Lacrosse Advances in ACC Tourney with win over VT -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

CARDS GO TO ACC QUARTERS WITH 13-11 WIN AT VIRGINIA TECH

The ninth seeded Louisville Lacrosse squad advanced in the ACC Lax Tournament with a well fought and hard earned win over eighth seed host Virginia Tech Sunday afternoon in front of a nationwide ACCN viewership

The Cards were led by Nicole Perroni's four goals in the match, The Cards now head to Charlotte to face #1 seed Syracuse on Wednesday at 11 a.m.

"Nicole was her steady self today." commented Cards head coach Scott Teeter. " She contributed all over the field and made some really big plays when we needed them." 

Louisville jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the first quarter .led by two goals from Kokoro Nakazawa. A close ssecond quarter followed, the Cards losing the quarter 6-5 but taking a 9-8 lead into the halftime locker room . The Cards were never able to really pull away from the homestanding Hokies, but did hold an 11-9 lead after three quarters. 

Virginia Tech narrowed the lead to 11-10 to start the fourth quarter ...but the Cards were not ready to fold like they did in the second half against Duke and Notre Dame in their last couple of regular season games.  Perroni picked up her final goal of the contest in the fourth and was followed in the scoring by Izzy Seikel, to make it 13-10 Cards,advantage. The Hokies did score late for the final of 13-11. 

It was Scott Teeter's first career win in the ACC Lacrosse tournament.  

The Cardinals head coach spoke about the win:: 

"The girls battled for 60 minutes today,They had a response for every one of their mistakes. They were all contributing and supporting each other...which gave us a really great team win"

The win improves the Cards record to 8-10 on the season, Virginia Tech finishes with a 9-9 mark. The win avenges a 14-10 Louisville loss to the Hokies at the L.L.S. during the regular season.  

Kokoro and Negai Nakazawa seemed to have an enthusiastic, "never say die attifude" during early play that quickly spread to the rest of the team. Kokoro ended up with three goals on the day.. The Cards also got a couple of goals from a couple of players we didn't hear much about during the regular season...with Maggie McMahon and  Lauren Figas connecting twice. Also on the board for UofL was Paulie's favorite player...grad student Allegra Catalano and Izzy Seikel

The Cards had a 35-27 shot advantage over the home team and committed just eight turnovers, compared to 15 for Va Tech. 

In other first day ACC LAX action, #7 seed Clemson took down visiting #10 seed Pitt 18-15

Syracuse will be next for the Cards.,The #1 seeded Orange and Cards will face off at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Charlotte. ACC Network will have the coverage. ..A nice win for Louisville on a higher seeded foe's home field, so in some circles, it is being called an upset..I'd just like to think of it a solid win that shows the Cards have improved since season end and hopefully, the trend will continue. 

paulie . 

 

Lacrosse in ACC Tourney today -- Softball drops a double -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

Softball Drops Two

As a website dedicated to bringing you joy and excitement, let me tell you about this programming library that I'm writing in the Python programming language...

(EDITOR NOTE: JEFF DOES NOT KEEP PYHTON'S OR SPEAK TO THEM...JUST SOME EGGHEAD STUFF  REFERENCE THAT WE ARE GUESSING IS PART OF HIS WORK...)  

Oh, right, we're specifically about UofL Women's Sports.  Unfortunately, joy and excitement in the women's sports programs are a little hard to find right now.

Softball was in action yesterday, but the results definitely didn't spark joy.  After a win Friday over North Carolina, with only the bare minimum offense (a pair of home runs) to get the job done, the lack of offense hurt yesterday.

(ravishing Riley !) 

The first game of the day saw UNC get out to an early lead with three runs in 1st inning.  They tacked on another in the 3rd.  The Cards sensing the need to do something, well, another home run by Riley Frizell.  I mean, it was a good weekend for her in the batter's box, but without more offense around her...it's not good.  The Tarheels then finished it off in the bottom of the 6th with five runs, walking it off with the run-rule win, 9-1.

There was more offense in the second game, but still not the small ball play that Holly Aprile is looking for.  Maddi Grant started it off in the 2nd inning with a long ball shot over the fence in right field.

