No. 4 Cardinals Ready for the Battle of the Bluegrass

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 4-ranked University of Louisville Cardinals are set to play two top-10 match-ups this week as they prepare to face No. 11 Kentucky and No. 5 Nebraska.

UofL will travel to Lexington on Wednesday for the Battle of the Bluegrass at 7:00 p.m. in newly refurbished Memorial Coliseum, before returning home to face No. 5 Nebraska at the KFC Yum! Center, Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

The Cards are coming off a 2-0 weekend following a 3-0 win over Northern Iowa and a 3-2 win over No. 9 Creighton at the Cardinal Classic.

Outside hitter Charitie Luper took home Cardinal Classic MVP honors, recording a season-high 17 kills in the match against Creighton. Libero Elena Scott and outside hitter Sofia Maldonado Diaz joined Luper and received All-Cardinal Classic Team honors. Across both matches, Scott racked up 23 digs in each match and Maldonado Diaz knocked down 14 kills.

This year's Battle of the Bluegrass will feature the Cats at No. 11 and the No. 4 Cards. UofL beat rival Kentucky 3-0 in 2023 in front of 12,760 fans at the KFC Yum! Center. UofL was ranked No. 2 and UK was No. 21 at the time of the match. The UofL win over Kentucky in 2021 was the first time the two teams clashed while both were ranked in the Top 10 and snapped the Cards' 7-match losing streak to the Cats. The longest winning streak for the Cards over the Cats was 10 from 1994-98 and 9 straight from 1999-2005.

The Deal with the Cards

The Cardinals are ranked No. 4 in the AVCA Poll. Kentucky is No. 11 and Nebraska is No. 5.
Louisville won the Cardinal Classic, beating Northern Iowa 3-0 and No. 9 Creighton 3-2.
Elena Scott was voted ACC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 16 for her play in the Cardinal Classic.
Charitie Luper was named MVP of the Cardinal Classic. Elena Scott and Sofia Maldonado Diaz were voted All-Tournament
Charitie Luper was named Best Outside Hitter and Elena Scott was voted Best Libero for the 2024 AVCA First Serve All-Star Team.
Louisville won the NKU Invitational, beating Missouri, South Dakota and NKU.
Senior libero Elena Scott was voted the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Week for matches played during the opening week of the regular season and the Cardinals' setter Nayelis Cabello was tabbed the ACC Freshman of the Week.
The win over No. 3 Wisconsin was the win over the 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 were voted to the Preseason All-ACC squad.
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.
UofL unveiled a new Taraflex floor with a new design for both the KFC Yum! Center and L&N Arena.
The L&N Arena features the Fighting Cardinal logo in the center with a wood grain look on the inbounds portion and a black border with Louisville word mark on the end zones. The Taraflex floor at the KFC Yum! Center will be the same but will have a red border around the court.

Quick look at Kentucky:

Craig Skinner is in his 20th season leading the Wildcats program, with an all-time record of 450-150. He was named 2023 SEC Coach of the Year. His team currently sits at No. 10 in the AVCA Poll.
In 2023, Kentucky finished 21-8 overall and 17-1 in conference play. Won their seventh straight SEC Championship. Appeared in their 19th consecutive NCAA Tournament, but lost 3-2 in the Regional Semifinal against Arkansas. The Wildcats finished 2023 at No. 10 in the AVCA Poll.
Kentucky was ranked 3rd in the 2024 SEC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The Wildcats saw three players voted 2024 Preseason All-SEC: Eleanor Beavin, Brooklyn DeLeye, and Emma Grome. Grome and Reagan Rutherford were named to the AVCA All-America list in 2023, earning second-team and third-team honors, respectively.
Kentucky lost opposite hitter Reagan Rutherford, who earned All-SEC, AVCA First Team All-Southeast Region, and AVCA Third Team All-America honors in 2023 and won the 2020-21 National Championship with the Wildcats.
Kentucky is currently 6-3, coming off a 1-1 weekend at the SMU Invitational, with a 3-0 win over SMU on Sept. 13th and a 3-1 loss to No. 7 Purdue on Sept. 14th.

Quick look at Nebraska:

John Cook is in his 25th season and has a career record of 689-100. Cook was named 2023 AVCA National Coach of the Year and 2023 Big Ten Coach of the Year. The Huskers currently sit at No. 5 in the AVCA Poll.
Nebraska ended 2023 as the runner-up in the NCAA National Championship with a record of 33-2 overall. The Huskers finished 2023 ranked 1st in the Big Ten with a 19-1 record and the BigTen Championship.
Five players were named to the Big Ten Preseason All-Conference Team: outside hitters Taylor Landfair and Harper Murray, opposite hitter Merritt Beason, setter Bergen Reilly, and libero Lexi Rodriguez.
Bergen Reilly is leading the Big Ten in assists with 356 and ranked 8th in the NCAA in assists per set with 11.20. The Huskers are currently 95.4% in receive percentage in the Big Ten.
The Huskers are currently 8-1 overall, coming off a 2-0 weekend at the Nebraska Classic with wins over Wichita State and No. 14 Arizona State. They will face No. 2 Stanford on Wednesday before coming to Louisville.

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Nayelis Cabello

Cara Cresse

Anna DeBeer

Charitie Luper

Sofia Maldonado Diaz

Elena Scott

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