No. 4 Cardinals Set to Host Pitt for Senior Day

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The No. 4-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team hosts No. 7-ranked Pittsburgh for an opportunity to improve its chances at a share of the ACC Championship title on Friday at 6 p.m. ET.

Six members of the program will be recognized on the court after the match. Outside hitter Claire Chaussee, defensive specialist Alexa Hendricks, setter Raquel Lazaro, middle blocker Amaya Tillman, outside hitter Nena Mbonu, and manager Paul Harvey will be honored.

About the Cards
Louisville moves to 24-2 on the season and 15-1 in ACC play with two matches left in regular season after two wins this weekend. The Cardinals reverse-swept No. ?13Georgia Tech on Friday night 17-25, 17-25, 25-14, 25-19, and 15-11 and swept North Carolina on Sunday 25-22, 25-11, and 25-18. Claire Chaussee had another career-high performance against Georgia Tech with 27 kills hitting .317 and added 10 digs to make it her fourth double-double of the season. Chaussee recorded 10 kills, one ace, four blocks, and four digs in the win against UNC. Aiko Jones added 21 kills, one ace, three blocks, and nine digs to the mix over the weekend. Amaya Tillman notched 11 kills, three blocks, and three digs against Georgia Tech and seven kills hitting .545, five blocks, and two digs against UNC. Raquel Lazaro recorded a career-high in assets against Georgia Tech with 57 and added two blocks and 9 digs and had 29 assists, two kills, two blocks, and 9 digs against UNC. Elena Scott had 35 digs and seven assists on the weekend.

About the Panthers
Pittsburgh won their lone match over the weekend with a 3-0 win against Syracuse 25-14, 25-18, and 25-15 on Friday night. The Panthers moved to 25-2 on the season and 15-0 in ACC play. Julianna Dalton led the team with eight kills hitting .467. Dalton has 217 kills, 16 aces, 171 digs, and 55 blocks on the season. Courtney Buzzerio, a 6-5 right side, notched seven kills, one ace, one block, and one dig and leads the team with 339 kills, 25 aces, 68 blocks, and 77 digs on the season. Valeria Vazquez Gomez also had seven kills, one ace, and five digs. Vazquez Gomez has 268 kills, 16 aces, 206 digs, and 34 blocks through the season. Serena Gray leads the team in blocks on the season with 103. Against Syracuse, Gray recorded six kills hitting .857, one block, and three digs.

Chaussee Joins 1,000 Kill Club
Claire Chaussee joined the 1,000 Career Kill Club after her first kill in the match against Wake Forest.

Jones Joins 1,000 Kill Club
Aiko Jones joined the 1,000 Career Kill Club after her sixth kill in the match against North Carolina.

ACC Winning Streak Snapped
Louisville had the nation's second-longest winning streak against conference opponents. The Cardinals won 38 consecutive league matches before losing to Pitt on Oct. 23, 2022. The last team to beat Louisville was Pitt ... two years to the day ... on Oct. 23, 2020. WKU has the longest streak in the nation at 55 straight in CUSA.

Mbonu to the Rescue
Nena Mbonu stepped in for the injured Anna DeBeer and got her first start of the season against Miami and hit .636 with 8 kills against the Hurricanes. She is currently hitting .221 with 130 kills and 20 blocks in her sixteenth match as a starter this year.

Deuce Games
In 2022, UofL has had 10 sets go "overtime" with a 8-2 mark in deuce games. In 2021, UofL had 11 deuce sets with an 8-3 mark in deuce games.

Conference Openers
UofL is 6-3 in ACC Opening matches.
UofL was 1-0 in AAC Opening matches.
UofL was 8-0 in Big East Opening matches.
UofL was 9-1 in Conference USA Opening matches.
Since 1995, UofL is 23-4 in conference openers.

Team Rankings
As a team, Louisville is ranked first in the ACC in hitting percentage (.286) and second in opponent hitting percentage (.139), first in blocks (166 total) and blocks per set (2.96), fourth in service aces per set (1.50), assists per set (12.07), and kills per set (13.34).

Cardinals in the ACC Rankings
Aiko Jones – 5th in service aces with 0.38 aces/set
Raquel Lazaro – 3rd in assists with 10.17 assists/set
Amaya Tillman – 1st in blocks with 1.61 blocks/set
Elena Scott – 7th in digs with 3.71 digs/set
Claire Chaussee – 3rd in kills with 4.27 kills/set, 6th in points with 4.54 pts/set
Phekran Kong – 3rd in blocks with 1.30 blocks/set

NCAA Team Rankings
Hitting Percentage: No. 7 (.290)
Blocks/Set: No. 3 (2.97)
Opp. Hitting Percentage: No. 9 (.149)

NCAA Individual Rankings
Amaya Tillman – No. 7 in blocks/set (1.48)

Reloading from Historic 2021 Run
In 2022, statistically, the Cardinals return:
Kills: 74%
Service Aces: 72%
Points: 72%
Digs: 83%
Blocks: 62%

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Claire Chaussee

Anna DeBeer

Alexa Hendricks

Aiko Jones

Phekran Kong

Raquel Lazaro

Nena Mbonu

Elena Scott

Amaya Tillman

University of Louisville Athletics