NCAA Volleyball Matches To Be Aired On ESPN3

The NCAA First and Second Round Volleyball matches hosted by the University of Louisville will all be televised on ESPN3. The University of Illinois will face Southern Illinois at 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4 and the No. 15 seeded University of Lousiville will face Belmont University at 7 p.m. or 30 minutes after the first match has been completed.

The Louisville/Belmont match can be viewed here: http://es.pn/1TiZk2w
The Illinois/Southern Illinois match can be viewed here: http://es.pn/1jxi7ej

Cards Draw Belmont
The No.15 overall seeded University of Louisville volleyball team drew Belmont and will host NCAA First/Second Rounds at Cardinal Arena on campus this Friday-Saturday. The Cards will face the winner of the Illinois/Southern Illinois match should they advance.

UofL's Dance Card
The Cards are making their 25th NCAA appearances and have 27 straight winning seasons, 19 conference championships and have been in NCAAs 24 of last 26 years. Louisville is one of only 14 schools to make 25 or more appearances in the NCAA Tournament since it started in 1981. The Cards have a 15-24 overall record in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals last competed in the NCAA Tournament in 2013 when they fell to Marquette 3-0 in Champaign, Ill. on the Illini Campus. UofL's last NCAA victory came in 2012 when it defeated Belmont 3-1 in the first round.

Coach Kordes on the Draw
"We could not be more excited about being at home," said Anne Kordes, UofL head coach and ACC Coach of the Year. "We set up goals for ourselves for the season. We knew that winning the ACC title and getting the opportunity to host would go hand in hand. We feel blessed to be in this position and all the credit goes to the girls. Now we have a lot of work to do. We played Belmont in the tournament a couple of years ago. They are a scrappy team that plays great defense. They run a quick offense. We are not looking past them at all.

Wrapping Up Regular Season
Louisville enters postseason play with a 24-6 overall record and posted an 18-2 record in the ACC after defeating Boston College and falling to Syracuse in the regular season finale last week. Against Boston College, Janelle Jenkins had a match high 17 kills along with 15 digs to lead the Cardinals to a 27-29, 25-23, 25-17, 26-24 victory over the Eagles. Erin Fairs added 15 kills while Tess Clark added 11 kills and six blocks, respectively. Katie George posted a double-double with a match high 58 assists and 19 digs. Molly Sauer added 17 digs for the Cardinals.

Against Syracuse, Erin Fairs and Aniah Philo each had 10 kills but fell 23-25, 22-25, 15-25 to the Orange. Katie George had a match high 37 assists while Molly Sauer added a match high 22 digs.

At the conclusion of the regular season, Louisville finished first in the conference and third in the nation with 14.79 kills per set with senior outside hitter Erin Fairs leading the Cardinal attack with 424 kills and averaging 3.89 kills per set, which is second in the conference. Junior outside hitter Janelle Jenkins adds 338 kills while sophomore middle blocker Tess Clark adds 249 kills and boasts a team-high 112 blocks. Clark led the ACC and finished fourth in the nation with a .441 attack percentage.

Senior setter Katie George has dished out 1323 assists on the season and finished ranked fourth in the nation while leading the ACC with an average of 12.14 assists per set. She is second on the team with 308 digs.

Louisville finished second in the ACC with 17.00 digs per set with freshman libero Molly Sauer posting 504 digs (4.62 digs per set) and leads the team with 29 aces. As a team, Louisville holds opponents to a .171 hitting percentage, which was second in the conference.

Belmont at a Glance
Belmont (17-14, 11-5 OVC) defeated top-seeded Murray State in four sets (20-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-15) to claim the 2015 OVC Volleyball Championship and automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Volleyball Championship. The Bruins won nine out of 11 sets over Morehead State, Tennessee Tech and the host Racers to claim the conference crown. Belmont is making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance, second representing the OVC (2006, 2008 - Atlantic Sun; 2012, 2015 - OVC). The Bruins are led by sophomore Arianna Person, who was named Tournament Most Valuable Player, while teammates Emma Price and Jocelyn Youngdahl were named to the OVC All-Tournament Team. As a team, Belmont ranked first in the conference and 11th in the nation with 192 service aces. Emma Price and Jocelyn Youngdahl were named to the OVC All-Tournament Team along with Person.

