Louisville Volleyball Swept by Texas in National Championship
Press Release from the University of Louisville:
OMAHA, Neb. – Claire Chaussee, Anna DeBeer, and Aiko Jones were named to the All-Tournament team as the University of Louisville volleyball program fell to the Texas Longhorns 25-22, 25-14, 26-24 in the NCAA National Championship ,match on Saturday night at the CHI Health Center Arena in Omaha, Nebraska.
Louisville had 36 kills, four aces, 39 digs, and four blocks. Chaussee finished with 12 kills to end with 82 through the NCAA Tournament. The AVCA First Team All-American added five digs. Raquel Lazaro led the team with 14 digs and had 28 assists and one ace. DeBeer had nine kills hitting .316 and eight digs, ending the tournament run with 61 kills and 52 digs. Jones notched eight kills hitting .304, two digs, and two blocks. Elena Scott recorded one ace and six digs. The libero finished the tournament with 14 aces and 95 digs. Amaya Tillman had four kills and two blocks, improving to 36 kills and 25 blocks in the tournament run.
The Longhorns were led by Logan Eggleston who finished with 19 kills hitting .341, seven digs, and three blocks. Madisen Skinner added 12 kills hitting .407, one ace, and three blocks. Eggleston, Skinner, Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres, and Asjia O'Neal were named to the All-Tournament team with Eggleston being named the MVP.
SET 1
Powered by aggressive serving by Anna DeBeer, the Cardinals hopped out to a 3-0 lead but the Longhorns answered with four straight to go up 4-3. Texas took a two point lead at 8-6 on an ace by Zoe Fleck. The Cards tied at nine on a Madisen Skinner hitting error. Texas managed to spread the lead to three and were up 15-13 at the media timeout. A 3-0 Cardinal run that included two consecutive kills by Chaussee closed the gap to one at 18-17. Texas had a 3-1 run that started with a line shot for a kill by Logan Eggleston to take the Longhorns up 21-18 and spark a Louisville timeout. After the Cards scored on a kill by Jones, Eggleston threaded a ball through the Cardinal block to take Texas up 22-19. After a Louisville timeout at 22-19, the Cards scored on a net call and a kill by Tillman before the Longhorns got to set point on a service error by Chaussee. An Eggleston kill ended the set at 25-22. UT hit .533 in the first set to Louisville's 400. The Cards had two aces and the Longhorns survived five service errors.
SET 2
Texas held momentum early in the second set, going up 3-0 with an ace by Fleck setting the tone. The Cards tied at three with a block by Kong and Jones. Texas spread the lead to five on two straight hitting errors by the Cardinals before Busboom Kelly called timeout down 11-6. The break did not sway the momentum as Texas went on a 4-1 run to go up 15-7 and force Busboom Kelly to burn her final timeout of the set. But the Cardinals got help from Chaussee on the attack and blocking by Tillman and Jones to run off four straight to move the score to 15-11 and force a UT timeout. UT kept a grip on the lead with a 5-2 down the stretch before a hitting error put the set out of hand 25-14 and give the Longhorns a two-set lead going into the break.
SET 3
After the two teams traded points, the Cardinals took the lead at 7-6 when the Longhorns were called out of rotation. Two straight kills by Anna DeBeer from the left side and a block by Jones and Kong put the Cards up 11-10. After exchanging points, a dump by Raquel Lazaro and a kill by Anna DeBeer gave UofL a 15-14 lead going into the media timeout. Texas ran off a 6-1 sequence to go up 20-16. A kill by Jones and an ace by Lazaro brought the Cards within two at 20-18 forcing a UT timeout. Louisville tied at 21 on a block by Kong. Kills by Chaussee and Anna DeBeer pushed the Cards to set point 24-22 before Texas called timeout. Texas got a kill from Asjia O'Neal and a miss by Chaussee to tie at 24. A net call and a Longhorn ace gave Texas the win 26-24.
(Photo of Phekran Kong, Aiko Jones: Steven Branscombe - USA TODAY Sports)
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