Cardinal Couple - Sleepy Sunday Edition

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Jeff McAdams with the report on Texas' 25-11, 26-24, 25-19 sweep of Oregon in the KFC YUM! Center Saturday Night)

 

Texas Takes the Title

Hosting success

A successful NCAA Volleyball Tournament has concluded.  The first time Louisville has hosted this event, it attracted the 8th highest attendance for a SemiFinals sessions, and the 2nd highest attendance for a Championship match.  If you consider that the highest attendance for a Championship match had the hosting team (Nebraska) playing in the match, that's quite an accomplishment.  Congratulations fellow Louisvillians, I think we represented ourselves well to the NCAA.  Next year we host a regional competetion, and I look forward to announcements of future Championships to be held at the KFC Yum! Center.

Semifinals

Thursday evening saw the semifinal matchups.

Michigan battled Texas to start off the evening with a 7 o'clock first serve.  A mighty battle it was, indeed.  Texas is a big and powerful team, Michigan smaller and scrappy.  This match was a match between a powerful offense, and a great defense.

Texas came out in the first set and dominated the play.  But Michigan had no quit in them.  In the second set, they came out loose and lively and played their game, rather than letting Texas dictate the way the match went.  Taking the 2nd and 3rd sets, they really put the pressure on Texas.  Credit to Texas as well, though, they got back in gear and took the bull by the (long)horns in the 4th again.  The 5th set was competitive, much like the 2nd and 3rd sets were, but Texas managed to hold on to the upper hand and advance.

A really exciting and fun match, but unfortunately Michigan's run had to come to an end.

Because the first match went 5 sets, the scheduled 9pm start for the second match got pushed back to around 10pm, most likely to Oregon's glee.

With UofL's Cardinal Pride filling in admirably in cheering on the Ducks, Oregon took on Penn State and surprised some people.

Oregon was well ranked all year, and playing the brutal PAC-12 conference schedule definitely prepares a team for a good post-season run.  Meanwhile, Penn State always has equally tough preparation with the powerhouse Big-10 schedule.

This match was also a barnburner.  All of the sets had pretty close scores, but Penn State looked like they were in charge in the 1st.  The 2nd, though, certainly woke anyone up that had started to nod off due to the late hour, throwing in some bonus volleyball finishing up at 30-28.  By the 3rd and 4th sets, I think Oregon really played their game and gave a bit of a preview of what was to come stylistically in the Championship match.  The large Penn State fanbase was clearly disappointed by the loss, but you have to credit Oregon with playing their style of play and getting the win.

Two to Tango

So the Championship match last night was between Texas and Oregon.  If the Texas-Michigan match was a storyline about an offensively minded team versus and defensively minded team, the title match storyline was about two very different styles of offense.

Everything is bigger in Texas, including their volleyball players and their sets.  The offense that Texas runs is slow, they set their big outside hitters with very high sets that take a long time to get to the hitters.  That does give the hitters a long time to get lined up and prepared for a high jump and a strong swing, and they take advantage of it.  It also, of course, gives plenty of time for the blockers to leisurely stroll over and put up a good double block.

Oregon, on the other hand, plays like their football team, fast and sharp.  Oregon's sets are flat and quick shots out to their outside hitters.  And while this doesn't give their hitters as much preparation time to line up and get a booming kill, it, crucially, doesn't give the other team enough time for their middle blocks to shift from the middle of the court out to the outside to put up a double block.  The preview of this was in the Penn State match, where you could watch throughout most of the match as Oregon put shot after shot in between the blockers as the middle blocker would almost always be jumping sideways to try to get out to the side of the court, but just couldn't keep up with the speed of the set.  The same thing happened a lot versus Texas, and when the Oregon shots got through the block, they were pretty successful in getting the point.

Unfortunately for Oregon, they weren't as effective at hitting through that blocking hole versus Texas as they were against Penn State, particularly in the 1st set.  The Ducks made a lot of shots right into the single blocks in the 1st set, both in the middle and outside, with disastrous consequences.  In the 2nd and 3rd sets, they did adjust and started hitting in between the blocks, but Texas was just too much for them.

