WSoc beats Wright St 7-2 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Good morning and good bye to the last week without football.. 

My department is also saying goodbye to a little piece of our space in the downtown area and we are moving back to Belknap 100% of the time.  It's bitter sweet as I got to know a little bit of of the population down there and had a sweet routine some days.    

But I will say that I am greatly inspired when I am on Belknap campus.. and I'm looking forward to this next chapter.  

One of the benefits of being on the main UofL campus is my proximity to the athletics programs.  I just get to cross paths with the athletes themselves more and have better opportunities to pop over for press conferences and midday games.   Such as the women's soccer match on Thursday... with a 3pm first kick.   

Speaking of soccer... the Cards took on a visiting Wright State over at Lynn Stadium yesterday evening.  Let's get into a quick recap.... 

Soccer

Liza Suydam and I waiting for the copy machine to decide to start working

For a second week in a row, UofL scored 6 goals in the first half of a soccer match, in the first 29 minutes of the match to be exact.  The Cardinals welcomed Wright State to the Ville for a Sunday night matchup.  With a week to prepare, the Raiders could not hold off the Louisville offense as two new scorers for UofL, Liza Suydam and Karina Peat contributed 4 of the Cards' 7 total goals on the evening.   UofL had 20 total shots, 12 of them on goal.  Amelia Swinarski had 3 assists in the match. 

Erynn Floyd spent the full 90 minutes in the goal, allowing 2 against the visitors.  Wright State's second goal came from a penalty kick in the 58th minute.

(Photos by Jared)

Catch the post game questions and comments from Case and Jared out on the pitch with KDF! 

Louisville vs USC Upstate post game

UP NEXT

Louisville vs USC Upstate

Thursday 8/28

3 p.m. on ACCNX

As Always, 
Go Cards
~Daryl

Volleyball defeats alumnae 3-1 -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 VOLLEYBALL VS. ALUMNAE

(photo from UofL)

Another 2025 UofL sports squad on the women's side has participated in a match against the alums, and in the volleyball version of the "current vs. old" the 2025-26 squad defeated the alums 3 sets to 1. 

The current squad took the first two sets, and the exact score for these...the report is that the currents defeated the alumnae in each... 25-12 in the first and 25-15 in the second match. The alumnae did rally, from reports, to win the third match 25-23. 

The squads requested to play a fourth set, and in was a shortened set that the team defeated the alumnae 15-8.

Reports we were able find indicate that Cara Cresse had a good match for the current squad with seven kills and six blocks. Ava Utterback also had a good match for the current squad with eight kills.

The exhibition was a sell out at the L&N Federal Credit Union facility with slightly over 1000 fans getting to watch the action. 

The alumnae All-Stars were led by Claire Chausee with 10 kills and Aiko Jones getting six kills. 

Anna DeBeer and Sarah Drury Petkovic coached the Alumni All Stars and the roster included Jones, Chausee, Elena Scott, Emily Scott, Charitie Luper, Elle Glock and Jamie Vasilou,  

The season officially starts for Volleyball when they face auburn on Aug. 29th.

Jared's Photos from Saturday below

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

There were three of us on the Saturday podcast (Case, Daryl and Paulie) as Jared was taking selfie of himself and eating corn dogs at the Ky. State Fair.

We had a good podcast and you can hear it at the link below:

8/23/25 CCRHP

paulie

Louisville to Honor NCAA Runners-Up at Alumnae Match -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Hosts Alumnae All-Star Match Today

Louisville volleyball has been announcing the all-stars that are returning for this afternoon's alumnae match throughout the week, and many of the names are those that were rumored last week. In addition to today's match, UofL will be hosting a season-opening "Block Party" at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena, including a ring ceremony for the 2024 runner-up finishers, a team Q&A, an autograph session, and an opportunity for fans to take photos with the runner-up trophy on the court. 

