes who she then teaches the beginning steps of how to play Lacrosse.   It looks like even better days are ahead for this team.

LAX TERMINOLOGY

Foul Play!   

A violation of the rules results in a major or minor foul, awarding a free position to the fouled player. It is a major foul when a player charges, pushes, trips, blocks, or makes physical contact with an opponent; "slashes" an opposing ballcarrier;

commits a "shooting space violation;" or invades the body space of an opposing player, such as touching her stick to that player's body. A minor foul is called if a player uses her stick or foot to shield a ground ball; if a player kicks the ball or touches it with her hands (except for the goalie inside her crease). Also, no part of a player's body or stick may enter the crease while the goalie is in her position there.

(Taken from Lacrosse 101 at

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

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GRANNY’S GOT GAME MOVIE UPDATE

The Beaufort International Film Festival was the location where out of 28 submitted films, Granny’s Got Game, won the Audience Choice award after being voted their favorite.    The event was extra special as 5 of the Fabulous 70s basketball players (Judy, Mary, Sarah, Shirley, and Wanda) were able to attend. 

Granny's Got Game is a documentary film about a senior women's basketball team in North Carolina. These seven fiercely competitive women in their seventies battle physical limitations and skepticism to keep doing what they love. The film follows them for a year as they compete for another National Senior Games championship.” The movie pre-view can be seen at http://www.grannysgotgame.com/.

You can watch an interview of the film maker, Angela Gorsica Alford, and the ladies who attended on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW0pfu2fCIA&feature=youtu.be. It is hoped that eventually a showing will come to our area.

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KFC YUM! CENTER REPLAYS

I take absolutely no credit for the change  but since I complained a couple of weeks ago about the lack of replays during the women’s basketball games at the KFC YUM! CENTER I absolutely have noticed more replays being shown.   Good Move !

(Editor's note...Just to clarify, that WASN'T Sandy standing behind Louisville public address announcer Sean Moth screaming "Show IT, Show it again, Baldy!" after a good Cardinal play in the South Florida game. Unfortunately, good plays were a rarity in the USF game...unless you focused in on Andrea Smith's three-point shooting or Inga Orekhova's drives to the hoop.)

Anything that so easily increases the fan’s entertainment and enjoyment of the time spent at the games is a good deal.   Particularly for an idea that does not appear to increase the arena costs.  With more of the women’s home games now on television where the at home fan is shown multiple replays and also has the ability the view their own choice of replays we need the bucket in the KFC YUM! CENTER seat fan to experience as much of this as possible.

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SOCCER


Women’s soccer hosted their awards banquet on Feb 8 and was held at the PNC Club inside Papa Johns Stadium.    Awards went to Chloe Kiefer for Most Valuable Player and as the MVP Defensive player, Charlyn Corral was named the Offensive MVP, Megan Berberick was chosen for the 12^th Man Award, Julie Casselman earned the Cardinal Award and Angelika Uremovickh was selected for the Coach's Award.



Nicole Gerber

For an inside the look at the Louisville women’s soccer program, GoCards.com will provide weekly updates in a "Behind the Scenes" blog. Throughout the spring semester they will provide weekly blog updates. For the month of February, Nicole Gerber takes on this task.  Her article and others throughout the season can be read at http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/022213aac.html.



Mark your calendars for April 7 as Old Miss is coming to town for the Soccer Cards first home game this season at Cardinal Park – It appears that this season may be the last for play inside the track as Athletic Director Tom Jurich has announced a target date of spring 2014 for the opening of a new 17.5 million dollar state of the art facility dedicated specifically for soccer.  Teams currently have been playing at the Cardinal Park Soccer and Track Stadium.
 

It was opened in the spring of 2000 and seats 2200 fans which soon will not be close to enough seating for their fans. The construction which was hoped to be completed for the schools entry into the ACC now has the go ahead to begin thanks to the recently announced 5 million dollar donation by Dr. Mark Lynn and his wife, Cindy.  Their generosity brings U of L to within 3 million of their total goal.  The University of Louisville continues to grow their facilities with the intent to be the best for ALL athletes.

