No. 7 Cardinals Down Jackets 3-1 in Regular Season Finale

Wednesday, November 22

LOUISVILLE, KY

5:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

24-4,15-3ACC

Georgia Tech

22-6,13-5ACC

Georgia Tech

Louisville

No. 7 Cardinals Down Jackets 3-1 in Regular Season Finale

November 22, 2023 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Selection Show Up Next on Sunday on ESPN at 6 p.m.

By: Nancy Worley

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Outside hitter Anna DeBeer tallied 18 kills, 15 digs, three aces, and a block to lead the No. 7-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team to a 19-25, 26-24, 25-18, 29-27 win over No. 12-ranked Georgia Tech Friday night inside L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.

Louisville finishes the regular season 24-4 overall and 15-3 in the ACC, as the Cardinals hit .235 in the set with eight aces and eight blocks. Outside hitter Charitie Luper recorded 12 kills, 13 digs, and two blocks, opposite hitter Aiko Jones totaled 11 kills, seven digs, four blocks, and an ace, middle blocker Cara Cresse notched seven kills and three blocks, and middle blocker Phekran Kong added four kills and five blocks. Setter Elle Glock had 41 assists on top of six digs, two aces, and a kill, and libero Elena Scott tallied 15 digs and two aces.

Georgia Tech falls to 24-4 overall and 15-3 in the conference to close out their regular season, as the Yellow Jackets hit .229 with six aces and six blocks. Outside hitter Tamara Otene totaled 26 kills, 13 digs, two blocks, and an ace to lead the way.

The Cardinals now turn their attention to Sunday night, as the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship bracket will be announced in a selection show at 6 p.m. on ESPN.

Set-by-Set Recap
Set 1
A flurry of back-and-forth action featuring seven lead changes and seven ties led to a 9-9 score early in the first set. Later, DeBeer connected with Glock for a kill to give the Cardinals a 13-11 lead, but the Yellow Jackets followed with a 4-0 run to take the lead at 15-13 headed into the media timeout. Louisville fought back to tie the set at 17, but Georgia Tech grabbed the momentum right back, tallying the next two points to force a timeout by Coach Busboom Kelly at 19-17. Luper landed a kill coming out to cut the Louisville deficit to one, but Otene then recorded back-to-back kills to stretch the Yellow Jackets lead to 21-18 and force another Cardinals timeout. Georgia Tech closed the set out on a 4-1 run to win 25-19 and take a 1-0 set lead.

Set 2
The Yellow Jackets earned an early 8-5 lead in the second set, but the Cardinals responded, fighting to tie the set at 12 after Scott set up DeBeer for a kill. Georgia Tech scored the next three points, capped off by an Otene ace, to take a 15-12 lead into the media timeout. The Cardinals scored four of the next six points, highlighted by a kill from DeBeer and an ace by Scott, to cut the Louisville deficit to 17-16 and force a Yellow Jackets timeout. Louisville tied the set at 17 coming out, but Georgia Tech again had a response, reeling off a 4-1 run to take control at 21-18 and force a Louisville timeout. Later, the Yellow Jackets landed back-to-back kills to stretch their lead to 23-19 and force another Cardinals timeout, and soon after, DeBeer and Kong connected for a block to cut the deficit to 23-21 going into a Georgia Tech timeout. The Yellow Jackets were at match point at 24-21 before Louisville tallied the last five points of the set, headlined by a kill each from Kong, Jones, and DeBeer and two aces by Glock, to win the set 26-24 and tie the match at 1-1. The Cardinals registered four aces and a block in the set.

Set 3
After the set was tied 3-3 early on, the Cardinals reeled off an 8-2 run, featuring two kills by Jones, a kill each by Cresse and DeBeer, and an ace by DeBeer to take an 11-5 lead and force a Yellow Jackets timeout. The Cardinals wouldn't let up, expanding their lead to 16-9 after kills by Luper, Jones, and DeBeer, but the Yellow Jackets quickly scored three straight to cut their deficit to 16-12. The Cardinals maintained as steady lead up to leading 19-15 before Luper and DeBeer landed consecutive kills to stretch the Louisville lead to a commanding 21-15 headed into another Yellow Jackets timeout. Later, after Otene landed yet another kill to make the score 22-18, the .351-hitting Cardinals recorded the final three points of the set, headlined by a kill each from Jones, Kong, and DeBeer, to win the set 25-18 and take a 2-1 match lead.

Set 4
With their backs to the wall, the Yellow Jackets came out firing on all cylinders in the fourth set, taking an early 6-1 lead to force a timeout by Coach Busboom Kelly. DeBeer landed a kill to make the score 6-2, but it continued to be all Georgia Tech early on in the fourth set as the Yellow Jackets extended their lead to 13-5 leading to another Cardinals timeout. Working as intended, the timeout led to a 5-0 Cardinals run, highlighted by kills from Luper, Jones, and Cresse, to come within 13-10. Georgia Tech maintained the lead up to 19-13 before Louisville slowly began to chip in, first by reeling off three straight, featuring a DeBeer ace, to cut the Yellow Jackets lead to 19-16. Georgia Tech then recorded a point to come to go up 20-16, but Louisville followed that by scoring four of the next five points, headlined by kills from Luper and Cresse, to come within one at 21-20 and force a Yellow Jackets timeout. The Cardinals completed the comeback by tying the set at 23-23 on a Reese Robins kill, but neither team would let up, with the set being tied at 24, 25, and 26 before Georgia Tech took a 27-26 lead on another Otene kill. The Cardinals just wouldn't fold, tallying the final three points of the set with Scott landing the match-winning ace, as Louisville won the set 29-27 and the match 3-1. The Cardinals recorded two aces and four blocks in the final set.