W.Soccer downs Bearcats 1-0...Volleyball over WVU 3-1

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Women's Soccer, Exeter defeat Cincy in Soccer

-Volleyball romps WVU...plays in the KFC YUM! today

-Make the short run to Broad Run

Exeter's 12 goals this year are the
highest for a Card since 2004.

Congratulations to the University of Louisville women's soccer team, who clinched the National Division title last night with a 1-0 win over the Cincinnati Bearcats in Cincinnati last night. The match was a defensive struggle during the first half, knotted at 0-0 when the teams went to the locker room. Louisville got the only goal of the contest when Christine Exeter scored her 12th. goal of the season in the 59th. minute of play...taking a Katie McDonald pass on a breakaway and knocking a kick into the goal.

Defense held the rest of the way for Louisville. Goalkeeper Chloe Kiefer has six saves for her sixth shutout of the season. Louisville (10-5-3) and Cincy were even with shots-on-goal at six each.

For Exeter, it was her 11th. goal in the last ten games...all of them BIG EAST contests. Louisville has rebounded well from a tough start to the season, with nine wins, one loss and two ties since being 1-4-1.

It was the 100th. win for Karen Ferguson-Dayes in her coaching career. She took over the Cardinal program in 2000. She commented:

Coach hit 100 wins with
Saturday's win

"I couldn't think of a more appropriate team to celebrate 100 with. These kids are awesome."

In the BIG EAST tournament, Louisville will draw a first round bye and face the winner of the Providence-Rutgers game. The contest will be at Cardinal Park, Sunday, Oct. 30th. at 1 p.m. Winner of that one heads to Morgantown for the semifinals and finals...to be held Nov. 4th and 6th.

It is the first time a UofL women's soccer team has won a division title and the eight wins that Louisville gathered in BIG EAST play this season is also a new Cardinal record.

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Also with eight wins in the BIG EAST is the UofL Volleyball team. They recorded a 3-1 defeat over West Virginia yesterday in a rowdy and loud Cardinal Arena to stay undefeated in BIG EAST conference play. Louisville took the match 25-14, 22-25, 25-17, 25-16.

The Cards are on path to repeat their 2010
championship season.

Louisville jumped out early in game one and held leads of 7-2, 14-6 and 21-11 before retiring the Mountaineers by 11. Key was Emily Juhl's four serving aces and .379 hitting for the Cards.

Game two saw WVU lead early and Louisville rally to make it just 23-22 Mountaineers.A block on Kaitlynn James made it set point for WVU and the capitalized to even the match at 1-1.

Louisville roared out in game three and led by double digits at 18-8...coasting in with an eight point lead over WVU. The Cards hit .418 in the third game. Game four was another stroll thru the park for the Cards...leading by six late and then outscoring West Virginia 7-4 down the stretch for the game, set and match.

Lola with another big effort for UofL with 20 kills. Brooke Mattingly added 10 kills and the Cards are now 16-5 on the season.

They roll back into action Sunday with a 2 p.m. contest against Pittsburgh in the KFC YUM Center. If you go, wear pink...since it is Dig for the Cure Day and the Cards will be in their pink unis. If you can't make the match, WHAS-TV will televise the action.

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From the places to see category. If you live in Louisville...or even if you come for a visit, make Broad Run Vineyards a place to go. We were tipped off by a friend about the small, quaint winery in rural southeastern Jefferson County and made the trip recently. They have a large selection of wines to sample from very dry whites and reds to sweet dessert and berry selections.

Gerry (left)will discuss
wine for hours.

Sonja came away very impressed with the blackberry sweet wine, Paul liked the drier Chambourcin. Tastings are very economical at just $5 to sample the entire list..and the servers are very knowledgeable and friendly.

You can get to Broad Run by taking the Billtown Road exit off I-265 and following the signs or just take Seatonville Road south to Broad Run Road and it's a short three miles from there. Beautiful scenery, especially now that the fall leaves are changing colors, and if you're lucky...you'll run in to 82 yr. old owner Gerry Kushner...who will keep you entertained with his wonderfully wacky stories of his life, the wine business and places he has travelled.