The Cards would add on five more in the 5th, and about the only hint of small ball play that Aprile would see the whole weekend.  Chelsea Mack reached on a bunt, Frizell drew a want, and was replaced on the base paths by the quicker "Pickle" Winkler.  It wouldn't really matter, however, as Vanessa Miller homered to right, scoring the trio.  UofL would tack on two more, both homers again, with Bailee Richardson and Katie Thatcher being the bombers.

Don't get me wrong, I love seeing some light tower power, but for consistent success, teams do really need to be able to play the small ball game.  And, in fact, in this one, with the score 6-0 UofL after five innings, UNC would score seven unanswered in the 6th and 7th innings, again with the walk-off.  And I hate to say it, but the Cards looked more like the Bad News Bears out in the field during that 7th inning.  UNC played well, no disrespect to them, but UofL largely fumbled it away.  HOW MANY TIMES CAN YOU RECALL THE SOFTBALL CARDS GETTING BEAT WITH A SEVEN RUN FINAL TWO INNINGS FROM THE FOE?  I'll wait for your answer .

Softball returns home for a mid-Derby Festival series with Clemson starting Friday at 6pm.

Lacrosse

Let's look for some joy and excitement from Lacrosse, they're in Blacksburg to play Virginia Tech, but this isn't just any old home game for the Hokies.  This is the first round of the ACC Tournament.  Louisville is the 9th seed in the tournament, Virginia Tech is the 8th.

In the earlier matchup between these two teams, Louisville played VT competitively for three quarters of the game.  The Cards won the 1st quarter 4-2, VT came back to tie it at half-time 5-5.  It was the 3rd quarter that sunk the Cards, VT won it 6-2, though the Cards didn't give up, they did tie the 4th quarter, but of course that's not enough when you dug a 4 goal deficit in the 3rd.  VT won 14-10.

The Cards will be looking for revenge, and to advance to the main portion of the tournament at the American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, NC.  If they beat VT, they will get the "honor" of meeting Syracuse on the 24th.

All games in the ACC Women's Lacrosse tournament will be on the ACC Network linear channel, but of course you can also stream them through the ACC Network Extra streaming setup.

The game today will get underway at noon.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

(jeff and Jared escort Paulie to the broadcast venue) 

Jared, Paulie, and myself gathered to discuss the latest in UofL women's sports on the CCRHP.  Softball and Lacrosse are active, so of course much of the discussion centered on those two sports, but we did get some exciting recruiting and transfer portal news for WBB this week, so we did cover that territory as well.

Unfortunately, we did lose the last couple of minutes as my streaming software crashed for some unknown reason.  Fortunately, it waiting until very near the end to do so, so check out the show below, and apologies for the abrupt ending.

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/Lacrosse-and-Softball-Struggle-e2im0b6

 

-- 

JMcA

Softball Takes Opener at UNC -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Win Solo Shot Battle 2-1

Louisville entered yesterday's game in a bit of a must win situation. The Cards need to pick up some series victories over the last few weeks of the schedule to be in contention for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Losing midweek games to teams like EKU doesn't help, but a Friday win over UNC will hopefully get them back on track. The Cards got things started in the first and Alyssa Zabala held on to pick up her 18th win of the year, which leads the league. 

After two quick outs for the Cards in the top of the first, Riley Frizell sent a ball over the wall in straightaway right to give Louisville a 1-0 lead. That may have shaken the UNC starter a tad, as Bailey Richardson and Vanessa Miller both drew walks to follow. A ground out ended the threat, but Frizell's homer turned out to almost be enough in this one. 

Zabala got back-to-back ground outs to start the second, but a single ended her perfect game effort quickly. A foul out at the plate ended the inning. After a ground out to open the top of the second, Maddi Grant followed Frizell with a bomb to right center. That put Louisville up 2-0, which is how the game would stay until the final out. 

The Cards had plenty of chances to extend their lead, and had things gone differently, they'd be kicking themselves for the wasted opportunities. The Cards left at least one runner on in all but two innings. Their biggest chance for more runs came in the fourth, when a ground out left the bases loaded. Coincidentally, UNC's best chance at small ball runs also came in the fourth. A four-pitch walk opened the side, but a fielder's choice and a popup gave UNC two outs with still just the runner on first. Another walk put two on base, but a ground out ended the threat. 

