No.4 Cardinals Sweep Florida State

Friday, October 27

LOUISVILLE, KY

7:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

19-2,10-1ACC

Florida State

15-8,9-2ACC

Florida St.

Louisville

October 27, 2023 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Jones hits. 440 with 13 kills

By: Trey Curry

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Opposite hitter Aiko Jones hit .440 with 13 kills, four digs, and two blocks to lead the No.4-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team to a 25-20, 25-22, 25-16 win over Florida State on Friday night inside L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.

Louisville moves to 19-2 overall and 10-1 in the ACC, as they hit .280 with four aces and six blocks. Outside hitter Charitie Luper tallied eight kills, one ace, and nine digs, middle blocker Cara Cresse recorded eight kills and two blocks, and outside hitter Anna DeBeer totaled eight kills, one ace, and one block. Libero Elena Scott had 22 digs, six assists, and an ace, while setter Elle Glock added 34 assists, 10 digs, an ace, and a block.

Florida State falls to 15-8 overall and 9-2 in the conference, hitting .088 with an ace and five blocks in the match. The Seminoles were led by Audrey Koenig's 11 kills and 10 digs.

The Cardinals are back inside L&N Arena this Sunday for an afternoon matchup with the Miami Hurricanes. First serve is set for 1 p.m.

Set-by-Set Recap
Set 1
The Cardinals took an early 5-4 lead on the strength of an ace by Scott and kills by Jones, Cresse, and Glock, forcing a timeout by the Seminoles. Scott connected with DeBeer for a kill coming out of the timeout to make it 6-4, and Louisville maintained a steady lead up to the Cardinals leading 10-8. Florida State then scored three of the next four points to tie the set at 11, but Louisville responded with five consecutive points, featuring two kills by Cresse and an ace by Luper, to take a 16-11 lead and force another Seminoles timeout. The timeout worked as intended, as Florida State went on a 4-1 run capped off by a solo block by Audrey Rothman to cut the Louisville lead to 17-15 and force a timeout by Coach Busboom Kelly. The Cardinals scored the next two points on errors by the Seminoles to seize control at 19-15, and kills by DeBeer, Cresse, and Jones helped Louisville win the set 25-20 and take a 1-0 match lead. The Cardinals tallied three aces and three blocks in the set.

Set 2
The second set began with a flurry of back-and-forth action, with six lead changes and five ties leading to a 6-5 lead for the Seminoles. Louisville followed this with four straight points, highlighted by two kills and a solo block from Jones as well as a kill from DeBeer, to take a 9-6 lead. Florida State kept battling, keeping it within three up to Glock connecting with Cresse for a kill to extend the Louisville lead to 15-12 and force a Seminoles timeout. Florida State wouldn't let up, but the Cards kept responding, with three separate Luper kills making the score 19-16, 20-17, and 21-18. The Seminoles finally earned two consecutive points, forcing a timeout by the Cardinals, and they had all the momentum as they tied the set 21-21 coming out on a Sydney Conley kill. Louisville never wavered, as they stole the momentum right back with a 4-1 run, headlined by another kill by Luper and two by DeBeer, to win the set 25-22 and take a 2-0 match lead. The Cards hit .386 in the set with three blocks.

Set 3
The Seminoles grabbed the early momentum in the third set, starting on a 5-2 run before the Cardinals again seized it right back with a 7-1 run, featuring multiple kills by both Luper and Cresse and capped off by an ace from setter Brigitta Petrenko, to put the Cards in front at 9-6 and force a timeout by Florida State. A kill by Kiari Robey briefly halted the run and made the score 9-7, but Louisville then tallied four straight points, headlined by two kills each from Jones and middle blocker Phekran Kong, to extend the Cards lead to 13-7 and force another Seminoles timeout. Louisville scored again coming out to make the score 14-7 and didn't look back, never leading by less than five after that point. Multiple kills from DeBeer and Jones assisted the Cards in finishing off the sweep of the Seminoles, as Louisville won the final set 25-16 while hitting .344 with an ace.