No. 4 Louisville Set to Host Cardinal Classic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. The No. 4-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team is set to host the Cardinal Classic with Northern Iowa, No. 9 Creighton and Rice heading to the Ville.

UofL will face Northern Iowa on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.and No. 9-ranked Creighton on Sunday at 1 p.m. Rice will also be at the Classic, playing Creighton on Saturday at 11 a.m. and Northern Iowa on Sunday at 10 a.m. Northern Iowa will face Creighton on Friday at 1 p.m.

The Cards are coming off a 3-0 run last weekend when they beat South Dakota, Missouri and NKU at the NKU Invitational. UofL suffered its only loss on last Tuesday when Cara Cresse and Charitie Luper each had eight kills but they were not enough as the No. 4-ranked Cards fell 25-15, 25-19, 25-13 at No. 7 Penn State.

Tournament Schedule (All matches at KFC Yum!)
Friday: Northern Iowa vs. Creighton at 1 p.m.
Saturday: Creighton vs. Rice at 11 a.m.
    Louisville vs. Northern Iowa at 1:30 p.m.
Sunday: Rice vs. Northern Iowa at 10 a.m.
               Louisville vs. Creighton at 1 p.m.

A Peek at the Cards

The Cardinals are ranked No. 4 in the AVCA Preseason Poll.
Louisville is coming off the win of the NKU Invitational, beating Missouri, South Dakota and NKU.
Charitie Luper was named Best Outside Hitter and Elena Scott was voted Best Libero for the 2024 AVCA First Serve All-Star Team.
Dani Busboom Kelly is in her eighth season at the helm and has guided the Cardinals to a pair of Final Four appearances, four Elite Eights, and four ACC titles.
The Cardinals are coming off a 27-5 campaign in 2023 where they reached their highest national ranking of the year at No. 2 and a final national ranking of No. 6.
UofL put up an ACC record of 15-3, finishing third and made the Cards' fourth trip to the Elite Eight, ninth trip to the Sweet Sixteen and 32nd NCAA appearance.
ACC Year End Awards included Player of the Year Anna DeBeer and Defensive Player of the Year: Elena Scott. DeBeer was also named AVCA East Region Player of the Year. Elle Glock, Charitie Luper, Aiko Jones, Cara Cresse and Elena Scott were voted to the First Team and Phekran Kong was voted HM All-East Region.
The Cardinals return five starters and their libero to the 2024 roster, losing six-year starter Aiko Jones at OPP.
Louisville was picked to finish third in the ACC preseason poll behind Pitt and Stanford. Cara Cresse, Anna DeBeer, Charitie Luper and Elena Scott were named to the Preseason All-ACC team.

A Peep at The Cardinal Classic

Quick look at Creighton:
•   Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in her 22nd season with an overall record of 470-189. She was named AVCA East Region Coach of the Year and Big East Coaching Staff of the Year.
•   In 2023, the Bluejays finished 29-5 overall and 16-2 in conference play. Won the Big East regular season title and Big East Tournament title. Appeared in the NCAA Regional Semifinal against Louisville and lost 3-2. Creighton finished their season ranked 15th in the AVCA Poll.
•   Creighton was ranked 1st in the 2024 Preseason Big East poll.
•   Kendra Wait was named AVCA Third Team All-American, Big East Player of the Year, Big East Setter of the Year. Norah Sis and Ava Martin were selected to the All-Big East Team. Norah Sis was named Preseason Big East Player of the Year. Kendra Wait and Ava Martin were selected to the Preseason All-Big East team.
•   The Bluejays lose middle blocker, Kiana Schmitt who was selected to the All-Big East Team and Big East Tournament MVP.
•   The Bluejays are currently 5-0 coming off a 3-0 win against Kansas State on Sept. 7th.

Quick look at Northern Iowa:
•   Bobbi Petersen is in her 25th season with an overall record of 583-209. She was named 2023 Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Coach of the Year.
•   In 2023, UNI was 26-7 overall and 18-0 in conference play. The Panthers won the MVC 2023 championship and finished 1st in the MVC standings. Northern Iowa appeared in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Miami and lost 3-1.
•   UNI was ranked 1st in the 2024 MVC Preseason Poll.
•   Northern Iowa returns junior setter Tayler Alden and middle blocker Layanna Green. Tayler Alden was selected the AVCA All-Region team and named MVC Setter of the Year. Layanna Green was named to the All-Region Honorable Mention. Both were named to the 2023 MVC Volleyball All-Conference First Team.
•   The Panthers lose Emily Holterhaus, an outside hitter named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Region Honorable Mention. She was also named to the 2023 MVC Volleyball All-Conference First Team.
•   The Panthers are currently 4-2 coming off a 3-1 win against West Virginia on Sept. 7th.

Leveling up: The ACC Ranks in Poll
Six ACC volleyball teams are ranked in this week's AVCA Poll -
The Panthers are the second ACC team to earn a No. 1 national ranking in the history of the conference, joining Louisville, which was No. 1 for four straight polls from November 8-29, 2021. Pitt received 29 first-place votes and 1,471 total points to claim the No. 1 spot, just ahead of fellow ACC member Stanford, which is 4-0 this season and earned 23 first-place votes and 1,462 points to earn the No. 2 ranking. The ACC has three of the nation's top four teams, as Louisville earned a first-place vote and stood fourth in the poll with 1,284 points. The ACC has six teams total in the latest poll, with Georgia Tech at No. 15, Miami at No. 20 and Florida State at No. 21. After sweeping then-No. 2 Nebraska on Wednesday, September 4, SMU is the first team outside of the poll.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cara Cresse

Anna DeBeer

Elle Glock

Aiko Jones

Phekran Kong

Charitie Luper

Elena Scott

University of Louisville Athletics