No. 4 Cardinals Set to Host Cardinal Classic In Season Opener

Cardinal Classic Schedule
Friday
No. 21 Washington State vs. Wright State at 4 p.m.
No. 4 Louisville vs. Troy at 7 p.m.

Saturday
Troy vs. Wright State at 4 p.m.
No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 21 Washington State 7 p.m.

Sunday
Troy vs. No. 21 Washington State at 11 a.m.
Louisville vs. Wright State at 2 p.m.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The No. 4-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team will open its regular season by hosting the Cardinal Classic and welcoming Troy, Washington State and Wright State to L&N Federal Credit Union Arena this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The University of Louisville was named as the preseason favorite to win the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference Volleyball Championship for the second year in a row following a vote of the ACC's head coaches.Head coach Dani Busboom Kelly is entering her seventh season at the helm. In 2022, she took home her third straight ACC Coach of the Year honor. Anna DeBeer, Aiko Jones, Phekran Kong, Charitie Luper and Elena Scott were named to the preseason All-ACC team.

Louisville's 2022 campaign culminated in an NCAA runner-up finish. The second-ranked Cardinals earned the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA championship and advanced to their second-straight Final Four. After beating Pittsburgh in the semifinals, Louisville became the first ACC team to reach the national title match before falling to top-seeded Texas. The Cardinals finished the 2022 season with a 31-3 overall record and a 17-1 mark in ACC play, winning a share of the ACC title.

Wright State is coming off an historic season that saw the Raiders win a program-record 23 consecutive games, go undefeated against conference competition, and make its third NCAA Tournament in the last four years. Wright State's 28 victories in the 2022 campaign were its most since the 1989 season. The Raiders' perfect 18-0 Horizon League record marked just the fourth time in conference history a team finished the regular season with three losses or less, joining Milwaukee (1999 and 2007) and Wright State from the Spring 2021 shortened season. The Raiders ended the year with the only two undefeated League seasons in Horizon League history (Spring 2021 and 2022). The Raiders are under the tutelage of second-year head coach Travers Green, who was named the Horizon League Coach of the Year in 2022.

Washington State is coming off a 23-10, 14-7 PAC-12) campaign in 2022 and made its 17^th appearance to the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars fell to San Diego 3-1 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year. The Cougars had three players (Magda Jehlárová, Iman Isanovic, and Pia Timmer) named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 team earlier this week. Jehlárová of the Czech Republic and Iman Isanovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, each return to the team after spending the previous two weeks representing their respective home countries in the 2023 CEV Women's European Volleyball Championship. WSU swept its only previous match vs. Wright State, 3-0, in Iowa City, Iowa, back in 1993 under head coach Cindy Fredrick. The Cougs dropped its only previous match vs. Louisville, 3-0, at home in Pullman. The Cougars are coached by Jen Greeny, who is in her 13^th year with WSU. The Cougars have a Louisville connection on their roster with Assumption grad Karly Basham playing defensive specialist/libero.

Troy is coming off an 18-13 season that saw the Trojans go 11-5 in the Sun Belt Conference in 2022. Their historic season came to a close when the Trojans fell to UT-Martin in the first round of the NIVC Tournament in three sets (21-25, 23-25, 25-27) from Trojan Arena. Troy closed out the 2022 by setting a program record for most conference wins in a season. Troy returns Tori Hester, and Julia Brooks, who garnered 2022 All-Sun Belt honors in 2022.

No. 4 Cardinals Set to Host Cardinal Classic In Season Opener

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Players Mentioned

Anna DeBeer

Aiko Jones

Phekran Kong

Charitie Luper

Elena Scott

University of Louisville Athletics