By Morgan Davenport
Louisville advances to the Elite Eight with a quick sweep over the Purdue Boilermakers.
After just skating through with a win over UNI, the Cardinals made sure to play as hard as they could.
In the beginning of set one, Purdue had started with a small lead on the Cards, but it was quickly shut down. Phekran Kong was swinging hard to bring the Cards into a substantial lead.
The Cardinals kept a consistent lead on the Boilermakers, taking the set 25-17.
Set two started off the same way, allowing Purdue to take an initial lead. After five ties and a few lead changes, the Cardinals had a 4-point lead.
Anna DeBeer had an impressive 15 kills for the match. Charitie Luper also was a big-time performer having 13 kills and hitting .571.
Both teams were playing fairly well, Louisville just knew they wanted this win so much more, so they got it.
Louisville took set two 25-18 and were looking for a sweep.
Set three was truly the Cardinals we know and love.
Giving this game their absolute all, they set all their consistent hitters and once again took a substantial lead on the Boilermakers, at one point being six points ahead. DeBeer once again was putting every ball down. Absolutely no one for Purdue could stop her.
Louisville took set three 25-18, sweeping the Boilermakers for a spot in the Elite Eight.
This was the Cardinals that we needed to see against UNI. This game showed just how much passion and drive Louisville has to defend their home court in the final four and hopefully end up victorious.
Louisville now advances to their fourth Elite Eight in four seasons.
The Cards will face the Stanford Cardinal once again, Saturday Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Photo Courtesy // Tre Jones, Louisville Athletics
