No. 4 Cardinals Fall to No. 7 Penn State

Tuesday, September 3

University Park, PA

7:30 p.m.

University of Louisville

2-1,0-0ACC

Penn State

3-0,0-0Big Ten

Louisville

Penn St.

The Cardinals huddle on the court before the first serve

September 03, 2024 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Nancy Worley

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Cara Cresse and Charitie Luper each had eight kills but it was not enough as the No. 4-ranked University of Louisville fell 25-15, 25-19, 25-13 at No. 7 Penn State Tuesday night in Happy Valley.

The Cardinals suffered their first sweep since 2022 when they were swept by Texas in the NCAA finals. UofL moves to 2-1 on the season. Posting a hitting percentage of .091 and three blocks did little to help the cause. Phekran Kong had four kills and three blocks with Elena Scott adding 12 digs.

Penn State hit .358 as a team with five aces and eight blocks. The Nittany Lions were siding out at 93 percent in the first set and 92 percent in the third. PSU was led by Jess Mruzik, who had 13 kills and Camryn Hannah, who had eight kills and two aces.

The Cardinals head to Northern Kentucky for a tournament this weekend featuring NKU, South Dakota and Missouri.

Set by Set Recap
Set 1
The Cardinals could not overcome .111 hitting in the first set with Penn State notching three blocks and hitting a torrid .398 on the way to the 25-15 win. The teams stayed within three points of each other until PSU ran off six straight points to go up 19-11. The deficit proved to be enough to allow the Nittany Lions to cruise to the win.
Set 2
The Cardinals stayed within one point halfway through the second set but a 6-0 run by the Nittany Lions took the PSU to a 16-10 lead. Coming out of the Louisville timeout, the Cardinals got three straight kills from Charitie Luper as part of a 6-0 run of their own to tie at 16. After PSU called timeout at 16-16 to try to disrupt the run, the ploy worked as the Lions ran off four straight to go up 20-16. Reese Robins scored two straight points but PSU ran off five straight to get to set point. UofL was able to stave off set point once but fell 25-19 to give the Lions a two-set lead going into the break. The Cards were hampered by .027 hitting but did record three blocks.

Set 3
In the third set, Penn State used a 7-1 run early to go up 16-11 and then finished out the set on a 9-2 run, using .583 hitting to keep the Cards at arm's length, winning 25-13. The point total was the lowest for Cardinals since Oregon beat them 25-13 in the NCAA tournament but the Cards bounced back to take the 3-2 win in that case.