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BASKETBALL

Calling all Basketball fans – Wednesday is absolutely your last time this season to see the basketball women at home during the regular season.   This week’s game against Seton Hall which begins at 7:00 is also Seniors Night.  

 

  Come out to honor and show your appreciation for the women’s 3 basketball seniors, Shelby, Asia and Monique.

(Editor's note...Jeff Walz, pictured here, has felt the stress and strain of a season filled with injuries and ever-so-tough BIG EAST competiton. Coach remains optimistic, though, that this team...in whatever shape and form it travels to Hartford in...will give a good account of itsself in the BIG EAST Tournament. Coach Walz will have his first radio show tonight at 5:30 p.m. on 790 Cards Radio WKRD. Please don't call up and order a large sausage with green peppers or ask if Little Richie is going to play Weds. night and how many points is he going to score...)

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2013 NCAA Tournament Selection Show

Once again the women’s basketball fans are invited to join the team for the NCAA Tournament Selection Show where the fate of our team in the first round of big dance will be disclosed.  Doors to the KFC YUM! Center will open at 6:00 on Monday March 18 with the ESPN selection show beginning at 7:00.  Those of you who arrive late will be shuttled to the outdoor viewing station.

Admission is free where you will not only to learn what teams will be coming to Louisville for the 1^st and 2^nd rounds of play but also where you and your kids can experience inflatable’s and a free photo booth.
 

The Selection Show will be featured on the scoreboard at the arena and seating will be limited to sections 115, 116, and 117.  Fans can also purchase tickets for the March 24 and 26^th games when they can experience Louisville hosting the first ever NCAA first and second round games ever to be held at the KFC YUM! Center.
 

For more information please contact Katie Kiper at 852.0721 or email her at Katie@gocards.com.

Sandy

Friday Cardinal Couple

Softball, Soccer Stadium, Signing, Sticks and Soundchecks

Softball Schedule and Honors

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

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

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

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

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

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

( How about salutations, Jeff?  --Paulie)

Soccer Stadium Announced

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

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

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

Signing News Continue

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

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

Lacrosse Sticks in Action Saturday

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

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TESTING, TESTING...

Look what we've done now, Ma.

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

http://www.crescenthillradio.com

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

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

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

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



Join us, won't you?

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Thursday Coupnal Cardpile -- Jeff looks ahead

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( After spending the last several days tracking down errant Shoni threes, wide-right net shots by Nikki Boltja and practice balls hit by UofL women's golf team members, staff columnist Jeff McAdams has parked the jeep, taken off the hard-hat and yellow vest and returned to the CARDINAL COUPLE Corporate Headquarters deep below the Parrish House to compose the Thursday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE. Losing a bet to Sandy on how many free-throws Bill The Goat could consecutively hit...Billy drilled 14 straight...Jeff has taken over the role of laundry attendant and catches us up on the Cardinal women's sports schedule and recruiting news. He's also training the staff chimps on proper procedures to follow in the event of a zombie Apocalypse...but all they want to do is run with their hands over their heads and scream. Now on the tee...the southpaw from the scenic Highlands...Jeff McAdams.)    

I'm Looking at You, Weekend

As is frequently the case, not a lot going on mid-week, but there are some other news items to pick up on from over the course of the week that haven't gotten mentioned.

First, though, a little bit of a look ahead to this weekend's activities.

Softball in Florida

After last weekend in Las Vegas and starting off with a 4-1 record, UofL Softball heads to sunny Florida this weekend.  They're really suffering for their sport, you know.  In all seriousness, I can only imagine the toll the travel schedule of an NCAA sport would take on a person over the course of a season or four.

In Jacksonville, the Louisville squad has an early start with a 9:30am first pitch on Friday versus Stony Brook, followed by a noonish...listed at 11:45am, but after the first game of events like this, scheduling always seems to be approximate...start with Bethune Cookman.  

Saturday is apparently UofL vs Ohio State day as Softball starts the second day of the Jacksonville Tournament with OSU at 11:45 or so.  OSU will make another appearance here in a few paragraphs, so hang onto the thought of beating the Buckeyes for a minute.  The evening game for our Cards is 6:30'ish with the home team Jacksonville.  

No staying out late and celebrating though, as Sunday brings another early start, this one at 9am, against Stony Brook again.

