Louisville earned four ACC Championships in 2020-21, the most in a single-season for UofL since the Cardinals joined the ACC in 2014 – women’s basketball, field hockey, men’s swimming and diving, and volleyball.
 Louisville ranked 40th in the nation in the final 2020-21 Learfield IMG College Director’s Cup Division I national all-sports standings. It was the 11th straight year that the Cardinals were among the top 40 teams and UofL was one of nine ACC schools in the top 40 schools in the Director’s Cup final standings.
 UofL Athletics finished second in the nation in the 2021 NCAA Team Works Service Challenge. In the competition which ran from Jan. 15-April 1, Cardinal student-athletes totaled 1,405 hours of service had 94 percent participation in a service opportunity during the time period. The Cardinals have ranked in the top 10 nationally in service hours for all seven years of the competition, including winning the service award twice.
 Cardinal sports teams achieved an impressive 3.256 combined grade point average for the 2020-21 academic year, including a 3.289 GPA for the 2021 Spring semester. Twenty of 23 sports programs were above a 3.0 collective GPA for the 2021 Spring semester. A total of 360 student-athletes were 2020 Red and Black Scholars, representing a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or better.
 UofL student-athletes matched a record 91 percent graduation rate in the latest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) Report, which was developed 16 years ago to account for transfers into the university who graduate and those who leave in good academic standing. The Cardinals’ GSR, most recently reported for freshmen who entered in the 2013-14 academic year, has risen 25 percent since the reporting began 16 years ago.
 Men’s Swimming and Diving matched its highest-ever finish, ranking fifth in the NCAA Championship, with two National Champion performances -- Nick Albiero, the ACC Swimmer of the Year and ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year, won the 200 butterfly, while UofL’s Mitchell Whyte, Evgenii Somov, Nicolas Albiero and Haridi Sameh Kamel teamed to win the 200 medley relay title. The Cardinals’ women’s swimming and diving team finished 13th in the nation.
 Women’s Track & Field captured its third NCAA National Individual Champion in school history as Makenli Forrest won the NCAA indoor weight throw national title.
 Women’s Basketball advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight, with ACC Player of the Year Dana Evans, a Honda Sport Award finalist, earning consensus first team All-America honors. The 2021 Kay Yow ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year, Evans was the 13th overall selection in the WNBA Draft.
 In a season that spanned the fall and spring, field hockey reached the program’s first Final Four as the nation’s No. 3 seed. Mercedes Pastor Alli Bitting and Charlie van Oirschot were named All-ACC. Meghan Schneider won the Elite 90 Award with a 4.0 GPA.
 Volleyball, also playing in both the fall and spring, reached the NCAA Sweet 16 for the second straight year with three players earning All-America accolades – Anna Stevenson, Tori Dilfer and Anna DeBeer – for ACC Coach of the Year Dani Busboom Kelly.
 Men’s golf tied ninth in the NCAA Championship – its best finish in school history -- after advancing to the playoff round of the national championship for its third time ever. Senior John Murphy became the first player in school history to compete in the prestigious Walker Cup.
 Louisville's all-girl cheerleading team won its seventh consecutive and 17th overall National Cheer Association championship and its small co-ed team won its 11th national title. Cardinal spirit groups also finished among the top four in the nation in large co-ed (third), group stunt (fourth), Ladybirds dance team (second) and Ladybirds dance team hip hop competition (second).
 Administratively, UofL Athletics received a record seven 7-figure donations in the 2020 calendar year, reduced its operating expenses by $25 million to mitigate revenue shortfalls during a pandemic while dramatically lowering its projected operating loss, and its marketing department named a finalist for the NACMA Marketing Team of the Year for second consecutive year.
Dana Evans
ACC Women's Basketball Player of the Year; Kay Yow Scholar Athlete of the Year
Amaya Tillman
ACC Volleyball Defensive Player of the Year
Asia Durr
ACC Women's Basketball Player of the Year; ACC Women's Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year
Emina Ekic
ACC Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Year
Dana Evans
ACC Women's Basketball Sixth Player of the Year
Emina Ekic NWSL, 1st Round/5th overall by Racing Louisville FC
Dana Evans WNBA, 2nd Round/13th overall by the Dallas Wings
Tutu Atwell NFL, 2nd Round/57th overall by the Los Angeles Rams
Dez Fitzpatrick NFL, 4th Round/109th overall by the Tennessee Titans
Season Summaries
Baseball
The Cardinals finished with a 28-22 overall record against a schedule that featured 37 games against ACC and SEC competition. UofL was 16-16 in conference play.