I thought Texas would be in trouble because they play such a slow offensive set that Oregon would basically always have double blocks up on Texas...and they did...but it didn't matter.  It doesn't matter if you have one, two, or seventeen blockers up in front of a hitter if they're tall enough to just hit over the top of them, and that's exactly what Texas did.  Rarely did Oregon get solid blocks on hits, mostly they just watched as the hit sailed over their heads and into the backcourt.  Credit Oregon's defense with getting digs on a lot of the shots, but when the shots are flying as fast as they are off of Texas kills, you just aren't going to be able to get to all of them.

So, in the end, Texas takes the sweep and the 2012 NCAA Volleyball Championship.  Congratulations to the Texas Longhorns on a well played weekend.  Congratulations are also in order, of course, for the Oregon Ducks for advancing to the Championship match, as well as to Penn State and especially Michigan for making it to the Championship weekend.  That was a fun weekend of volleyball, all four teams and fanbases represented their schools well and I hope that everyone had a good weekend in Louisville.  Its a long time to the next first serve in August, but of course we have other team sports...basketball, softball, and lacrosse...to keep us busy for a large part of that time.

( Great report on the action over the last three days, Jeff! Louisville is now a volleyball town, too -- just another reason why we are the best college sports town in America!)
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Friday Cardinal Couple - More BIG EAST Changes

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FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

(Game final from Colorado...Buffs 70-66) We'll have more later on this wild finish)
 
- Non BCS schools vote to leave BIG EAST.

-Texas, Oregon advance in NCAA Volleyball Final Four

-WBB travels to Boulder for showdown with Buffs

On the never ending carousel that also goes by the name the BIG EAST...another development. It looks like Providence, Villanova, Seton Hall, St. John's, Georgetown, DePaul and Marquette have decided to leave the conference that they founded and try their luck elsewhere.

The seven catholic-based schools would retain the automatic bid to the NCAA Basketball Tournaments...should they either decide to go form a new league or go as a group to a different conference. Could the Atlantic 10 become the Atlantic Whole Bunch of Teams? Might they form the Papal Conference and pick the Pope as the new commish? How about from BIG EAST to BIG PRIEST...

What this does is open the possibility and the door for Louisville and Notre Dame to join the ACC a year early. Aren't you glad we've already started our ACC womens' sports reviews early ?

And, just what does all this mean for womens' sports at UofL? A possibility that the Lady Cards might not play Rutgers and UConn in hoops next year? Justine Sowry and Karen Ferguson-Dayes speeding up their look at future conference opponents? Gotta believe Sandy Pearsall is grinning ear-to-ear with the distinct possibility of not having to worry about below freezing temperature games in Storrs, Providence, South Orange and Queens.  

Also, what now for Cincinnati and Connecticut, who desperately wanted to join Louisville in the latest ACC acquisition and now find themselves in a football division without Louisville?

The move by the 'Catholic Seven' has been talked about for several weeks now. It is now a reality. Tired of being driven around as passengers in the economic-engine football sedan, they've stopped by the dealership and bought a new ride.

In women's hoops, we've met some pretty interesting coaching characters over the past eight years in the BIG EAST. Some favorites have been "Q"...Quentin Hillsman,
of Syracuse...who has stormed the court like an enraged K-Mart shopper on Black Friday, passed out on the sidelines and danced in front of the visitor's bench with the precision moves of one of Gladys Knight's Pips. Who could forget Harry Perretta...dressed in the white shirt and tie...untucked by the midway mark of the first half and giving the appearance of a frazzled, stressed out accountant instead of a basketball coach. Doug Bruno, institutionally clad in that blue DePaul logoed long sleeve shirt. C-Viv. Geno. Muffett. Gonna miss some of these folks. A couple will join us out on the Atlantic Coast.

The BIG EAST brought Louisville women's sports titles in volleyball, softball and track. The Cards made a Final Four women's basketball appearance while a member of the BIG EAST. We said goodbye to Collen, Yelin, Clark-Heard, Ord and Bustin in the BIG EAST. We welcomed Walz, Kordes, Sowry, Newbauer, Williams and Trimble.

