Top Seeded Louisville Set to Host Chicago State in NCAA First Round

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 4-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team will host Chicago State in the KFC Yum! Center on Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. If the Cardinals win, they will advance to the NCAA Tournament Second Round match on Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. against the winner of the Illinois/Northern Iowa match also in the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cards are the No. 1 seed in the Louisville quarter of the NCAA Tournament Bracket and the national No. 4-seeded team. 2024 marks UofL's 33rd appearance in the tournament. Louisville finished the regular season at 25-5 overall and 17-3 in conference play to finish tied at second in the ACC title race.

Louisville is coming off an 0-2 final regular season weekend after losing 3-1 to No. 1 Pittsburgh in KFC Yum! Center on Wednesday and losing 3-1 to No. 6-ranked Stanford in California on Saturday. UofL posted 19.0 total blocks on the weekend, recording five solo blocks against Pitt. Outside hitter Anna DeBeer tallied her team-leading 11th double-double against Stanford with 16 kills and 14 digs. DeBeer also served three aces against Pittsburgh to go along with her 14 kills, nine digs, and one solo block. Middle blocker Reese Robins hit .533 against the Panthers with 10 kills on 15 attempts and two block assists. Against the Cardinal, middle blocker Cara Cresse knocked down 10 kills and five block assists.

On Dec. 2, five Louisville players were awarded ACC season honors. For the second year running, libero Elena Scott was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Setter Nayelis Cabello was selected as the ACC Freshman of the Year. The trio of Scott, DeBeer, and Charitie Luper were all named to the First Team All-ACC for the second consecutive year. Cresse was tabbed for another Second Team All-ACC honor.

Quick Peek at the Cards

Setter Nayelis Cabello was named the 2024 ACC Freshman of the Year and libero Elena Scott was selected as ACC Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.
Scott, Anna DeBeer, and Charitie Luper were named as 1st Team All-ACC players for the second consecutive year. Cara Cresse was again selected to the 2nd Team All-ACC.
On Nov. 25, Anna DeBeer, Elena Scott, and Charitie Luper were all drafted during the 2024 Pro Volleyball Federation Draft. Going to the Indy Ignite, DeBeer was selected as the second pick in the first round while Scott was the first pick in the second round. Luper was the eighth pick in the third round to the Vegas Thrill.
Setter Nayelis Cabello was named ACC Freshman of the Week on Nov. 25 for the sixth time this season. Cabello has the most ACC weekly honors of any player in any category this year.
On Nov. 15, Anna DeBeer became the fourth player in Louisville history to join the career double-double club after recording her 1,000th dig against Duke. DeBeer now holds 1,393 kills and 1,021 digs.
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.
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 1,098 career kills, 615 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. 3 in the nation as of Nov. 30 with the third-most difficult schedule in Division I NCAA Volleyball.
UofL is ranked No. 2 in the nation in blocks/set (3.01) and No. 7 in opponent hitting (.144). Cara Cresse is 13th in blocks/set (1.45) and Elena Scott is No. 70 in digs/set (4.43).
The Cardinals have played 11 opponents in the Top 25, and are 8-5 in those matches.
The Cards have swept 16 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 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 all 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 Peek at Chicago State

Tony Trifonov is in his fifth season leading Chicago State. He has led the program to the most wins in a five year span in CSU history with 58 wins since 2020. The Cougars posted a 19-9 overall record and went 13-1 in conference play in 2024.
In the program's first season with the Northeast Conference, Trifonov was named NEC Coach of the Year and led the team to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
Chicago State comes in as an automatic qualifier after winning the NEC title in their debut season with the conference.
Sophomore outside hitter Patrycja Lagida leads Chicago State's offense 339 kills on the season and was named NEC Player of the Year, NEC First Team All-Conference, and NEC Tournament MVP.
Sophomore setter Wiktoria Zagummy has posted 948 assists on the year and took home NEC Setter of the Year and NEC First Team All-Conference honors and was named to the NEC All-Tournament Team.
The Cougars will face No. 1-seeded Louisville on Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. EST in the KFC Yum! Center.

Quick Peek at Northern Iowa

In her 25th season with the Panthers, head coach Bobbi Petersen led her team to a 25-7 overall record, going 18-0 in conference play and winning their third consecutive Missouri Valley Conference title.
Petersen has accumulated multiple accolades in her time in Cedar Falls, being named the 2023 MVC Coach of the Year, 2002 AVCA National Coach of the Year, and was honored as the AVCA All-Region Coach of the Year four times.
This will be UNI's 18th NCAA Tournament Appearance. In 2023, Northern Iowa fell 3-1 in their first match to Miami (FL).
Middle blocker Kacie Rewerts was named MVP of the MVC Tournament; Rewerts 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 the No. 8-seeded team in the Louisville quarter of the bracket. They will face Illinois on Dec. 6 at 4 p.m. EST in the KFC Yum! Center.

Quick Peek at Illinois

At the helm of the Illini program is Chris Tamas, who is in his eighth season with the club. Tamas has led Illinois to its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance under his leadership.
The Fighting Illini finished 2024 at 18-12 overall and posted a 10-10 record in Big Ten play.
Outside hitter Raina Terry has led the charge for Illinois this season as a two-time All-Big Ten First Team selection and a two time AVCA All-Region player. Terry is also the Illini program leader in kills, service aces, and points.
Terry was selected 11th overall in the 2024 Pro Volleyball Federation Draft on Nov. 25 by the Columbus Fury.
Illinois posted a big top-20 win this season when they beat No. 20 Southern California in five sets in Champaign.
The Illini will face the No. 8-seeded Northern Iowa on Dec. 6 at 4 p.m. EST in the KFC Yum! Center.

University of Louisville Athletics

Top Seeded Louisville Set to Host Chicago State in NCAA First Round

Players Mentioned

Nayelis Cabello

Cara Cresse

Anna DeBeer

Charitie Luper

Reese Robins

Elena Scott

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