No. 3 Cardinals Sweep UNC on Senior Day

Sunday, November 17

LOUISVILLE, KY

1:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

23-3,15-1ACC

North Carolina

19-6,11-5ACC

North Carolina

Louisville

November 17, 2024 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Cards celebrate Luper, Kong, DeBeer, Scott, and Maldonado Diaz

By: Nancy Worley

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – No. 3-ranked Louisville Cardinals swept the North Carolina Tar Heels Sunday on Senior Day at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena to move to 23-3 on the season, and 15-1 in ACC play. The University of Louisville saw five seniors be sent off on Sunday, including Sofia Maldonado Diaz, Charitie Luper, Phekran Kong, Elena Scott, and Anna DeBeer.

Louisville won 25-10, 25-18, 25-13 in their sweep of the Tar Heels, and hit for .430 with 43 kills on 42 assists, 13 blocks, and seven aces. "Hometown Hero" Anna DeBeer led the Cardinals with 14 kills, while also recording four digs, four blocks, and one ace. Seniors Sofia Maldonado Diaz and Charitie Luper had eight and seven kills, respectively, with Luper tacking on two aces as well. Phekran Kong led the team with eight blocks while also adding five kills of her own. Elena Scott had a match-high 23 digs.

North Carolina hit for .117, with three blocks and one ace. Emani' Foster led the way with seven kills, and a trio of Tar Heels adding six, in Alexis Engelbrecht, Safi Hampton and Chelsea Thorpe.

Louisville (23-3) will head to Charlottesville, Virginia this Friday to play the 20-7 Cavaliers.

Set 1: Louisville 25, UNC 10
Louisville got out to a quick 3-0 start on kills from Cara Cresse and Reese Robins and a block from Robins and Kong. UNC grabbed their first point on a kill, before Luper tabbed her first kill. The Tar Heels followed up with two more points of their own before the Cards went on a 6-0 run. The run was highlighted by kills from DeBeer, an ace from Luper, a solo block from Kong, and a block connection between DeBeer and Kong. UofL's run ended on an attack error to bring the score to 10-4. Points were traded with UNC adding another kill. Louisville went on a quick 3-0 run that included blocks from DeBeer/Cresse and Nayelis Cabello, along with a kill from Sofia Maldonado Diaz that forced a Tar Heel timeout. Following the timeout, UNC ended the run on a kill and points bounced back and forth before the Cards went on an 8-0 run; during the run, points came from the trio of Kong, Luper, and Robins, all of whom recorded block assists and kills. The run ended on a service error by UofL, but Louisville only gave up one more UNC point the rest of the set. Set point came after another kill from Luper and the Cards won the set 25-10 on an attack error from the Tar Heels.

Set 2: Louisville 25, UNC 18
The Tar Heels opened the second set with a 4-0 run that left the score at 3-7 with North Carolina leading. UNC kept their steady lead until a trio of kills from Anna DeBeer brought the Cards back to a one point lead while on a 4-0 run with the score 12-11, which led to a UNC timeout. Out of the UNC timeout the Cards went on a dazzling 7-0 run, with DeBeer picking up her seventh kill of the set, and Cresse picking up her 3rd. With the score at 19-13, Louisville kept their lead until the very end, winning the set 25-18, with set point coming from Maldonado-Diaz's third kill of the set. Louisville hit for a stellar .552 with 17 kills, seven coming from DeBeer, with Maldonado Diaz and Cresse adding three. UofL also accounted for three service aces, coming from Scott, Cabello and DeBeer. UNC was held to .333 hitting, with Emani' Foster, Alexis Engelbrecht and Safi Hampton all accounting for three kills.

Set 3: Louisville 25, UNC 13
Scoring started off tight in the third set with four ties through the first 20 points. Points for Louisville came on kills from Cresse, Robins, Luper, Kong, DeBeer, and Maldonado Diaz, and Luper adding her second ace of the match; UNC recorded seven kills and two blocks while both teams added errors to even the score at 10 all. The Cards eventually got up to a 17-12 lead off of kills from Kong, Luper, DeBeer, and Maldonado Diaz to force a Tar Heel timeout. After the timeout, Kong and DeBeer connected for another block and Kong recorded her second solo block of the afternoon to highlight UofL's 4-0 run. UNC ended the run on a kill, but Louisville answered by finishing the set and the match on a 6-0 run. This run was headlined by Maldonado Diaz owning a kill and two block assists with Cresse and Kamden Schrand serving two aces. Schrand's second ace secured the match 25-13 for the Cards.