No. 3 Louisville Falls at Georgia Tech

Friday, November 3

Atlanta, Ga.

7:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

20-3,11-2ACC

Georgia Tech

20-3,11-2ACC

Louisville

Georgia Tech

Cara Cresse and Anna DeBeer await the serve

November 03, 2023 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Trey Curry

ATLANTA, Ga. – The No. 3-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team fell 24-26, 22-25, 25-17, 25-19 to No. 10-ranked Georgia Tech on Friday night in Atlanta. .

The Cardinals move to 20-3 overall this season and 11-2 in the ACC, as Louisville finds itself now in a four-way tie at the top of the conference. It is the first loss to the Yellow Jackets since 2016 and snaps an eight-match winning streak. As a team, the Cardinals hit .186 with seven aces and nine blocks. Outside hitter Charitie Luper tallied 15 kills, two aces, four digs, and two blocks while middle blocker Phekran Kong hit .385 with 13 kills and three blocks to lead the way for the Cardinals. Setter Elle Glock totaled 40 assists, seven kills, and two blocks. Libero Elena Scott anchored the defense with 24 digs while adding five assists and an ace.

Georgia Tech moves to 20-3 overall and 11-2 in the ACC, as the Yellow Jackets hit .242 with eight aces and 11 blocks. Bianca Bertolino tallied seven kills, seven aces, 16 digs, and five blocks to lead Georgia Tech on both sides of the ball.

The Cardinals next travel to Clemson for a Sunday afternoon matchup. First serve is set for 1 p.m.

Set-by-Set Recap
Set 1
Georgia Tech began the match with an ace by Bertolino on their way to an early 5-2 lead. The Cardinals responded with a 6-2 run, powered by kills from middle blocker Cara Cresse and Scott, as well as aces from opposite hitter Aiko Jones and Luper, to take the lead at 8-7. The Yellow Jackets had a response of their own, as a 6-2 run put them back in front at 13-10. A set of runs continued, as Louisville followed that with a 7-2 run, highlighted by kills from Jones and Luper, to grab the lead right back at 17-15 and force a Georgia Tech timeout. The Cardinals scored three of the next four points coming out, headlined by a kill each from Jones and Luper, to stretch their lead to 20-16 and force another Yellow Jackets timeout. An ace by setter Brigitta Petrenko put the Cardinals up 23-17, but Georgia Tech then reeled off three straight points to come within three at 23-20 as Coach Busboom Kelly called a timeout. Kong connected with Glock for a kill to put the Cardinals at set point at 24-20, but the Yellow Jackets weren't done, as they tallied back-to-back kills to make the score 24-22 and force another Louisville timeout. This didn't slow the Yellow Jackets down, as a serving run by Bertolino resulted in three aces to cap off the 6-0 set-ending run and earn Georgia Tech the 26-24 win and 1-0 match lead. The Cardinals recorded five aces in the set.

Set 2
Back-and-forth action encapsulated the action in the second set, as six lead changes and six ties led to a 12-12 score with Luper, Cresse, Kong, and Jones all landed kills in the early going. Georgia Tech notched a two-point lead at 16-14, but the Cardinals responded with back-to-back kills from Jones and Luper to tie it back up at 16. The Yellow Jackets scored three of the next four points to grab the lead back at 19-17, but the Cardinals tied the set again at 19 after a Luper kill, forcing a Georgia Tech timeout. The Jackets again scored three of the next four to take a 22-20 lead, forcing a Cardinals timeout, and although DeBeer landed a kill coming out to make the score 22-21, Georgia Tech's DeAndra Pierce and Afedo Manyang recorded consecutive kills to take a commanding 24-21 lead and force another Louisville timeout. Soon after, Manyang tallied another kill to give the Yellow Jackets the 25-22 win and 2-0 match lead.

Set 3
Kong and Cresse landed early kills in the third set to help the Cardinals to a 4-2 lead, but Georgia Tech reeled off three straight points to claim a 5-4 lead. Louisville then went on a 4-1 run, highlighted by kills by Kong, DeBeer, and Jones, to make the score 8-6 in favor of the Cardinals. The Yellow Jackets came back to tie it 8-8, but Louisville responded with two kills by Kong and a solo block by Luper to take an 11-8 lead and force a Georgia Tech timeout. Coming out, the Cardinals rode with the momentum as a 5-2 run, headlined by kills from Kong and Cresse, put them in control at 16-10. Later, a solo block by Glock extended the Louisville lead to 20-13, forcing another Yellow Jackets timeout, and the Cardinals would soon finish the job coming out, winning 25-17 and cutting their match deficit to 2-1. Louisville hit .270 with five blocks.

Set 4
Louisville took an early 3-1 lead in the fourth set, headlined by an ace from outside hitter Anna DeBeer, but Georgia Tech responded with a 5-1 run to take a 6-4 lead. Louisville tied it at seven as Kong connected with Glock for a kill, and would later tie it again at 10 on a Luper kill. The Jackets then reeled off three straight points, capped off by a Bertolino ace, to take a 13-10 lead and force a Louisville timeout. Georgia Tech scored two more coming out, including another Bertolino ace, to extend their lead to 15-10 as Louisville called a second timeout. Tamara Otene landed a kill to total the Yellow Jackets run at 6-0 before Louisville scored three of the next four, headlined by a Luper kill, to cut the deficit to 17-13. After another Luper kill made the score 18-14, Georgia Tech scored four straight points, including consecutive kills by Pierce, to take a commanding 22-14 lead. A kill by Glock and an ace by defensive specialist Ayden Bartlett cut the deficit to six at 22-16, and a Kong kill later pull the Cardinals within five at 23-18, but the Yellow Jackets would land a kill to win the set 25-19 and finalize the 3-1 match win.