Cardinals Set to Face No. 2 seeded Texas in NCAA First Round

In its 28th appearance in the NCAA tournament, the University of Louisville volleyball team will face Texas in the regional on Dec. 13 at 4 p.m. ET in Austin, Texas. Louisville, an at-large selection owns a 21-9 overall record going into its fifth Sweet Sixteen.

The Road to the Sweet Sixteen
First Round: Aiko Jones had 17 kills and two aces with teammate Anna Stevenson adding 12 kills and four blocks to lead the Cardinals to a 25-21, 25-12, 25-22 win over Samford in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. UofL had a hot hitting hand, connecting at a .343 clip led by Stevenson's .857 hitting. Along with Jones and Stevenson, Claire Chaussee contributed to the offense with eight kills and 10 digs. As a team the Cards had nine aces, five blocks and Tori Dilfer was credited with 41 assists. Samford hit .240 with three blocks and four aces and ended its season at 24-6.

Second Round: Aiko Jones tied a career best with 20 kills to lead the University of Louisville to a 3-2 win over Western Kentucky in the NCAA Second Round to advance to the Cardinals fifth Sweet Sixteen and the first since 2005.

UofL moved to 21-9 with the 21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 15-5 win. The Cards hit .179 with 16 blocks and six aces. UofL got 14 kills from Claire Chaussee, who added two aces and 13 kills from freshman Amber Stivrins, who added four blocks. WKU hit .162 with six aces and seven blocks. Paige Briggs led the way for WKU with 19 kills and two blocks. WKU ended its season with a 32-2 record, with both losses coming at the hands of the Cardinals.

Looking Forward:
Texas
No. 2 Texas advances to the Sweet Sixteen for the 14th time after a come-from-behind 3-2 win over University of California – Santa Barbara. With wins over Albany (3-0) and UCSB, the Longhorns will serve as host for the regional semifinals on Friday, Dec. 13 with a chance to advance to the regional finals on Dec. 14. The win over UCSB marked the Longhorns first five-set victory of the season.

Texas is one of two teams that has reached the NCAA Round of 16 fifteen times in the last 16 seasons. Penn State is the only other school to accomplish the feat.
Texas has advanced to 12 NCAA Semifinals, 24 NCAA Regional finals, and 31 NCAA Regional semifinals (round of 16) in program history. UT is a perfect 32-0 in NCAA Tournament First Round play. Texas has registered a 97-33 (.742) all-time record in 35 NCAA Tournament appearances. The Longhorns rank fourth in NCAA Division I history in NCAA Tournament wins (97) and fourth in winning percentage (.742). UT also ranks seventh all-time in NCAA Tournament appearances (36). Texas advanced to 18-consecutive NCAA Tournaments (1982-99) and is now on a streak of 16-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (2004-19).

After clinching a share of the 2019 Big 12 title, The Longhorns have now won 25 conference championships, including 12 Big 12 titles and 13 Southwest Conference Championships. Dating back to the 1974 season, Texas has won .842 percent of its matches in Austin, sporting an overall record of 602-112-1. The Horns are even more successful in Gregory Gymnasium, boasting a winning percentage of .877 with a record of 421-59.

Transcript from Press Conference About Sweet Sixteen Matchup with Texas
Opening Statement
Coach Dani Busboom Kelly: "We're really excited to be advancing especially because you know it's been a goal of this program the last few years is to make it back to the Sweet 16 and Louisville hasn't been in one since 2005 so we feel blessed to be the team that can get us back there and give us a chance to do something real special make history here."

(What does the scouting report look like for Texas?) Coach Dani Busboom Kelly: "Texas is obviously really good. They are the number two see nationally, they probably are the most athletic and largest team that we play all year and they're just known to be able to shut opponents down blocking. They will challenge your block. But, you know, we've played pretty clean volleyball at times and we know that if we can play clean and just stay focused on next point tally then we can compete with them. We have been challenging our players that they (Texas) make these ridiculous plays, which they will, it only counts as one point, not two or three. Sometimes some of their players feel like they account for more, but the end of the day they don't end points point. I think we just got to remember that as we're battling with them."

(What's it take to come out of Austin with the upset?) Coach Dani Busboom Kelly: "We just need to play clean and just take one point at a time, but we're going to have to play extremely well to get out Austin. I think our team knows that, but we also need to go in with the mentality that we can do it and we can expect to win this match and we shouldn't just be satisfied to get into the Sweet 16. Now we've gotten there, we like that taste and you want more. So just making sure we mentally can stay in it is the most important thing this weekend."

