No. 4 Cardinals Set to Host the Louisville Invitational

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – No. 4-ranked University of Louisville volleyball will host No. 11-ranked Purdue, Xavier, and Lipscomb at the L&N Federal Credit Union Arena this weekend, Sept. 9-10, for the Louisville Invitational.

The Cardinals are coming off a split weekend after beating No. 12-ranked San Diego 3-0 and falling to No. 8-ranked Ohio State 1-4. They take on No. 11 Purdue on Friday, Sept. 9 at 7:00 p.m. ET. They will play the winner of Xavier and Lipscomb on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 7:00 p.m. ET. Lipscomb and Xavier will play Friday, Sept. 9 at 4:00 p.m. ET. (The arena will be cleared after that match.) On Saturday, Purdue will play either Lipscomb or Xavier at 4 p.m. ET.

Purdue vs. Louisville
Louisville and Purdue have played 15 times (2-13) with the most recent meeting occurring in 2021 with Louisville sweeping Purdue. Led by head coach Dave Shondell in his 20^th season, the Boilermakers are currently undefeated this season going 6-0 through the start of preseason. They finished the 2021 season 26-7 losing to Pitt in the fourth round of the NCAA Tournament. Purdue returns two key players in senior libero Maddie Schermerhorn and sophomore middle blocker Raven Colvin. Schermerhorn was named the B10 Defensive Player of the Week and leads the team with 101 digs on the season so far. Colvin was on the U21 US National Team this summer and currently has a team-high 30 blocks through the first six matches this season. Freshman outside hitter Ava Hudson has brought the heat for Purdue offensively with 96 kills hitting .315 through six matches. Hudson was named the B10 Freshman of the Week for the second consecutive week.

Xavier vs. Louisville
Louisville and Xavier have met 22 times throughout the years with Louisville winning all matchups. The Musketeers are 5-1 to start the 2022 season led by Coach Christy Pfeffenberger in her seventh season. Xavier is led by a veteran group of players in senior setter/right side Carrigan O'Reilly, senior outside Maryann O'Toole, and graduate middle blocker Angel Robinson. O'Reily was named to the 2022 Buffalo All-Tournament team and has recorded 49 kills, 149 assists, 68 digs, and 12 blocks through the season. A Louisville native, O'Toole has 31 kills, 21 digs, and four blocks in the first six matches. Robinson, a transfer from Virginia Tech has a team-high 13 blocks and has 31 kills hitting .343.

Lipscomb vs. Louisville
Louisville and Lipscomb have met only four times with Louisville leading 3-1. The Cardinals won the last match up 3-1 in 2018. Led by Brandon Rosenthal in his 20^th season, Lipscomb is 2-4 this season. Lipscomb is a young team with many freshmen seeing the court. Freshman Jada DiVita, a 6-0 outside, has 49 kills through the start of the season and sophomore Addi Pelham, a 6-1 right side, also has 49 kills and 17 blocks. The Bisons also return 6-2 middle blocker Meg Mersman, a 2021 ASUN second-team All-Conference selection. Mersman has team-high 20 blocks and 40 kills through the first six matches.

Team Rankings
As a team, Louisville is ranked second in the ACC in hitting percentage (.299) and fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.141), first in blocks (62 total) and blocks per set (3.17), and first in service aces per set (2.40).

Cardinals in the ACC Rankings
Amaya Tillman – 2^nd in blocks with 1.42 blocks/set
Raquel Lazaro – 4^th in assists with 9.40 assists/set
Aiko Jones – 3^rd in service aces with 0.55 aces/set

NCAA Team Rankings
Hitting Percentage: No. 16 (.299)
Aces: No. 9 (2.40)
Blocks/Set: No. 6 (3.10)
Total Blocks: No. 12 (62)
Total Aces: No. 22 (48)

No. 4 Cardinals Set to Host the Louisville Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Aiko Jones

Raquel Lazaro

Amaya Tillman

University of Louisville Athletics