We started Rowing and Lacrosse in the BIG EAST. We moved from Freedom Hall to the KFC YUM! Center in the BIG EAST. We found out just how horrible it is to tailgate and attend a football game or the BIG EAST WBB Tournament in Storrs and Hartford while a member of the BIG EAST. 

As we like to say here...interesting times ahead. Sit down, buckle up, adjust your seat and close the door. This trip continues...

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Semi-final action from the KFC YUM! Center in the Final Four NCAA Volleyball Tournament provided a thriller in the first match...with Texas needing a fifth game to finally dispose of pesky Michigan. It looked like the upstart Wolverines were poised for the upset, going up 2-1 in games...but the Longhorns used some pretty impressive blocking at the net to slow down the Wolverine offense and advances to the finals Saturday night.

They'll meet Oregon there, who upset #2 in the nation Penn State three games to one. Hopefully, Jeff, Sandy or Jenny will stop by and add comments on this one. Truth be told, I was watching at home on ESPN2 and fell asleep at the halftime break with the games 1-1.

They announced on the "Deuce" about 13,000 in attendance. Not enough to break an NCAA record, but a nice crowd from all reports. Staff columnist Sandy Walker notes that there was  massive confusion over seating for the games...with many duplicate seat tickets printed for the evening that resulted in some last-minute seating shifts and long lines at the will-call and event services stations.

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Lest we forget in all this hub-bub and drama, the UofL WBB squad is in action tonight in Boulder, CO. to face the Colorado Buffaloes at 9 p.m. EST. The Cards will be without the services of Sara Hammond (last we heard) because of the death of her grandmother. Her board prowess will be missed. Time for Vails, Dyer, Walton and Reid to step it up one notch and let's hope the Rocky Mountain rare air equals lots of net-swishes for Shoni and Nita from beyond the arc.

We have a report from Sandy that we may be able to see this one on TV. The link is:

Louisville v Buffs

http://pac-12.com/ScheduleResults.aspx#networkId=Live%20Stream

Also from Basil G. Brooks, out of the CU sports information department, this link (for ALL CU home games).

Colorado Women's Basketball broadcasts


You know how we roll here...turn down the video feed sound and listen to our own Matt Andrews and A.J. with the call on 790 WKRD AM.




The Buffs are not to be taken lightly. 8-0 and striving for some national attention by knocking off #8 Louisville. This matchup eerily reminds of us the 2008-09 season...when 5-0 Louisville went to Nevada and dropped a 85-82 decision. The Cards went on to win their next 14 games.

6'1" forward and redshirt freshman Arielle Roberson, who leads CU with 16.5 ppg, talks about the ramifications of a Buffs victory:

" I think more people would definitely recognize Colorado women's basketball...it would be a big boost in a lot of areas, especially in recruiting. I also think it would give our team a lot more confidence and it would really give something to the fans."

Armageddon in the aspens? Clash in Colorado? Beatdown of the Buffs? Rock steady, Cards.

We'll be back tonight with the recap.

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Finally, fingers crossed and good thoughts, all, for staff columnist Jenny O'Bryan...in for a little out-patient surgery today. The rumors that we're having a tracking chip implanted in her or transplanting her brain with Timmy the Intern's are totally false...




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Cardinal Couple Thursday Spectacular

(OK, maybe not so very spectacular, but we do have a few interesting tidbits to talk about.)


THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Staff Columnist Jeff McAdams with the report today on women's golf and NCAA Volleyball. Last seen, he was wandering the hallways of the Cardinal Couple Worldwide Corporate offices with a 5-iron in his hand, volleyball under his arm and dressed in nothing but a volleyball net and souvenir program for the NCAA Championships...yelling either "Fore" or "Set" randomly.)

- Tennis in the ACC

- Volleyball Championships have Arrived

- Volleyball All-Americans Announced

-  Hammond to miss Colorado game.

Tennis in the ACC

Paulie asked me, in our look at how our athletics teams match up with our upcoming ACC competition, to cover Tennis.

Tennis...that's the sport where they use that funny scoring system, right?  I must admit to not following Tennis much, so let's take a look at the ACC standings and see where they stack up in overall rankings.

For comparison, the Louisville Women's Tennis team finished up last season 13-10.