The latest announcement for today's match were the coaching staff for the all-star team. One of those coaches will just be heading across the floor, as Sarah Drury Petkovic moves over from the current staff to take part in leading the group. The other is another one of the all-stars herself, though she is unable to play. Anna DeBeer will join Petkovic at the helm of a stellar alumnae team. 

Though they won't have DeBeer, the all-stars will still have a strong hitting contingent, as Aiko Jones, Claire Chaussee, and Charitie Luper join the team. Louisville's blocking and defense will be put to the test with those three on the attack. On the flip side, Louisville's offense will have to contend with a strong alumnae defense as well. The all-star team will roll with Elena Scott at libero and Emily Scott (no relation) at middle blocker. Emily, if you'll remember, was also a national champion for UofL in the high jump. She finished her volleyball career with 207 kills and 133 blocks, despite playing in just 138 total sets. Also joining the alumnae are Elle Glock at setter and Jamie Vasilou, who primarily served as a serving specialist in her time with the Cards.

Today's match won't be available for streaming, so you'll have to get into the arena to be a part of this one. First serve is scheduled for 2PM and the doors will open at 1PM. I suspect the line is already forming (which may or may not be a joke depending on what time you are reading this). It should be an exciting match and will be Louisville's final competitive tune-up before opening the season on Friday, August 29th against Auburn. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have three on board today as Jared takes in the final weekend of the fair. Paulie, Daryl, and I will still have plenty to discuss with the soccer season fully underway and the other two fall sports in their exhibition schedules. You can check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Hello readers and welcome back another end of the work week.  Here are some snaps from Floyd Street on the Belknap campus this week.  

The Track Field

Natatorium 

Soccer

Louisville 8  -  Detroit Mercy 0

Photo: Jared Anderson

Do we think the Cards were excited to open the season at Lynn Stadium last night??  Lynn Stadium witnessed 4 goals from the home squad in under 16 minutes of play and 6 goals in the first half.    There were 8 total goals scored for UofL, the first time since 2018 when they faced off against Wright State.. who happens to be the Cards' next opponent.    Actually one of them was an own goal by Detroit Mercy with counted towards the Cards total score none the less.  

Leading the scoring efforts for Louisville was Mackenzie Geigle who put two in the back of the net including the final goal in the final 5 minutes of the match.   Betsy Huckaby, Karsyn Cherry, AG Gibson, Nicole Jodoin and Grace Maddox also contributed to the final stat sheet. 

The Cardinals got the scoring going early with a connection for Jodoin and it was all Cards all night long.  Just when I thought Detriot Mercy were looking tired and gassed,  with 20 min off the clock in the first half, KDF did a 6-man substitution and put some new legs in for some valuable playing time.  At this point, the Titans had made no shot attempts in the match.  And with some fresh legs in the match, Louisville was able to put another level of pressure on the Titans offensively.  At the half, the Cardinals had 18 shots while the Titans had managed just 2.  

Brielle Baker took over in the goal for keeping duties with 20 min left in the match, which prompted many cheers from the sidelines as the senior handed over some responsibility to the freshman.   Erynn Floyd did not have much work to do in this one.   UofL finished 28 shots and 13 of them on goal.   

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Wright State 
Sunday 8/24
7:00pm
ACCNX  

Photo: Jared Anderson

As Always
Go Cards
~Daryl

WSOC Hosts Home Opener -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Bring in Detroit Mercy

After an unceremonious end to their season-opening road trip, Louisville women's soccer opens their slate at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium tonight on what is the first day of regular season action on campus. Karen Ferguson-Dayes's squad isn't the first team to compete on campus today, nor are they the first team to compete in Lynn. The men's soccer team will open its home schedule this evening as well, as the two teams take part in a double header. Tonight marks the only soccer double header of the season, making next Thursday's 3PM kickoff for the women a bit of a head scratcher. At any rate, the men will get things started against Southern Indiana at 5PM with the women to follow against Detroit Mercy. The scheduled start time for the women's game is 7:30, and the match will be available on ACC Network Extra. 