Henry Davis was a unanimous All-American after leading the Cardinals with a .370 batting average and ranking top 10 in the ACC in batting average, hits, home runs, RBIs, total bases and slugging percentage.
Davis was a finalist for the Buster Posey Award as well as a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award.
Davis, Alex Binelas, Cooper Bowman and Christian Knapczyk were all named to the All-ACC teams, with Knapczyk earning All-Freshman honors as well.
Men's Basketball
After missing seven conference games due to COVID-19 issues of its own or its opponent, Louisville posted an 8-5 record in its seventh season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Louisville has won at least eight league games for 15 straight seasons. Louisville's ACC Record of 33-18 in conference games over the last three years (2018-21) is similar to its 36-18 record from its first three years in the league (2014-17). Louisville's 13-7 overall record marked its its 73rd winning season over the last 76 seasons.
Louisville is one of four Division I schools in the nation which have won 20 or more games in at least 18 of each of the past 19 seasons. The Cardinals only played 20 games in 2020-21. The four with 20 wins in at least 18 of the last 19 years are Kansas (32 straight), Duke (24 of last 25), Gonzaga (23 straight) and Louisville (18 of last 19). UofL has won at least 19 games in 46 of the last 51 years. However, the NCAA Committee on Infractions’ vacation of 123 victories in four of those years (2011-15) negates the official results.
Louisville was one of the least experienced teams in the nation in 2020-21. The Cardinals ranked 331st in the nation in experince in Kenpom analytics. Until senior Malik Williams joined the team for three late season games, Louisville had been with only two upperclassman among its 12 scholarship players. Louisville freshmen and sophomores amassed 79.4 percent of the team’s minutes played, the most for the Cardinals in at least 66 years, since statistics are available back to 1954.
All-ACC guard Carlik Jones was the only player in the ACC to rank among the top six in scoring (16.8 ppg, 6th in the ACC), assists (4.5 apg, 4th), assists/turnovers ratio (2.18, 4th) and free throw percentage (.815, 3rd). Jones has 101 career double-figure scoring efforts, including 41 of his last 42 games (18 of his 19 at Louisville). He is the first person in UofL history to reach double figures in his first 17 games at Louisville.
Guard David Johnson, an All-ACC Honorable Mention selection, was the only player in the ACC among the top 25 in both rebounding and assists, averaging 12.6 points, 3.2 assists (13th in the ACC) and 5.8 rebounds (22nd).
Women's Basketball
Louisville finished with a 26-4 overall record to reach 20 wins for the 11th straight season, extending the program record. The Cards have won at least 20 games in 13 of Jeff Walz’s 14 seasons.
On Jan. 18, following a 12-0 start, UofL reached No. 1 in the Associated Press and USA Today polls for the first time in program history. They remained at No. 1 in the AP for three weeks and opened the season with wins in its first 18 games, which marked the second-best start in program history.
UofL went 14-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play to claim its fourth straight ACC regular season title and its second straight outright title. It marked the ninth conference title in program history. Prior to this stretch, Louisville had never won consecutive regular season conference titles.
UofL entered the 2021 NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed and advanced to its third straight Elite Eight and sixth overall with wins over Marist, Northwestern and Oregon. Dana Evans was named to the Alamo Region All-Tournament Team.
Dana Evans was named a WBCA, USBWA, Associated Press, Wooden Award, Senior CLASS, espnW and Sports Illustrated First Team All-American. She was also named ACC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and the Kay Yow Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Mykasa Robinson was named to the All-ACC Defensive Team and Olivia Cochran and Hailey Van Lith were named to the All-ACC Freshman Team. Liz Dixon, Evans, Robinson, Kianna Smith and Van Lith were named to the All-ACC Academic team. Evans, Kianna Smith and Van Lith were all named to the ACC All-Tournament team.
Cross Country
The University of Louisville men's and women's cross country teams were recognized as All-Academic Teams for the 2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country season.
Purity Sanga finished 23rd in the ACC Cross Country championships as the women posted a 12th place finish. Albert Kosgei placed 37th as the men finished 13th.
