No. 1 Louisville Volleyball Defeats No. 8 Georgia Tech to Reach Final Four

The Cardinals are heading to their first Final Four in program history.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - An already historic season for the Louisville volleyball program continues to make even more history.

Playing in only their second ever regional final - and first since 2019 - the No. 1 overall Cardinals were able to take down No. 8 Georgia Tech in four sets (25-18, 21-25. 25-21, 25-20) at Freedom Hall Saturday evening, advancing to their first Final Four appearance in school history.

Louisville (32-0, 18-0 ACC) will face either No. 12 Minnesota or No. 4 Wisconsin at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday, Dec. 16. The Cardinals are hoping to become the first undefeated national championship since Penn State in 2009, and the fifth school to accomplish the feat.

Claire Chaussee led Louisville with 18 kills, Anna DeBeer had 14, and Anna Stevenson had 13 win oa game-high .391 hitting percentage. Georgia Tech's Mariana Brambilla had a game-high 27 kills on 70 attempts.

Louisville found themselves in an early 4-1 hole in set one, but didn't waste much time responding, as they immediately fired off a 12-3 run to take command of the opening set. Georgia Tech got within four towards the end, but the Cardinals were able to close the set strong.

In set two, it was the Cardinals who took the early 4-1 lead, then after a competitive middle portion, started to pull away with a 20-15 advantage. But the Yellow Jackets stormed back, firing off a 10-1 to not only claim the set, but their first set against Louisville since Nov. 2016.

Despite a 6-0 run early on and a 5-0 run midway through, set three was not an easy one to capture for the Cardinals. Georgia Tech kept it a two- to three-point game for most of back half of set, not allowing Louisville to run away with it until the Jackets simply ran out of time.

Georgia Tech started set four with a 6-2 lead, which was then responded by a 6-0 run by Louisville. The teams took turns trading points through most of the rest of the set, with a 4-0 run in the middle giving the Cardinals the breathing room to claim the match.

Gallery:

(Photo of Louisville Players via the Atlantic Coast Conference)

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