After a ground out and a fly out put Zabala one out away from a complete game shutout, her 1-0 pitch was knocked over the fence in left, putting the tying run at the plate. The at-bat opened with a called strike, and the batter fouled away the next pitch. Down to her last strike, UNC's freshman catcher Raeghan Carlson spoiled four more strikeout pitches with foul offs and drew one ball. Ultimately, Zabala was able to induce a ground out to end the game. Zabala's final line was 2 hits and 1 run (earned) with three walks and two strikeouts. She threw 110 pitches in the complete game. 

Her counterpart, Kenna Raye Dark, also threw a complete game, and somehow managed to do it on fewer pitches. Dark threw 105 en route to 6 hits, 2 runs (both earned), three walks, and two strikeouts. Eerily similar lines for the sophomores. Maddi Grant was the only Cardinal to pick up multiple of those six hits, finishing with a pair. Vanessa Miller drew two walks. 

Louisville will look for a bit more offense today, as they'll wrap the series with a double-header due to forecasted bad weather on Sunday. The first game will get started at 2PM and will air on ACC Network Extra. The second game is scheduled for 4:30, but will start 20-30 minutes after the conclusion of the first if it runs long. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Happy Thunder Day, Cardinal Fans. While the more virtual nature of the show means that we aren't obligated to cancel the show due to inability to access our studio, a few conflicts will mean there's a small cast on hand. Paulie, Jeff, and Jared will bring you the news and notes of the week, looking at softball's ups-and-downs, the upset bid that wasn't for lacrosse, and big WBB commitments and signings. We'll see if Jeff has streaming sorted out, but if he does, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

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

Lacrosse Falls to Irish -- Softball Visits North Carolina -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

The famous Daryl Foust at lacrosse

Happy Friday, Cards fans! Daryl took over yesterday so Jared here stepping in today.

Kokoro Nakazawa Scores 100th Career Goal in Loss to Notre Dame

Kokoro Nakazawa scored her 100th career goal and Nicole Perroni extended her scoring streak to 53 straight games, but Louisville lacrosse fell to #3 Notre Dame 23-10.

Eight Cardinals scored in the game with Nakazawa and Maggie McMahon leading the way with two apiece. Reese Whiteman scored her first career goal in the closing seconds of the match.

Notre Dame raced out to a 2-0 lead but the Cards answered with three straight. A 5-1 run give the Irish a 7-4 lead and the teams would trade goals up to halftime with Notre Dame holding a 9-6 edge.

Louisville scored the first two goals of the second half but Notre Dame then went on a 9-0 run. The Cards would scored to bring their deficit back down to single digits at 18-9 but Notre Dame scored five of the final six goals of the match. A majority of the fourth quarter was placed with a running clock.

A B-52 bomber flies over campus in preparation for Thunder Over Louisville

Louisville finishes the regular season 7-10 and has earned the 9-seed in the ACC Tournament. They will visit 8-seed Virginia Tech on Sunday.

There is some question on if players such as Kokoro Nakazawa, Kylea Dobson, and Olivia Toll will utiizie their COVID-19 eligibility and come back or not.

Softball Travels to North Carolina

In desperate need for as many wins as they can get, Louisville softball hits the road for a three-game series against North Carolina. The Cards enter the weekend 24-19 and 5-10 in the ACC. North Carolina is 28-14 and 8-10 in the ACC.

The Tar Heels have run-ruled 10 opponents this year. They do not have any ranked wins due to being swept by both Clemson and Duke. 

UNC hits .357 as a team. They have recorded 393 hits with 38 home runs. North Carolina has outscored opponents 257-134, nearly doubling up opponents.

Alex Coleman is one of four North Carolina players, batting .457. She also has a team-high 65 hits. Isabella Emerling has been provided the power for the Tar Heels, with 13 home runs and 51 rbis.

All three games are slated for ACCNX with tonight's game beginning at 5:00pm.

Women's Basketball Carousel

In the span of about one hour yesterday during rhe middle of lacrosse, women's basketball news around the country was going wild. Here's all that happened in that period:

-Mackenly Randolph officially signed with Louisville. Randolph is the fifth freshman player to physically sign. She was on campus yesterday.

-Eylia Love entered her name in the transfer portal and will be leaving Louisville.

-Rumors were circulating that Maddie Scherr, who formerly played at Oregon and Kentucky, announced she is transferring to TCU.

-Reports broke that former Louisville and LSU player Hailey Van Lith will be transferring to TCU.

-Former Fresno State and Miami player Haley Cavinder announced she will not play at TCU this coming season, as originally planned, and will now play her final year of eligibility at Miami.