Tori Dilfer "Yeah, I think it really just comes down to, if we believe that we can do it and play like we can, and we can upset somebody. We are okay with being an underdog. I think we're okay with having to work for every point I mean you have to, it matters a lot, and especially right now and in the position that we're in. So we just got to show up, work and play really clean."

(On the players confidence after the first two post season games) Aiko Jones "Yeah, I'd say that we all do feel a lot more confident because in reality we can do this. We can upset teams when we come in as underdogs and I think that's the mentality we're taking in to this coming game. The confidence is also translated into just a watch just play harder and get better like Dani said. I can get a taste and you want more so it's kind of just like where we know we can do great things and now it is time to do those great things on the court on Friday."

Tori Dilfer "Yeah, like she said we I think we've know what we can do all year, but it's translating on the court now. Last week we definitely dealt with some adversity just not everybody feeling great or feeling like themselves and traveling a little bit so getting through that and still playing really good tough volleyball was big for us, and obviously pulling off and upset it builds a lot of confidence and I think we have confidence in each other, that the person that she's going to get it done"

(On the factor of inexperience against Texas) Coach Dani Busboom Kelly "I know I want to say that might be a strength of ours because our team is not like the players that have battled against Texas a bunch of times and come up short. I mean it's kind of ignorance is bliss and we tend to worry about our side of our side of the court and not getting caught up in in the Texas name and the athletes and that they were you know number one two recruits in the country and I don't think many of our players are really aware of that. It's just a good thing."

(What makes you all good at long matches?) Tori Dilfer "I mean, we actually talked about playing, quite a few five setters this year, and it comes back I think our fitness that our strength and our athleticism, definitely helps carry us through that we worked our butts off in the offseason and I feel like we are very confident in that we can last a really long time, not just physically but also just mentally I think we're tough, and we're able to hang in the five setters simply because we expect for things to be hard. We don't expect things to be handed too us. We were put into those positions. We can handle really well."

Aiko Jones "I agree. I think in a five gamer, in a last set it comes down to trusting your training and we know that we have a solid foundation with that not just the physical aspect but in practice we are putting a lot of like high pressure situations where it's do or die and that's beside the mentality that while we've won six out of eight, the two that we probably didn't win, we struggled with finishing, and that's also something we work on a lot just like getting when you get really close to winning, just like finishing the set not giving up. One, two more points to the other side. So I think it just comes down to trusting our training and executing when the time's right."

(Texas has one of the best home court advantages is the country, how are you going to deal with that?) Coach Dani Busboom Kelly "Well, one thing that's great is Western had their best crowd ever and it was as loud as any volleyball match I've been a part of. So we at least have some experience with that against a big crowd and they were booing us and they were pretty hostile at Western and we played great. We've been telling players Gregory's pretty special and it's known to be one of the best volleyball arenas in the country and the crowd's right on top of you. I think we just need to embrace that and let that fuel the fire, gain some momentum and some confidence just from playing in front of a big crowd and also just playing where volleyball means a lot to the school and the city. It's an honor and it's rewarding for what we have done up until this point."

(They say more experienced teams tend to do better. But you said that that's probably an advantage that they don't really know how good Texas is just. Why do you see that as so much as an advantage?) Coach Dani Busboom Kelly "I don't know if it's a huge advantage but I think it is something that we can use as motivation as a little extra twist to what can give us a mental edge. I just think we've had to grow so much this year and overcome a lot and fight together as a group. When you're a senior lead team maybe you're not putting challenges and other people don't need to figure it out. This year, everybody's had to figure out their roles and make changes on the fly and I think that's an advantage in the tournament because everybody's good. People are going to be playing their best. There's going to be changes that need to be made very quickly, and we've had experience all year with that."

(Who among your teammates is on a hot streak right now and who might surprise Texas?)
Tori Dilfer - "Aiko (Jones). Definitely. She's obviously our most physical player and somebody that is so consistent throughout our long matches. She obviously showed that in our first couple matches in the tournament and throughout the year. I really think our pin hitters are going to surprise some people, I think, high flying Claire (Chaussee) just couldn't surprise, a walk sometimes she doesn't, it's a little bit different when she gets up. She's not very big but she flies and she sees the court really well. Then Amber (Stivrins) obviously does a really good job of, we say chopping it around giving them the tour. She kind of can hit everything. I think that's a really big advantage because she's not going to be scared that, oh her favorite shots taken away by the block. I don't have anywhere to go. She's going to find a way to still get some kills but honestly I feel really confident in anybody that's going to be on the court right now. Obviously our middles are doing really well too and our backcourt."