Katie Keller was selected BIG EAST Player of the Week for her hot hitting streak in Vegas. Congrats to Kate 'em Up...she ate them up!

Lacrosse Here at Home

Paulie and I enjoyed watching the home opener of UofL Lacrosse beating Canisius...though we do both remain a bit mystified at some of the rules, we're learning a bit at a time.

The second game is Saturday at 2pm, again here at home with Ohio State showing up in the picture again.  With a high temperature barely above freezing forecast for Saturday, you'll want to bundle up for this one.  I've been fighting off a bit of a head cold for the past day, so I doubt I'll make it out for this one, but I will be present at other match-ups later in the season, for sure.

Do I Even Need to Mention Basketball?

1:30pm tip Sunday for the next installment of Walz Ball at the KFC Yum! Center, with DePaul coming in for the return engagement.  The Blue Demons got the W up in the windy city.  McGrath Arena only seats around 3,000...I made the road-trip up there a couple of years ago...let's show them what another 10,000 people cheering can do in a top-notch arena.

This game is the annual Pink Game honoring breast cancer survivors.  Shelby Harper always loves this one...she gets to wear even more pink than usual, and sure enough, she's on the season tickets for this one...wearing pink, of course.

More Commitments

After last week's singing...I mean signing...day, we only had one confirmed commitment to talk about.  We've got a few more that have been announced since then.

Field Hockey

Hailey got game....oh, yeah!

Justine Sowry is taking the slow and steady approach to announcing her commitments, this week announcing the signing of a local, Hailey Netherton, from Assumption High School here in Louisville.

Assumption is, of course, quite well known for Volleyball prowess...you knew I had to get a Volleyball mention in here somewhere...but they also have a stand-out Field Hockey team.  This year's team picked up the runner-up spot in state this year, and Hailey got the team MVP award.  She also has two years worth of All-State selections, as well as a couple of placements on Kentucky Select first teams the past couple of years, and a second team nod the year before.


Basketball

Sydney Brackemyer gave a verbal commitment to Louisville earlier in the week, as most of you reading this probably know. She and her mom will be in attendance at the Sunday game against DePaul. They plan on attending South East Christian for services before the contest and are looking forward to the visit. Sydney is ahead of schedule on her knee rehab and excited about several things...more strength and conditioning, getting her driver's license, getting her (teeth) braces off and cheering on UofL Sunday. If you see her and her mom at the game, give them a big CARDINAL COUPLE howdy!


 

Soccer

Karen Ferguson-Dayes isn't teasing us.  She announced her full recruiting class of six players this week.



Taylor Smith should provide lots
of...hey, wait a second...that's
Taylor Swift. Timmy! To Sonja's
office immediately. Darn chimps.

One local, Taylor Smith out of Christian Academy and the Javanon club.  Out of Aurora, IL, basically Chicago area, is Rachele Armand.  Paige Brown hails from Jackson, MO down around where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers join up.  Caroline Kimble comes to us from Ashton, MD, which about splits the difference between Baltimore and Washington D.C.  Christy Monroy is from what is basically a suburb of NYC in Scotch Plains, NJ.  Lastly, welcome Kari Weinland out of New Albany...no, not that New Albany, this one is in Ohio...a suburb of Columbus.

Welcome, to the newest Cardinals.  You all are gonna love it here !


Outstanding work today by Jeff. As mentioned earlier in here, the Sunday game is the wear your pink for Breast Cancer Survivors. The Cards are facing a dangerous DePaul team that recently defeated Rutgers without star Anna Martin. Whether Martin's knee will allow her to go against UofL or not...we're not sure yet. One thing we're very sure of, though...is that the team needs you to show up in big-time numbers for this one on Sunday. Jeff Walz would like to see the top deck curtains pulled back and fans in the seats in the 300 level. He has personally promised to go up there before, after and during the game to sit with each one of you, bring popcorn, Reese's Cups and a wide selection of beverages. ((OK, that last part isn't true...he's going to be busy coaching...) but please turnout in force for this one, Cardinal fans. There are only three home games left before the BIG EAST Tournament. Show up Sunday! Maybe we can talk Candyce Bingham into bringing the beverages, candy and popcorn up to the 300 level seats... 

