No. 2 Cardinals Head to NC State and UNC

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – No. 2 University of Louisville volleyball concludes its three-match road trip with stops in Raleigh and Chapel Hill as the Cardinals take on NC State on Friday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. and North Carolina on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m.

Louisville vs. NC State
The Cards and Wolfpack have met eight times in series history with Louisville holding a 7-1 series lead and a four-match win streak. The last meeting between the two teams came on March 28, 2021, resulting in a 26-24, 25-22, 25-13 sweep for UofL. This season, NC State is 13-10 overall and 7-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Led by head coach Luka Slabe in his first season, the Wolfpack offense features four players with 150-plus kills, including two with more than 280. Melissa Evans leads the team with 300 kills and is hitting .257 with 36 blocks and 106 digs. Jade Parchment is second on the team with 283 kills and has recorded 177 digs, 22 blocks and 10 aces. Rounding out the Wolfpack's top hitters, Taylor Rowland has 196 kills on the season with 150 digs and 27 blocks.

Louisville vs. North Carolina
Louisville and North Carolina have met 15 times in series history with North Carolina holding an 8-7 lead in the series with UofL on four-match win streak. The last meeting between the two schools came on April 2, 2021, resulting in a 25-15, 28-26, 25-18 sweep for the Cardinals. This season, the Tar Heels are off to an 18-5 start and are in 7-5 in conference play. Led by longtime head coach Joe Sagula (32^nd season), UNC has amassed seven ACC titles and 14 NCAA Tournament appearances. The Tar Heels offense features four players with 140-plus kills and is led by Nia Robinson, who has tallied 308 kills and is hitting .286 with 21 blocks and 72 digs. Mabrey Shaffmaster is second on the team with 281 kills and has recorded 184 digs and 26 blocks. Rounding out the Tar Heels top hitters, Kaya Merkler has tallied 171 kills and is hitting .393 with a team-high 76 blocks.

About the Cards
The Cardinals remain No. 2 in the country in the most recent AVCA poll, receiving eight first place votes after continuing their undefeated season with a 3-1 win over Duke in Durham. Louisville was ranked No. 1 by the Division 1 Women's Volleyball Committee as it revealed its first Top 10 ranking of the season. UofL is 21-0 overall this season and 11-0 in the ACC. Louisville's offense features five players with 140-plus kills, led by Anna DeBeer with 202 on the season. DeBeer is hitting .266 with 157 digs, 23 blocks and 13 aces. Anna Stevenson is second on the team with 193 kills and 84 blocks and is hitting a blistering .452. Claire Chaussee has recorded 170 kills this season and is hitting .250 with 85 digs and 11 blocks. Aiko Jones has a team-high 29 aces and has tallied 167 kills and is hitting .264 with 83 blocks. Amaya Tillman has racked up a team-high 97 blocks and has 145 kills and is hitting .390. Rounding out the Cardinals' starters, Tori Dilfer leads the team with 768 assists and has 19 aces and 32 blocks with Elena Scott recording a team-high 260 digs with 18 aces.

Team Rankings
As a team, Louisville is second in the ACC in aces per set (1.61), seventh in the ACC in assists per set (12.34), first in the ACC and sixth in the nation in blocks per set (2.85), first in the ACC and fourth in the nation in hitting percentage (.309), fourth in the ACC in kills per set (13.86), first in the ACC and seventh in the nation in opponent hitting percentage (.140), eight in the ACC in team service aces (114) and fourth in the ACC in team total blocks (202).

Ranking the Cards
Aiko Jones- 3^rd in ACC with .41 aces per set; 6^th in ACC with 1.17 blocks per set; 4^th in ACC with 29 service aces
Tori Dilfer- 3^rd in ACC with 10.82 assists per set; 5^th in ACC with 768 total assists
Amaya Tillman- 2^nd in ACC, 7^th in NCAA with 1.43 blocks per set; 4^th in ACC with .390 hitting percentage; 3^rd in ACC with 97 total blocks
Anna Stevenson- 5^th in ACC with 1.22 blocks per set; 1^st in ACC, 5^th in NCAA with .452 hitting percentage; 7^th in ACC with 84 total blocks
Anna DeBeer- 14^th in ACC with 3.21 kills per set
Elena Scott- 10^th in ACC with 260 total digs

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Players Mentioned

Claire Chaussee

Anna DeBeer

Tori Dilfer

Aiko Jones

Elena Scott

Anna Stevenson

Amaya Tillman

University of Louisville Athletics