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Field Hockey romps Providence, Football beats Rutgers, Women Swimming in 4th.

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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Field Hockey shuts out Providence

-Cards win in Papa! 16-14 over the Rut-girls

-Swimming in 4th at SMU

The University of Louisville Field Hockey squad clinched a berth in the BIG EAST Field Hockey tournament yesterday with a convincing 6-0 win over Providence. Hayley Turner and Heather Stevens the heroes here, with two goals each in the white-wash.

Turner turns two for
Field Hockey Friday

The Cards struck early in the contest, Turner sending a rebound shot into the net with just over four minutes gone in the game. Turner got involved in the Cards second score also, feeding Stevens a pass that made it 2-0. The Cards closed out the first half with a another score by Turner and led 3-0 at the break.

It was Stevens turn next and she started off the Louisville second half with a goal from an Erin Schneidtmiller assist. Not to be denied, Schneidtmiller got a goal for herself on an unassisted play a few minutes later to make it 5-0 UofL. Elizabeth Vance closed out the scoring for the Cards...who improved to 9-7 and 3-3 in BIG EAST play.

Louisville returns to Trager on Sunday to face Indiana at 2 p.m. It's the final regular season home game for the Cards and seniors Turner, Steven and Caitlin Collins say goodbye to the fans and their teammates.

Big win when it was most needed by the Cards yesterday and another shut out effort out of Erin Conrad.

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Rutgers players (left) kneel in respect to Connor's
injury. Photo by C.Springer, UofL Card game.

Scary moment yesterday when Anthony Conner went down after colliding with Mohamed Sanu on the first play of the second quarter during the UofL football game against Rutgers. Action was stopped for about 15 minutes while Connor was carted off the field. He suffered a broken neck but is not paralyzed.

The Cards got a throw for six from Touchdown Teddy Bridgewater and a key interception with less than two minutes left in the game by Dexter Heyman to win 16-14 over the guests from Piscataway. Louisville goes to 3-4 with the victory, Rutgers drops to 5-2. 

Conner had feeling in his arms and legs and was able to move them. He is a senior cornerback who transfered to Louisville from Florida.

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The University of Louisville women's swimming team is in fourth place in the SMU Classic. Stars yesterday were Hannah Gadd, who won the 1 meter diving event and fourth place finishes by Abby Chin (400 IM), Eszter Povazsay (100 back) and Fanny Lilliestrom (100 breast).
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Cards picked third in BIG EAST...Reid, Schimmel picked for All BIG EAST squad.

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FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Coaches pick Lady Cards third in BIG EAST women's basketball pre-season poll

-Shoni, Monique seleced to pre-season All BIG EAST team

Media day in New York for BIG EAST women's basketball. Not a lot of surprises. The coaches picked their pre-season rankings and theirs turned out about like the CARDINAL COUPLE poll we ran. The results:

1.  Notre Dame (9 first place votes)  219 (total points)   9. WVU         108
2. Connecticut   7                           216                      10. USF           96
3.  LOUISVILLE                               191                     11. Marquette  92
4.  Rutgers                                     176                      12. Pittsburgh   62
5.  Georgetown                              175                      13. Villanova    54
6.  DePaul                                      152                      14. Providence 51
7.  St. John                                    145                      15. Cincinnati   38
8.  Syracuse                                    123                      16. Seton Hall   22

They also came up with a pre-season freshman of the year. That award went to Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, who is at UConn. That is a good choice. Seen her play and she's deserving of the award. Go take it to her, Bria, Sara and Jude...

Skylar Diggins was selected pre-season BIG EAST Player of the Year. Once again, can't disagree with the selection here. She led the Irish to the title game last year and now that Maya Moore is in the WNBA....she's the heir apparant. Be paitent, Shoni...your turn comes next year.

