Cards Named in Top Four Seeds; Set to Host Chicago State in NCAA First Round

The team reacts to their being named Top Four NCAA Seed

Cards Named in Top Four Seeds; Set to Host Chicago State in NCAA First Round

December 01, 2024 | Women's Volleyball

Illinois and Northern Illinois will be on the other side of the bracket

By: Erin Hughes

Tickets are now on sale! Click here

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 3 University of Louisville volleyball team will make its 33rd NCAA Tournament appearance this week when the Cardinals host Chicago State Friday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. at the KFC Yum! Center. Should the Cardinals advance, they will face the winner of the Illinois/Northern Iowa match, which will be contested at 4 p.m. prior to UofL's match. The final match of the weekend will be competed on Dec. 7.

"I feel like we've done a great job this whole year to get a top 4-seed. That is the goal: to give yourself the best situation possible to have a great run in the tournament, and I really felt like we did that," said Louisville head coach Dani Busboom Kelly. "We have a tough draw. There are some really good teams on our side before we can even think about the Final Four, but just the relief of getting that 4th-seed, so we know we don't have to travel is really nice."

In their conference-leading 33rd appearance, the Louisville Cardinals (25-5, 17-3) finished tied at second in the ACC title race. The Cards will be led on offense by outside hitters Anna DeBeer, Charitie Luper, and Sofia Maldonado Diaz. Luper recorded her 1,000th career kill earlier this season and now sits at 22nd on Louisville's all time list with 1,119. DeBeer became the fourth player in UofL history to join both the 1,000 Kill Club and the 1,000 Dig Club; she now holds 1,423 kills and 1,044 digs. Maldonado Diaz knocked down her 1,500th career kill in 2024 after bringing 1,393 with her from four seasons at Arizona. On defense for the Cards, Louisville has a strong rotation between middle blockers Cara Cresse, Reese Robins, and Phekran Kong, and outside hitter Sofia Maldonado Diaz. Elle Glock and Nayelis Cabello are the setters for UofL, with 1,121 combined assists and Cabello taking home ACC Freshman of the Week honors six times in 2024. Libero Elena Scott is third on Louisville's all-time digs list with 1,861 and is a semi-finalist for the AVCA National Player of the Year Award presented by Nike Volleyball.

"I think this team is super resilient, they learn quickly, and they're hungry to keep going," said Busboom Kelly. "I do think there is more pressure this year with the Final Four being in Louisville, but we talked about, after Saturday, like "We're done now, the pressure should be off and we can just play." We have done what we needed to do, we can't go back and change anything. Now, it's the tournament, and you want to go out feeling great, having fun, and enjoying the moment, not worrying about expectations or pressure."

The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball committee announced the 64-team field that will compete in the 2024 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. Thirty-one conferences were awarded an automatic qualification, while the remaining 33 positions were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket.

Pittsburgh, Nebraska, Louisville and Penn State earned the top seeds in this year's tournament. The top four seeds have combined for 12 national titles in the tournament's history. Pittsburgh finished the season with the best record in Division I (29-1), while winning its third straight ACC Championship. Nebraska and Penn State each claimed a share of the Big Ten Conference title after both posted 19-1 conference records, as well as both finishing the regular season 29-2 overall. Louisville secured its spot after finishing its season 25-5.

For the third year, the top 32 teams were seeded nationally in pods of four and placed within four regions. Per the established bracketing principles, the top seeds were provided the opportunity to host. Additionally, team pairings are determined within the pods (ones paired with eights, twos paired with sevens, threes paired with sixes and fours paired with fives) and assigned geographically within their pods, with the exception that teams from the same conference are not paired during the first- and second rounds.

Regionals for the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will be held at four non-predetermined campus sites, which will be announced on December 8. At each site, four teams will compete in single-elimination regional semifinal competition. The regional winners will advance to the national semifinals and championship final hosted by the University of Louisville, in conjunction with the Louisville Sports Commission.

About the Cougars
Chicago State comes into the NCAA Tournament as automatic qualifiers in their debut season in the Northeast Conference. The Cougars boast a 19-9 overall record and a 13-1 conference record. The Cougars are led by head coach Tony Trifonov, who has led the Cougars to the most wins in a five-year span in CSU history at 58 wins since 2020. The Cougars ended their season on a six-game win streak, where they swept Fairleigh Dickinson University to clinch their conference championship on November 23rd. The Cougars are led by sophomore outside hitter from Poland, Patrycja Lagida, who currently leads the Cougars with 339 kills on the season. Leading the Cougars in assists is Polish sophomore Wiktoria Zagumny, with 948 helpers on the year. Chicago State looks to improve on their third conference championship berth while under Trifonov, as they face Louisville on December 6th, at 7pm EST.

About the Fighting Illini
The Illinois Fighting Illini went 18-12 overall, while having a 10-10 record in the Big Ten. The Illini were led by outside hitter Raina Terry, who is a two-time All Big-Ten First Team and a two-time AVCA All-Region player, as well as being the career leader in kills, aces and points in Illini Volleyball history. Terry was recently selected 11th overall in the Pro Volleyball Federation Draft, to the Columbus Fury. The Illini's signature win this season was a five-set stunner against the No. 20-ranked USC Trojans, where they won 3-2. The Illini are led by head coach Chris Tamas, who is currently in his eighth season as head coach. This marks his fifth NCAA Tournament appearance as leader of the Illini. The Illini go up against UNI Friday, December 6th, at 4pm EST.

About the Panthers
As the No. 8 seed in the Louisville regional, Northern Iowa went 25-7 overall and 18-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Panthers finished the regular season on a 20 game win streak, and beat the University of Illinois-Chicago in four sets to claim their third consecutive MVC title. Transfer middle blocker Kacie Rewerts was named MVP of the MVC Tournament; Rewets sits 20th in the nation in total blocks with 148 and 22nd in blocks per set with 1.36. UNI leads the country in kills per set with 14.71 led by outside hitter Kira Fallert. Fallert has hit .218 on the season with 407 kills, and was named 2024 MVC Co-Player of the year. The Panthers are led by head coach Bobbi Petersen, who is in her 25th season at Northern Iowa. Petersen is 608-216 overall at UNI, with now 18 NCAA Tournament appearances, two Sweet Sixteen appearances, 12 MVC titles, and eight MVC Coach of the Year honors. She has also been named AVCA All-Region Coach of the Year four times and was honored as the AVCA National Coach of the Year in 2002. Petersen has a set of twins playing in this year's tournament, defensive specialist/libero Jadyn Petersen at UNI and Louisville outside hitter Payton Petersen. Northern Iowa and Louisville faced off earlier in the 2024 season, with the Cardinals taking the 3-0 win on Sept. 14 in the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cards in 2023
Louisville finished 2023 at 27-5 overall and 15-3 in conference play and second in the ACC championship battle. The Cards were the No. 2-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament East Region, ultimately falling in the Elite Eight to No. 1 Pittsburgh. En route to the Elite Eight, UofL bested Wright State and Western Michigan in the KFC Yum! Center, before taking a five set victory over Creighton in Pittsburgh. DeBeer was named the ACC Co-Player of the Year, while Scott took home the ACC Defensive Player of the Year title in 2023. DeBeer and Scott both took home AVCA All-America Second Team honors while Cresse was voted to the AVCA All-America Third Team.