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Cardinal Couple Friday Edition - The "Jeff Slept In" Edition

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Columnist Jeff McAdams gets out of the dentist chair, has another whiff of nitrous oxide and brings us today's column. We have an emerging, abundant interest in Louisville Lacrosse here at the staff and Kellie Young won't know what hit her this spring when we show up with the chimps and Bill the Goat.)


(Apologies for the late posting...I'm not sure how Paulie does it...well, how he does it when he's not off adding to his fruity-drink umbrella collection anyway)

All is quiet on the Cardinal Couple Front

This is the time of year when there's only one Cardinal women's athletics team playing - basketball, of course - the sport that probably draws the most readership here to the CC blog.

Alas for us fans, basketball has been on a bit of break this week.  Nearly all of the players had the opportunity to go home to visit with their families for Christmas.  Hopefully they haven't been totally overindulging and not doing any work...like me.  They are returning to get a few days of practice in before the Tennessee State game on New Year's Eve.

That all means that there isn't much news to share in the UofL Women's Athletics world right now.

2013 is nigh

Jenny shared her new year's resolutions for her involvement with UofL Athletics yesterday.  I made a new year's resolution a number of years ago that I have kept...to not make any more new year's resolutions.  So how about my hopes for the new year, both for myself and others.

A Trip to New Orleans

Of course this one is on the list.  The men's basketball team went in April.  I hear there's a few UofL fans down there right now and into next week, but I'd like to make the trip this coming April for the women's Final Four.  St. Louis was a nice trip, but I think I would enjoy a weekend in New Orleans even more.

Lacrosse Tutorial

I've been to a few Lacrosse games, and came away with a basic understanding of the game, but I'd love to learn about some of the finer points so I can comment intelligently on a game.  Kellie Young, if you're listening, I'd love to see some sort of tutorial or clinic for fans to be able to learn about your game and be better fans.

While we're talking about tutorials or clinics, learning a bit more about Field Hockey would be nice as well.

Social Softball

In general, I'm not much of a fan of the sport of baseball.  Though I do like to go to the park with friends, I won't watch it on TV.  I enjoy watching softball more, though.  Both of them are a great social event as well. I made it to a few games last year, and I hope I can make it to more this year.  For the dog lovers among you, bringing your dog and sitting on the outfield berm is an enjoyable afternoon/evening as well.  If you're lucky Coach Pearsall's dog, Summit, will make an appearance, and apparently, there's a new family member, Sierra, as well.

Soccer and Field Hockey

Obviously, my favorite sport is Volleyball, but in the fall, I like to try to get some chances to check out the Soccer teams (both men and women) as well as Field Hockey.  I only made it to the very end of one Field Hockey game this year...I'm disappointed in myself over that...and I hope to step that up a bit more.

My family gave me some cold-weather UofL gear for Christmas, hopefully I can give it a bit of an opportunity for some use with some late-season games from the soccer and field hockey teams in tournament appearances.

Can't leave out Volleyball

I've made a couple of road-trips for Volleyball the past couple of seasons, and those have been tremendously enjoyable...so I hope to keep that up in the fall.  I'd like to make it to the Big East tournament, and a first and second round NCAA road-trip.  We host a regional in the NCAA Volleyball tournament next year, so that won't be a road-trip, but I've always wanted to visit Seattle!

Post to Cardinal Couple about more than just Volleyball

Sometimes I feel like I'm a broken record talking about Volleyball so much.  Of course its a passion, but there's so much more to enjoy in UofL Athletics.  Hopefully I'll be able to make to some of these other sports a bit more, and learn enough about Field Hockey and Lacrosse to comment intelligently, so I can have more to share with you, our readers, in the coming year.

I've enjoyed writing for CC, and looking forward to more in the coming year.

Go Cards!

( And we enjoy having you on staff, Jeff! Even though you leave volleyball nets in the conference room and Bill the Goat gets hung up in them...which necessitates Timmy the Intern placing calls to 911 and Anne Kordes. Strangely, Kordes always arrives first...)

AND....

