No. 5 Cards Beat Wake Forest

Friday, October 20

Winston-Salem, NC

7:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

17-2,8-1ACC

Wake Forest

14-6,5-4ACC

Louisville

Wake Forest

Photo by: ERIC ROTH

October 20, 2023 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Louisville survives 3-2

By: Nancy Worley

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Outside hitter Anna DeBeer hit .359 with 17 kills, five aces, and 11 digs to lead the No. 5-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team to a 21-25, 23-25, 25-15, 25-5, 15-7 win over Wake Forest on Friday night in Winston-Salem.

The Cardinals move to 17-2 overall and 8-1 in the ACC as they hit .338 with 14 aces and 14 blocks. Outside hitter Charitie Luper hit .351 with 15 kills, one ace, and three blocks, middle blocker Phekran Kong hit .526 with 10 kills and six blocks, and middle blocker Cara Cresse hit .571 with nine kills, one ace, and six blocks. Setter Elle Glock tallied 43 assists and six digs while libero Elena Scott recorded 16 digs, five assists, and an ace.

Wake Forest falls to 14-6 overall and 5-4 in the conference. Paige Crawford led the Demon Deacons with 12 kills and seven digs.

Louisville turns its attention to a matchup with Virginia Tech on Sunday afternoon in Blacksburgh, Virginia. First serve is set for 1:00 p.m.

Set-by-Set Recap
Set 1
Wake Forest began the match firing on all cylinders, scoring the first six points before Coach Busboom Kelly was forced to call a timeout. The Demon Deacons recorded another point coming out to total their run at 7-0, but Kong connected with Glock to get the Cardinals on the board at 7-1. Later, with Wake Forest leading 11-4, the Cardinals went on a 6-2 run, featuring an ace each by Cresse and Glock, to cut the lead to 13-10 and force a timeout by the Demon Deacons. The Cards kept battling, with kills from Luper, opposite hitter Aiko Jones, and Kong helping them stay within two at 16-14, until Wake Forest tallied two points in a row to make the score 18-14 and force another Louisville timeout. The Cardinals came within two again at 19-17 after a kill from DeBeer, but the Demon Deacons wouldn't let up, as they came within set point at 24-20 after an Emmy Ogogor kill. Although Louisville managed to fight off one set point, Wake Forest closed the set out at 25-21 after a Cardinal serving error, taking a 1-0 match lead.

Set 2
After Wake Forest recorded the first point of the second set, the Cardinals reeled off four straight points, headlined by two aces from DeBeer and a kill from Jones, to take a 4-1 lead. The Demon Deacons battled within one at 6-5 before they reeled off four straight points of their own, including two aces from Ogogor, to take a 9-6 lead. Louisville stayed within striking distance up to Wake Forest leading 14-11 before the Cardinals recorded three straight points, headlined by Cresse and Jones teaming up for a block, to tie the set at 14. Louisville managed to take a 16-15 lead after a Cresse solo block, but the Demon Deacons quickly snatched it back at 19-18 and again at 20-19. The Cardinals followed this with back-to-back points on a kill from DeBeer and a solo block by Kong, forcing a timeout by Wake Forest at 21-20. The timeout worked as intended, as the Demon Deacons tallied three straight points coming out to take a 23-21 lead. DeBeer connected with Glock for a kill to make the score 23-22, but Wake Forest would eventually win the set 25-23 and take a 2-0 match lead.

Set 3
The Cardinals again came out hot in the third set, taking an early 6-2 lead highlighted by three kills from Cresse and a kill from Luper. Later, an ace from Luper made the score 8-4 and another from setter Brigitta Petrenko made it 10-6. After the Demon Deacons recorded a point to come within three, DeBeer landed back-to-back kills to extend the Louisville lead to 12-7 and force a Wake Forest timeout. The Cardinals maintained a steady lead up to Wake Forest coming within four at 17-13, but Louisville tallied consecutive kills from DeBeer and Kong to make the score 19-13 and force another Wake Forest timeout. Kong and middle blocker Reese Robins connected for a block to seize control at 20-13, and Louisville would finish the set on a 5-2 run, headlined by two aces from DeBeer, to win the set 25-15 and cut the Wake Forest match lead to 2-1. The Cardinals never trailed in the set and hit .300 with four aces and three blocks.

Set 4
The Cardinals, looking to force a fifth set, used their momentum to score the first eight points in the fourth set, featuring an ace from DeBeer and kills from Kong, Jones, and Luper. Soon after, with the score at 11-2, Louisville reeled off seven straight points, highlighted by three kills from Cresse, as well as Luper connecting with Scott for another kill, to extend the lead to 18-2. The Cardinals later led 21-5 before they scored the final four points off of a solo block by Kong and three errors by the Demon Deacons, as they won the set 25-5 and tied the match at 2-2. Again never trailing, Louisville hit .520 with two aces and four blocks as they allowed their lowest point total in a set since rally scoring began in 2001.

Set 5
The Cardinals began the deciding set on a 4-1 run that forced a Wake Forest timeout, as Luper accounted for all four points with three kills and a solo block. Paige Crawford landed a kill for the Demon Deacons to cut the lead to 4-2, but Louisville then scored three straight points, headlined by another kill from Luper and two aces by defensive specialist Kamden Schrand, to extend their lead to 7-2. Consecutive attack errors by Wake Forest forced a Demon Deacon timeout at 10-4, and coming out, Petrenko landed back-to-back aces to extend the Cardinal lead to 12-4. Later, with Louisville leading 13-7, consecutive kills from DeBeer and Kong clinched the 15-7 set win and 3-2 match win for the Cardinals. Louisville hit .500 with four aces and a block in the final set.