The Cards are coming off of a 1-1 SEC road trip following a 1-0 win at Auburn and a 2-0 loss at Vanderbilt. Louisville may have preferred those results come in the opposite order for multiple reasons. The first of those is that Vandy was the 17th-ranked team in the country when the two teams met and the second is for momentum. The great vibes created by the win they toughed out in Alabama were a bit deflated by their mild dismantling in the first half in Nashville. Louisville could be buoyed by their second half performance where, although they weren't able to find the net, they outshot Vandy 10-4 (3-0 on frame).

I think what I would expect most from tonight's match is for the defense to be lockdown. Both goals on Sunday were the direct result of defensive errors. On the first, a high defensive line was beaten by a breakaway on a good through ball. While the high line can create offsides and keep the ball forward for offensive chances, that opening goal displayed the potential pitfalls. If you lose track of a player, especially a speedy one, you can give away one-on-one opportunities. (Personally, I would have played the situation a bit more aggressively in goal and challenged the ball harder at the top of the box, but Erynn Floyd chose to test the freshman forward and forced her to make a clean shot. Either option was fine. One-on-ones are difficult and usually favor the attacker.) 

Speaking of one-on-one chances, the second goal came on the most advantageous of those: the penalty kick. A clumsy tackle in the box led to a penalty, even after video review, and penalties have about an 85-90% success rate. I absolutely see the case for a penalty in that instance, but I wouldn't have minded the commentating crew at least acknowledging the case against it. Olivia Stafford was never going to get to the ball after her heavy touch toward the end line, and Hadley Snyder's stab at the ball didn't create the contact with Stafford; Stafford started to chase the ball and crashed into Snyder's leg. Like I said, it was clumsy, and since it happened in the box, the only option is to not call a foul at all, which wouldn't have gotten much applause from the home crowd. So it goes. 

Louisville's defense cleaned it up in the second half, allowing four shots for the second straight half but keeping Vandy from putting the ball on frame. I think the Cards will look to keep their second clean sheet of the season, and I suspect the defense would like to keep Detroit Mercy from taking any shots at all if they can. 

Offensively, I'll be looking for a bit more consistency from the attack. So far, KFD has been much more fluid with the lineup in the front, partially to keep fresh legs in the tough conditions of the first two games. Amelia Swinarski (118) and Liza Suydam (114) lead the way in offensive minutes for the Cards. It will be interesting to see if Mackenzie Geigle is back to full strength or not. We never got a full report on what kept Gigs out of game one, but she did return against Vandy with limited minutes (31). Nicole Jodoin has been a presence as a freshman, starting both games so far and helping the offense move along. We'll see if she can continue to break out against the run of somewhat easier competition on this home stand. 

Detroit Mercy brings in a 1-1 record after opening the season with a 2-1 home win over Valparaiso before losing 4-0 to Michigan in Ann Arbor. The Titans were just 10-8-2 last year, but they went 7-1-2 in conference play. Detroit Mercy's 23 points in Horizon League play saw them finish in third behind Milwaukee's 28 (9-0-1) and Northern Kentucky's 25. The Titans were knocked out of the Horizon League tournament by the Norse in the semifinals by a score of 1-0. 

Louisville has faced Detroit Mercy just once before, and the Cards hold an 0-1 all-time record against the Titans. That lone matchup came in 1994, the first year after Louisville's first winning season and the final year of Louisville women's soccer's time as an independent. The Cards went 7-10-3 in 1994 and lost to Detroit Mercy 3-1 on October 9th of that year. It seems that I brought bad luck to the Cards, as their 11-7 1993 season came right before I was born. Despite back to back .500 seasons in 1995 (9-9) and 1996 (9-9-2), 1993 stood as Louisville's only winning record until Karen Ferguson-Dayes fifth season saw the Cards finish 12-5-3. From 2004 to 2019, Louisville had just four non-winning seasons with losing records in 2009 and 2014 and back-to-back .500 seasons in 2015 and 2016. Covid was rough on the Cards, as Louisville has not finished above .500 since 2019. 

