McCurty, Dalton roll along...Soccer inks nine.

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THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY at C.C. (Seriously..)
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-Quaneisha McCurty rolls along.
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-Women's Soccer Signees
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-Mail Call
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-FREEE PANERA (not a request...a fact!)

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Quaniesha McCurty, a 6'5" Louisville commit for 2011 from Dalton, GA. continues to have an impressive senior season for Dalton High School. Dalton is 20-0 in Georgia Class 3-A and ranked second. In her last two outings, McCurty had ten points in a 'slowdown' type of game against #6 Chestatee. (Pictured here). Dalton won 42-23. Against Heritage-Catoosa, McCurty exploded for 30 points and 13 rebounds in a 86-55 romp. (Photo by Matt Hamilton /The Daily Citizen)
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McCurty is one of three (so far) new players that will be suiting up for Jeff Walz and the Lady Cards. Joining her is 6'2" Rockcastle County standout Sara Hammond and 6'5" UNC transfer Cierra Warren. The "height movement" is exactly what the Lady Cards need...Louisville has only senior Keisha Hines, sophomore Asia Taylor and freshmen Sherrone Vails and Polly Harrington as legitimate paint players on the roster this year. Shawnta Dyer is sitting out with a fractured heel. The Cards are sufficiently covered at guard positions...but many believe Louisville has the inside track on Jude Schimmel...a 5'7" guard from Portland, Oregon. She's Shoni's sister and last we heard she was averaging well over 25 points a game. Yeah, there's room for her on this roster...most def...
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If it sounds like Walz will have an abundance of players next year...all the better. From what appeared to be a capacity full roster this year...LaToya Johnson, Nikki Burton, Shawnta Dyer and Shelby Harper all watched the recent Georgetown game unable to participate. Walz had 10 players available for action. These days, there is strength in numbers. Ask Rutgers or Cincinnati. Thru injuries and defections, both these squads are down to 7-8 players available for duty. Even UConn has a thin bench this year. Reminds me of how my Dad...years ago... would carry a couple of extra spare tires in the trunk of his old Ford LTD. They'd come into play quite often. These "spare tires" on women's college basketball rosters are needed and welcome...they usually end up becoming key components by season's end. We all remember the woes UofL had last season in depth. A deep bench is good.
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The University of Louisville women's soccer team has added nine players for their 2011 recruiting class. Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes is bringing them in from everywhere as the Lady Cards look to find talent capable of showing up and being ready to compete for playing time this fall. The newcomers:

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-Sydney Blomquist ...Shannon Dennehey... Kim Sharo
Midfielder/Forward... Forward... Forward
Bel Air, MD. (Fallston)... Medford, NJ. (Shawnee)... New Windsor, NY (Cornwell)

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Devyn Ciotti... Hannah Konermann... Casey Whitfield
Defender... Defender... Forward
Liberty, OH. (Lakota West)... Louisville, KY (Mercy Academy)... Louisville, KY (Manual)
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Breynn Collazo... Zakiya McIntosh... Erin Yanney
Midfielder/Defender... Forward... Midfielder
Wall, NJ, (Wall)... Pickering, OH. (Pickering)... Troy, OH. (Troy)
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Welcome aboard to these nine standout college athletes and for a more detailed report on each signee, go to http://www.uoflsports.com/
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From the mailbag...
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Jenny asks:
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"Do you think that the Lady Cards will make the NCAA Tournament this year?" She also adds.." I enjoy attending the women's games in the KFC YUM Center and have gotten my husband and mom involved in attending. It's a great place for hoops!".

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WELCOME ABOARD, JENNY! Jeff Walz thinks that nine conference wins will punch the ticket to the NCAA Tournament. So far, Louisville has five. We predict that the Cards have a good shot of defeating Villanova, USF, Seton Hall and Providence...which would give them nine. The other opponents remaining are West Virginia (here), at Syracuse and DePaul (here). These three will be tough, no doubt.
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Ken writes:
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"I'm hearing a lot of good things about Sydney Moss, who plays for Boone County. Does Louisville have a shot at getting her?
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Only if we sign her Dad...Randy Moss...to a coaching contract. Seriously, Moss, who is a junior, really doesn't have a favorite listed yet. Never count out the magic of Jeff Walz when it comes to recruiting, though. We think her style of play and athleticism is a perfect fit for "Walz Ball", though. We will be watching and hoping and, as of now, Louisville has as good a chance at getting her as anyone. WKU, WVU, Kentucky and a slew of others are interested...as far as we know...UofL is the only school to offer a scholly so far.
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Davis, from Worcester, Mass., comments:
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"UofL is VERY LUCKY to have Justine Sowry as their new field hockey coach. She did an outstanding job with UMass in the A-10 and I'm a Louisville field hockey fan now...along with UMass. Great hire, we'll miss her..."
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Once again, Jurich and Hermann come up with the one they wanted. Admittedly, we were surprised when Pam Bustin announced she was leaving for Duke. The Atlantic Coast Conference is the supreme conference for field hockey, though and Bustin has a chance to basically rebuild a crumbling Duke program back to national prominence. Coaches love challenges, though and we're guessing the $$$ was right...so we can't be too hard on Pam for making the leap. She was a great interview and quote maker...and her preseason Field Hockey parties at the Parrish House legendary...she'll do fine with the Dookies and Louisville shouldn't miss a beat with Sowry as skipper.
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Dave sends:
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"Hi, I know you are primarily women's sports for UofL but I really enjoyed the DiMori article you ran a few days back about football. Wouldn't mind seeing more of his comments. Also, do the Cards get DaMarcus Smith? Thanks...
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You can get a daily dose of Dimori at http://www.cardinaldominance.net/ We love his football coverage too. He is the 'Sultan of South Beach" and covers all aspects of college football as only "Di" can. As for the Seneca QB, who knows? He's supposed to announce something Friday at 1:30 p.m. Whether it's a college choice, who knows? DaMarcus really enjoyed his trip to Central Florida...heck, who wouldn't love a few days in Orlando this time of year? Our very unofficial read on the situation is that it's DaMarcus's Mom who is trying to assume the role of deal maker and powerbroker here. Smith has been a Cardinal fan, along with his little brother and grandparents for a very long time. We don't feel he is scared about the competition with Teddy Bridgewater, either. Sources have told us that Smith and Fern Creek running back Jerrel Moore are very good friends and Smith was disappointed when UOFL backed off Moore for awhile. It now looks like Moore could be back in the picture with the Cards now. There is so much speculation, wild rumors, crazy claims and unverified Internet chatter and b.s. out there swirling around about this Smith situation that we've decided to just wait and see where he's going to send his letter of intent..
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HEYYYYY! Today is the final day to get your entry in for this week's PANERA GIFT CARD. This is a good week to do it, because the entries are pretty scarce this week. Just tell us which Panera you like to go to. Include a reason why and an employee you like there if you want. Send your entry to cardinalcouple@insightbb.com

