No. 2 Cards Beat Western Michigan to Advance to Sweet Sixteen

Friday, December 1

LOUISVILLE, KY

7:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

26-4,15-3ACC

Western Michigan

31-3,18-0MAC

Western Mich.

Louisville

No. 2 Cards Beat Western Michigan to Advance to Sweet Sixteen

December 01, 2023 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Trey Curry

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Outside hitter Charitie Luper tallied 11 kills, six digs, and two blocks to lead the No. 2-seeded University of Louisville to a second-round NCAA Tournament sweep over Western Michigan Friday night inside the KFC Yum! Center.

"First and foremost, a huge hats off and thank you to the university and the Yum! Center for making it happen to have the first and second rounds here.", said UofL head coach Dani Busboom Kelly. "It's just a huge commitment to the sport of volleyball and this has been a year that's been so impressive across the country and really elevating our sport. To make this a huge deal was really important to our sport but more important to our program, so it was really fun to be at the Yum! Center – it gets more eyes on us. It's a huge win. Western Michigan is a very good team who only lost two matches this year. Their setter [Logan Case] and libero [Andelyn Simkins] could probably play anywhere in the country. They were so impressive, and we're not taking this for granted. We know how hard it is to make the Sweet 16 and we were saying it in the locker room – there was a time not that many years ago that we were crying because we were so excited to finally make it back to the Sweet 16, so it's a huge deal. We're really proud and we beat a fantastic team tonight."

The Cards move to 26-4 overall this season as Louisville hit .342, including .300+ in every set, with five aces and 10 blocks. Middle blocker Cara Cresse showed out again with nine kills and three blocks while hitting .538, outside hitter Anna DeBeer recorded nine kills, nine digs, and two blocks, and middle blocker Phekran Kong added seven kills and five blocks. Middle blocker Reese Robbins provided a crucial spark off the bench as she hit .462 with a career-high eight kills and a block. Libero Elena Scott was exceptional as she again totaled 20+ digs with 22 along with seven assists and two aces, and setter Elle Glock had 26 assists, 11 digs, and an ace.

Western Michigan finishes the season 31-3, including a 21-match winning streak coming into the match tonight. The Broncos hit .205 with seven aces and three blocks. Anna Calcagno tallied 13 kills, seven digs, and a block, and setter Logan Case impressed with 36 assists and 14 digs.

The Cards await the outcome of NCAA Tournament matches to see with whom and where they will continue their run. All NCAA Tournament match scores can be seen here.

Set-by-Set Recap
Set 1
The Broncos began the night with an ace by Reeghan Boyer, but the Cardinals scored three of the next four on kills by Kong and Luper and an ace by Scott. After Western Michigan tied the set at 3-3, Louisville reeled off four straight points, featuring three kills by Cresse and a kill by Luper, to take a 7-3 lead. Western Michigan responded with a 5-2 run that put them within one at 9-8 before Kong landed a kill and blocked a Broncos attempt to extend the Louisville lead to 11-8. Later, after opposite hitter Aiko Jones landed a kill to make the score 12-9, the Broncos recorded six of the next eight points, including two Andelyn Simkins aces, to go out in front at 15-14 headed into the media timeout. No team held more than a one-point lead up to the set being tied at 18-18 as Kong then landed a kill and teamed up with Jones for a block to take the lead back at 20-18. The Broncos responded with four straight points, highlighted by two more Boyer aces, to go right back out in front at 22-20. Soon after, with Western Michigan leading 23-21, the Cardinals reeled off three straight points, headlined by a kill from middle blocker Reese Robins, to force a Broncos timeout as Louisville led 24-23. Western Michigan tied the set at 24 coming out, but a Robins kill and an Ayden Bartlett ace won the set for the Cards 26-24 and earned Louisville a 1-0 match lead. The Cardinals hit .349 with two aces and three blocks in the set.

Set 2
Louisville carried their momentum into the second set, taking an early 7-4 lead with the help of four kills by Robins and two by DeBeer. The Broncos fought back within one once again at 9-8, but the Cardinals went on a 6-2 run, capped off by an ace from defensive specialist Ceci Rush, to take control at 15-10. Western Michigan continued to respond, this time with a 4-0 burst that pulled them within one again, but the Cardinals weren't going to relinquish the lead as they tallied a 4-0 burst of their own, including a Glock ace and Kong kill, to extend their advantage to 19-14. After Case later landed an ace to shrink Western Michigan's deficit to 20-17, Louisville finished the set on a 5-1 run, headlined by two Cresse kills and a Scott ace, to win the set 25-18 and take a 2-0 match lead. The .387-hitting Cardinals totaled three aces and two blocks in the set.

