No. 1 Louisville Set to Host UIC in NCAA Opening Round

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The No. 1 overall seed and No. 1 ranked University of Louisville volleyball team is set to make its 30^th NCAA Tournament appearance, hosting Illinois Chicago, Ball State and Michigan for the first and second rounds of the tournament at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena Dec. 3-4. Louisville plays UIC Friday at 7 p.m. after Ball State takes on Michigan at 4 p.m.

How We Got Here
No. 1-ranked Louisville clinched its second consecutive ACC Volleyball Championship with a 3-1 win over No. 3 Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Nov. 24. The Cardinals finished the season 28-0, 18-0 in conference play for sole possession of the ACC Championship and earn the ACC's automatic qualification into the NCAA Tournament.

A Look at the Competition
Illinois Chicago
Illinois Chicago will make its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in program history and will face off against the Louisville Cardinals in the first round. The Flames (20-11, 13-3 Horizon) captured their first Horizon League Championship in program history on Nov. 21 after defeating Northern Kentucky 3-2 with Paola Santiago named Tournament MVP and All-Tournament Team along with teammates Martina Delucchi and Sohila Wafeek. UIC's offense features six players with 120-plus kills, highlighted by two with more than 400. Santiago leads all hitters with 459 kills on the season and is hitting .212 with 56 blocks, 310 digs and 34 aces. Delucchi is second on the team with 410 kills, hitting .209 with 49 blocks, 357 digs and a team-high 41 aces. Wafeek has tallied 1,033 assists on the year with 246 sigs, 20 blocks and 32 aces.

Ball State
Ball State will make its 10^th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its second in the last three years, facing off against Michigan in the first round. The Cardinals (29-3, 17-1 MAC) clinched their eighth Mid-American Conference Championship on Nov. 24 after defeating Bowling Green 3-2 in the title match with Natalie Risi named tournament MVP and All-Tournament Team along with teammates Megan Wielonski and Marie Plitt. Ball State's offense features six players with 110-plus kills, highlighted by two players with more than 340. Jaclyn Bulmahn leads the Cardinals with 355 kills and is hitting .223 with 33 blocks and 33 digs. Natalie Mitchem is second on the team with 343 kills, hitting .313 with 81 blocks. Wielonski has recorded 1,316 assists, adding 318 digs, 47 blocks and a team-high 54 aces.

Michigan
Michigan will make its 20^th NCAA tournament in program history, taking on Ball State in the first round. The Wolverines (18-11, 11-9 Big 10) received an at-large bid into the Tournament after finishing the season on a three-match win streak, including a 3-1 win over No. 23 Illinois on Nov. 24. Michigan's offense features five players with 130-plus kills, highlighted by two players with 370-plus on the year. Jess Mruzik leads the Wolverines with 376 kills and is hitting .258 with 266 digs, 48 blocks and 28 aces. Paige Jones is second on the team with 373 kills, hitting .223 with 182 digs, 40 blocks and 16 aces. Scottee Johnson is the leading setter with 1,021 assists, adding 278 digs, 27 blocks and 19 aces.

About the Cards
The No. 1 overall Cardinals are in the midst of the best season in program history, finishing the regular season with a program best 28-0 (18-0 ACC) record, including 20 sweeps while on their way to earning the program and ACC's first No.1 ranking in the AVCA poll and the program's first No. 1 see in the NCAA Tournament. Louisville's offense features five players with 180-plus kills, four of which are over 200. Anna DeBeer is the top hitter with 274 kills and is hitting .256 on the year with 215 digs, 37 blocks and 24 aces. Anna Stevenson is second on the team with 263 kills and 119 blocks and is hitting a red-hot .435. Claire Chaussee has recorded 242 kills this season and is hitting .278 with 102 digs and 19 blocks. Aiko Jones has a team-high 34 aces and has tallied 208 kills with a .252 hitting percentage and 110 blocks. Amaya Tillman has racked up a team-high 127 blocks and has 183 kills with a .377 hitting percentage. Rounding out the Cardinals' starters, Tori Dilfer leads the team with 1,014 assists while adding 167 digs, 23 aces and 45 blocks with Elena Scott recording a team-high 337 digs and 30 aces, second most on the team.

Team Rankings
As a team, Louisville is first in the ACC in aces per set (1.73), seventh in the ACC in assists per set (12.18), first in the ACC and fourth in the country in blocks per set (2.93), first in the ACC and fourth in the country in hitting percentage (.303), first in the ACC and eighth in the country in opponent hitting percentage (.143), second in the ACC in team service aces (164) and first in the ACC and 20^th in the country in team total blocks (278).

Ranking the Cards
Aiko Jones- 3^rd in ACC with .36 aces per set; 6^th in ACC with 1.16 blocks per set, 6^th in ACC with 110 total blocks
Tori Dilfer- 3^rd in ACC with 10.67 assists per set; 5^th in ACC with 1,014 total assists
Amaya Tillman- 3^rd in ACC, 12^th in NCAA with 1.38 blocks per set; 4^th in ACC with .377 hitting percentage; 3^rd in ACC with 127 total blocks
Anna Stevenson- 4^th in ACC with 1.28 blocks per set; 1^st in ACC, 7^th in NCAA with .435 hitting percentage; 4^th in ACC with 119 total blocks
Anna DeBeer- 14^th in CC with 3.15 kills per set
Elena Scott- 10^th in ACC with 337 total digs

Coach Dani Busboom Kelly On the NCAA Tournament
(On team motto Out Work, Out Prep, Out Team)
"We always say out work, that's a lot of the players job; they have to be great at practice, in the summer, in the weight room. Out prep is the coaches, we have to really prepare these guys to be great at matches. Out team is all of us as a group, and I think if you watch us play, we're really balanced, and we play with a lot of passion and that's what we mean when we talk about out team."

(On the team's mindset heading into the NCAA Tournament)
"We've done a really done a great job of just going one day at a time, one match at a time. I've been so impressed with our team of how mature they are and how poised they are in tough situations and just handling everything that's been new with us this year. Again, just really impressed with what they've been able to do and how consistent they've been."

(On the specifics of the team)
"The balance is key for us. We have different players that have won matches for us who have gone off in different games, so I think our balance makes us strong, and like I said, our maturity is one of the best I've ever coached. We have great leadership from top to bottom and it's just really been a fun, fun group to coach."

No. 1 Louisville Set to Host UIC in NCAA Opening Round

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Players Mentioned

Claire Chaussee

Anna DeBeer

Tori Dilfer

Aiko Jones

Elena Scott

Anna Stevenson

Amaya Tillman

University of Louisville Athletics