(This article about freshman Megan Deines. Enjoy! )

Dynamite Deines


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Cards denied women's soccer NCAA Tournament bid

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THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Four BIG EAST schools receive bids to NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament

-Louisville WBB vs. Texas A&M Friday night.

Someone needs to hand the NCAA a yellow card. Can we send this one up to the instant reply booth? The University of Louisville was not chosen to participate in the 2012 NCAA Women's Soccer Championships and neither was South Florida....who battled Louisville to a 0-0 tie over two overtimes and a shootout in BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinal action. The four teams receiving bids are Marquette, Georgetown, Notre Dame and....Rutgers? 

The first three I've listed above I have no problem with. Marquette won the regular season title, their first BIG EAST Tournament title and finished with a 16-2-2 record and went 9-0-1 in the BIG EAST. They are ranked #13 in the nation. Well done, MU!

Georgetown had a very good season also. 15-3-3 and 8-1-1 in the BIG EAST. Played for the BIG EAST Tournament title for the first time in school history. Ranked #31 by the NCAA. Another school worthy of the bid. 

Notre Dame fared well also on the season. A 13-5-2 record with a 8-1-1 BIG EAST compliation. It's their 20th. straight NCAA Tournament bid. They won the NCAA tournament in 2010. Ranked #21 in the NCAA rankings. Take your seat on the plane, Irish. 

But Rutgers? Someone explain this selection to me like I was a six-year old, please. I just don't get it.

They were 5-5-1 in the BIG EAST. Louisville was 5-3-3 and USF 6-2-2. Overall, the Scarlet Knights were 12-7-1. Louisville was 10-4-3. USF 10-5-4.

Rutgers is #47 in the NCAA rankings. Louisville #45. South Florida #52.

The only possible reason that makes any sense with regards to including Rutgers before Louisville in the tournament selection would be that they defeated the Cards in the regular season.

Obviously, that must mean more than league finishes, overall records, NCAA rankings and common sense. And, if that's the case...why bother with a BIG EAST Tournament?

Louisville got a bad break. To use a more popular term...they got hosed. Something to motivate the Cards for the 2013 season.

OVERALL RECORD       BIG EAST RECORD     RANKING

Louisville 10-4-3                 South Florida 6-2-2             Lou. #45
South Florida 10-5-4           Louisville 5-3-3                  Rutgers #47
Rutgers 12-7-1                    Rutgers 5-5-1             South Florida #52

NCAA SELECTION:  Rutgers

COMMON SENSE SELECTION: Louisville and South Florida

Someone explain it to me.

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The #9 ranked Louisville women's basketball team starts the regular season in large fashion, hosting #12 Texas A&M in the KFC YUM! Center Friday night at 7 p.m. A lot of media types are calling it the best opening regular season game this year.

We can't disagree. A&M comes in with just two starters back from last year, but a highly-ranked and talented freshman class. Louisville loaded with talent...all but Tia Gibbs and Asia Taylor ready to play and looking forward to filling the Arena.

$2 tickets available at the box office with your Kroger Plus card. No home football Saturday, so you have no excuse not to be there.

Who will start for the Cards? We were mildly surprised to see Megan Deines in the starting lineup for Jeff Walz's Cards against Eckerd...but soon found out she was worthy and capable of the nod. Given that A&M center Kelsey Bone (6'4") is likely to cause some worries for the Cards underneath the boards...wouldn't surprise us to see 6'4" Sherrone Vails draw a starting assignment, but the front-line combo of Sara Hammond and Shawnta Dyer didn't look bad against Eckerd. We expect Mo Reid to see 15-20 minutes. Cards will try to counter the Aggies' height with quickness and transition one would assume. We'll throw a lineup out and let us know what you think of it in the comments section or by e-mail.

Shoni Schimmel
Shawnta Dyer
Sara Hammond
Bria Smith
Megan Deines

It's a "Red Out" game, so dress accordingly and show up! The Cardinal fan base can be an intimidating factor to opponents'...so be loud!  Walz wants the place packed, so take advantage of this early-season opportunity to support the Lady Cards!