Louisville is off to a good start in their quest to improve on last year's near .500 mark (7-6-5), but they'll need to build a fair amount of confidence heading into conference play. The Cards have won more than four conference games just twice since joining the ACC (2018 and 2019). Tonight's game is a good time to start that confidence building. I'm disappointed to be unable to make it in person, but it should be a fantastic night for soccer, with the forecast showing 78 degrees and partly cloudy at kickoff. If you're able, get out and support the women's team, and get double the action if you head out early for the men's game. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards WBB releases non-conference schedule -- Wednesday CARDINAL COUPLE

 UCONN, UK AND SOUTH CAROLINA HIGHLIGHT NON-CONFERENCE SLATE FOR LOUISVILLE WBB 

We know know the 13 non-conference match-ups the University of Louisville WBB squad will play in the 2025-26 schedule. 10 of the 13 non-conference matchups wil be at the FC YUM! Center and UofL will face both teams that played in the NCAA Championship game last year. 

It kicks off against UConn in Ramstein, Germany on Nov. 4th as part of the Peraton Armed Forces Classic. The home opener on Sunday Nov. 12th.when they face  Northern Kentucky. Colorado comes to town next for a Wednesday, Nov. 12th contest.  A week later, Morehead State comes to town. 

The annual UK vs UofL game will be in the KFC YUM! Center on Nov. 22nd. the Cards have won the last four times that the game has been played in the YUM! Center. 

Thanksgiving weekend features multiple contests. Friday Nov. 28th when the Cards hosts Eastern Illinois. A day later, the action moves to Bellarmine, where UofL will meet East Tennessee State. They go back to the KFC YUM! Center Sunday where the Cards will play Bellarmine. 

Thursday Dec. 4th has South Carolina visiting the YUM! The non conference slate then has Louisville facing New Hampshire on Sunday Dec. 7th. Wednesday Dec. 10th when we get a Cardinals vs. Cardinals matchup when Ball State visits. EKU comes in for the final home non-conference match on Wednesday Dec 17th. 

The Cards end the non-conference slate in Brooklyn when they face Tennessee on Saturday Dec 20th.

We will cover and report on all the non-conference games for Louisville WBB..as well as the conference slate and post-season play. 

paulie

VB Alumnae Scrimmage Draws Closer -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Current Cards vs Former Cards Showdown Happening Soon

Charitie Luper

The return of the Alumnae Match for Louisville volleyball has brought much excitement and anticipation. Most years, there are not enough alums available to make this doable, but this year, it sounds like there are enough to produce a good chunk of a team, but they may need some assistance filling out a rotation.

Aiko Jones

Confirmed Alumnae

Elena Scott, defensive specialist/libero, class of 2024

Charitie Luper, outside hitter, class of 2024

Aiko Jones, opposite side hitter, class of 2023

Elena Scott

Rumored Alumnae

Claire Chaussee, outside hitter, class of 2022

Confirmed Unavailable Alumnae

Anna DeBeer, outside hitter, class of 2024 (recovering from injury)

Tori Dilfer Stringer, setter, class of 2021 (pregnant)

Anna Stevenson Hall, middle blocker, class of 2021 (pregnant)

Amaya Tillman, middle blocker, class of 2022 (asst coach for Kentucky)

Ayden Bartlett, defensive specialist, class of 2023 (asst coach for UTSA)

Raquel Lazaro, setter, class of 2023, (playing overseas)

Anna DeBeer

Possible Alumnae But No Confirmation if Available or Not

Sarah Drury Petkovic, Chief of Staff Volleyball, class of 2002 (has not played collegiate or professional volleyball in nearly two decades)

