Recap, Gallery: Louisville Volleyball Sweeps Florida to Reach Elite Eight
Press Released from the University of Louisville:
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Anna DeBeer tallied 13 kills on 28 swings to hit .321 and lead No. 1 University of Louisville volleyball 25-16, 25-22, 25-12 in straight sets over No. 16 seed Florida in the Sweet 16 on Thursday afternoon in front of a crowd of 3,089 at Freedom Hall.
"It was an amazing atmosphere. I didn't know what to expect with the one o'clock match, but the fans were awesome," said Louisville head coach Dani Busboom Kelly on the fans at Freedom Hall. "You could feel the energy and I was so impressed with this team. I have been impressed all year, but I continue to be impressed with our poise, mindset and confidence. It never falters."
Louisville continues its unbeaten season, moving to 31-0 on the season and advancing to the Elite Eight for the second year in a row. As a team, the Cardinals had 43 kills, hitting .341 with four aces, 36 digs and nine blocks. Anna Stevenson recorded nine kills on 15 swings to hit an impressive .467 and Amaya Tillman hit a team-high .667 for seven kills on nine swings. Aiko Jones and Claire Chaussee added six and five kills respectively. Tori Dilfer finished the match with 32 assists with a team-high two aces and two solo blocks with Elena Scott leading the team with 14 digs.
Florida ends its season 22-9 after recording 30 kills while hitting .081 with two aces, 30 digs and five service errors. Sofia Victoria led the Gators with 13 kills.
Set 1
A quick start from Florida saw the Gators take an early 3-0 lead but the Cardinals were unphased, ripping off seven straight points, led by Anna DeBeer and Amaya Tillman, to give Louisville a 7-3 lead and force Florida to call its first timeout of the set. The Cards scored the first point out of the break to cap of their 8-0 run, only giving up one more point before getting the serve back with a 9-5 lead. With the serve, Louisville put together another four-point run to extend its lead to seven at 12-5 over the Gators. Florida scored two to get back within five at 12-7, but the UofL wouldn't let up, scoring two of their own before stringing together another three-point scoring run, highlighted by an ace and kill from Anna DeBeer, to force the Gators to use their final timeout of the set down 17-8. The teams traded points following the timeout before rallied for a 3-0 run of their own as Louisville called its first timeout of the set with a 19-13 lead late in the set. The Cardinals' timeout paid off, ending Florida's run with a big kill from Claire Chaussee to go up 20-13. The teams once again traded points but solid serving from Aiko Jones would the Cards to take the final four points of the set, giving Louisville a 25-16 victory in set one.
Set 2
Once again, Florida struck first, taking a 3-1 lead with the Cardinals coming right back with three straight points for a 4-3 lead. From there, the teams traded points back-and-forth with neither side willing to budge. With the Gators up 8-7, back-to-back kills from Amaya Tilman and Aiko Jones got the Louisville offense going, scoring three consecutive points to take a 10-8 lead. The Cards then took four of the next six points to extend their lead to four at 14-10. Florida, not ready to throw in the towel, rallied to score four straight points and tie the set at 14-14 before a service error gave Louisville a 15-14 lead heading into the media timeout. The Gators were aggressive out of the timeout, scoring another three straight points to take a 17-15 lead. The Cardinals rallied to tie the set 17-17, but another two points from Florida put UofL down 19-17 late and forced Louisville to call its first timeout of the set. The teams traded points following the timeout, but two straight points off kills from Claire Chaussee and Aiko Jones brought the Cards back within one at 21-10 and forced Florida to use its first timeout of the set. After giving up the first point after the break, Louisville locked in, scoring the next two points to even the score 22-22 and force the Gators to call their second and final timeout of the set. The Cardinals came out of the timeout on fire, hammering home three straight kills to win the second set 25-22.
Set 3
Louisville carried its momentum into the third set, scoring four of the first five points to jump out to an early 4-1 lead. The Cardinals got the sideout and scored two more points to extend their lead to 6-2 as they forced the Gators to take an early timeout. The teams traded points back-and-forth out of the break with UofL maintaining its four-point lead at 10-6. The Cardinals then went on the attack, railing of four straight points led by Tori Dilfer with an ace and a kill, to extend their lead to seven at 13-6. Florida battled for two points to get back within five, but Louisville kept pushing the pace, going on a 3-0 run to go up 17-9 late in the set. The Gators scored one to stop the Cardinals' run but were forced to call their final timeout after Anna Stevenson landed a kill and block back-to-back to put the Cards up nine at 19-10. Louisville continued to dominate the set, scoring four straight points out of the timeout to extend its lead to 23-10 and cap off a 6-0 run. UofL would go on to take two of the next four points to take the third set 25-12 and finish of the 3-0 sweep.
Up next, the Cardinals face off against the winner of No. 8 seed Georgia Tech vs. No. 9 seed Ohio State on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Freedom Hall in the Elite Eight.
Gallery
(Photos via Louisville Report's Cindy Rice Shelton)
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