No. 5 Cardinals Open ACC Slate Hosting Miami and FSU

This Week in Cardinal Volleyball
The No. 5 University of Louisville volleyball team kicks of Atlantic Coast Conference play this weekend with back-to-back home matches, taking on Miami on Friday, Sep. 24 at 7:00 pm and Florida State on Sunday, Sep. 26 at 1:00 pm at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.

Louisville vs. Miami
Louisville and Miami have clashed 13 times dating back to 1996. The Cardinals hold a 10-3 advantage after winning the most recent matchup 301 on April 1, 2021. This season, the Hurricanes are off to a 9-1 start as they head into conference play. Miami enters Friday's match off a 3-0 sweep of Florida Gulf Coast and a 2-1 finish at the Sunshine State Classic. Led by head coach Keno Gandara in his ninth season, the Canes have made five NCAA appearances in his tenure including three straight in his first three seasons. Miami's offense is led by redshirt-sophomore outside hitter Angela Grieve who has totaled 108 kills to lead the team in its first 10 matches. Junior middle blocker Janice Leao has contributed 88 kills while leading the team with 34 blocks and fellow junior setter Savannah Vach has tallied 314 assists. Senior defensive specialist Priscilla Hernandez has recorded 131 digs.

Louisville vs. Florida State
Louisville and Florida State have met 23 times in series history, with FSU leading 14-9. In the last meeting between the two teams on March 20, 2021, the Cardinals came away with a 3-1 win. This season, the Seminoles are 7-2 heading into ACC play. Florida State enters Sunday's matchup after a 3-1 upset road win over No. 14 Florida. With head coach Chris Poole entering in his 14th season at the helm, the Seminoles reached 11 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2009-2019 and have won three ACC Championships. FSU is led by redshirt juniors Morgan Chacon and Lily Tessier and junior Emma Clothier. Chacon ranks first on the team with 81 kills, adding 94 digs and 11 aces with Tessier tallying 294 assists and 14 blocks. Clothier leads the team with 31 blocks and 17 aces.

Catching Up With The Cards
For the first time this season, the Cardinals did not move up in the AVCA Poll but they remain No. 5 in the country and are one of 9 undefeated teams left in Division I. Touting a 10-0 record, Louisville enters this weekend's matchups fresh off a 25-17, 25-20, 25-18 sweep at No. 6 Nebraska. The Cards swept No. 6 Purdue in Cincinnati and topped No. 8 Kentucky at home in a hard fought 3-2 win for three top-10 wins in eight days. Louisville's offense features four players with 75-plus kills, with Anna Stevenson and Anna DeBeer tied for the team lead with 88 kills each. Stevenson boasts a .456 hitting percentage with six aces and 37 blocks. DeBeer is hitting .306 with 73 digs and three aces. Amaya Tillman leads the team with 57 blocks, adding 64 kills on a .424 hitting percentage. Aiko Jones is contributing 76 kills with a team leading 22 aces and ranks second with 52 blocks. Rounding out the Cardinals starting six, Tori Dilfer has tallied 351 assists with six aces and 61 digs and Elena Scott leads the team with 127 digs, adding seven aces.

This Team Ranks!
Louisville is third in the country and first in the ACC with 3.26 blocks per set, sixth in the country and second in the ACC with a .309 hitting percentage, 10th in the country and first in the ACC in opponent hitting percentage with .126 and fourth in the ACC with 111 team total blocks.

Ranking the Cards
Aiko Jones- 1st in ACC, 7th in NCAA with 0.65 aces/set; 4th in ACC, 9th in NCAA with 1.53 blocks/set; 1st in ACC with 22 aces, 6th in ACC with 52 total blocks
Tori Dilfer- 5th in ACC with 10.32 assists per set; 4th in ACC with 351 total assists
Amaya Tillman- 1st in ACC, 2nd in NCAA with 1.84 blocks per set; 3rd in ACC with .424 hitting percentage; 2nd in ACC with 57 total blocks
Anna Stevenson- 1st in ACC, 8th in NCAA with .456 hitting percentage

Beating Ranked Teams
The Cards beat three Top Ten teams in 9 days with #6 Purdue , #8 Kentucky and #6 Nebraska all falling to the Cards. It is the first time in program history that the Cards have knocked off three Top 10 teams in one year. The highest ranked team the Cards have beaten was #2 Texas in 2019. The last time UofL beat three ranked teams in one season was 2003 (#13 UCLA, #6 Minnesota, #22 Notre Dame)

Stevenson and Scott Sweep ACC Honors
Anna Stevenson was named ACC Player of the Week after she led the Cardinals to two top-10 victories last week, topping 2020 NCAA Champion and No. 8 Kentucky (3-2) as well as a road sweep of No. 6 Nebraska. The graduate student from Laurens, South Carolina, posted 11 kills with a .588 hitting percentage and six blocks in the win at Nebraska. In total, Stevenson racked up 29.5 points, 23 kills, 10 blocks, five digs and an assist with a .439 hitting percentage across the two matches.

For the latest information on Louisville volleyball, visit GoCards.com, or follow the team's Twitter account at @UofLVolleyball or on Facebook at facebook.com/UofLVolleyball.

Elena Scott earned ACC Freshman of the Week. A rookie from Louisville, Scott had the match high in digs in both of last week's contests. The freshman libero recorded 18 digs against Kentucky and followed that performance with a 14-dig effort against Nebraska. Scott outdueled Nebraska's Lexi Rodriguez, the No. 1 libero/defensive specialist in the 2021 recruiting class, with a 14-6 advantage in the match and averaged 4.67 digs per set.

The House Was PACKED!
The Cards set a new attendance of 1,258 for the L&N Federal Credit Union Arena versus Kentucky (9/15/21). The previous record for L&N Arena was 1,253 vs. Texas. (NCAA 11/30/94). The biggest home crowd came from when the Cardinals competed in the KFC Yum! Center downtown, when (no surprise) 5,862 fans came to watch the Cards vs. Kentucky (9/9/14).

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Players Mentioned

Anna DeBeer

Tori Dilfer

Aiko Jones

Elena Scott

Anna Stevenson

Amaya Tillman

University of Louisville Athletics