No. 4 Cardinals Fall to No. 5 Nebraska

Sunday, September 22

LOUISVILLE, KY

12:30 p.m.

University of Louisville

8-2,0-0ACC

Nebraska

10-1,0-0Big Ten

Nebraska

Louisville

September 22, 2024 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Card Nation set an attendance record of 14,126

By: Erin Hughes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - In the first-ever regular season college volleyball game broadcast nationally on ABC, the No. 4 University of Louisville volleyball team fell to No. 5 Nebraska in straight sets, 25-16, 25-17, 25-20.In addition a new Louisville volleyball attendance record was set at the KFC Yum! Center with 14,126 fans coming out for the match.

Outside hitter Anna DeBeer knocked down 12 kills and hit .308 on the afternoon to lead the charge for the Cards while outside hitter Sofia Maldonado Diaz notched eight kills. .The Cardinals, who move to 8-2 on the season,hit .133 with four blocks and no aces in their final nonconference matchup. Libero Elena Scott had a match-high 19 digs and Phekran Kong and Reese Robins each had two blocks.

Nebraska hit .305 with seven aces and 36 kills in the match led by Harper Murray with 11 kills. They now sit at 10-1 on the season.

The Cards will take on California for their first Atlantic Coast Conference match at L&N Arena. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. Friday night. UofL will face Stanford on Sunday, back in the KFC Yum! Center at 3 p.m.

Set 1
Louisville started the scoring strong with a kill from Anna DeBeer and two kills from Charitie Luper to pull out to a quick 3-1 lead. A kill from Reese Robbins and a second kill from DeBeer put the Cards up 5-3. Nebraska evened the scoring at 5-5 and got its first lead, going up 6-5 on a kill from Lindsay Krause. Nebraska stayed in the lead but kills from Sofia Maldonado Diaz and Cara Cresse keep the scoring tight at 9-8. The Huskers go on a 3-0 scoring run to force a Louisville timeout and continued the spree to a 7-0 run following the time out. Cresse ended the run with a kill to put the Cards back on the scoreboard and make it 16-9. A big block from Luper and Phekran Kong put Louisville into the double digits. After a third kill from Luper to bring the score to 17-11, Nebraska went on a 3-0 run that was ended by a third kill from Maldonado Diaz. Kills from DeBeer and Maldonado Diaz get the Cards back within seven at 22-15 and forced a Nebraska timeout. The Huskers got set point at 24-15 and Maldonado Diaz's fifth kill held them off at 24-16, but Nebraska took the set 25-16 on a kill by Krause.

Set 2
Louisville gets on the board first again, going up 2-0 on a service error by Nebraska and a kill from Kong. The Huskers answered quickly with a 6-0 run that included three aces from Krause. After a service error to take the score to 6-3, Nebraska went on another 6-0 run to force a Louisville timeout at 12-3. After trading points, kills from DeBeer, Cresse, and Robbins and a block by Cresse and Robbins gave the Cards their first scoring run of the match, a 4-0 run to boost the score to 17-11. Nebraska went on a 4-0 run to put the Huskers up 21-11 and after trading points Nebraska hit set point at 24-15.. Kills by Maldonado Diaz and DeBeer kept the Huskers scoring at bay, but Nebraska ultimately took the set 25-17.

Set 3
The third set saw Nebraska get the first point, but DeBeer answered quickly with a kill. The Cards get their first lead back after a Nebraska attack error to go up 3-2. Scoring is tight, but a kill from Robins and errors by the Huskers kept Louisville in the lead. The Cards went on a 3-0 run after a kill from Luper put Louisville up 8-5. Nebraska scored twice, but Kong and Maldonado Diaz knocked down kills to hold the lead at 10-7. The Huskers evened the score at 11, but a kill from Cresse put Louisville on top again 12-11. Nebraska took the lead back at 13-12 and then went on a 4-0 run to extend their lead 15-12 and force a Louisville timeout. Luper ended the run on a kill, but Nebraska scored two more before a block from Robins and Kong and another kill from Luper knotted the game up at 16. The Huskers pulled out a 4-0 run that was ended on a kill by Kong to make the score 20-17. DeBeer recorded two more kills to bring the score to 22-19. Match point came for Nebraska, but DeBeer's twelfth kill brought the Cards back within reach at 24-20. The Huskers won the match 25-20 on a kill from Harper Murray.