Set 3
Louisville got off to another hot start in the third set, taking a 3-1 lead after Cresse and Luper teamed up for consecutive blocks, but the Broncos again came back to tie the set at 4-4. Later, with the Cardinals leading 8-6 after Robins and Kong landed kills, Western Michigan scored the next four points on kills to go in front at 10-8. DeBeer recorded a kill to halt the run, but the Broncos scored two more points to force a timeout by Coach Busboom Kelly at 12-9. Coming out, Western Michigan earned another point to total their run at 7-1 resulting in a 13-9 lead for the Broncos. Soon after, with the Cardinals down 15-12, Louisville went on a 6-1 run, capped off by setter Brigitta Petrenko connecting with DeBeer for a kill, to go in front 18-16 and force a Broncos timeout. DeBeer landed another kill coming out to total the run at 7-1, but Western Michigan fought within one yet again at 20-19 before Louisville responded with three of the next four on Kong and Jones kills to take command at 23-20. The Broncos just wouldn't go away, scoring the next two to force a Cardinals timeout at 23-22, but Louisville closed out the set on Luper and Cresse kills to win 25-22 and complete the 3-0 sweep. The Cards hit .300 in the final set with five blocks.

Postgame Quotes
Louisville Head Coach Dani Busboom Kelly

(Opening Statement) "First and foremost, a huge hats' off and thank you to the university and the Yum! Center for making it happen to have the first and second rounds here. It's just a huge commitment to the sport of volleyball and this has been a year that's been so impressive across the country and really elevating our sport. To make this a huge deal was really important to our sport, but more important to our program, so it was really fun to be at the Yum! Center – it gets more eyes on us. It's a huge win. Western Michigan is a very good team who only lost two matches this year. Their setter [Logan Case] and libero [Andelyn Simkins] could probably play anywhere in the country. They were so impressive, and we're not taking this for granted. We know how hard it is to make the Sweet 16 and we were saying it in the locker room – there was a time not that many years ago that we were crying because we were so excited to finally make it back to the Sweet 16, so it's a huge deal. We're really proud and we beat a fantastic team tonight."

(On the level the team is playing right now and how it compares to that of the past two years) "The eye test would tell you that we're not at the same exact level, but this team is just so different than the previous teams. We really have a culture where everybody is ready to contribute. It's been really just to see players come in and make big plays and that could be our superpower. That wasn't our superpower the last couple years. We had our starting seven and went with them, and maybe subbed once or twice a whole weekend, and now it just feels like we can try and use anybody and I think this weekend really proved that. This weekend might not have been our best volleyball, but we've gone up against the best teams in the country and beaten them handily or taken them all the way to five. Stanford's arguably one of the best teams in the country and we had them on the ropes here, so we know we can play with anybody. It's just putting it all together at the same time."

(On Anna DeBeer's performance after struggling last night) "I thought it was great. One of our goals was to be really balanced tonight and make sure we weren't relying on just one or two players, and you see that in the stats. The stat line was really impressive tonight. Anna's a rock – she steadies our team and when she's not attacking well, she's doing things that aren't on the stat line at an extremely high level. It was great to see her finish up this season, we've got to assume that this will be our last game at home, so it's really awesome for her to go out this year and know that she left her mark."

(On the confidence and poise of the team) "It gives us a lot of confidence as coaches. You're not going into every practice or every game wondering how am I going to motivate this team or how I am going to get them to play hard. I think that's another reason we're so confident in using subs and changing things up because we can really focus on that as coaches. It's funny, this is the first year in seven years I've been here that we're switching where we start. That's just an indication of where I think this team can handle it mentally, and we can do some things like that as a coaching staff to try and win a point or two."

(On if the team will be watching the Pittsburgh match tomorrow as a team) "No, I'm going to be watching the [ACC Football Championship], I'll watch the Pitt game after that. But we'll be rooting hard for USC obviously. Normally, we'd be rooting for our own conference, but obviously if Pitt loses, the regional comes here so that's huge motivation. But I do want to see Pitt win. In the back of my head, I would love to play them again and I want the ACC to continue to grow and be considered the best conference in college volleyball, and it's on its way. In that regard, we need and want to root for Pitt, but it would be really fun to bring a regional back here."

(On if she'll be offering USC any guidance before they play Pitt tomorrow) "We are allowed, and a lot of coaches will do that. I, personally, would never do that against a conference opponent even if it would mean getting a regional back, so I would never do that within our own conference."

(On where the program is at as a whole) "Like I said earlier, we were reflecting back on when we beat Western Kentucky to go to the Sweet 16 in 2019, and Aiko [Jones] was in tears. She couldn't believe we made it and now, it's an expectation. So that's a whole different ballgame. It's special to think about all the work that's gone into it, and the manpower behind the program, not just the players and coaches involved. It's pretty incredible to be sitting here and feeling like 'Well, we made another Sweet 16 and you guys are expecting that.' It's pretty special."

(On the performance of Reese Robins as a freshman) "I think I've coached freshmen that are clutch. Elena Scott was a starter her freshman year, [Anna] DeBeer was in and out of the lineup her freshman year making plays like that, but I don't think I've coached a personality like Reese before. Just somebody that is just a joy to be around and brings that to the floor. Like I said last night, you need that spark – it just makes the game fun, and the team feeds off that. We're hoping she has a very long, successful career here and this is just the beginning."