Sanga won the Gold Division of the Blazer Cross Country Classic, leading the Cardinal women to a first place finish in the 6K race in Hoover, Ala. Sanga posted two other top-10 finishes this season, placing third at the Live in Lou Classic and eighth in the Irish Classic.
Kosgei tallied two top-25 finishes, placing 24th in the Live in Lou Classic and 20th in the Irish Classic.
Field Hockey
Louisville finished the 2020-21 season with a 14-6 overall record and ranked No. 3 in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) coaches poll and achieved numerous milestones along the way, including reaching the program's first NCAA Final Four. In the fall, the Cards won the ACC regular season title and earned the top seed in the conference tournament after producing a 5-1 record which included a win over two-time defending national champion North Carolina, snapping the Tar Heels' NCAA-best 47-game win streak. Louisville posted a runner-up finish to UNC in the fall ACC tournament.
Louisville went on to earn the highest ranking in program history at No. 2 despite the loss of three seniors who opted out for the spring campaign. UofL earned the overall No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, marking the second straight season as a national seed, and went on to beat No. 6 UConn in the quarterfinals to advance to its first NCAA semifinal. Competing in their first-ever Final Four, the Cardinals battled with the No. 2 seed Michigan but eventually fell 2-1 in a sudden-victory shootout.
UofL landed three players on the NFHCA All-America teams, marking the fourth straight year the Cardinals have had three NFHCA All-America selection and matching a program record set in 2017. Mercedes Pastor was selected to the first team, Alli Bitting garnered second team honors and Megan Schneider was named to the third team.
Schneider was tabbed the NFHCA Scholar Athlete of the Year and was the 2020-21 NCAA Elite 90 Award Winner –becoming the first Louisville player to win the awards. She was also a Honda Award Finalist for Field Hockey, marking UofL’s second consecutive Honda Award Finalist, following Pastor’s achievement in 2020. Pastor was named the 2020-21 West Region Player of the Year, becoming the second Louisville player to earn the honor. She was also an ACC Postgraduate Scholarship recipient.
Additionally, Louisville led all schools with 12 NFHCA Scholars of Distinction, 25 National Academic Squad members and stood fifth in the nation with a 3.809 team GPA in the fall semester. The Cardinals surpassed that mark in the spring with a program-best 3.814 GPA.
Football
The Cardinals finished their second season under Scott Satterfield at 4-7. Playing a 10-game ACC schedule for the first time, UofL closed the year at 3-7 in conference.
The Cardinals hosted College GameDay for the third time in school history when Miami visited Cardinal Stadium for a nationally televised contest.
Wide receivers Dez Fitzpatrick and Tutu Atwell, and cornerback Kei’Trel Clark were each second team all-ACC performers.  Atwell caught 46 passes for 625 yards and led the team with seven touchdowns, while Fitzpatrick recorded 43 catches for 833 yards, while achieving an average of 19.4 yards per reception. Clark finished 12th in the country in passes defensed with 11.
The Cardinals improved dramatically on defense, finishing as the top team in the ACC against the pass at 189.2 yards per game. The Cardinals went from last in the league in total defense in 2019 to fourth in the conference in 2020.
Quarterback Malik Cunningham finished 20th nationally and fourth in the ACC in total offense, averaging 293.3 yards per game. The two-year stater threw for a career best 2,615 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for a personal best 609 yards and seven scores.
Men's Golf
The Cardinals advanced to the NCAA Championship for the fifth time in school history by finishing fourth at the NCAA Noblesville Regional. Louisville reached the fourth day at the championship for the third time and posted its best finish by tying for ninth.
Matthias Schmid shot 5-over-par to place in a tie for 29th at the NCAA Championship. The senior closed his career as the school record holder in stroke average at 71.06.
Playing a shortened schedule, the Cardinals posted four top-five finishes in the 10 tournaments it appeared in during the 2020-21 season. The best finish of the regular season came at the General Hackler, where the team placed third.
John Murphy became the first player to appear in the Walker Cup, which is a tournament contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland.
Women's Golf
Lauren Hartlage ended her career with a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Championship at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. The senior, who was in contention after the second round, finished the tournament at 1-over-par, carding 73-68-75-73=289 to end as the fourth-best individual in the tournament.
Hartlage earned second team All-American honors by Golfweek and the Women’s Golf Coaches Association. She also earned all-league honors for the fourth time during her career.
