Breaking News: 2018 Grades Continued -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE - News Paper

Grading the 2018 Squads -- Part 2

Paulie gave his grade for the 2018 year to the first half of the 12 UofL women's sports yesterday,  Today, we look at the bottom half of that dozen and give them a grade.

SOCCER Coming off their best season since moving into Lynn Stadium, the women's soccer team made it to the ACC Tournament for the first time ever and visited an old friend when they returned to the NCAA Tournament after a long hiatus (2013).

Awards flooded in for sophomore Emina Ekic, including All-American status for the second straight year.  Freshman Maisie Whitsett accompanied her on many of the awards lists.  Defensively, the Cards allowed roughly one goal per game and the offense showed some heavy firepower.

This season was far from perfect but it was a bright spot for a program that has seen fans grow impatient for results.  Next on the agenda is to move into the Top 25 and earn some wins in the postseason.  I'll give them a "B-".

SOFTBALL Trying to look back 9-10 months to remember what happened with the most recent
softball season is hard.  The Cards broke the 30-win mark again with a 33-20 record but finished with a losing record in conference play and no invite to the NCAA Tournament.

Coach Sandy Pearsall retired after building the program from the ground up following the season.  Over 19 years, Pearsall guided UofL to 718 (37.79 wins per season on average).  Holly Aprile was named the new coach, coming from conference rival Pittsburgh.

Fall play showed bright spots for the Cards with a lot of younger class players showing they're ready for a starting role.  The unfortunate season hurt the Cards with their grade, settling in at a "C".  "A" for Coach P's career with Louisville though.

SWIMMING AND DIVING. You can divide this category up into two sections: Kelsi Dahlia (Worrell)/Mallory Comerford and everyone else.  The duo of Dahlia and Comerford seem to highlight the UofL swim news constantly.  Recently, we saw some American records fall and several gold medals at the World Championships with some familiar names on it.  Give the rest of the team credit with rising stars such as Grace Oglesby, Sophie Cattermole, Mariia Astashkina, and Rachel Bradford-Feldman all looking good this fall part of the 2018-19 season.

A Top 25 ranking is all-too familiar for the women's swimming and diving team.  They're currently sixth in the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) poll.  To close out the 2017-18 season in mid-March, Comerford took home a national championship and the team overall finished fifth, their highest finish in program history.

With all of the success this team has earned themselves a well-deserved "A".

TENNIS The real action for the 2018-19 season kicks off in January after a handful of invitationals filled the fall part of the schedule.  Quite a few players received accolades in the fall.

Rewinding all the way to January the Cards started the season with an impressive 12-1 record.  They then lost 12 of their final 13 matches to close out the season.  

No NCAA Tournament appearance, an ugly exit in the first round of the ACC Tournament, a .500 finish, and no individual awards for any of the players is not the championship-caliber program fans expect at Louisville.  They don't fail, but I can't give the team higher than a "D" grade for the 2018 year overall although I can bump it up to a "C" based off of just the fall of 2018.

TRACK AND FIELD Track and field actually has two separate divisions with indoor and outdoor and the NCAA refers to it as such.  Indoor has seemed to be a little better for Louisville.

They finished this past season ranked 25th and Dorcas Wasike just set a new school record in the 5000m earlier this month.  When I say she set a new school record I really mean she shattered it.  Her time of 15:25.35 was a whopping 59 seconds faster than the record.  In terms of eligibility, Wasike is a sophomore.  She is a junior on the academic side.

On the outdoor side of things the women finished 28th overall at the most recent NCAA Championships.  Bailey Davis, now graduated, finished 24th in her individual performance at the event.

Appearances in the Top 25 for indoors and flirting with it for outdoors is always a nice way to boost your grade.  Having a player like Dorcas Wasike is like putting in a cheat code.  The Cards get a solid "B" here with Wasike an "A" for herself.

VOLLEYBALL This season either met right at expectations or fell a tad short depending on how
you view it.  Louisville finished in the first spot out of the rankings and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015.

In 2017, Louisville claimed the ACC title with an 18-2 mark in conference play.  They only lost at home once the entire season.  In 2018, the Cards dropped to third in the ACC with a 14-4 record and three games out of first place.  The dropped three games at home this season including a disappointing loss to in-state rival Kentucky.

If this ends up being the 'sophomore slump' for Coach Dani Busboom Kelly then that's a sign for a good career here.  Typically, meeting expectations is considered average, but after advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament I bumped the Cards up to a "B-".

COACHING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Less than 48 hours after Christmas ended Vince Tyra announced head coaching decisions for two programs.

Courtney Trimble will be stepping down as women's golf head coach following the 2018-19 season.  A reason was not announced by UofL, although most assume it is to soend more time with husband and family  Assistant coach and Louisville-native Whitney Wade Young will step into the role beginning July 1, 2019.

After the announcement of Ken Lolla leaving the men's soccer program a nationwide search for his successor began.  The journey came full circle when assistant coach John Michael Hayden was announced as the new head coach.  A Kentucky-native, Hayden is married to former UofL women's soccer player Hollie Hayden (Minogue). Minogue played for the Cards from 2002-2005.

I found no need to do a weekend schedule seeing that the only game is the Louisville vs. Kentucky men's basketball game on Saturday.  The ESPN computer has the Cards slightly favored although I believe Vegas might have the Cats as the favorite.  If history serves correct the Cards should win the basketball game solely because Kentucky won the football game this year.

Happy Friday, Happy (almost New Year) and Go Cards!  I'll see ya in 2019!

- Jared -

from Cardinal Couple http://bit.ly/2ESEBoE
Breaking News: 2018 Grades Continued -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE - News Paper