Louisville Volleyball Set to Face Rival Pitt in NCAA National Semifinal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 1-seeded University of Louisville volleyball team will take on fellow No. 1 seed Pittsburgh in the KFC Yum! Center on Dec. 19 at 6:30 p.m. EST in the program's third-ever NCAA National Semifinal appearance.

If the Cardinals win, they would advance to their second ever National Championship match and play the winner of the Penn State/Nebraska match on Dec. 22 at 3 p.m. in the KFC Yum! Center. Both National Semifinal matches can be viewed on ESPN, while the Championship match will air on ABC.

UofL ended the weekend 2-0 after sweeping No. 4-seeded Purdue on Thursday night and then besting No. 2-seeded Stanford 3-1 on Saturday. The win over Stanford marked Louisville's third NCAA Regional Title with three Cards earning all-Louisville Regional honors.

Outside hitter Anna DeBeer was named Most Outstanding Player in the Louisville Regional. DeBeer tallied 30 kills, 13 digs, two blocks, and a service ace across both matches. Libero Elena Scott and outside hitter Charitie Luper were named to the All-Region team for their performances. Scott dug up 21 balls and added 11 assists in both matches, while Luper added 26 kills, 21 digs, and four blocks.

UofL stuffed 21 blocks over the two matches, with three players recording six or more blocks against Stanford. Outside hitter Sofia Maldonado Diaz shined against the Cardinal, tallying a new UofL-career high 12 kills on 26 attacks with seven blocks. Middle blocker Phekran Kong notched nine total blocks on the weekend, and middle blocker Cara Cresse added eight blocks of her own. Opposite hitter/middle blocker Reese Robins killed 13 balls and blocked two, while setting a new career high in digs with 7 against Stanford.

Louisville will face off against Pitt for the third time this season. Pitt leads the 2024 meetings 2-0, after surviving a five-setter in Pittsburgh on Oct. 25 and toppling the Cards 3-1 in the Yum! Center on Nov. 27. In their 38 all-time faceoffs, Louisville leads the series 20-18. The teams will meet up in the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row; Pitt took the 3-2 win in 2023 to advance to the Final Four, and Louisville won 3-2 in 2022 to advance to the National Championship.

All practices are open to the public on Wednesday.

Open Practices
Wednesday
10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. – Pitt Practice

11:35 a.m.-1:05 p.m. – Louisville Practice

1:20 p.m.- 2:50 p.m. – Nebraska Practice

2:55 p.m. -4:25 p.m. – Penn State Practice

Quick Peek at Pitt

As the No. 1 national seed, Pitt advanced to the National Semifinal after sweeping Morehead State and No. 8 seed Oklahoma in the first and second rounds. In the Pittsburgh Regional Semifinals, the Panthers beat No. 4-seeded Oregon in five sets, before sweeping No. 3-seeded Kentucky to win the regional.
In his 12th season leading the Panther program, Dan Fisher is 320-68 with Pitt. Fisher was named the 2024 ACC Coach of the Year after his team finished the regular season 29-1 and 19-1 in conference play; this was his third career ACC Coach of the Year award. Fisher was also named AVCA All-East Region Coach of the Year for 2024.
Three players were named to the All-Pittsburgh Regional team. Libero Emmy Klika and setter Rachel Fairbanks took home team honors while outside hitter Olivia Babcock was named Most Outstanding Player of the regional. In addition to these three players, Torrey Stafford, Bre Kelley, Valeria Vazquez Gomez, and Ryla Jones were all named to the AVCA All-East Region Team for 2024.
Babcock was named the 2024 ACC Player of the Year and is a semifinalist for the AVCA Division I Player of the Year award. Fairbanks, Stafford, and Kelley were all named to the 2024 All-ACC First Team. Vazquez Gomez and Klika were tabbed for the All-ACC Second Team, and Jones was selected to the All-ACC Freshman Team.
Pitt ranks in the top-10 nationally in aces/set (10th, 1.97), blocks/set (seventh, 2.87), hitting percentage (first, 0.332), match win-loss percentage (first, 0.971), and opponent hitting percentage (second, 0.127).
Babcock is first in the ACC in aces/set (0.65), kills/set (4.59), points (643.5), points/set (5.85), and total aces (71). Kelley is fifth nationally and second in the conference in blocks/set with 1.54.

Quick Peek at Nebraska

The No. 1-seeded Cornhuskers advanced to their 18th National Semifinal appearance after sweeping Florida A&M and No. 8-seeded Miami (FL) in the first and second rounds of tournament play. Nebraska then beat No. 5-seeded Dayton 3-1 in the Lincoln Regional Semifinal and swept No. 2-seeded Wisconsin to win the Lincoln Regional.
John Cook is in his 25th season coaching the Huskers and is 722-102 with the program. Cook has coached his team to 25 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
Nebraska split the Big Ten title with Penn State as both teams went 19-1 in conference play. The Cornhuskers are 33-2 overall on the season.
Five Huskers received All-Big Ten honors in 2024. Libero Lexi Rodriguez was tabbed Big Ten Libero of the year; the award was renamed from Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, which Rodriguez also won in 2021 and 2023. Setter Bergen Reilly was selected at Big Ten Setter of the Year for the second consecutive year. Merritt Beason, Andi Jackson, and Harper Murray round out the selections of the Huskers, all being named to the All-Big Ten First Team.
Reilly and Rodriguez are on the shortlist for the 2024 AVCA Division I Player of the Year Award.
Reilly is 11th in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten in assists/set with 11.12. Jackson is ninth in the nation and second in the conference in hitting percentage with a 0.426 clip. Rebekah Allick is 20th in the country and fourth in the Big Ten in blocks/set with 1.39.

Quick Peek at Penn State

The No. 1-seeded Nittany Lions joined the National Semifinals after beating Delaware State and No. 8-seeded UNC, before tacking on wins over No. 5-seeded Marquette and No. 2-seeded Creighton in five sets.
Katie Schumacher-Cawley is in her third season at the helm of the Penn State program, with an overall record of 81-19. Schumacher-Cawley was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the 2024 season, after leading her team to a share of the Big Ten title.
Setter Izzy Starck was tabbed for Big Ten Freshman of the Year after winning Big Ten Setter of the Week honors five times and Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors six times. Starck was also named Freshman of the Year for the AVCA East Region.
Camryn Hannah, Jess Mruzick, and Taylor Trammell collected AVCA All-East Region team honors in 2024. Mruzick is up for the AVCA Division I Player of the Year Award in 2024.
Hannah, Mruzick, and Trammell were all selected for the 2024 All-Big Ten First Team. Caroline Jurevicius joined Starck on the 2024 All-Big Ten Freshman Team.
Starck is sixth in the NCAA in total assists with 1,331, leading the Nittany Lions to a No. 2 overall standing in assists/set with 13.65. Trammell is fifth in the country in hitting percentage with a 0.443 clip, as the team hitting percentage ranks 10th overall at 0.287.

Louisville Volleyball Set to Face Rival Pitt in NCAA National Semifinal

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cara Cresse

Anna DeBeer

Phekran Kong

Charitie Luper

Sofia Maldonado Diaz

Reese Robins

Elena Scott

University of Louisville Athletics

Louisville Volleyball Set to Face Rival Pitt in NCAA National Semifinal

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cara Cresse

Anna DeBeer

Phekran Kong

Charitie Luper

Sofia Maldonado Diaz

Reese Robins

Elena Scott

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