Louisville volleyball gets sixth-consecutive sweep on senior night

By Morgan Davenport

The No. 3 Louisville Cardinals took down the North Carolina Tar Heels for their sixth-straight sweep and seventh-straight victory.

Sadly, the Cards have to say goodbye to five of their beloved seniors, Anna DeBeer, Elena Scott, Charitie Luper, Phekran Kong and Sofia Maldonado Diaz.

Breakout the brooms

Set one started off with a powerful kill from Cara Cresse, setting the tone for a 5-0 run from the Cardinals.

Coming out of a Tar Heel timeout, Kong and DeBeer both put up amazing solo blocks. Not short after, setter Nayelis Cabello recorded an incredible one arm solo block.

The Cards made sure to keep the same energy that they had against Duke, playing well but also keeping the morale high. Both teams played with power, but the Tar Heels were struggling in a technical sense. They had multiple net calls and errors that could have been avoided.

Luper had an explosive kill to take the Cards to set point, eventually taking the set 25-10.

Set two started off a lot messier than set one, having a very scrappy first rally that ended up in favor of UNC. This allowed the Heels to take a lead early on, changing the momentum for the first time in the match.

Once Louisville sided out, DeBeer swung hard out of the back row hoping to get their momentum back. Louisville swung constantly but the Tar Heels’ libero, Maddy May, didn’t allow anything to hit the floor.

The Cards came back, however, with a 6-0 run. DeBeer gave consistent serves and setter Elle Glock racked up assists. The Cards were sitting comfortably hitting .565 for the set.

The Cardinals kept on swinging, Maldonado Diaz with the kill to take set two 25-18.

Set three started off with a kill from Carolina, but immediately responded to with two consecutive kills by Louisville.

UNC kept the third close, only allowing the Cards to hold a one-point lead for most of the set. This changed quickly for Louisville as they took an eight-point lead and held their ground. The Cards put up a wall on the Tar Heels and were able to find every gap they had.

Maldonado Diaz had an amazing hitting percentage of .727.

Cresse gained a kill proceeding the Cards to match point.

An ace from Kamden Schrand gave Louisville the set 25-13, completing the senior day-sweep.