Hosting a regional for the first time in school history, the Cardinals finished in a tie for 11th-place after holding fourth place entering the final day. Hartlage became the first UofL player to qualify as an individual for the NCAA Championship since Olivia Cason advanced in 2016. Her fourth-place finish was the second-best ending in school history during an NCAA event.
Hartlage closed her career with 23 top-10 finishes, which was the most in school history.
Hartlage was named to the USA Palmer Cup Team, which defeated the International Team in June.
Lacrosse
After a 12-9 victory over No. 24 Colorado on Feb. 18, the Cardinals moved into the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Top 25 poll at No. 23, marking the first time that Louisville has been ranked in the IWLCA poll since they concluded the 2017 season at No. 20. They reached as high as 16th in the IWLCA poll and 15th in the IL Women poll.
Caroline Blalock earned All-ACC Second Team honors. She was also named IWLCA All-Region Second Team, to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, an ILWomen Midseason Second Team All-American and received votes for the ILWomen Midseason Breakthrough Player of the Year. She led the Cardinals in assists (11), ground balls (32), caused turnovers (21) and draw controls (39), and ranked second in goals (30) and points (41). She ranked seventh in the ACC with 2.0 ground balls per game.
Sarah Blalock was named IWLCA All-Region Second Team after starting all 16 games and finishing the season with 12 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers. Defensively, some of her highlights were limiting Boston College's Charlotte North to just one goal in two games, Marquette's Megan Menzuber to one goal and Cincinnati's Monica Borzillo to zero goals and one assist.
Caroline Blalock, Allegra Catalano, Rachel Florek, Ally Hall, Bella Karstien, Alex McNicholas and Paige Richbourg were named to the All-ACC Women's Lacrosse Academic Team. The seven student-athletes are the most that Louisville has ever placed on the All-ACC Academic Team.
Rowing
UofL opened their season by hosting the Oak Ridge Cardinal which marked the first time the team got to race in more than 15 months. UofL faced Notre Dame head-to-head in Indianapolis and the day was highlighted by a win by the First Varsity Four of Madeline Dodd, Evey Peplowski, Molly Gillikin, Eliza Wack and coxswain Izzy Hussey. The Cardinals finished seventh at the ACC Championships.
McKenzie Sweeney was named to the All-ACC squad. The Cardinals place nine athletes on the All-ACC Academic team and 14 on the College Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Scholar Student Athletic List. Sweeney, rowed First Varsity Eight versus Notre Dame, at the Big Ten Invitational, versus Michigan/Iowa, and at the ACC Championships.
Cardinal rower Birdie Maxwell will help carry on the legacy of one of the city's most iconic athletes and social activists as she was selected as a 2021-2022 Muhammad Ali Scholar through the UofL Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice. She is the first athlete to win an Ali Scholarship in six academic years.
The Cardinals named their first varsity eight boat the Leave a Legacy and put the name of every UofL athletic department staff member on the hull with the object of connecting the program with the department and to express gratitude for everyone who has helped the Cardinals get back on the water. UofL redesigned their oar faces too, moving to a white background with a red Cardinal bird logo on them.
Men's Soccer
After a tough fall battling injuries, the Cardinals had a strong spring and posted a 4-2-0 mark to finish second in the ACC Atlantic Division.
The Cardinals capped off the spring season with a 2-1 upset over No. 1 Clemson at Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium.
Pedro Fonseca and Elijah Amo were each named to the All-ACC teams, while Aboubacar Camara earned All-Freshman honors after scoring five goals in the six spring matches. Bradley Sample was named to the All-ACC Academic Team.
The Cardinals had a pair of student-athletes selected in the MLS SuperDraft in January. Amo was selected 34th overall by Real Salt Lake, and Lamine Conte was taken 40th overall by New York Red Bulls.
Women's Soccer
Emina Ekic was named the 2020 ACC Offensive Player of the Year and a United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-American. It marked the first time that a Louisville player has earned ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Ekic turned in a stellar fall season, tying for the league-lead with six goals during the regular season and then adding another on a stellar free kick in the ACC quarterfinals against Virginia. The Louisville, Kentucky, native also tallied three assists this season to compile 17 points.
Gabby Kouzelos was named to the All-ACC Third Team. She started all 12 matches this season and recorded a total of 53 saves with a .803 save percentage and had a career-high ten saves in the 2-0 loss at Virginia. She was also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team.