-Hanna Cavinder was talked out of retirement by her sister mentioned above and will player her final season at Miami.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

LAX afternoon battle with #3 Notre Dame -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Hello readers!  Its Daryl again checking in on a Thursday.  

My brain has been beyond scrambled recently trying to get back into a routine with the Bats and trying to wedding plans.   I appreciate everyone's flexibility to allow me to do so while also continue to keep up with the Cards.    

It's the last day of classes for students on campus!  Campus has been absolutely buzzing this week with spring flowers blooming and students everywhere.  They brought out the food trucks to help gear everyone up for finals.   

So lets talk about the Cards in their final regular season match.   

Lacrosse

(Maybe the greatest ever to don a Cards LAX uniform....Kay Morrisette)

UofL brings a 7-9 record into the contest with #3 Notre Dame for the last regular season match of the season.

This one is scheduled to begin at noon over at UofL’s Lacrosse Stadium and will be available on the ACC Network Extra. The Irish bring a 13-2 record into the contest.

The Irish have not lost since March 9th when they fell 10-12 to Virginia on their home turf. In April they have outscored opponents 51-21.

The Cards are 2-14 against the Irish all time with the first match happening back in 2009. They sport a 1-6 record at home. Louisville is on an eight game losing streak to Notre Dame.

The Irish boast six 20+ goal performances this season and...obviously... one of the nation’s best offenses.  With five goals and a program-best six assists, Jackie Wolak set a career best with 11 points against Pitt to close out the month of March.

Kelly Denes registered 16 draw controls in that contest, tying a program record and helping the Irish 26 total draw wins good for a program best at home.

I do believe we will get Jared over there to snap some photos from the contest. If you and join the fun, the ACCNX will have the broadcast so fire up the internet device. 

Good luck to the student athletes on their finals!!! I do not miss those days at all! 

As Always, 

Go Cards 

~Daryl 

Cards Softball Loses To EKU -- -- Ja'Leah Williams to WBB from Miami -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 EKU SOFTBALL JUMPS EARLY ON CARDS FOR 6-2 WIN

 

Louisville Softball surrendered six runs early yesterday and could not make up the deficit  in a loss in Richmond, KY  to Eastern Kentucky University Tuesday afternoon. Cards freshman Brooke Gray (3-4) got the midweek start for the visitors, but was met with six runs on four hits in the bottom of the second. 

Meanwhile, at the plate, the Cards were stifled early in the game, but did try to mount a couple of rally attempts to get back in the contest late in the contest.

The first one occured in the top of the sixth, when the Cards loaded the bases with just one out. Kiley Goff beat out a infield grounder for a single and Daisy Hess reached on a slow throw on a fielders choice. Chelsea Mack delivered a single to load the bases for Lousville, but EKU ace Maddi Rutan (19-2) got a pop out and received a spectacular fielding stop from EKU second baseman Madison Scott to end the Cardinals threat. 

The Cards would also threaten again in the seventh and plate their first runs of the contest when Bailee Richardson reached on a single and came home on Maddi Grant's home run to center. The Cards left the scoring there,,though, with a line out  and a fly out,

Louisville (24-19) returns to conference play Friday, when they travel to North Carolina. 

A tough road loss to a surprisingly good EKU squad, that has a sparkling 33-5 record

JA'LEAH WILLIAMS HEADED TO LOUISVILLE WBB

Cards WBB picks up one of the the better defensive guards in the ACC from last season with upcomng senior Ja'Leah Williams announcing she will join the Louiisville squad from Miami for the 2024-25 season

Williams has been a key contributor to Katie Meyer's squad for the past three seasons and averaged 7.1 points and 4.5 rebounds in 30 games last year for the Canes. 

Her addittion will help fill the void in the Cards guards game, with the graduation of Syd Taylor, Nina Rickards and Kiki Jefferson.

paulie

 

Softball Visits Eastern Kentucky -- Kiki Jefferson Drafted in 2024 WNBA Draft -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Travels to Eastern Kentucky

In desperate need of a win streak, Louisville softball looks to start one beginning with their game at Eastern Kentucky tonight. First pitch is slated for 6:00pm and will be aired on ESPN+.

Louisville recently went 1-2 on the road against Georgia Tech to drop to 24-18 on the season. Fortunately, the Cards have a winning record on the road. 

