Emmonnie Henderson Photo by Adam Creech, Fitted 2014-15

Cardinal Notebook: 7/30

Mark BlankenbakerJuly 30, 2015

Emonnie Henderson To Take Year Off Basketball to Focus on Track & Field

University of Louisville’s Emmonnie Henderson has long held the dream of competing in the Olympic Games.

The dual-sport athlete announced Wednesday that she is putting her complete focus on training with the track and field program in 2015-16. Henderson has elected not to play for the women’s basketball team in the upcoming year, as she works toward qualifying for a spot on the U.S. team, with aspirations of participating in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the shot put and discus events.

“I wanted to take the year off from basketball, with hopes of returning, to focus on making it to the Olympics,” Henderson said. “It’s been a goal of mine, and I know I couldn’t do it without the help of coach (Dale) Cowper and coach (Jeff) Walz, so I’m very grateful to them.”

Currently, Henderson ranks 12th in the United States in the discus and 23rd in the shot put. Since her time in high school, she has increased her shot put by more than five feet and her discus mark by nearly 25 feet.

“I’m excited to have Emmonnie join us full-time for the upcoming year,” track and field head coach Dale Cowper said. “She has seen tremendous progress over very short, competitive spring seasons during her freshman and sophomore campaigns. I am confident she will see tremendous gains throughout the coming year.”

The Edwardsville, Ill., native followed a breakout season with the track and field team competing at the 2015 USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, where she finished 14th overall, sixth among collegians, in the discus.

The track and field All-American set a school record this year in the event, registering a personal-best throw 58.34m/191-5 at the NCAA Championships to finish third. At the Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor Championships, she won both the discus and shot put titles – she set a personal best in the shot put with a throw of 17.09m/56-1 – to capture ACC Women’s Most Valuable Field Performer honors.

“Emmonnie expressed her goal of qualifying for a spot to compete in the 2016 Olympics,” head coach Jeff Walz said. “I truly believe this is the best move for her. We always tell our student-athletes that we want to look out for their best interests, and I think the best opportunity for her to make it to Rio to focus solely on track and field this school year.”

With women’s basketball, Henderson has played in 68 games in two seasons and averaged 5.6 points and 3.6 rebounds. She tallied 25 blocks and 34 steals in that span.

5 Men’s Soccer Matches Slated for ESPN3

The Louisville men’s soccer team will have five regular season matches televised on ESPN3 as part of the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference Olympic Sports fall broadcast schedule.

The television schedule for the Cardinals includes four home matches at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium – Kentucky on Sept. 8, Virginia Tech on Sept. 18, NC State on Sept. 25 and Wake Forest on Oct. 30. Louisville road match at Clemson on Oct. 9 is also included on the fall television slate.

Overall, fans will have access to more contests involving league teams than ever before as the ACC’s media rights holders will distribute at least 169 events live this fall, surpassing the previous record of 122 set last year. The 2015 fall schedule includes 38 men’s soccer matches involving ACC teams.

The 2015 season is expected to be another exciting one for head coach Ken Lolla and the Louisville men’s soccer program, which embarks on its second journey through the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cardinals return All-ACC First Team midfielder Ben Strong as well as ACC Freshman of the Year and All-ACC Second Team defender Tim Kubel from last year’s squad, which advanced to the ACC Championship title match and reached the NCAA Sweet 16 for the fourth time in five seasons.

The Cardinals will also play their second season at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium, the nation’s premier collegiate soccer facility. Louisville’s 11-match home slate includes a rematch of last year’s NCAA second round match against Saint Louis as well as visits from NCAA qualifiers Stanford, Kentucky and Wake Forest and former conference rival Connecticut.

Soccer’s Andrew Brody Invited to U.S. U-23 College ID Training Camp

Louisville junior midfielder Andrew Brody was among 28 players invited to next month’s U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team College Identification training camp.

The camp, scheduled for Aug. 5-8 at the U.S. National Training Center in Carson, California, allow the U.S. coaching staff to scout a new group of collegiate players as the team continues preparations ahead of October qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The complete roster of players for the camp is available at http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2015/07/28/09/28/150728-u23mnt-herzog-calls-28-players-for-college-id-camp.

A native of Orlando, Florida, Brody scored three goals and added four assists while starting all 22 matches for the Cardinals in 2014. Through his first two collegiate seasons, Brody has six goals with 12 assists in42 starts. Following the 2013 seasons, he was a TopDrawerSoccer.com Freshman XI First Team selection and was named to the Soccer America All-Freshman Second Team.

Following the camp, Brody and his Louisville teammates will officially report for preseason training on Aug. 11. The Cardinals’ three-match preseason schedule begins on Aug. 15 at 7:30 p.m., ET against Lipscomb at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium. The regular season opener is slated for Aug. 28 at 7:30 p.m., at Lynn Stadium against William & Mary.

The 2015 season is expected to be another exciting one for head coach Ken Lolla and the Louisville men’s soccer program, which embarks on its second journey through the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cardinals will also play their second season at Lynn Stadium, the nation’s premier collegiate soccer facility. Louisville’s 11-match home slate includes a rematch of last year’s NCAA second round match against Saint Louis as well as visits from NCAA qualifiers Stanford, Kentucky and Wake Forest and former conference rival Connecticut.

Volleyball To Air 10 Matches on ESPN3

The University of Louisville volleyball team will appear on ESPN3 ten times during the 2015 season as a part of the ACC package.

The ACC has added 24 additional volleyball matches this year for a total of 65 for the 2015 season as a part the 169 total broadcasts for this fall which represents is a 39% increase from the fall of 2014. All Olympic sport contests (on any ESPN platforms or on the RSNs) are also available live digitally via WatchESPN and are not subject to blackout.

“The ACC is the best academic conference in the country and has positioned itself to be the best athletic conference in the country as well. Having 6 nationally televised matches on ESPN this fall will give volleyball fans and recruits across the country the opportunity to witness the powerhouse programs competing in the ACC,” said UofL head coach Anne Kordes. “Obviously the benefit of being televised on national television is the opportunity for your fans to follow the team when we travel to Miami and Florida State, but also to showcase your program to the best young recruits across the country. With ESPN carrying ACC volleyball there is no limit to who can watch us play. You don’t need to subscribe to a specific network to watch Louisville volleyball, which gives our program the ability to reach anyone that owns a TV or a cell phone. It’s extremely exciting.”

9/27/15 – 12:30 PM – Miami at Louisville
10/2/15 – 7:00 PM – Syracuse at Louisville
10/9/15 – 7:00 PM – Louisville at Georgia Tech
10/16/15 – 7:00 PM – Wake Forest at Louisville
10/18/15 – 2:00 PM – Duke at Louisville
10/21/15 – 7:00 PM – Notre Dame at Louisville
11/13/15 – 7:00 PM – Louisville at Miami
11/15/15 – 3:00 PM – Louisville at Florida State
11/20/15 – 7:00 PM – Clemson at Louisville
11/22/15 – 2:00 PM – Georgia Tech at Louisville