Morgan Bentley, Sarah Hernandez, Gabby Kouzelos, Nadege L'Esperance, Delaney Snyder and Maisie Whitsett were named to the All-ACC Women's Soccer Academic Team. The six student-athletes are the most that Louisville has ever placed on the All-ACC Academic Team.
Softball
Louisville finished the season with a 21-28-1 overall record and a 15-21-1 mark in ACC play while in the midst of a challenging schedule which included seven teams in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and the ESPN.com/USA Softball coaches’ Top 25 polls.
Louisville tallied three wins and one tie against top-25 teams, including a win and a tie against eventual Women’s College World Series runner-up Florida State. The Cardinals also picked up wins over Virginia Tech and Duke during the regular season.
The Cardinals earned the No. 6 seed in the 2021 ACC Softball Championship which was held a Ulmer Stadium and lost a 4-3 heartbreaker in the quarterfinals to eventual tournament champion Duke.
Louisville landed two players on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-South Region teams. Carmyn Greenwood, earned first team honors after leading the Cardinals with a .430 batting average, 74 hits, nine doubles and 31 runs – all career bests. She also paced the team with 23 multi-hit games and stood second with 29 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. She led the conference in hits and stood second in the nation with 74 hits. She stood second in the ACC in batting average. She stands tied for eighth on Louisville’s list for single season hits.
Taylor Roby was named to the second team after a career-best season in which she belted out a team-high 14 home runs and 43 RBIs a .697 slugging percentage and tallied 13 multi-RBI games. The first team all-ACC selection stands second in the league in RBI and third in home runs. She also led the Cardinals with a 2.96 ERA and 12 wins and 83 strikeouts in 165.2 innings of work. She stands fourth on Louisville’s all-time list for home runs in a season.
Roby was selected to the All-ACC first team while Greenwood earned all-conference second team honors. Celene Funke was named to the ACC All-Tournament team.
Men's Swimming & Diving
The Cardinals had a historic 2020-21 season highlighted by their first ever ACC Championship and a fifth-place finish at NCAAs. The men won seven gold medals at ACCs and produced nine All-American swims.
Nick Albiero won his first NCAA Championship in the 200 fly and led the Cardinals to their first-ever NCAA Relay Championship when the men won the 200 medley relay. Albiero earned ACC Swimmer of the Year.
The Cardinal men qualified 12 swimmers, two relay alternates, and one diver for NCAAs. Louisville, who checked in at No. 5 in the final TYR/CSCAA poll of the season, had student-athletes in a combined 12 events and all five relays.
The Louisville men clinched their first-ever ACC Championship title in February. UofL broke five school records and produced seven gold-medal swims throughout the four-day meet, finishing with 1181 points to snap NC State's six-year winning streak by two points. Louisville's final score at the ACCs marked the highest point total in program history, besting the previous mark of 1178 set in 2015 during their first year in the ACC.
Women's Swimming & Diving
The Cardinals finished third overall at the ACC Championships and 13th at NCAAs.
A trio of UofL freshman women’s records fell during the ACC meet, as Liberty Williams and Gabi Albiero both rewrote this history book in the mile and 50 freestyle, respectively.
All five of UofL's women’s relays finished in the top four at ACCs, with four collecting the bronze medal.
* On the boards, Else Prassterink qualified for the ACC championship final of the platform event after taking fifth during prelims. She dove to eighth with a score of 253.35 during finals, and punched her ticket to NCAAs following her fifth-place finish at the Zone C Diving Championships.
Men's Tennis
The Cardinals finished the 2020-21 season ranked No. 51 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings. Louisville posted a 9-12 overall record and a 3-8 mark in ACC play. UofL placed a pair of players on the All-ACC teams: Fabien Salle and Sergio Hernandez.
Salle collected 2021 All-ACC second team honors after leading the team in singles with a 13-2 overall record and a 7-0 mark against conference opponents playing mostly at No. 2. He was named ACC Player of the Week on March 3 and was the ITA UTR Player of the Week on March 19. He appeared in the ITA singles rankings five times, reaching as high as No. 57.
Salle also amassed a 10-5 doubles record with Matthew Fung – the duo spent seven weeks in the ITA doubles rankings, reaching as high as No. 45. The pair was named ACC Doubles Team of the Week on March 19. Salle also earned all-ACC third team honors in 2019.
