No. 5 Cardinals Set to Host Rival Kentucky

This Week in Cardinal Volleyball

No. 5 University of Louisville volleyball returns home to face defending national champion No. 8 Kentucky in the Battle of the Bluegrass on Wednesday, Sept. 15 at 7 pm E.T. at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.

Louisville and Kentucky have met 56 times in their rivalry, dating back to 1976, with UK leading the series 31-25. The last meeting on Sep. 20, 2019, resulted in a 3-0 Kentucky win. This season, the Wildcats are off to a 6-2 start and enter the match coming off a 3-0 sweep of Marquette. With Craig Skinner in his 17th season at the helm, Kentucky won the NCAA national championship last year and has made 16 straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Sophomore outside hitter Madi Skinner, senior outside hitter Alli Stumler and junior middle blocker Azhani Tealer were all tabbed SEC All-Preseason Team. Skinner leads the team with 98 kills, adding five aces and 17 blocks. Stumler adds 79 kills on the year and is tied for the team lead with eight aces while adding 12 blocks. Tealer has tallied 53 kills while hitting .417 with five aces and a team leading 35 blocks.

The Cardinals continued their hot start, continuing to move up in the national rankings to weigh in at No. 5 in the country with an 8-0 record. Louisville enters the match after a tournament sweep at Xavier over the weekend, including a 25-19, 25-16, 25-21 upset win over No. 6 Purdue. Louisville's offense features five attackers with at least 50 kills, including three with more than 60. Anna Stevenson leads the team with 65 kills, hitting .462 with six aces and 27 blocks. Aiko Jones adds 62 kills and leads the team with 17 aces. Amaya Tillman paces the Cards with 42 blocks while contributing 51 kills while hitting .473. Rounding out the starting six, Anna DeBeer is hitting .373 with 64 kills, Tori Dilfer has tallied 273 assists with six aces and Elena Scott has a team-high 95 digs. As a team, Louisville's 3.21 blocks per set is tied for first in the country while its .335 hitting percentage ranks second.

George/Arslanbekova key in 2012 W over UK
On August 29, 2012, Lola Arslanbekova had a match-high 20 kills and 16 digs to lead the University of Louisville to a 3-1 upset win over instate rival #10 Kentucky Wednesday night before a record crowd of 5,007 in the KFC Yum! Center. Then freshman setter Katie George came off the bench to notch 22 assists.

Sideout Stat is Far out
UofL sided out 100% in set 3 with Xavier. This means that every time we lost the point, XU got the serve, but the Cards got the serve back the very next point for the entirety of set 3.

Busboom Kelly Against the Field
Kentucky 0-3
Nebraska 0-0

Elena Scott Named ACC Freshman of the Week
Louisville libero Elena Scott won the Freshman of the Week honors after helping the Cards to wins over No. 6 Purdue and Xavier. She had 16 digs versus Purdue and 13 versus Xavier.

Stevenson, Dilfer, Tillman Named to All-Cardinal Invitational
Tori Dilfer and Amaya Tillman were named to the All-Cardinal Invitational Team. Anna Stevenson was named MVP of the Tournament. She had a total of 27 kills and 13 blocks over the three matches.

Cardinals Reach No. 5 in AVCA Poll
UofL moved up to No. 5 in the AVCA poll on Sept. 13 and are one of 16 undefeated teams in Div. I.

And They're Offfffff
The 8-0 start is the best since 2005, when the Cards popped out to a 20-0 start.

Get the Brooms!
The Cards had ten 3-0 wins last season and have seven in 2021. UofL has swept its last five matches, the most since 2015, when they ran off seven straight 3-0 sweeps from Oct. 4-24. Uof L had ten 3-0 sweeps in 2020.

Ranking History
The No. 5 ranking is the highest ever in program history. The previous best was ranking was No. 6 on Oct. 12, 2020 and for five weeks in 2005. Louisville has been ranked nine times in the final poll and 143 weeks total. The highest final poll was No. 11 in 2005, 2020.

Oh Captains, my Captains
Tori Dilfer, Aiko Jones and Amaya Tillman were voted 2021 Team Captains.

QUICK PEEK AT THE CARDS

The 8-0 start is the best since 2005, when the Cards popped out to a 20-0 start.
Louisville trails in the series record 25-31. The last meeting in 2019 was a 3-0 win for UK. The last meeting in the Ville was a 3-0 win for UK. The Cats enter on a seven-match winning streak.
The Cardinal's hit .469 for the match against Missouri, the highest single match hitting percentage mark in Division I this year.
The Cardinals were picked second in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll. With Anna DeBeer, Aiko Jones, Tori Dilfer and Amaya Tillman being named Preseason All-ACC
In 2020, the Cardinals reached their sixth Sweet Sixteen and second in the last two years.
The Cardinals snapped Pitt's home match winning streak at 37 (dating back to 2017) as their final match in the fall of 2020. The win vaulted UofL into the No. 5 ranking spot.
The Cardinals were ranked as high as No. 1 in blocking as a team in 2020.
The Cardinals advanced to the Sweet Sixteen when Claire Chaussee came off the bench to notch a career-high 21 kills to beat San Diego 3-1.
The Cards had ten 3-0 wins last season and have seven in 2021. UofL has swept its last five matches, the most since 2015, when they ran off seven straight3-0 sweeps from Oct. 4-24.

How to Watch the Cardinals
Eric Frede and Katie George will be at the mics for the call

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Players Mentioned

Claire Chaussee

Anna DeBeer

Tori Dilfer

Aiko Jones

Elena Scott

Anna Stevenson

Amaya Tillman

University of Louisville Athletics