No. 4 Cardinals Sweep Northern Iowa

Saturday, September 14

LOUISVILLE, KY

1:30 p.m.

University of Louisville

6-1,0-0ACC

Northern Iowa

4-4,0-0MVC

UNI

Louisville

September 14, 2024 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Luper leads with 16 kills

By: Nathan Larson

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Outside hitter Charitie Luper hit .536 with 16 kills on 28 swings to lead the No. 4-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team to a 25-23, 27-25, 25-15 sweep of Northern Iowa as part of the Cardinal Classic Saturday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cardinals, who move to 6-1 on the season, hit .327 as a team with 42 kills, 40 assists, 52 digs, and 11 blocks. Senior libero Elena Scott led the Cardinals with 23 digs as the backbone to the Cardinals defense. Setters Elle Glock and Nayelis Cabello led the team in assists with 19 and 14 respectively. The Cardinals defense held the Panthers to .101 hitting percentage as a team, which was led by six blocks by Cara Cresse, and four by Phekran Kong.

The Panthers, who drop to 4-4 on the season, hit .101 as a team with five aces and three blocks. UNI was led by Olivia Tjernagel's 12 kills. Cassidy Hartman added eight kills and seven digs.

UNI will face Rice, Sept. 15 at 10 a.m. as the Cardinal Classic continues. The Cardinals' next matchup will be at 1 p.m. on Sunday versus the Creighton Blue Jays.

Set by Set Recap
Set 1: 25-23 Cards
Early in the first set that saw four ties and three lead changes, UofL used a 3-0 scoring run to take a 12-7 lead and spark a Panther timeout. An ace by Sydney Golden powered a 3-0 run by the Panthers that closed the gap to two and led to a Cardinal timeout. UNI used its final timeout trailing 17-13 to try to stop the Cardinal run. UNI stayed close but a kill by Reese Robins took the set to game point at 24-21 but UNI scored on a service error and a kill by Olivia Tjernagel to pull within one. After a UofL timeout, Louisville got the final point on a Cara Cresse block to take the first set 25-23. Louisville hit .380 with two blocks. Charitie Luper hit .600 with six kills on ten swings and no errors.

Set 2: 27-25 Cards
UNI held an early lead until the Cards managed to tie at six on a kill by Sofia Maldonado Diaz but UNI kept Louisville at arm's length denying them the lead. UofL was still down 15-11 at the media timeout. As the Panthers would not relinquish the lead and Louisville had to all timeout down 19-16 to regroup. The Cards pulled within one at 20-19 on a kill by Luper and it was UNI's turn to call timeout. Louisville tied the score at 22 after a block by Phekran Kong and UNI burned its final timeout of the set. Louisville took the lead at 23 but UNI immediately tied and got to set point twice on service errors by the Panthers. Up 25-24, UofL was denied set point when the teams tied at 25. A block by Cara Cresse created another set point and a kill by Maldonado Diaz gave UofL the 27-25 win. In all there were nine ties in the set.

Set 3: 25-15 Cards
In the third set, UNI kept the heat on Louisville, staying within two points until a 3-0 run including an ace by Elena Scott forced a timeout at 18-14. A solo block by Anna DeBeer brought the crowd to its feet and have UofL a 21-14 lead. The Cardinals maintained a 16-14 lead, primarily due to the offense powered by Charitie Luper and Maldonado-Diaz. Following an ace from Elena Scott, the Panthers were forced to take a timeout, trailing 18-14. After the timeout, the Cards extended the lead to 21-14, coming off a 6-0 run. The Cardinals took set three and won the match after a pair of kills by Cresse, which gave the Cardinals the 25-15 victory over the Panthers.