No. 11 Cardinals Head to Boston College For Road Opener

Friday, October 2

Chestnut Hill, MA

7:30 p.m.

University of Louisville

Boston College

Photo by: Carl Schmid | Louisville Athletics

No. 11 Cardinals Head to Boston College For Road Opener

October 01, 2020 | Women's Volleyball

2020 VB Match Notes for Boston College

UofL will play the Eagles twice in Boston this weekend.

By: Nancy Worley

The No. 11-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team is heading to Boston College for two matches this weekend. The Cardinals will play the Eagles on Friday, Oct. 2 and then again on Oct. 3 both at 7:30 p.m.

The University of Louisville volleyball team made its debut in the AVCA Top 15 Coaches poll at No. 11. The poll, which traditionally ranks the Top 25, was reduced to Top 15 because of the number of schools that chose to cancel or postpone their fall seasons. They dropped their first match with a 3-0 loss to the Irish. The second match with the Irish was postponed due to CoVID-19 issues. Aiko Jones led the Cards with 13 kills while setter Tori Dilfer added a team-high 37 assists, but it was not enough as Notre Dame topped the Cardinals 27-25, 25-22, and 26-24 last Friday at the L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. Louisville hit .181 with seven blocks in the season and ACC opener. Anna Stevenson and Claire Chaussee tallied 12 and 10 kills, respectively, with Alexis Hamilton leading the team with 23 digs.

About the Eagles
Boston College predicted to finish eighth in the 15-team league in the ACC Coaches Preseason Poll. A year ago, the Eagles posted a 20-12 record and 11-7 mark in the ACC, good enough for seventh place; all program-bests. BC and third-year head coach Jason Kennedy are fresh off the first 20-win season in program history that saw the Eagles reach their first postseason with a 20-12 overall and 11-7 ACC record. Senior middle blocker Amaka Chukwujekwu was selected to the Preseason All-ACC Team as voted on by the league's coaches. Last season, Chukwujekwu became BC's first All-ACC honoree since 2015 as a Second Team pick.

Last Meeting with Boston College
Aiko Jones had 18 kills , three aces and four blocks it was not enough as the Cards fell 3-2 to Boston College in 2019. The Cardinals hit .267 with 11 aces, 15 blocks and 60 digs. Claire Chaussee had 11 kills and three blocks. The Eagles were paced by Amaka Chukwujekwu's 14 kills and six blocks.

Recruiting Class Ranked No. 17
The Cards' recruiting class for the Class of 2020 has been ranked No. 17 by PrepVolleyball.com. The Cardinals signed Ayden Bartlett, 5-8 DS/Libero, Leavenworth (Kansas); Anna DeBeer, 5-11 OH, Assumption (Louisville, Kentucky); Phekran "PK" Kong, 6-3 MB, Washington (Sioux Falls, South Dakota); Ceci Rush, 5-6 DS/Libero, Providence (Clarksville, Indiana); Brooke Smith, 6-2 OH, Leo (Indiana).

Aiko Jones Named AVCA East All-Region
Rightside hitter Aiko Jones was named to the 2019 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.

Six Named to All-ACC Academic Team
The University of Louisville volleyball team placed six players on the 36-member 2019 All-ACC Academic Volleyball Team:
Victoria Dilfer, Louisville, Jr., Marketing
Alexis Hamilton, Louisville, So., Human Performance
Aiko Jones, Louisville, So., Biology
Melanie McHenry, Louisville, Sr., Early Education
Anna Stevenson, Louisville, Jr., Sport Administration
Amaya Tillman, Louisville, Fr., Sport Administration

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.

Tillman Named ACC All-Freshmen
Amaya Tillman, who earned the starting nod after the injury to Melanie McHenry, were voted to the ACC-All-Freshmen team. Amaya Tillman hit .178 with 113 kills, two aces and 89 blocks, including a career-high 13 versus No. 2 Pitt.

Oh, So Very Young
The Cards have six sophomores and five freshmen on their 18 player roster.

2020 ACC Preseason Coaches Poll
1.) Pitt (192 points, 11 first-place votes)
2.) Louisville (175 points, two first-place votes)
3.) Georgia Tech (172 points, two first-place votes)
4.) Notre Dame (158 points)
5.) Florida State (145 points)
6.) Syracuse (126 points)
7.) North Carolina (121 points)
T8. Boston College (89 points)
T8. Miami (89 points)
10.) Duke (82 points)
11.) NC State (70 points)
12.) Clemson (68 points)
13.) Virginia (42 points)
14.) Wake Forest (28 points)
15.) Virginia Tech (18 points)

Home Sweet Home
The Cards were 13-2 in in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena in 2019 They were 10-3 in 2018 overall and 7-2 in ACC play at home. (6-2 in Cardinal Arena and 1-0 at Sacred Heart Academy where the Notre Dame match was relocated after a power outage affected the Arena.)

Home Quiet Home
The Cards are playing before no more than 150 fans from their pass list due to COVID restrictions put in place on both the city and state levels.

Conference Openers
UofL is 4-3 in ACC Opening matches.
UofL was 1-0 in AAC Opening matches.
UofL was 8-0 in Big East Opening matches.
UofL was 9-1 in Conference USA Opening matches.
Since 1995, UofL is 19-4 in conference openers.

Fresh Faces
For 18 of the past 19 years, the Cardinals have had a freshman in their starting line-up. Below is a look at Cardinals who have started as a freshman during this stretch.
2020- Anna DeBeer
2019 - Aiko Jones, Shannon Shields, Alexa Hendricks, Amaya Tillman, Amber Stivrins
2018 - Emily Scott /Claire Chaussee
2017 - Alexis Hamilton
2016 - Melanie McHenry
2015 - Molly Sauer, Aniah Philo
2014 - Tess Clark, Maggie DeJong
2013 - Maya McClendon
2012 - Haley Pouliezos
2011 - No freshmen on roster
2010- Emily Juhl
2009 - Lola Arslanbekova
2008 - Gwen Rucker and Renee Tomko
2007 - Lindsey Mango
2006 - Samantha Dabbs and Justine Landi
2005 - Nicole Bateman and Kristie Wetterer
2004 - Elena Pilnikova
2003 - Ana Yartseva
2002 - Jennifer Craven and Lena Ustymenko

It's In their Genes
The athletic gene runs strong in the Cardinal family, past and present. Of the current Cardinals: Tori Dilfer's dad, Trent, played football at Fresno State and in the NFL for 14 years, her mother, Cassandra, swam at Fresno State and her sister, Madeleine, played indoor volleyball at Notre Dame and Pepperdine and finished career on the beach volleyball team at Pepperdine, grandfather, Frank Lynch, played football and ran track and field at Cal and her other grandfather, John Franzman, played baseball at Arizona. For the Former Cardinals: Jasmine Bennett's dad, Winston, played basketball at Kentucky where he scored 1,399 career points.Emily Juhl's great grandfather, Eddie Eagan, is the only American to win Olympic medals in both the summer and winter games in different sports (boxing and bobsledding). All-AAC middle blocker, Randi Ewing, is the daughter of NBA All-Star Patrick Ewing and the sister of Patrick Ewing, Jr., the Big East Conference Sixth Man of the Year for Georgetown in 2008. Laura Blab is the daughter of Indiana Hoosier hoops great Ewe Blab.