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The coaches also came up with a BIG EAST Pre-Season Team selection. Louisville did well here with both Shoni and Mo getting selected. Here's the rest:

Bria Hartley                   UConn
Tiffany Hayes                UConn
Keisha Hampton             DePaul
Sugar Rodgers                Georgetown

Natalie Novosel             Notre Dame
Devereaux Peters          Notre Dame
Shenneika Smith            St. John
Da'Shena Stevens           St. John
Kayla Alexander             Syracuse

No major problems here, except WE would have liked to seen Khadijah Rushdan of Rutgers figured into this all-star mix. Too good to delegate to Honorable Mention...where she ended up with BIG EAST Punk of the Year April Sykes. (a CARDINAL COUPLE award).
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Teamwork, U.S. Army style

THE LADY CARDS MASTER THE OBSTACLE TRAINING COURSE AT
FORT KNOX. THEY FARED MUCH BETTER THAN THE SGT. HULKA
TROOPS IN THE MOVIE "STRIPES".

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-WE READ YOUR MAIL

-WATSON WEIGHS IN ON CONDITIONING

It's a slow day for UofL women's sports...with no activities or games planned. So let's take a look at the mailbox and see what you are saying:

Danny L. (Winchester, KY) writes:

"Cardinal Couple. Thanks for the daily updates on UofL women's sports.
I really appreciate Jenny's report on her practice experience and I hope she
has a lot more articles planned for you on her unique and heartfelt observations


You write...we respond

on UofL women's basketball. Can't wait to see Sara Hammond on the court. Watched her play at Rockcastle County for several years and she is a good one! Did Jenny notice if any of the Cards were nursing injuries? Thanks!"

Thanks for writing, Danny. WE agree, Sara has the potential to make quite a mark at UofL and we're glad she made the choice to become a Lady Card. No real injuries to report at this time on any of the Lady Cards...Tia is a bit sore in the hip, Bria hobbling a little bit and Becky with a twisted ankle...but all are practicing and should be OK by the 30th. WE like Jenny's writings, too!

Megan (Philadelphia, PA) says:

"How do you think the loss of Syracuse and Pitt will affect BIG EAST women's basketball? I am a big Temple and Villanova fan but I really admire the job that Jeff Walz has done at UofL and hope they have a great season. CARDINAL COUPLE, you are my BFF!!!"

We'll miss the animated "Q" when Syracuse leaves the BIG EAST

Thank you, Megan...and a big OMG! on the BFF notification. WE recently did a poll on who our readers thought the top three teams in the BIG EAST would be this season and Notre Dame, UConn and Louisville swept the top three spots with a huge majority. Pitt has been a middle of the pack conference performer over the past several years in BIG EAST WBB and they'll probably remain middle of the pack when they migrate to the ACC. Same for Syracuse, although we'll miss Quentin Hillsman's antics on the sidelines. Both schools subscribe to the brutal, bounce 'em around BIG EAST basketball theory and they'll have some successes in the ACC. They aren't of the quality of a Duke, North Carolina or Maryland, though...the perennial powers of the ACC. WE'RE also hearing very good things about the Miami and Florida State women's teams this season...so, the ACC could be very interesting in the future.

Anonymous writes:

"Hey, Cardinal Couple. Tell me what you think of Louisville's chances going to the BIG 12 and how you think they would do there in womens basketball. Like your site. I am a K-State Wildcat fan in all sports."

WE haven't heard a lot about conference expansion lately, so...maybe it's the calm before the storm. Even with Texas A&M leaving the BIG 12..there are a lot of good teams remaining. BAYLOR is a lot of people's #1 preseason pick. OKLAHOMA always turns out tough teams. Same with TEXAS. K-STATE has made the tournament with regularity over the last few years and IOWA STATE draws almost 9,000 for women's home games. Jeff Walz was asked how he felt about conference expansion when he spoke to the Sportsmen's Supper Club...and WE love his answer:

"I don't care. WE just want to play. We want to compete."

If conference expansion does come down and Louisville is invited to the BIG 12...the Cards should be contenders for the top three spots year in and year out. You trade UConn, Notre Dame and Georgetown for Baylor, Oklahoma and Texas. Still very tough basketball...

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(CARDINAL COUPLE special correspondent David Watson checks in with his thoughts on conditioning.)