Alexa Hendricks, defensive specialist, class of 2022 (currently traveling internationally)

Sofia Maldonado Diaz, opposite side hitter, class of 2024 (currently traveling internationally)

Ceci Rush, serving specialist, class of 2022 (lives local, unknown if available)

Elle Glock, server, class of 2024 (recently retired from volleyball, unknown if available)

Claire Chaussee

How many more alumnae will we see join the roster for Saturday? While I don't believe it will be a full rotation of players, it is certainly a good thing to have enough alumnae available and interested in playing. While many, many alumnae were extended the invitation to join, each one may have her own reasons why the can or cannot play. We will make sure to have some coverage for the match Saturday.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

WSoc falls at #17 Vanderbilt 2-0 -- First day of Fall 2025 semester!! -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good morning readers and 

Happy FIRST DAY of School, UofL :D

The Belknap South dorm room. 
It's 'South' of the walking bridge that comes out of the SAC.

Soccer

Photo: Jared Anderson

The Kicking Cards had a stop in Nashville for a matchup with the #17 Vanderbilt Commodores where they fell 2-0.   They move to 1-1-0 on the season and will head home for a 6 game series before opening up ACC play at FSU.  

Against the 'Dores, the Cards defense gave up two scores early to home squad in the first 19 minutes.   UofL had its best chances in the second half but were not able to convert.  The Vandy goalkeeper recorded 3 saves preventing shot attempts from Cherry, Maddox and Suydam from finding the back of the net.  They had 13 total shots with Emerson Jennings leading with 3 attempts.  Mackenzie Geigle did compete in this one for 31 minutes total but did not make much of an impact offensively.  The Cards had 7 free kicks in the first half and then six in the second half.   

A shot by  Jennings in the 76th minute is above the crossbar might've been the best looking opportunity to find the back of the net but the shot was just too strong and sailed into the stands and pretty much deflated the remaining hopes to come back from this deficit.  

Next up, they'll face Detroit Mercy at Lynn Stadium Thursday at 7:30pm.

As Always
Go Cards! 
~Daryl 

Women's Soccer Continues Road Trip tonight -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 KICKIN' CARDS STOP IN NASHVILLE FOR ANOTHER SEC MATCHUP

With the promising season start for Louisville and their win over Auburn at Auburn...the women's soccer team at UofL gets a little closer to home with a stop in Nashville to face Vandy. 

Vandy is ranked #17 in the nation and entertained Austin Peay in their season opener. But, the Governors probably didn't have much entertainment or fun in Music City, as Vandy put up a 7-0 slap down on the visitors from Clarksville. The funny thing about this one is that Vandy dropped two spots in the top 25 poll after the blowout win despite this blow out...going from #15 to #17. 

It was Vandy's highest offensive output since 2019, when they had a 7-0 win over Georgia State. This will be a 7 p.m. match up and streamed on SEC Network Plus again (and not steamed, as the UofL site reports)

 "Excuse me me waiter, but I'd like my win over the Commodores steamed and served with corn and a side salad" 

Vandy is going to be a tougher foe than the Tiger/War Eagle bunch was. 

The two schools last met in 2019 in Louisville where the Cards got a 1-0 win at Lynn. It was Emina Ekic who provided the lone goal on a penalty kick....t the 99:34 mark of the contest. 

One of the big questions will be if we see Mackenzie Geigle take the pitch for the Cards. Louisville defeated Auburn without her but knocking off Vandy with her out of the lineup again could be a lot tougher. The senior is arguably the best player that the Kickin' Cards have and led the squad last year with seven goals and seventeen points. Let's hope we see #3 out there...we haven't seen a report on why she wasn't used in Auburn. 

Hello Hadley

Hadley Snyder stepped up big for the Cards with the goal. The junior who is from Louisville Assumption got the lone goal of the Louisville vs. Auburn game. Snyder was injured in 2022, and played in just four games in 2023. Last year she did play and start in all 18 Cards games.

