Louisville Volleyball Falls to Penn State in National Championship

The Cardinals, who were without All-American Anna DeBeer, fell in four sets to the Nittany Lions in the title game.

Sofia Maldonado Diaz. / Scott Utterback / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With the KFC Yum! Center serving as the host site for the 2024 NCAA D1 women's volleyball Final Four, therein lied the potential for a storybook ending for the Louisville volleyball program - winning their first ever national title on their home floor.

Unfortunately, despite getting back to the final game of the season, that storybook ending did not come to fruition.

Doing battle against Penn State in the national championship game, the Cardinals could not avenge their regular season loss to the Nittany Lions, falling just short of a title with a four-set (23-25, 34-32, 20-25, 16-25) loss on Sunday.

Reaching their second national championship game in three years and third Final Four in four years, top-seeded Louisville concludes their 2024 season with a 30-6 overall mark, including 17-3 in regular season ACC play. Meanwhile, fellow No. 1 seed Penn State finishes the year at 35-2 and 19-1 in Big Ten play, as well as with their eighth title in program history - and first since 2014.

Third-year Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley, whose Nittany Lions also swept the Cardinals in University Park, Pa. back on Sept. 3, becomes the first female head coach in the 43-year history of the NCAA D1 women's volleyball tournament to win a title. Eighth-year Louisville head coach Dani Busboom Kelly narrowly missed out on this distinction.

Whether it was on offense or defense, Louisville was out-played by Penn State. The Cardinals hit just .196 percent to the Nittany Lions' .277 percent, posted only 53 kills and 64 digs to 72 and 78, respectively, for PSU.

For the Cardinals, Charitie Luper had a team-best 21 kills, Sofia Maldonado Diaz had 20 kills on a .400 hitting percentage plus five blocks, while Elena Scott had a game-best 24 digs.

As for the Nittany Lions, Jess Mruzik had a game-best 29 kills along with 14 digs, Camryn Hannah had 19 kills, and Izzy Starck had 55 assists. Five different Penn State players had double digit digs.

Louisville went into the match against Penn State significantly handicapped. All-American Anna DeBeer, who suffered a right ankle injury towards the end of their Final Four win over Pitt, could not play against the Nittany Lions.

The opening set, just like in Louisville's matchup vs. Pitt the game before, was very back-and-forth, featuring 11 ties. However, it was Penn State who held the slight advantage throughout most of the set, using their aggression to go on the offensive anytime it got back to a tie game.

The Cardinals had three separate game-tying 3-0 runs down the stretch, but the Nittany Lions answered each time, stringing together a pair of 4-1 runs, and then scoring the final two points thanks to a pair of UofL mistakes.

In the second set, it seemed like Louisville was cruising right towards a sweep. While they went back and forth to start, Penn State used a 9-3 stretch midway through the set to give themselves some serious breathing room and go up 17-10. At that point, the Cardinals seemed a step behind no matter what they were doing.

But while they was down, they were certainly not out. Louisville proceeded to mount a furious comeback, scoring 14 of the next 21 points, including a 5-0 run while the Nittany Lions were at set point to tie it at 24. What followed was a heart-pounding sequence that featured 14 total set points, including 10 for PSU, before UofL ended on a set-clinching 3-0 run.

Set three had a similar competitive start, only for Penn State to use their aggression to their advantage. Louisville trailed just 8-7 early on, but the Nittany Lions used a crucial 6-2 run to lead the set by as much as six points before eventually putting away the Cardinals and capturing the set. In this frame alone, PSU posted 19 kills, while UofL could only muster nine.

In the fourth and ultimately final set, Penn State exploded right out of the gates. They opened up the set on a 6-1 run to force Louisville to burn an early timeout, and never could get within striking distance after that. The Nittany Lions led by as much as eight points in the set, and the Cardinals could only within five down the stretch.

(Photo of Sofia Maldonado Diaz: Scott Utterback - USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

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