Let me begin by telling you that my own personal experiences with conditioning were years ago, when I ran Cross Country. Five miles a day, unless it was the day before a meet. Tough, demanding and fatiguing. I also ran track. Didn't run quite the distances but I made a solemn vow to myself that I wouldn't put my body through all that pounding when I graduated from high school. I turned in the track shoes for golf spikes and bowling shoes. Haven't looked back since.

My oldest daughter does the conditioning in the Watson family these days. She's a mid-fielder on her high school field hockey team. A pretty good one, too. She's gotten interest from several colleges - including Ball State, Notre Dame and American University. Her typical day wears me out just writing about it. A typical day for her during school days:

5:30 a.m.  Up for a light breakfast and out for a 2-3 mile run before 6 a.m. She runs with a friend down the street. They dread rainy mornings. Don't we all?

6:15 a.m.  She prepares for school. Before she leaves, she does do arm curls with 20 lb. weights while watching the morning news on TV. 

7:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.  Classes.

3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Either practice or a game. They are 5-1 on the season. She has scored three times this year but is used more as a set up - feed player and has eight assists on the season.

6:00 p.m.  She arrives home for dinner with the family. She also works a little bit after dinner with our youngest daughter, who will be a freshman next year in high school, on her field hockey game. Despite what you hear about the calamities of little sister - big sister relationships during the teen years, I can tell you that these two are peas in a pod. Best of friends. They combine forces to make my only son's life a constant drama. When they can drag him off the Internet.

7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.  Watson Study Hall. My wife and I mandate that the three of them spend 90 minutes each school night doing homework or reading. No internet access or television during this time. No texting, e-mails or Facebook. Usually, they comply.

9 p.m. -10 p.m.  She works the weights. Her friend she runs with has a set of barbells and free weights left over from when her football playing brothers were in high school. They spot each other in lifting. Sometimes, lil' sis tags along.

10 p.m. Either bedtime or catching up on texts or e-mails. Lights out at 11 p.m. for her. The younger ones have a 10 p.m. light out curfew. I have to admit, I'm usually asleep before them.

The conditioning, we hope, will pay off in her getting the chance to participate in college field hockey. It's already turned her into a healthy, athletic young woman brimming with confidence and personality. It has the softball and basketball coaches at school wooing her for her services once field hockey is completed.

IT has her parents very proud. It drives her "kinda" boyfriend crazy. We'll take the trade off.

(David Watson's athletic feats remind us of Paul's football days. He was a guard, end and tackle. He'd sit on the end of the bench, guard the cheerleader's purses and tackle anyone who got near them.)

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Lady Cards at practice...Jenny reports

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WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Jenny O'Bryan gives her report on Lady Cards practice

-Volleyball falls to Lipscomb 3-1

-Velasquez & Harris lose in semi-finals to Tennessee

(CARDINAL COUPLE writer Jenny O'Bryan attended the Lady Cards practice Tuesday. Here is what she saw)

The women's basketball team hosted a trivia challenge on their FACEBOOK page this summer. The contest asked all kinds of fun questions about the girls stats, hobbies, career highs, recruiting questions, etc. The winner, or in this case, winners got to attend practice as a reward. Today, I cashed in on my reward. 

In thinking about the team and anticipating the upcoming season, my biggest questions were: 1) How do the freshmen look? 2) What will be the contribution from last year's redshirt players? 3) How have the returning players grown from last season?

Our freshmen. One word. Fast. On any running of laps, suicides or sprints...they led the pack. On Tuesday, Sara Hammond stole the show. She was fast, strong, went hard to the basket, fought for rebounds and finished near the basket. Sara has a big, broad body. She is going to be an enormous asset to this team - especially in BIG EAST play. Bria and Jude showed their defensive prowess. Their quickness in traps and their fast, quick hands knocked down a lot of passes and created havoc in the passing lanes. They will contribute to the Lady Cards defensive arsenal. While Coach Walz was quick to say that today's practice was not a great one...I see great potential in all of them.

The red shirts. I have been very excited to see Cierra and Shawnta on the hardwood. They did not disappoint. Cierra fought for rebounds, took an especially hard charge from one of the practice guys and had some strong moves underneath the basket. Shawnta has a really pretty shot. She is going to be another offensive weapon for us. She was connecting on pull-up jumpers and behind the arc.

