No. 3 Louisville Set to Host Duke and North Carolina

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The 3rd-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team will return home to L&N Federal Credit Union Arena this weekend to face Duke and RV North Carolina. The Cardinals will face the Blue Devils Friday at 7 p.m. before welcoming the Tar Heels on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Louisville finished last weekend 2-0 following sweeps of Syracuse and Boston College on the road. These wins marked the Cards' ninth and 10th conference sweeps of the season.

In the match against Syracuse, libero/defensive specialist Kamden Schrand recorded a career-high 12 digs on defense while serving up an ace. Outside hitter Charitie Luper tallied a career-high three aces against Boston College to add to Louisville's season high 10 aces on the match. Outside hitter Anna DeBeer hit .381 on the weekend with 21 kills, 15 digs, four aces, and a solo block. Middle blocker Reese Robins notched 13 kills, three digs, and four blocks to hit a .579 clip on the weekend.

Following the conclusion of Sunday's match against UNC, Louisville will honor its five graduating athletes: Anna DeBeer, Phekran Kong, Charitie Luper, Sofia Maldonado Diaz, and Elena Scott.

Largely entering in 2020, this class is responsible for 126 wins, three ACC Championships, four NCAA Tournament appearances, four Sweet 16 appearances, three Elite 8 appearances, two Final Four appearances, and one NCAA Finals appearance. The group also holds over 30 individual ACC and AVCA accolades through their five seasons.
At UofL, the class holds 2,495 kills, 3,285 digs, 428 blocks, and 305 aces. In 2024 alone, this group of five owns 64 percent of all team kills, 70 percent of the digs, 73 percent of blocks, and 79 percent of the aces.

A Peek at the Cards
The Cardinals are now the 3rd-ranked team in the AVCA Coaches Poll as of Nov. 11.
On Nov. 13, libero Elena Scott was named a semifinalist for the AVCA Division I Player of the Year Award presented by Nike Volleyball.
Louisville will honor five graduating athletes this weekend, a group that holds over 100 wins, three ACC Championships, a National Championship appearance, and four NCAA tournament appearances.
After 2024, the five graduates will take with them 64% of all team kills, 70% of digs, 73% of blocks, and 79% of aces.
Setter Nayelis Cabello was named ACC Freshman of the Week on Nov. 4 for the fourth time this season.
On Sunday, Oct. 20, Louisville was named to the Top 16 by the NCAA Selection Committee. The Cards were picked 4th.
In the match against Wake Forest, Charitie Luper became the 26th Cardinal to join the 1,000 kill club. She now has 1,064 career kills, 581 of which have come at Louisville.
On Oct. 18, Charitie Luper was added to the AVCA Player of the Year Watchlist. She joins fellow Louisville players, Elena Scott and Anna DeBeer, on the list.
Anna DeBeer was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week and Cara Cresse was ACC Defensive Player of the Week for the week ending Oct. 13
UofL's RPI is No. 2 in the nation as of Nov. 11 with the second-most difficult schedule in Division I NCAA Volleyball.
UofL is ranked No.3 in the nation in blocks/set (3.01) and No. 5 in opponent hitting (.139). Cara Cresse is 5th in blocks/set (1.51) and Elena Scott is No. 59 in digs/set (4.57).
The Cardinals have played 11 opponents in the Top 25, and are 8-3 in those matches.
The Cards have swept 13 opponents and are 2-1 in five set matches.
Charitie Luper was named Best Outside Hitter and Elena Scott was Best Libero for the 2024 AVCA First Serve All-Star Team.
The win over No. 3 Wisconsin was the win over the highest ranked opponent since 2021 when the Cards beat No. 3 Pitt. The Cards' win against their highest-ever ranked opponent was the W over No. 2 Texas in 2019.
Louisville was voted No. 3 in the ACC Coaches Preseason Poll with Cara Cresse, Anna DeBeer, Charitie Luper and Elena Scott were voted to the Preseason All-ACC squad.
The crowd of 14,126 at the KFC Yum! Center for the Nebraska game was a school record.
University of Louisville outside hitter Anna DeBeer and libero Elena Scott were named to the first-ever American Volleyball Coaches Association Watch List for its 2024 Division I Player of the Year Award, presented by Nike Volleyball.

Quick Look at Duke
Jolene Nagel is in her 26th season with Duke with a career record of 711-419.
In 2023, the Blue Devils were 19-10 overall and 10-8 in the ACC. They finished sixth in the ACC standings. Duke finished up their regular season with a 3-2 loss to UNC.
Gracie Johnson was named to the All-ACC First team while Kerry Keefe and Jess Robinson were named to the All-ACC Second Team. Johnson and Robinson were also named to the AVCA All-East Coast Region team.
Duke is currently 9-16 overall and 5-9 in the ACC. They sit at 13th in the ACC standings.
Breonna Gross was named ACC Freshman of the Week on Sept. 9 and Sept. 30. The freshman middle blocker has 127 kills and 54 blocks with a .290 hitting percentage on the season.
The Blue Devils are coming off a 3-0 loss to No. 1 Pitt on Nov. 10th .

Quick Look at UNC
Mike Schall is in his second season with North Carolina with an overall record of 31-19.
In 2023, UNC was 13-14 overall and 7-11 in the ACC. The Tar Heels finished their regular season with a 3-2 win over Duke to finish 11th in the ACC standings.
Mabrey Shaffmaster was named to the All-ACC First Team and Sydney Nolan was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team. Shaffmaster also earned AVCA All-Region team honors.
The Tar Heels are 18-5 overall and 10-4 in the ACC. North Carolina is currently ranked sixth in the ACC and received votes in the Nov. 11th AVCA Coaches' Poll.
Shaffmaster was named to the Preseason All-ACC Team. On Oct. 28th, she was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week for becoming No.10 in all-time kills and No. 6 in all-time aces for UNC.
The Tar Heels are coming off a 3-1 loss to No. 10 SMU on Nov. 10th.

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Players Mentioned

Nayelis Cabello

Cara Cresse

Anna DeBeer

Phekran Kong

Charitie Luper

Sofia Maldonado Diaz

Reese Robins

Kamden Schrand

Elena Scott

University of Louisville Athletics