No. 6 Cardinals Sweep No. 15 Tennessee

Sunday, September 1

LOUISVILLE, KY

4:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

2-0,0-0ACC

Tennessee

0-2,0-0SEC

Tennessee

Louisville

September 01, 2024 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Erin Hughes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Outside hitter Charitie Luper hit .474 with a double-double, getting 10 kills, 12 digs, and an ace to lead the No. 6-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team to a 25-14, 25-22, and 25-20 win over No. 15-ranked Tennessee Sunday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cardinals earned their second win over a top-15 team in the past five days as they move to 2-0 on the season. As a team, Louisville hit .371 with seven aces and 45 kills on the afternoon. Outside hitter Sofia Maldonado Diaz recorded 11 kills and outside hitter Anna DeBeer tallied nine kills and three aces. Setter Elle Glock notched 20 assists and one ace while middle blocker Reese Robins hit .727 and knocked down eight kills.

Tennessee hit .151 with three aces and 30 kills in the match led by Nina Cajic, who had nine kills. The Vols fall to 0-2 to start their season.

Louisville travels next to University Park, Pennsylvania, to take on the No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night.

Set 1
The set started with the Vols claiming the first point, but Louisville bounced back quickly with a 5-0 run highlighted by two aces from Anna DeBeer and a block from Cara Cresse and Reese Robins, giving the Cards a 6-2 lead. DeBeer, Charitie Luper, and Sofia Maldonado Diaz combined for five kills, two aces, and a block, helping the Cards extend their lead to 13-7. With the score 22-14, Louisville forced a Tennessee timeout after big kills from DeBeer, Cresse, and Robins and an ace from Luper. The Cards won set one 25-14 and on a 4-0 run; set point came on an attack error by Tennessee. Robins ended the set hitting at .750 percentage and Luper hit at .429, with the team average being .650.

Set 2
The Vols started set two strong, going on a 5-2 run, but the Cards rallied back to make it 5-all with a kill from Maldonado Diaz. Tennessee pulled ahead 10-7, but a kill and an ace from Cresse tied the score back up at 12. Following a media timeout, the Cards came out 15-14, after service and attack errors on both sides kept the first half of the set tight. DeBeer pulled Louisville out to a 17-14 lead with a block and a kill, but the Vols came back to even it up at 17. The scoring continued to go back and forth until another kill from DeBeer put the Cards up 24-21. Set point was won on a kill from Luper to give Louisville the 25-22 win and a 2-0 set lead. Charitie up to 8 kills, Reese still hitting .714, team hitting .411.

Set
Tennessee started set three going up 2-0, but the Cards came back after a Tennessee attack error and a kill from Luper to make it 2-2. The Vols went up 5-3, but scoring remained tight and Louisville got their first lead of the set to go up 7-6. Kills on big rallies from DeBeer and Maldonado Diaz put the Cards up 9-6 and on a 4-0 run to force a Tennessee timeout. After the timeout, a kill from PK Kong gives Louisville a 10-8 lead and a pair of attack errors by the Vols extends the Louisville lead to 12-8. Tennessee answers with a 6-0 run to pull ahead 14-12, but a tenth kill by Maldonado Diaz ends the Vols' run. Following a few back and forth points, an ace from Kamden Schrand evened the score at 16. A tenth kill from Luper put the Cards up 18-17. The next seven points were highlighted by Kong and DeBeer connecting for a big block and an ace from Elle Glock won the set, and match, for Louisville 25-20.