No. 3 Cardinals Sweep Syracuse

Sunday, October 10

LOUISVILLE, KY

1:00 p.m. ET

University of Louisville

16-0,6-0ACC

Syracuse

14-4,3-3ACC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Syracuse	24	24	18	0
Louisville	26	26	25	3

Anna Stevenson and Tori Dilfer celebrate a point against Syracuse

October 10, 2021 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Cards move to 16-0

By: Nancy Worley

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Anna DeBeer had 10 kills and hit .318 to lead No. 3 University of Louisville volleyball team to a 26-24, 26-24, 25-18 win over Syracuse Sunday afternoon in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.

Louisville (16-0, 6-0) had 36 kills, 37 digs, 10 blocks and three aces. Anna Stevenson was second on the team with nine kills and hit a team high .368 with five blocks. Claire Chaussee and Aiko Jones had six kills each with Jones adding five blocks and one ace. Amaya Tillman recorded five kills and five blocks while Tori Dilfer racked up 31 assists and Elena Scott tallied 17 digs and two aces.

Syracuse had 39 kills and hit .101 with four blocks and nine service errors. Polina Shemanova led the 'Cuse offense with 17 kills, two aces and one block with Elena Karakasi adding 30 assists. With the loss, the Orange move to 14-3, 3-2 in the ACC.

Set 1
The Cardinals found themselves down 5-2 early after Syracuse used a 3-0 run to start the set. The Orange continued to hold a lead as Louisville called its first timeout of the set down 10-5. The Cards surged out of the break, cutting the Syracuse lead down to one at 12-11 as the Orange called their first timeout of the set. The set remained tightly contested through the timeout as the two teams traded points back-and-forth. Louisville forced Syracuse to call its final timeout of the set after taking its first lead 17-16 off a big block from Aiko Jones and Amaya Tillman. The Cardinals found themselves trailing late, down 24-22 to the Orange as they called their final timeout of the set. Louisville once again came out of the timeout on fire, led by clutch serves from Ceci Rush, the Cardinals erased the two-point deficit and went on to win the first set 26-24.

Set 2
UofL kept its momentum to start the second set, using a three-point scoring run to take an early 5-2 lead. The Cards continued to push the pace, taking a 10-4 lead as they forced Syracuse to take its first timeout of the second set. Syracuse went on a 4-0 run out of its timeout to get back within two a 10-8, eventually coming all the way back to tie the set 12-12. The two teams continued to battle, trading points back-and-forth with neither team able to take a sizeable advantage. Louisville went on a late 3-0 run highlighted by a kill and block back-to-back from Anna Stevenson to take an 18-16 lead and force Syracuse to call its final timeout of the set. The Cardinals took two more points out of the break to cap off a 5-0 run for a late 20-17 lead. Louisville called its first timeout after two straight points from Syracuse cut the lead to two at 21-19. The Cards won the first point out of the break, but a 3-0 run from Syracuse tied the set 22-22 and forced Louisville to call its second and final timeout of the set. UofL would go on to win the set 26-24 for a 2-0 lead.

Set 3
Louisville jumped out to an early 6-1 lead using a 6-0 run as Syracuse was forced to use its first timeout. Elena Scott capped off the seven-point run with a second ace before the Orange halted the Cardinal's offense. Syracuse then used a three-point run of its own to cut the lead to three at 8-5. Louisville pushed its lead back up to five after Anna Stevenson and Tori Dilfer combined for a block and a kill by Anna DeBeer forced the Orange to call their second and final timeout of the set, down 11-5. The Cardinals scored four of the next five points out of the timeout as they extended their lead to eight at 16-8. UofL continued to control the set as the two teams went back-and-forth with Louisville holding on to a late 21-15 lead. The Cardinals would go on to complete the sweep with a 25-18 win.

With the win, Louisville owns a 16-0 record, 6-0 in the ACC. The Cardinals are now four wins away from tying the best start in program history of 20-0 in 2005. Up next, UofL goes on the road as they continue ACC play, taking on Virginia Tech on Friday, Oct. 15 at 6 pm in Blacksburg, Va. And Wake Forest on Sunday, Oct. 17 at 1 pm in Winston-Salem, N.C.