Our returning roster looks strong and improved. Shoni and Mo were consistent and smooth. Sherrone looks to have added some muscle. I look forward to see how her added strength plays out during game time situations. Antonita seemed to be the most improved player on this day I was at practice. With season tickets behind the bench, I have heard Coach Walz's critiques of Nita's defense. Last year, it was not uncommon for her to hit back-to-back threes...only to be benched because of her defensive breakdown. Today, she defended hard. If today had been a game day, she would have not been benched. I was duly impressed. And, her shots were falling today, too.

The biggest thing I took from my sneak peek at the team was the depth. Plenty of depth and options are available at each position. With the speed and defensive efforts the team is showing, it is going to be a fun and exciting season.

I walked into today's practice excited about the potential of this team. I have been ecstatic about the McDonald's All-Americans. The hype of back-to-back ranked recruiting classed has set the bar high. I have been optimistic about a deep run into tournament play.
I left practice today with my questions answered and one prevailing thought on my mind...

L Yeah!

(Thanks to Jenny for a great report on the Lady Cards preparing for their Oct. 30th.scrimmage against Lindsey Wilson and the rest of the season. From the sound of it...we're going to be saying "L Yeah!" a lot this year...)

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Volleyball took a surprising lost last night to Lipscomb University in Nashville last night 25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 25-21. Lola's 16 kills weren't enough to down the Atlantic Sun foe...Louisville held a 14-7 advantage in blocks but lost the kill battle 64-45.

The Cards fell behind 13-5 in the first set but rallied to make it a 20-18 deficit. They couldn't get any closer, though and lost by three. Louisville came back strong in the second game and jumped out to an early 7-2 lead. It held, although the Bison did get within one at 18-17. The Cards went on a 7-1 game ending run to even the match at 1-1.

Louisville could not gain an advantage in game three...but did get close, coming from a 24-20 deficit to get to 24-23. The Bison got the final point of the match, though for a two point win. In game four, Louisville (15-5, 7-0) once again fell behind early...down 10-5. A rally got the Cards within two at 23-21 but Lipscomb (14-6, 7-0) closed out game, set and match with the final two points.

Maybe an off night for the Louisville spikers...losing to an Atlantic Sun opponent won't improve the Cards national ranking any...hopefully they'll get it back together for a busy weekend against WVU Saturday in Cardinal Arena and Pittsburgh in the KFC YUM! Center.

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Louisville women's tennis doubles team of Manuela Velasquez and Amelia Harris bowed out in the semi-finals of the Ohio Valley regionals Monday in Memphis...falling to Tennessee's Natalie Pluskota and Kata Szeleky 8-2.

They are the first Cardinal doubles team in history to reach the semi-finals in this event in history. 

Coach Mark Beckham was philosophical about the loss:

" While I am disappointed they lost, it will be a big help in their development. It is good to see other names emerging to a national level. Within our little tennis community it is always about Julia Fellerhoff and Becca Shine. Now we have Manuela, who's a freshman and Amelia Harris, who has been working hard throughout her time here to get to this point. I am proud of them and we have this program headed in the right direction."
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Lady Cards battle obstacles away from the court

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TUESDAY WITH THE COUPLE:

-LADY CARDS TAKE TO THE OBSTACLE COURSE AT FORT KNOX FOR TRAINING AND TEAMWORK

-YENNEY BIG EAST PLAYER of the WEEK

-FELLERHOFF WINS SINGLES AT OHIO STATE


Thanks to CARDINAL COUPLE reader Kenny S. for finding and sharing this great article about the University of Louisville women's basketball team facing the obstacle course at Fort Knox. Click the link below to take you to the story. Go Asia!

Lady Cards battle obstacles away from the court TheNewsEnterprise.com


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CARDINAL freshman mid-fielder Erin Yenney has been named BIG EAST Player of the Week for her outstanding efforts in two Cardinal Women's Soccer wins last week. She scored the Cards first goal in the 3-0 win over Seton Hall.