It'll be another SEC Network Plus game and air at 7 p.m.

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

Jared, Case and Daryl joined me in yesterday's Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast and we had a great discussion on women's soccer and volleyball. Daryl caught us up on campus going on's and Jared finally overcame his technical difficulties to get into the discussion as well. 

You can hear the rebroadcast at:

Spotify

YouTube

paulie

Volleyball Hosts Red/Black Scrimmage -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Red Defeats Black 3-2

Though I'm not sure a final score truly matters, the Red Squad of the Louisville Cardinals volleyball team defeated the Black Squad in last night's intra-team scrimmage. The annual Red and Black Scrimmage represented the first time for most of CardNation to get their eyes on the 2025 edition of the Cards, their first season under Dan Meske. In addition to the end of the Dani Busboom Kelly era, the Anna DeBeer/Elena Scott reign came to an end at the close of last season as well, so there will be some new names for Louisville fans to become acquainted with. 

One of the players that rotated between the teams was a player that many fans are already well familiar with in Cara Cresse. According to reports from Jared on the floor, Cresse looks like she is already in All-American form, living up to much of the hype that has been thrown her way in the preseason. She had 11 kills and three blocks last night. Cresse will shore up a middle-blocking position that looks to anchor a blocking effort that could, if you believe it, be better than last season. Kalyssa Blackshear will play the second MB position, and she led the black team with 13 kills last night. 

Chloe Chicoine is the other player drawing a lot of attention in preseason, and she also came to play last night. Per Jared, she looked "phenomenal" playing the full rotation, and she amassed nine kills and 15 digs for the red team. Alanna Bankston led the red team with 14 kills and nine digs. Also hitting well for the black team was Payton Petersen, who finished with nine kills and led all players with 19 digs. 

Despite all of that, Jared mentioned that the hitting may be an aspect of Louisville's game that still needs some work. A lot of shots were coming out low, leading to unforced errors in the net and prime blocking material. Perhaps the best indication of that is setter Nayelis Cabello coming up with five blocks. 

Cabello set for the victorious red team last night, and she is part of one of the two major position battles on the floor. Her primary competition for the setter position is transfer Molly Wilson, who led the black team. In addition to the blocks, Cabello finished with two kills, 10 digs, and 38 assists. Wilson had 33 assists and 16 digs. For his part, Jared noted that he believes the edge goes to Cabello due to her ability to chase down errant passes. With two strong options, though, don't be surprised to see a 6-2 employed by Dan Meske. It's not as if he's unfamiliar with it. 

The other position battle is for the newly vacant libero position. While two liberos can be dressed, and Meske may very well choose to do so, it sounds like Kamden Schrand is not particularly interested in sharing the position. The junior had 17 digs last night and Jared notes that her competition (junior Molly Urban and freshman Hannah Kenny) were pretty far back. Kenny is listed as a setter on the roster, so she's an interesting conversion candidate if the defensive skills continue to be a focus. 

All in all, it should be an exciting season regardless, especially as the new players continue to gel with the returners. The next chance to see the Cards in action will be the alumnae match next Saturday. We don't have any confirmed players just yet (rumored are Scott, Claire Chaussee, and Charitie Luper, at least), but we do know some players who won't be playing. DeBeer is continuing to bring her ankle all the way to full for the next professional season, so she's rehabbing in a more controlled environment. Anna Stevenson Hall and Tori Dilfer Stringer are both expecting to be unavailable. Amaya Tillman is an assistant coach at UK, so that would be a competitive advantage issue, and Alexa Hendricks is traveling. Similar to Tillman, Aiko Jones may be precluded from playing due to her role as the Bellarmine head coach, but we'll see on that one. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have four on board today, which is good since there is plenty to discuss. We'll talk actual game action, past and future, and any other news and notes from the week that was. Check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case