LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The No. 1-seeded Cardinals are moving on.
Head coach Dani Busboom Kelly's team defeated No. 8-seeded Northern Iowa in five sets Saturday night at the KFC Yum! Center to advance to the NCAA Regional Semifinal.
Louisville fell in set one 28-26, before taking set two 25-22. After a 25-23 Northern Iowa victory in set three, the Cardinals etched out a 25-23 win in set four before taking the tiebreaking fifth set 22-20.
“The NCAA Tournament: survive and advance,” Busboom Kelly said. “You need to play great, and you need to have some luck ... I thought luck was on our side a little bit there in game five, but the crowd was super into it, and you could feel it the whole way.”
The Cardinals hit .161 as a team with 56 kills, 52 assists, 73 digs, 25 blocks and five service aces. Outside hitters Charitie Luper and Anna DeBeer both tallied double-doubles, their seventh and 12th of 2024, respectively. Both players had 19 kills while Luper added 14 digs, with DeBeer adding 11.
Defensively, seven Cardinals tallied blocks. Libero Elena Scott finished with 26 digs, tying a season high, while middle blocker Cara Cresse set a career high in blocks with 14.
“We’re pretty mentally tough, and I think we had to work on that and grow into that this year," Busboom Kelly said. "I do believe that’s going to give us more confidence in the next round, just getting through this game when the stakes are as high. UNI is great, but a lot of people on the outside think, ‘Well. that should be an easy win for Louisville.' It's not."
"So here we’re down to a team that everybody thinks we should beat at home; we’ve got a top-four seed. To be feeling that pressure and come out and make some plays, like some really tough plays to win that game, I think that just shows the mental toughness that’s grown throughout the year."
Louisville will host No. 4-seeded Purdue Thursday, Dec. 12 in Freedom Hall at a to-be-determined time. Stanford will also face Florida at Freedom Hall. The regional finals will take place Saturday, Dec. 14.
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