Yenney has started in all 17 games this year for the Cards. Louisville will end the regular season Saturday in Cincinnati with a 7 p.m. game against the Bearcats. The Cards have clinched a #2 seed in the the BIG EAST Tournament and will host a quarter-final game at Cardinal Park on Sunday, Oct. 30th. against an opponent yet to be determined.




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Julia Fellerhoff won the singles division yesterday at the Muirfield Collegiate Tennis Invitational held at Ohio State. She downed Arkon's Zara Harutyunyan 6-4, 7-5 to take the title...her fourth championship in the college ranks. Louisville's Becca Shine fell to Harutyunyan in the semi-finals 6-2, 6-3...preventing an all-UofL final.

Fellerhoff, a sophomore, is one of several strong performers for Mark Beckham's women's tennis team this season. The Cards did well in the Ohio Valley Regional in Memphis recently and should be a major contender in NCAA women's tennis this season. 
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Women's Soccer downs Seton Hall 3-0...Women's Tennis advances...Field Hockey drops to Drexel

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Soccer in 1st place with blanking of Pirates

-Harris and Velasquez beat Cats in quarter-finals

-Field Hockey ends up short against Drexel

The University of Louisville women's soccer team completed their regular-season home
schedule with a shut-out of the Seton Hall Pirates yesterday 3-0 in Cardinal Park. The win
is the fifth in a row for UofL and improves the Cards to 7-1-2 in BIG EAST play and 9-5-3 overall.

Yenney started the scoring
for Louisville

The Cards, who have lost only once in their last eleven outings, took the early lead when Jennifer Jones found Erin Yenney with a pass in the early going. Yenney took it to the net for the score. Louisville added a second goal a few minutes later when Jordan Pawlik scored on a set-up by Christine Exeter. The Cards added a third goal in the first half on a Jones put back of her missed first shot.

The defense held the rest of the half and during the second half of play...limiting the Pirates to just five shots for the game and only one shot on goal.

"I thought the wind was a major factor today, so playing well with the wind in the first half gave us a big advantage and we were able to capitalize on it by really pressing and scoring some good goals"  -Karen Ferguson Dayes, Cardinal head coach.

Seniors Jennifer Jones, Kaitie McDonald, Caitlin Beck and Kassie Young were honored in pre-game ceremonies.

Louisville travels to Cincinnati to end the regular season on Saturday. The Cards will host a quarterfinal game in the BIG EAST Tournament on Sunday, Oct 30th.

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Doubles team Manuela Velasquez and Amelia Harris advanced to the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Regional yesterday with a win over UK's Edmee Morin and Stephanie Fox with an 8-6 win in Memphis.

They are the first UofL women's doubles team to ever reach the semifinals in this event. They'll face Tennessee's Natalie Pluskota and Kata Szekely Monday morning with a shot at getting to the finals.


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Tough weekend trip to Philly for the UofL women's field hockey team...losing for the second day in a row. Drexel did the damage Sunday, defeating the Cards 2-1. The #20 Cards had the Dragons deadlocked in a scoreless battle until just two minutes remaining in the first half...but Drexel scored when a deflected shot by Louisville goalie Erin Conrad found its way to Christina Conrad, who converted the score.

Drexel would go up 2-0 in the second half when Elizabeth Koch drove home a Mariel Marinelli pass past Conrad. Conrad had 11 saves in the game, a new record for her.

Caitlin Collin had UofL's
only score against Drexel

The Cards crept within one when Caitlin Collins knocked one home from of the top of the circle...but UofL could not gain the tie the rest of the way.

With the loss, Louisville (8-7, 2-3) must defeat Providence on Friday night in Trager Stadium to salvage any hopes of advancing to the BIG EAST tournament. The Cards are tied for fourth place in the conference standing with Rutgers. Both Connecticut and Syracuse are undefeated in conference regular season play and Villanova is in third with a 2-2 record.  The Cards lost to Nova on Saturday...failing to take advantage of a chance to climb into a tie for third.

Louisville will end their regular season at Trager on Sunday with a match-up against #14 Northwestern. Seniors Caitlin Collins, Heather Stevens and Hayley Turner will be honored in pre-game ceremonies.


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