Sergio Hernandez was a third team all-ACC selection, finishing his junior season with a 12-5 overall singles record and was 5-4 in ACC play, primarily at the team's three spot. He spent seven weeks in the ITA singles rankings, reaching as high as No. 56. Hernandez went 10-5 in doubles, playing mostly at No. 2. He teamed with Tin Chen to appear at No. 89 in the national doubles rankings.
Head coach Rodrigo da Silva recently completed his second season at the helm. He took over the program in the fall of 2019 and the shortened 2020 spring season, da Silva’s young squad compiled a 9-6 overall record which included a 4-3 upset of No. 10 Virginia and a first round victory over New Mexico at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
Women's Tennis
Coached by Mark Beckham, one of just 17 ACC Black head coaches and one of just three Black women's tennis head coaches at the Power Five level, the Cardinals finished with a 9-13 record during the spring.
Beckham had two doubles teams in the national rankings with Raven Neely and Tatiana Simova, who ranked as high as No. 13 and earned a bid to the NCAA Doubles Championships. Another duo, Andrea Di Palma and Rhea Verma, were nationally ranked as high as No. 62 nationally as well.
Di Palma, a candidate for ACC Freshman of the Year, broke into the singles national rankings. The team spent three weeks in the national ranking and ended the regular season with a 9-14 record. Di Palma earned Third Team All-ACC honors after posting a 10-6 record at No. 2 singles.
The Cardinals were ranked No. 4 as a team in the Ohio Valley Region with Di Palma (No. 9) and Neely (No. 16) earning Top 20 rankings in the region. The doubles pairs of Simova and Neely was ranked No. 2 in the Region and No. 17 nationally. Rhea Verma and Di Palma were No. 8 in the region as a duo.
Track & Field
The Cardinals achieved several milestones including a top-20 finish for the women in the indoor season keyed by Makenli Forrest's NCAA Indoor Weight Throw title.
Forrest also won the ACC Indoor Championship and was the ACC Indoor Track and Field Scholar Athlete of the Year. In addition to Forrest's success, Halee Hudson, Aliyah Welter and Sterling Warner-Savage also collected NCAA All-American honors and the program produced 12 All-ACC performers.
Gabriela Leon won the 2021 ACC Outdoor Pole Vault title to lead 13 All-ACC performers. Purity Sanga earned the silver medal in the women’s 10,000 meter and Albert Kosgei took home the bronze in the men’s 3000m steeplechase.
Four student-athletes advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Welter earned second team All-America accolades in the women’s pole vault while Adar Sheere and Kosgei were named All-America honorable mentions in the men’s discus throw and 3000m steeplechase respectively.
Volleyball
The 2020 season for Cardinal volleyball stretched eight months, beginning in September and, for the first time, extending into the second semester of the school year. The Cardinals masked up and put together an 15-3 record and won the ACC Championship.
UofL earned its highest postseason seeding with a No. 11 ranking going into the 48-team field. A 3-1 win over San Diego gave the Cardinals their sixth overall and second consecutive trip to the Sweet Sixteen.
UofL won four of the ACC’s five major honors as senior Tori Dilfer was named Setter of the Year, sophomore middle blocker Amaya Tillman was voted Defensive Player of the Year, outside hitter Anna DeBeer was selected Freshman of the Year and Dani Busboom Kelly was named Coach of the Year. Dilfer, DeBeer, Stevenson and Aiko Jones were named First Team All-ACC and Amaya Tillman was Second Team All-ACC.
Louisville placed four players, DeBeer, Dilfer, Aiko Jones and Stevenson, on the AVCA East All-Region Team. Busboom Kelly was named the East Region Coach of the Year and DeBeer won East Region Freshman of the Year. Stevenson was selected as an AVCA Second Team All-American with Dilfer being chosen as an AVCA Third Team All-American. In addition, DeBeer earned AVCA All-American Honorable Mention honors.
Stevenson and Dilfer were also selected as members of the US Collegiate National Team. The Cardinals led the nation in blocks per set and led the league in opponent hitting percentage. Louisville also ranked among the top five in the ACC in hitting percentage (second), kills per set (second) and assists per set (second).
 Louisville earned four ACC Championships in 2020-21, the most in a single-season for UofL since the Cardinals joined the ACC in 2014 – women’s basketball, field hockey, men’s swimming and diving, and volleyball.