In the ACC, last season:

1. Duke (29-3, 11-0)

2. North Carolina (24-7, 10-1)

3. Miami (FL) (20-5, 9-2)

4. Clemson (17-9, 8-3)

5. Virginia (19-10, 7-4)

6. Georgia Tech (16-12, 6-5)

7. Florida State (13-11, 5-6)

8. Virginia Tech (12-13, 3-8)

9. Boston College (10-13, 3-8)

10. NC State (8-16, 3-8)

11. the departing Maryland (7-15, 1-10)

12. Wake Forest (3-18, 0-11)

So that looks like we fit in around 7th or 8th.  That's a little daunting.

Let's see how current and future ACC teams are looking in the ITA Top 25:

3. Duke

8. North Carolina

9. Miami (FL)

15. Virginia

19. Notre Dame

20. Georgia Tech

25. Clemson

I gotta say, that looks pretty impressive.  Looks like yet another sport that will challenge our Cardinals to greater heights. Mark Beckham has two of the finest in the nation in Rebecca Shine and Julia Fellerhoff and they will lead the Cardinal charge.

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VolleyBall Championships have Arrived

If you have followed my ramblings here at all this fall, you know that Louisville has the honor of hosting the NCAA Semifinal and Championship matches.  These matches kick off tonight at 7pm with 3 seed Texas and unseeded Michigan.  The nightcap should get started around 9pm with top seed Penn State playing 5th seed Oregon.

Our Cardinal team finished off the year with a 30-4 record.  Of those 4 losses, 3 of them were to teams that have advanced to the Semifinals (Penn State, Texas, and Michigan)...which takes a little of the sting out of them, I should think.

Oregon arrived in Louisville early in the week, on Sunday, which is somewhat understandable since they would have the most jetlag to overcome.  Because of their early arrival, they borrowed the Cardinals practice facility at the Yum! Center on campus.  They also are apparently borrowing our pep band as theirs apparently couldn't make the long trip.

The other three teams arrived Tuesday.  No news if any of the other teams are borrowing a band from Bellermine or elsewhere.

(Editor note: Timmy the Intern and Co-Co offered to bring a kazoo and harmonica to support the Texas squad musically. They haven't heard back from them yet. They do a great version of "Louie, Louie" and "Stairway to Heaven".)

One roster note of local interest.  Penn State, perennial volleyball powerhouse, has one Deja McClendon as an outside hitter.  Deja is from Louisville, playing her high school ball at duPont Manual.  Deja's younger sister, Maya, has signed to play with the Cardinals next year.

Tickets are still available at the KFC Yum! Center, though the word is that they have generally sold well.  The NCAA, and UofL are looking to break the all-time attendance record for a volleyball match, so come on down and check out the action.

Volleyball All-Americans Announced

Lola Arslanbekova was named a 2nd team All-American, while Gwen Rucker picked up a 3rd team nod.  Caitlin Welch...only a junior, remember...got an honorable mention.

Congratulations to these three and thanks for representing Louisville so well.

Also congratulations to Gwen Rucker for graduating today with a degree in Actuarial Science.

( Great report today from Jeff McAdams and he'll be keeping us in the loop on the action in the KFC YUM! Center Thursday and Saturday...as four teams enter, but one only will emerge as the National Champion.)

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Our prayers go out to Sara Hammond and her family, who just lost their grandmother. Always tough to lose a family member and you all are in our thoughts during this tough time.

Hammond will not accompany the Lady Cards on their trip to Colorado for the Friday night game against the Buffs.

One of the most beautiful and thoughtful statements that we've ever heard about a death of a loved one goes like this. This is for you and your family, Sara.

Your pain is over
Although we still ache
You'd tell us not to
You'd tell us to make...

Every day a bright one
Each moment quite dear
Because we never really know
How long we'll be here.

Your life was special
You touched so many
The lives you changed
Were grateful and plenty

We'll meet again
Of this I am sure
While you're gone, we'll carry on
We will endure.

So, fly with the Angels
Smile down on us below
Thank you for helping
All of us grow.

