No. 4 Cardinals Down Syracuse in Straight Sets

Friday, November 8

Syracuse, NY

6:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

20-3,12-1ACC

Syracuse

13-12,1-12ACC

Louisville

Syracuse

Photo by: Mallory Peak | Louisville Athletics

November 08, 2024 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Anna DeBeer recorded a team-leading 13 kills as one of six Cardinals to notch at least five kills.

By: Sam Gercak

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Anna DeBeer tallied 13 kills on a .385 hitting percentage to lead the fourth-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team to their fourth consecutive win, sweeping Syracuse 25-17, 25-18, 25-15 on Friday night.

With the victory, the Cardinals move to 20-3 on the season with a 12-1 mark in conference play.

Louisville rode a balanced offensive attack to victory, hitting .389 as a team with six players recording at least five kills. Along with DeBeer's team-leading kill total, Phekran Kong notched seven kills with a .556 hitting percentage while both Cara Cresse and Reese Robins earned six kills apiece on a .500 hitting percentage.

Defensively, the Cardinals were led by 12 digs from Kamden Schrand with Cresse and Sofia Maldonado Diaz each recording four total blocks.

Set 1 – Louisville 25, Syracuse 17
With DeBeer at the service line, the Cards reeled off three quick points to begin the match and put the Orange in an early hole. After Syracuse got on the board with a pair of Louisville errors, the Cards got a combined four kills from Kong and Maldonado Diaz to key a short burst to put Louisville in front 10-5. The Orange went on a 3-0 run to cut the lead down to two, but the Cardinals sided out with a Syracuse service error before Charitie Luper, Robins, and Kong pieced together three straight kills to bring the score to 16-9. Syracuse continued to battle back, bringing the Louisville lead down to as little as four before Louisville ended the first set on an Orange attack error after hitting .452 as a unit with 17 kills.

Set 2 – Louisville 25, Syracuse 18
Syracuse jumped out to an early 3-2 lead in the second set before Louisville tied it and took the lead on back-to-back kills from Cresse and Luper. The two teams continued to trade blows in the early going with Louisville maintaining a slim two-point advantage before two straight kills from DeBeer took the Cards into the media timeout with a 15-11 lead. Out of the break, the Cards widened their lead to six off a pair of Syracuse attack errors. Later on in the set, Payton Petersen dropped in a service ace to bring the score to 21-14, but Syracuse was able to answer by cutting the lead down to four. The Cards closed the set on a 3-0 run to take a two-set lead after putting down 15 kills in the set on .400 hitting.

Set 3 – Louisville 25, Syracuse 15
The Cardinals saw Syracuse commit four straight errors early on in the third set, extending their lead to 8-3 after a service ace from Maldonado Diaz. After a timeout, Syracuse was able to stop the run with a kill but kills from Luper and Cresse continued to extend Louisville's lead. Syracuse battled back with three kills in four rallies but two kills from DeBeer sandwiched around an Orange attack error brought the Louisville lead to 18-8 and forced Syracuse to take their final timeout. The Cardinals continued to rack up the kills on their way to match point, sealing their 13^th sweep of the season with DeBeer's 13^th kill of the match.

The Cardinals will continue their road swing on Sunday, Nov. 10 when they travel to Chestnut Hill, Mass. to take on Boston College. First serve is set for 1:00 p.m. ET.