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Volleyball win, Soccer falls

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Volleyball defeats Cincy in three sets

- Soccer falls in BIG EAST Tournament to USF

- After the recruiting visit: The waiting game

Rucker, Arslanbekova fuel straight set wins

The University of Louisville squad improved to 21-3 and 10-1 in the BIG EAST by knocking off Cincinnati 25-21, 25-13, 25-21 Sunday in Fifth Third Arena. Gwen Rucker and Lola Arslanbekova had 11 kills each in the Cardinal win.

Louisville started slowly in the first game and trailed UC 9-5 before a 5-1 Cardinal run tied the contest at 10-10. Cincinnati was able to regain the lead and Louisville didn't grab their first advantage until 17-16. UC never challenged after that and the Cards outscored the Bearcats to win going away by four.

Maybe a bit deflated by the loss...and definitely punished by the serving of Kaitlynn James, the Bearcats found themselves in a 7-0 hole to begin game two. Louisville pushed that to 13-2 and the only real question left was how many points would the Cards win by. They Cards enjoyed a 22-10 advantage and closed out the second game on a Lola kill to win by 12.

UC did try to make a match of it in the third game...jumping out to a 4-0 lead before the Cards regrouped and tied the contest at 9-9. A brief Bearcat rally gave them a 12-10 edge before the Cards went on a 9-4 rally to put them up 19-16. UofL continued the hot streak and was at set point at 24-18 before settling for the four-point win.

The Cards finally return home after the extended road trip and will face Villanova Friday night in Cardinal Arena at 7 p.m. They'll also host Georgetown Sunday at 2 p.m. in the KFC YUM! Center.

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Louisville Women's Soccer falls in triple overtime to South Florida.

The Cards and the Bulls battled through 110 minutes and two overtimes to a scoreless draw in BIG EAST Tournament action...necessitating a shoot-out third overtime. In the tie-breaker, each team got five penalty kicks to try and score on the opposing goalkeeper. With the scoring at 3-3, USF got the final attempt and USF freshman Olivia Chance sent one past UofL's Chloe Kiefer to break the tie and give USF the win.

The Cards outshot USF 16-13 in regulation and the two overtimes and Kiefer produced seven saves for UofL. Although USF advances to the semi-finals, the game gets recorded officially as a tie.

The Cards (10-4-4) now must wait until Nov.5th. to see if they get a bid to participate in the field of 64 in the NCAA Tournament.

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After one of the most highly anticipated women's basketball recruiting visit weekends in the history of Cardinal womens' hoops, the questions now are:

1) How did the visits go?
2)  When will Coach Walz and the fans know about verbals?
3) What is Louisville's chance of getting all or some of the visitors?

All indicators and reports we've heard indicate that the girls visiting ( Mercedes Russell, Emmonnie Henderson, Alexis Montgomery and Jordan Reynolds) had a great time, got to go to the football game Friday, Coach Walz's birthday party, a haunted house tour, Cardinal basketball scrimmage and many other fun and exciting things. We'll keep an eye on Twitter and Facebook (and we hope you will too) to see what they're saying.

We know that verbals are on the way. We expect Reynolds', Montgomery's and Russell's on or by Tuesday. Henderson may not be far behind. We hope these verbal are in UofL's favor. We also remind you that Imani Wright is still a potential Cardinal. The impact of these five girls, plus already verballed juco Janelle Cannon is huge and would surely give the Cards the #1 recruiting class of 2013.

How will the Cards do? WE have no specific facts, no iron-clad guarantees or insider scoop...but it wouldn't surprise us if Louisville landed all five. The current players on Jeff Walz's squad were very impressed with the visitors and would love to have them join the Cardinal family. 

Even though the coaching staff can't comment about them and the visits...we know that Walz & Company must be very high and sold on each them...otherwise they wouldn't have been here and made the talk of the town.

We know your anxious. We are anticipating big things as well. We've gotten a huge amount of e-mails on the visits and they range from the well-thought out to the ridiculous yet hopeful. We appreciate your thoughts, opinions, comments and predictions.

What it shows us is something we've known for awhile. This is a very passionate, caring and knowledge fan base that wants only the best for UofL sports and love their Lady Cards to death...a fan base that is unmatched in womens' college basketball.

Good things happen to those who wait. Patience is a virtue. WE feel confident UofL will be rewarded very soon.

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