-Sonja



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Saturday Cardinal Couple -- VolleyCards fall to Michigan 3-1

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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-VolleyCards eliminated from NCAA Tournament by Michigan

Louisville's hopes of playing in the NCAA Volleyball Final Four in the KFC YUM! Center were dashed by the Michigan Wolverines Friday night...Louisville falling 15-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-27.

A tough way to go out for the Cards' four seniors Gwen Rucker, Lola Arslanbekova, Tanya Lukyanenko and Kaitlynn James. Michigan jumped on Louisville early and won the fourth game in comeback fashion...the Cards at set point 24-22 but unable to get the final point to force a fifth-game tiebreaker. The #9 Cards end the season 30-4.

Game one was a nightmare for Anne Kordes' team. A slow start plagued the VolleyCards...they hit for a meager .097 while the Wolverines went for a superlative .389 and had 18 kills, compared to UofL's 7. UM's junior Molly Toon did the most damage...pounding the Louisville defense for six and Lexi Erwin added four. The 17-4 run UM went on after the Cards came back from a 5-0 beginning by Michigan was impressive. We knew then that the Cards were in for a long night and that their outside hitters were the real deal and among the best Louisville had seen this year.

Louisville trailed for about 2/3rds. of the second game as well...until a Cardinal 8-1 run erased a 16-11 Michigan lead and put the Cards up 19-17. UM stayed close, tying it at 21-21 but a Michigan hitting error put Louisville ahead 23-21 and the Cards took two of the final three points for the win 25-22. Louisville hitting improved to .359 and recorded 17 kills to Michigan's 14. Lola had seven of them and the Cardinal defense held Michigan to .152 hitting. It was now 1-1 in games and the crowd was cautiously confident. Louisville had dropped the first game to Belmont Thursday night and came back to win the next three. Could the Cards repeat the same procedure?

After halftime, the Cards fell back into their slow-starting ways. Down 7-3, Kordes called a time out, but it didn't remedy much...the Wolverines increased the lead to 14-7. That went to 17-11 and the Cards needed some answers. They found them in Lola...her block started a 9-4 Cards run that had Louisville trailing by just one at 21-20 after a Rucker block. The Cards could not keep the momentum going, though...Michigan scored three of the next four points and was at set point at 24-21. A Toon kill, her 15th of the match, gave UM a 25-22 win and a 2-1 lead in games.

With their backs against the wall, the Cards kept it close early in the final game. Anne Kordes' squad used a 8-5 run to go from a 6-5 deficit to a 13-11 lead after a Lola kill. The Cards would not relinquish that lead...increasing it to 22-18 after a Lola kill. It looked like the Cards were going to force a fifth game.

Sadly, it did not happen. The Cards got to set point at 24-22 but couldn't seal the deal. Two Louisville sets to the middle resulted in two Michigan double blocks and two straight UM points that tied it up. The Wolverines went on to capture three of the next four volleys to take the game and the match with three impressive shots past the Cards' heralded libero Caitlin Welch. 

Disappointment and heartbreak, for sure...but still a great season for the Louisville Volleyball squad. The Cards will return next season, though...with plenty of talent and make their final season in the BIG EAST another legendary one.

Almost 3500 were in attendance for the game tonight, encouraging numbers for the program. We'll miss Lola, Tanya, Kaitlynn and Gwen...but the future looks bright with Caitlin Welch, Brooke Mattingly, Hannah Kvitle, Emily Juhl, Katie George (she's just a freshman!) and the rest of the returning girls...plus a very highly regarded and ranked in-coming class for the 2013 season. We're sure the recruits and played coached by Kordes will reward us with many more victories!

POST GAME ANNE KORDES:

"Hats off to Michigan, they played a phenomenal match especially in that fourth game when they came back and held their composure. This is what we wanted, was an opportunity to play. It was a hell of a volleyball match and you have to be able to execute...you have to be able to execute at a very high level and for a very consistent amount of time, to be able to advance in the NCAA Tournament. Michigan did that better than us. I thought it was a phenomenal match. It was great for volleyball...an unbelievable crowd. I can't thank our UofL fans more for what they brought tonight. You could tell they wanted it. I am just so proud of our team. I'm heartbroken for this loss because you want that win for your team so bad and they have worked so hard. But, I am so proud of this season, so...it was a good night for volleyball."
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