Eastern Kentucky boasts an impressive 32-5 record this year. Four of the losses came in a row at the Utah Tech Tournament in late February. Their only other loss came in ASUN play against North Alabama. The Colonels have not played any ranked opponents or Power Five opponents up to this point. 

The Colonels hit .302 as a team, tallying 288 total hits with 26 home runs. Jaelin Haynes leads the team with a .405 batting average but Jeanay Riley is top on the team in hits with 49.

For Louisville, their NCAA hopes continue to fade with each loss, but the Cards can start a 10-game win streak to close out the season tonight.

Kiki Jefferson Goes in 2024 WNBA Draft

Kiki Jefferson is the latest Louisville Cardinal to get drafted into the WNBA Draft. She was taken in the third round by the Minnesota Lynx.

Jefferson utilized her COVID-19 eligibility season with Louisville after four years at James Madison. The guard played in all 34 games and started in 32 of them.

This is the 17th Cardinal drafted and 15th since Jeff Walz took over the program. Most recently, Emily Engstler and Kianna Smith were taken in the 2022 WNBA Draft, a string of five straight years where Louisville had a player drafted.

The WNBA is one of the toughest leagues for draft picks to make the opening day roster. Typically, about half or just under half of draft picks make it to opening day. We certainly hope to see Jefferson suit up for opening day May 14.

This season, there will be 12 teams in the WNBA with the addition of a 13th in the bay area next year. The WNBA announced plans to have 16 teams by 2028. The league expansion is long overdue after many years of public outcry. Louisville is currently not on the proposed list of expansion teams.

Volleyball vs Tennessee Photos

Jeff and I enjoyed a reverse sweep victory for Louisville Volleyball over Tennessee this past weekend. Here are a few shots from the match.

The team celebrates a win

Freshmen Nayelis Cabello and Ava Utterback celebrate a point

Fear DeBeer

America's top libero Elena Scott

Elle Glock dives for a ball while falling into the team bench

We look forward to plenty of volleyball in the fall. Don't forget, the NCAA Volleyball Final Four is at the KFC Yum! Center this year.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Drop Extra Inning Thriller to Georgia Tech 5-3 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

GA TECH WINS WITH HOME RUN OVER CARDS SOFTBALL IN NINE INNINGS

Louisville Softball fought the good fight in the series finale at Georgia Tech Sunday and went to extra innngs with some dramatics, but tt was the Atlanta squad who got the last blast -- Mallorie Black's  two out, two run home run to deep center in the ninth gave the Tech squad the game winner and the series winner. 

A 5-3 win  for the homestanding squad in a game that was in their favor after six innings...GT was holdng a 3-1 lead over Louisville, but Louisville bombs got them back in it,,,  Vanessa Miller's homer in the sixth got Louisville within one at 3-2 going into the seventh. Riley Frizell sent a boomer that tied it in the seventh, Frizell's tying shot came with two outs in the inning...the Cards very last chance to force any extra play.

  

GT came right back and nearly won it in the bottom of the seventh when Jin Sileo sent a fly ball to deep left center that bounced off the top of the wall and back into the field to give her a triple, Three more inches would have put the ball out of the stadium and ended the contest, but a lengthy review showed it was just short..  Alyssa Zabala regrouped and got the final two outs of the inning without Sileo scoring, though, to force extra innings continuation.

After an uneverntful eighth for both squads, the Cards had their chance to win the contest in the top of the ninth when Kiley Goff started the inning by getting hit by a pitch. She took second on a ground out and went to third on a GT error, but a fly out ended the top of the ninth with no runs crossing the plate for the Cards. Black's.boomer, a massive, toweing shot to center that left no doubt about whether it was it going to leave or not to end the affair in GT's favor

. 

It was a fun Sunday thriller on the ACCNX and the Cards had their chances to leave Atlanta with the "W" but sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way....or stop at the fence...in the case of Black's blast off Zabala that ended it

Louisville (24-18, 5-10) drops the series two games to one to Georgia Tech and returns back home to Ulmer to try non-conference fare...entertaining EKU on Tuesday. 

paulie

Back on the Winning Side - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Softball Evens the Series

After a rough Friday, with both Softball and Lacrosse coming out on the wrong side of the scoresheet, we have a couple of wins to celebrate today.