Aiko Jones - "I agree. I think that we all, since we're so inexperienced have so much room to grow and that anyone could step up more than we already have at any moment. I think anyone could surprise anyone, us included, but I do think that we all have the potential to wow some people."

(What would you say are the keys to beating Texas.) Coach Busboom Kelly - "We haven't talked much about Texas yet so we're kind of getting into that today and tomorrow. We've touched a little bit on playing clean, and winning with ball control, so we have to be the best passing and serving team in the gym. Not getting rattled by their monster plays. They don't have any weaknesses, so I can't really say we're going to expose this or that, because they don't. We're going to have to rise to the occasion and and trust our training in long matches."

(What are the strengths of your team?) Tori Dilfer - "Our biggest strength is our team just that we come together, play together every point with each other and for each other. We're definitely playing like that more than ever right now. So that's a big strength but I also think that we've shown throughout matches this year that our ball control has won us some matches and then our block is one of the matches and then our offense has. Whatever is working that day is kind of what we build off of and then everything else seems to come around it and just get a little bit better every point. When that happens, it puts the other pretty good. "

Aiko Jones - "I would agree that our strength is in our team and the bond that we have off the court that translates into playing together on the court. When times get hard, the more we rely on each other, the better we play. I think the mentality to just leave it all in the court is what brings us to games."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last Meeting with Texas
Louisville outside hitter Lola Arslanbekova's season-high 29 kills were not enough as No. 9 Texas escaped with a 3-2 win over the No. 15 Cardinals on Oct. 5, 2012 at the KFC Yum! Center. Louisville fell 21-25, 25-18, 21-25, 26-24, 15-10. The Cards hit .201 but had had 9.5 blocks and 98 digs. Caitlin Welch had a career-high, match-high 37 digs. Middle blocker Gwen Rucker had 14 kills and match-high seven blocks. The Longhorns hit .229 and were led by Haley Eckerman's 27 kills and 23 digs.

Aiko Jones Named AVCA East All-Region
Rightside hitter Aiko Jones was named to the First Team East All-Region Team. She leads the Cardinals in points (418), kills (346) and is second in blocks (91). She has been the leading hitter in NCAA play in the first two rounds with 44 points in the first two matches.

Jones and Stevenson Named All-ACC
Redshirt freshman Aiko Jones was voted to the First Team All-ACC Squad with teammate Anna Stevenson making the Second Team. Jones is the leading point producer for the Cardinals with 418 which includes 346 kills, eight aces and 91 blocks. She had a career high 20 kills at Miami and tied that career high of 20 kills against Western Kentucky. She has been in double-digit kills in 19 matches. She is hitting .213 against Top 50-ranked teams. Stevenson, a transfer from Auburn, is second on the team in point production with 288 adding a team-high 135 blocks including a season-high 10 at Boston College.

Stivrins/Tillman Named ACC All-Freshmen
Amber Stivrins and Amaya Tillman, who earned the starting nod after the injury to Melanie McHenry, were voted to the ACC-All-Freshmen team. Stivrins hits .257 with 153 kills, 4 aces and 31 blocks. Amaya Tillman is hitting .178 with 113 kills, two aces and 89 blocks, including a career-high 13 versus No. 2 Pitt.

Purchasing link: https://texaslonghorns.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventList?groupCode=VB&linkID=tex-ath&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode=&RSRC=TXweb&RDAT=vb-mainTicketsNav

Ticket info:
All-Session
· Reserved: $26 (SOLD OUT)
· General admission, adult: $12
· General admission, UT student and youth: $6

Single-Session
· Reserved: $15 (SOLD OUT)
· General admission, adult: $8
· General admission, UT student and youth: $5

Cardinals Set to Face No. 2 seeded Texas in NCAA First Round

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Claire Chaussee

Tori Dilfer

Aiko Jones

Melanie McHenry

Anna Stevenson

Amber Stivrins

Amaya Tillman

University of Louisville Athletics