Louisville Volleyball Sweeps Stanford in Top-Five Matchup

The Cardinals move to 10-2 on the season.

Action during the Louisville versus Wisconsin volleyball match at the AVCA First Serve Showcase at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. on Aug. 27, 2024 / Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Press Release from the University of Louisville:

LOUISVILLE, Ky – Charitie Luper recorded a season-high 18 kills, bouncing 11 in the second set alone, to carry the No. 5-ranked Cardinals over Stanford in straight sets on Sunday at the KFC Yum! Center, to move to 10-2 on the season and 2-0 in ACC play.

Louisville moves to 10-2 with the 25-16, 25-23, 25-22 win. The Cards hit .248 for the match and recorded 44 kills to go along with 40 assists and two aces. Luper led the way with 18 kills, withAnna DeBeer adding 10. Cara Cresse and Reese Robins added six and five blocks, respectively, to add to the UofL total of eight in the match. Elle Glock had 16 assists and Nayelis Cabello had 15.Elena Scott recorded 13 digs and added seven assists.

No. 3-ranked Stanford hit .144 for the match, with 32 kills to fell to 9-2 on the season. Louisville's defense proved tough for Stanford, with the Cardinal being held to .144 hitting and having 16 errors. Junior Elia Rubin and freshman Ipar Kurt were bright spots for Stanford however, recording nine and eight kills respectively.

Louisville will host Clemson (8-5) Friday night at 6pm EST in the L&N Federal Credit Union Arena, to face their third straight ACC opponent.

Set 1: 25-16 Louisville

To open the match, Louisville jumped out to a 10-7 lead while on a 3-0 run thanks to an ace from setter Elle Glock. The Cardinals kept their lead of three all the way to the media timeout, where the score was 15-12, where Charitie Luper already had three kills. Out of the media timeout, Louisville stretched their lead to five, with the score at 21-16 and forced Stanford to take their first timeout of the set. The Cards ran away with the set and took the set courtesy of a Cara Cresse solo block and a 6-0 run to win the set 25-16. Louisville hit .194 for the set, while holding Stanford to just .062. Luper and Sofia Maldonado-Diaz led the way with three kills each for the Cards, with Glock adding another ace, bringing her total to two for the set.

Set 2: 25-23 Louisville

Stanford gained an early 7-2 lead over Louisville before forcing UofL to burn their first timeout of the set. Louisville bounced back, going on a 4-0 run to trim the lead to three before forcing Stanford to take their first timeout of the second match. Louisville continued to find success after the break in play, capping a 10-1 run before Stanford took their second timeout of the set, with Louisville having taken a 15-13 lead. The set became back-and-forth affair, with six lead changes in the final points of the set before the Cards pulled out the 25-23 win. Louisville outhit Stanford .262 to .175 and saw Charitie Luper caught fire with set with 11 kills to lead UofL to a 2-0 match lead before the third set.

Set 3: 25-22 Louisville

The third set opened with a back-and-forth battle, coming to a stalemate at 10 apiece, with Maldonado-Diaz landing three kills, and Stanford freshman Ipar Kurt recording two of her own. Stanford took the lead into the media timeout, 15-14, behind an ace from freshman Taylor Yu and another kill from Kurt. After Anna DeBeer secured her third kill of the set, and a block from bothReese Robins and Cara Cresse, the Cardinals took the lead 19-17, forcing Stanford to take their first timeout of the set. Out of the timeout, Louisville jumped out to a three-point lead, from another duo block by Robins and Cresse, making it 22-19, and held it the rest of the way, eventually winning the set and the match 25-22. Match point was won thanks to Anna DeBeer's fifth kill of the set. Louisville hit their best in this set at .278, while keeping Stanford at bay with a chilly .179. Luper added to her performance with four kills in this set, and Ipar Kurt was a bright spot for Stanford, recording four kills as well, but it wasn't enough as Louisville took the set and the match.

(Photo via Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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