It's free Panera. We're not going to beg you to take it...

From the mailbag

You have 3 days to get your entry in for $10 of Panera gift cards. We'll do the drawing Sunday night and announce the winner for the week in
Monday's column. Just drop us an e-mail at:

cardinalcouple@insightbb.com

and let us know what you like about Panera. We'll have weekly winners up to the Labor Day Weekend, so get your entry in today...and thanks to those of you who have sent us some great reasons so far.

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Time to review the inbox this Friday. We always welcome your comments and suggestions at CARDINAL COUPLE and try to respond to each one with a return e-mail. (Even the UK ones.)
You can also reach us at psykesads@aol.com


DONNIE writes:

I really enjoy the articles about UofL women's sports and want to know if you'll be doing anything about men's sports at UofL down the road?

CARDINAL COUPLE:

Thanks for writing Donnie! There are a ton of good sites out there that cover the guys at UofL. We are primarily focused on the women's sports at UofL and don't plan on expanding on that...though. If you check the sites that we recommend on this blog, you'll find some great reading. CARDINAL DOMINANCE and UofL CARD GAME are two of them that we contribute articles to...and all the ones listed are worth your time to check out.

AUDREY writes:

Where do you think the UofL women's basketball team will finish in the BIG EAST this year?
Also, will Shoni Schimmel start for UofL?

CARDINAL COUPLE:

Preseason predicitions on Jeff Walz's team can be tricky, since there are so many new players, but we'll take a stab at it. Obviously UCONN is still loaded for bear and deserves a preseason top ranking. GEORGETOWN comes back with a lot of starters and NORTE DAME still has Skylar Diggins...plus some other returning starters. RUTGERS has recruited well and any C.Vivian Stringer team has to be respected. This would be my top four in the BIG EAST preseason rankings. I do think LOUISVILLE has a great chance to finish within the next four teams, though. Monique Reid is a proven scorer...and other returning starters are Becky Burke, Keisha Hines, Asia Taylor and Shelby Harper. Dez Byrd, a former starter is back and Tia Gibbs, from Vanderbilt, is very talented. The freshman class will compete for all the starting jobs and the depth and talent of this team should have the Cards in contention for at least 5th in the BIG EAST...if not better. You, the fans, are really going to be surprised how good these freshmen are and Tia Gibbs also.

As far as Shoni Schimmel starting...let's see what she brings to the court. I'll trust in Jeff Walz's judgement here...

ONE CRAZY CARD writes:

Who do you think will be the freshman that will produce the most for the basketball team this year?

CARDINAL COUPLE:

Boy. that is the $100,000 question! All six incoming freshmen are talented and will see significant court time, in my opinion. If Schimmel is all that is hyped and promised, she could easily be that second scorer that the Cards will need this year. I like Charmaine Tay's guard abilities and think she could be part of the rotation at guard. Antonita Slaughter has a great all over the court presence and will fit in well with Walz's fondness for the transition game and creating off the defense. Both Sherrone Vails and Shawnta Dyer will add depth and skill to the Cards front line. The surprise factor could be Polly Harrington. She's a rebounding machine and has great quickness and defense.

OK, this didn't probably help you any, CRAZY...but if I had to pick one of these talented freshmen as the biggest potential contributor...I'm going to go with Schimmel. I reserve the right to change my mind, though...and feel that all the freshmen will be a valuable resource this upcoming season.

BURTON ERNIE writes:

What is CARDINAL COUPLE'S favorite women's sport at UofL?

CARDINAL COUPLE:

We really like all the women's sports at UofL. Sonja was a field hockey player and she leans a little more toward that and hoops. Paul absolutely fell in love with the softball team this spring and is a big hoops fan also. We also like lacrosse, volleyball, soccer, rowing, golf, track, tennis...well, you get the picture.

We'd like to know how you feel about this. What is your favorite women's sport at UofL? Feel free to leave your answer in the comments column or send us an e-mail.