First, Softball answered the Yellow Jackets with a win yesterday, 4-1.  Alyssa Zabala, who certainly didn't have the game of her life on Friday, was back in the circle yesterday and went the distance, holding Georgia Tech to four hits, and only issuing three walks while striking out five.  A solid performance, for sure.

The Cards did take some time to get their offense in gear, however.  Georgia Tech struck first with a run in the 3rd, and UofL wouldn't answer until the 6th, ensuring all Cards fans were at their most stressed before coming back for the win.

I should, to be honest, phrase that as "Riley Frizell answered" as the first score was a Frizell rip over the center field fence to lead off the 6th.  That wouldn't be the only home run of the inning, however.  First, though, Bailee Richardson drew a walk, chasing the GT pitcher, before Vanessa Miller took her 3rd pitch over the left field fence.  Georgia Tech was unable to answer in the bottom half of the frame.

The Cards would add some extra insurance in the top of the 7th.  Pickle Winkler drew a walk to start off the inning, but was called out for leaving the base early on a Daisy Hess single.  Of course Hess stole 2nd, because it's Daisy Hess.  Richardson then sent a double out to center field, and that's all Hess needed to finish the circuit, bringing the Cards to the 4-1 final score.

Louisville will finish out the series against Georgia Tech with a noon start at Mewborn Field in Atlanta.  Today is their "Bark in the Park" promotion, where fans are encouraged to bring their dogs out to the park, so if you're a dog lover like me, there's extra incentive to watch the stream on ACC Network Extra.  If good softball wasn't enough of a draw, hopefully getting to see some good doggos will help.

Volleyball

Volleyball wrapped up their spring season last night with a five set win over Tennessee.  There was no stream presented, and no stats kept, so we're going all vibes here today.

Tennessee came out of the locker room looking strong, winning the first two sets.  Interestingly, Coach DBK decided to play a 6-2 offensive gameplan for those two sets.  This means that the setter on the court is always in the back row, subbing in and out in place of right side hitters, which also keeps a right side hitter on the front row the whole time, increasing offensive options.

Wait, who's our second right side hitter, you may ask if your familiar with Louisville Volleyball's roster.  Allana Bankston was pressed into service there.  Bankston has a demonstrated history of playing just about any position, left, right, and middle, in addition to being a competent defensive player.  She's kind of the go anywhere, do anything player on the squad.  Louisville does have a transfer from Arizona State, Sofia Maldonado Diaz that is expected to be primarily a right side attacker, so this may have been some prep for a potential 6-2 in season.  At least as an option.

Again, there was a lot of switching between Nayelis Cabello and Elle Glock in the setter role.  This is definitely an open position battle for the fall.  I still tend to lean towards Cabello getting the starting role in the fall, she seems about a half step quicker than Glock, has a pretty impressive serve, and is clearly a better blocker than Glock.

Credit to Tennessee, they put some good blocks occasionally, but were particularly good digging, extending a number of rallies that would've been Cards points against many other teams.  Also credit the Lady Vols for being willing the play the tie breaking 5th set, which a certain other SEC team wasn't willing to do against us.

Charitie Luper was back to full front row attack mode, and was wearing her knee brace again to do so.  Anna DeBeer is definitely done with hers and you can see the improvement in her mobility by not being constrained by it.

Hannah Sherman had some great rotations in the middle hitter/block position, including a couple of epic solo blocks, but I suspect the MB positions will still be lead by Phekran "PK" Kong, and Cara Cresse.

Elena Scott continues to do Elena Scott things.  As fellow writer here at Cardinal Couple, Jared Anderson, put it on twitter, "I got into every match thinking [Elena Scott] can't do anything to top watch[sic] she did the previous match and every time she pulls the 'watch me' card."  To which I responded, "And it's always like a double flipping half twist over a table single armed dig with her hair on fire.  And it's an absolute dime to the setter."  It truly is hard to comment on Scott, other than maybe to say, if you want to know what the Libero position is supposed to do, here's the prime example.

The Cards Volleyball fall schedule should be announced soon, and of course, we'll break that down for you when it comes out.  After that, should be the tradition Red & Black scrimmage sometime mid August.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Case, Jared, Paulie, and I made the call...well, I was a little late.  This one was an adventure from the get go with some vaguely Not Safe For Work innuendo and joking around at the beginning.  But ultimately we did quit procrastinating and get to discussing the tough Friday news for Cards athletics.

