By Derek DeBurger

No. 2 seeded Louisville beats the Wright State Raiders to advance to the round of 32.

This section of the regional Louisville hosted became a bit of a homecoming for many players. Two of the Raiders players are alumni of Assumption High School and former teammates of Cardinal star Anna DeBeer.

In true homecoming fashion, the Raiders jumped on the Cards early getting out to a 4-0 start in the first set. The Cards made many pushes to try and claw back, but errors and difficulty defending spikes saw the Raiders stealing the first set from the Cards 25-22.

The second set got off to just as bad a start with a couple of errors giving the Raiders a 3-1 start. It had all the makings of an upset for the ages, but back-to-back attack errors by Wright State tied the set and put the Cards back in the game.

The teams went back and forth until the Cards went on an 8-1 run to go up 14-8. The Raiders cut the deficit to two, but a 6-1 run ended the set in the Cards’ favor 25-18.

Yet again, the Raiders were the aggressors; kills and errors gave them an 8-4 lead to start the set, and later a 13-8 lead. From there the Cards put their foot on the gas and showed who was the higher seed. The Cards brought it to the Raiders with deadly spikes and were able to keep rallies going until Wright State made mistakes. The Cards won the third set 25-20.

With a 2-1 set lead, the Cards used the momentum from back-to-back sets and the less-than-neutral crowd’s energy to finally get out to a hot start of their own. The Raiders fought hard to stay in the match, but the Cards were a determined group and spiked the Raiders into submission.

The Cards won the fourth set 25-20 and won the match 3-1.

The Cards struggled at the start of the match and at the beginning of most sets. Once they were able to extend rallies and play the long game they were able to get into a rhythm and just had to wait for the Raiders to make mistakes. Elena Scott was crucial to Louisville’s steadying as she had a team-high 21 digs.

Elle Glock was another key player with a team-high 35 assists. DeBeer didn’t have her best outing—only eight kills on a 0.050 hitting percentage—but she’s a thousand-kill player in her career so she should right the ship.

The Cards season continues as they’re set up to face Western Michigan on Friday at 7 pm.

Photo Courtesy // Chris Carter, Louisville Athletics