BU Coach Tony Howell
Belmont is coached by Tony Howell, who is in his second season. Howell has led the Bruins to winning seasons in both of his seasons at the helm of the program. Prior to Belmont, he has been an assistan at Belmont, Middle Tennessee State, Texas Wesleyan University and North Texas.

Cards Against Belmont
Louisville will be facing Belmont for the fourth time in series history. The Cardinals hold a 2-1 advantage in the series including a 1-0 record in postseason action. Louisville won 3-0 in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

Illinois at a Glance
On the other side of the bracket are the Illini, a team the Cards faced in the Illini Classic earlier this season. The Cards fell in three but took the Illini down to the wire in each set before falling 27-25, 25-23, 26-24. The No. 18 Fighting Illini fell to Michigan, 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-27, 20-25), in the regular-season Big Ten finale Nov. 27 in Cliff Keen Arena. The Illini face Southern Illinois in the first round. No. 21 Illinois (19-12, 10-10 B1G) is making their 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance after earning an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Illini have collected a 36-21 record all-time in postseason play and were national runner-ups in 2011. Redshirt senior outside hitter Jocelynn Birks earned her third-straight All-Big Ten accolade after leading the offense with 389 kills and ranks second in the conference with 3.89 kills per set. She ranks second on the team with 251 digs. Junior outside hitter Michelle Strizak and junior middle blocker Katie Stadick add 316 and 277 kills, respectively. All-Freshman Team selection Jordyn Poulter sets up the offense and has 974 assists on the season. Sophomore libero Brandi Donnelly leads the team with 500 digs. The Illini are 13th in the nation with 319 blocks with All-Freshman Ali Bastianelli leading the team with 150 blocks and Katie Stadick adding 132 blocks.

UofI Coach Kevin Hambly
Kevin Hambly is in his seventh season as the UofI head volleyball coach. He has led the Fighting Illini to six winning seasons including five trips to the NCAA Sweet 16 and the program's first appearance in the national championship match in 2011.

Cards Against Illinois
Louisville and the Fighting Illini have met 13 times in series history with Illinois leading the series 9-4, including a 3-0 victory in both team's 2015 season opener. The two teams have met twice in the NCAA Tournament with each team recording a victory. The Illini defeated the Cards 3-0 in 2003 before the Cards defeated the Illini 3-1 the very next year.

Southern Illinois at a Glance
Southern Illinois (23-9, 14-4 MVC) is making its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance after earning an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Salukis are led by redshirt sophomore outside hitter and First Team All-Conference selection Andrea Estrada who has a team-high 424 kills (3.59 kills per set) while adding 368 digs. Junior Meg Viggars ranks fifth in the nation with six triple-doubles on the season. The First Team All-Conference selection is third on the team with 252 kills and leads the team with 766 assists. She is also second on the team with 127 blocks and third on the team with 320 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Abby Barrow is second on the team with 337 kills for the season. Junior setter Hannah Kaminsky also spends time setting up the offense and has 713 assists on the season. Sophomore middle hitter Alex Rosignol leads the Salukis defensively with 130 blocks and ranks 15th in the nation with 1.48 blocks per set. First Team All-Conference selection Taylor Pippen earned her fourth straight conference honor by picking up First Team All-Conference selection honors. Pippen adds 250 kills and 112 blocks on the season. Junior libero Mariana Pilon leads the Salukis with 470 digs. The Saluki volleyball team concluded its run at the MVC Volleyball Tournament in the semifinal round on Friday night with a 3-0 loss to the No. 3 seed Missouri State Bears. The match saw 11 ties, resulting in 25-22, 25-19 and 25-20 sets. This is the second consecutive year the Salukis were eliminated from the tournament by Missouri State.

About Justin Ingram
2015 MVC Coach of the Year Justin Ingram has been at the helm for the Saluki volleyball team for four seasons and the 2015 season has been his most successful yet. He has led the Salukis to three 20-win seasons and has been an integral part in leading the Salukis to their first NCAA Tournament appearance.

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Players Mentioned

Tess Clark

Erin Fairs

Katie George

Janelle Jenkins

Aniah Philo

Molly Sauer

University of Louisville Athletics