Enjoy the fun at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/Tough-Losses-for-the-Cards-e2ibtbp

 

-- 

JMcA

Cards Experience Tough Road Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Shut Out in Series Opener 

Louisville softball headed to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech this weekend and got off to a rocky start. While the Yellow Jackets are decently ahead of the Cards in the ACC standings, their overall records are very similar. On paper, it should be a relatively even series. GT didn't care much about paper yesterday, as they stung early and often against the Cards en route to an 8-0 five-inning run rule. All eight runs for GT came in the first three innings, with seven coming in the second and third. 

Alyssa Zabala started in the circle for Louisville, and it was not her day. Zabala walked the first two batters, induced a pop-up, then plunked the clean-up hitter to load the bases. A pair of ground outs ended the inning but a run came home to score. Another walk started the second and a sac bunt moved the runner into scoring position. Back-to-back singles scored a run and then a home run scored three more. A fourth (sixth, in a way) straight hit earned Zabala the hook and Brooke Gray came on to pitch. Gray hit the first batter she faced, but picked up another two outs to get out of the side. 

Louisville got their first runner on base in the third with a Maddi Grant double to open the inning, but two runners were left on base after Daisy Hess took a 2-out walk and Riley Frizell struck out. Gray returned to the circle and got GT's first batter of the inning out for the first time in the game. Unfortunately, a pair of singles were followed by the Yellow Jackets' second three-run homer of the game to set the score at 8-0. Two more quick outs ended the inning but the rout was on. 

Louisville's fourth saw them put two in scoring position via walk, HBP, and fielder's choice, but a flyout had split the runners and the Cards couldn't initiate a two-out rally. After Gray got out of the fourth with just one single, Louisville was down to their final three outs, needing at least one run to extend the game. Katie Thatcher came on to pinch hit for Chelsea Mack and was walked on four pitches. A sac bunt (down 8-0, really?) moved Mack (who took the base back from Thatcher) to second, but Louisville couldn't bring her around to score. 

There isn't much else to say about this one. Cards need to rip off the rearview and face today's game with a clean slate. They'll be back in action today at 2PM before wrapping up the series tomorrow at noon. Both games will be available on ACC Network Extra. 

Lacrosse Falls in Tight Road Finale

Scott Teeter's squad was in Durham yesterday for their final regular season road match of the year. The Cards took on Duke and held a slim 7-6 lead heading into halftime. Louisville was unable to hold onto that lead, unfortunately, as a three goal deficit in the third quarter gave Duke the gap they needed. The Cards tied the Blue Devils 10-all in quarters 1, 2, and 4, but lost the third 4-1, setting the final margin at 14-11. 

Kokoro Nakazawa was the leader for the Cards, tallying five of their 11 goals. She scored the first two goals of the game before Nicole Perroni gave Louisville a 3-0 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first quarter. Coincidentally, Louisville's goal scoring in the game was nearly palindromic. Maggie McMahon scored the fourth goal for the Cards, and their final four goals went McMahon, Perroni, and Kokoro x2. The three central goals were scored by Izzy Seikel, Kokoro, and Negai Nakazawa. 

Maddie McCorkle matched Kokoro with five goals for Duke. The Cards were on the back food the whole game, and Sara Addeche did well to keep the game as close as it was. Duke outshot Louisville 39-26 and won the shots on goal battle 25-17. I'll save you the math: Addeche finished with 11 saves. Part of the Cards' woes was the fact that they were dominated on draw controls. Duke led that category 21-8 and took all eight DCs in the second quarter. Louisville won 5/7 in the first quarter before winning just three for the remainder of the game. If you are on defense immediately, you're going to be under pressure a lot. 

Duke was ranked #25 in the country coming into the game, so a road matchup was always going to be tough. The win moves them to 10-6 (4-4) while Louisville is now 7-9 (2-6). All 10 teams make the ACC tournament, and Louisville is currently the nine seed. The Cards hold the tiebreaker over Clemson, but lost to VT, so would need the Hokies to lose their last two games to jump them. The best the Cards can do is get to 7th with a victory over Notre Dame in the season finale. That last game will be Thursday at 12pm in Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have four on board for this week's show, with Daryl occupied by her obligations with the Louisville Bats. We'll still have an exciting show lined up, with joy and excitement to cover despite the losses. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

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