No. 4 Cardinals Set to Host NCAA Regional

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The No. 2 overall seed and the No. 4-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team hosts its third NCAA Sweet 16 in program history, facing No. 4 seeded Baylor on Thursday afternoon 30 minutes following the first match at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cardinals host the Sweet 16 matchup between No. 3 seeded Oregon and No. 2 seeded Nebraska at the KFC Yum! Center on Thursday at 11:00 a.m.

How We Got Here
The Cards, who have yet to drop a set through the first two matches of the NCAA Tournament, notched their 20^th sweep of the season and fifth straight against Purdue to move to a record of 28-2. UofL also swept the Samford Bulldogs.

A Look at the Competition
Baylor
No. 4 seed Baylor will make its fourth-straight NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance and seventh straight tournament appearance facing off against the Cardinals. The Bears reach the Sweet 16 after knocking off two Texas teams in a sweep of Stephen F. Austin in the first round and a five-set thriller over Rice in the second round of the Tournament. The Bears have had 20+ wins in each of the seven seasons led by head coach Ryan McGuyre. Baylor brings a balanced offense with five players recording over 200 kills. Lauren Harrison, a senior outside, leads the team with 340 kills on the season with 185 digs and 50 blocks. Harrison's notched 19 kills and 10 digs in the second round match against Rice. Setter Averi Carlson commanded the offense and was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year as she has recorded 1232 assists, 30 aces, 220 digs, and 30 blocks. Carlson was named to the All-Big 12 First team along with Harrison, Kara McGhee, and Mallory Talbert. McGhee is a 6-5 middle blocker who leads the Big-12 in blocks per set (1.51) and total blocks (172). The senior adds 278 kills hitting .369, three aces, and 39 digs. Talbert is a fifth-year middle blocker and ranks in the top-5 in the Big-12 for hitting percentage. Talbert has 221 kills hitting .399, 25 aces, 67 digs, and 98 blocks.

Oregon
No. 3 seed Oregon heads to its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Matt Ulmer who is in his sixth season. The Ducks (25-5, 17-3 Pac-12) reach the Sweet 16 after a sweep of Loyola Marymount in the first round and a 3-1 win against Arkansas in the second round. The wins completed a perfect season at home and tied its longest winning streak in program history with 15 straight wins.

Nebraska
No. 2 seed Nebraska advances to an NCAA Regional for the 38^th time in program history and for the 28^th time in the past 29 seasons. The Huskers' 38 trips to an NCAA Regional are the most in NCAA history. Nebraska (26-5, 16-4 Big Ten) reaches the Sweet 16 with a sweep of Delaware State in the first round and a 3-1 win over Kansas in the second round.

About the Cards
The No. 1-seeded Cardinals advance to the Sweet 16 after back-to-back sweeps in the opening rounds against Samford and Purdue. UofL has moved to 28-2 (17-1 ACC) record this season and are making their fourth consecutive trip to the Sweet 16 and eighth in program history while hosting the NCAA Regional for the second straight season. The Cardinals are led by the ACC Player of the Year Claire Chaussee, who has 391 kills hitting .307, 16 aces, 176 digs, and 39 blocks on the season. Amaya Tillman, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, leads the conference with 146 blocks (1.49 blocks/set) and adds 225 kills hitting .361, 18 aces, and 36 digs. The ACC Setter of the Year Raquel Lazaro has 992 assists, 52 kills, 20 aces, 217 digs, and 84 blocks on the season. Chaussee, Tillman, and Lazaro were named to the First Team All-ACC, along with opposite Aiko Jones and libero Elena Scott. Jones adds 260 kills, a team-high 42 aces, 98 digs, and 96 blocks. Scott leads the team with 404 digs and has 113 assists and 27 aces. The Cardinals are led by the ACC Coach of the Year Dani Busboom Kelly in her sixth season at the helm.

Team Rankings
As a team, Louisville is ranked first in the ACC in hitting percentage (.293) and opponent hitting percentage (.145), first in blocks (310 total) and blocks per set (3.01), second in service aces per set (1.68), and third in kills per set (13.10).

Cardinals in the ACC Rankings
Aiko Jones – 3rd in service aces with 0.41 aces/set
Anna DeBeer – 4th in service aces with 0.39 aces/set
Raquel Lazaro – 5th in assists with 10.02 assists/set
Amaya Tillman – 1st in blocks with 1.49 blocks/set, 4th in hitting % with 0.361
PK Kong – 2nd in blocks with 1.32 blocks/set
Elena Scott – 5th in digs with 3.92 digs/set
Claire Chaussee – 6th in kills with 3.80 kills/set, 7th in points with 4.16 pts/set
Phekran Kong – 3rd in blocks with 1.29 blocks/set

NCAA Team Rankings
Hitting Percentage: No. 8 (.293)
Blocks/Set: No. 3 (3.01)
Opp. Hitting Percentage: No. 5 (.145)

NCAA Individual Rankings
Amaya Tillman – No. 9 in blocks/set (1.49)

Cards in the Sweet 16
The Cardinals will be making their fourth straight and eighth overall appearance in program history in the Sweet 16 when they play No. 4 seeded Baylor on Thursday afternoon.

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Players Mentioned

Claire Chaussee

Anna DeBeer

Aiko Jones

Phekran Kong

Raquel Lazaro

Elena Scott

Amaya Tillman

University of Louisville Athletics