Cardinals Fall 3-2 to Athletes Unlimited

Friday, March 31

LOUISVILLE, KY

6 p.m.

University of Louisville

Athletes Unlimited

March 31, 2023 | Women's Volleyball

DeBeer leads with 18 kills, Luper adds 17

By: Nancy Worley

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- University of Louisville transfer outside hitter Charitie Luper had 17 kills, hit .394 with three digs in a spring exhibition volleyball match against Athletes Unlimited, a touring professional team, Friday night in the L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.

Athletes Unlimited won 25-18, 20-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-13. For the Cardinals, Anna DeBeer added 18 kills and 10 digs for a double-double with Phekran Kong adding eight kills and three blocks. Libero Elena Scott had 19 digs and a pair of aces. Elle Glock registered 47 assists at setter, adding seven digs.

In the first set, AU zoomed out to a 9-3 lead. The Cardinals managed to pull within five after trailing by as many as nine at 23-17 but it was too little, too late as they fell 25-20. Louisville rebounded in the second set to take a seven-point lead at 20-13 and then closed out the set 25-20 to tie the set score at one going into the break. The third set was tightly contested with the two teams tying at 20. The Cardinals had set point at 24 before AU reeled off four straight to win 25-23. In the fourth set, a 5-0 run by AU to take an 8-7 lead was answered by the Cards, who had the lead at 19-16 on a kill by Aiko Jones. UofL then scored four consecutive points including an ace by Charitie Luper that ended the set 25-20 to force a fifth set. The Cards trailed 8-5 at the side switch in the fifth but pulled to within one at 12-11 after a 4-0 run. A kill by Leah Edmond and a hitting error by Louisville put AU up 14-12. Anna DeBeer countered with a kill and Elena Scott aced AU to put the set at 14-13. A kill by former Oregon star Willow Johnson was the set and match winner.

There were familiar faces on the other side of the net as Cardinal fans welcomed back Erin Fairs, the middle blocker who led UofL to its first ACC Championship. Also on the roster is Louisville native Deja McClendon, who led Penn State to an NCAA championship and served a brief stint as UofL's volunteer coach. Also slated to play was Taylor Reid from Minnesota, who also was a volunteer on UofL's staff. Kentucky native Morgan Hentz, a three-time NCAA Champion from Stanford and Leah Edmond, who played for Kentucky are on the roster as players with ties to the Commonwealth.