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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Opposite hitter Aiko Jones hit .556 with 10 kills, seven digs, three aces, and three blocks to lead the No. 4-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team to a 25-19, 25-19, 25-20 win over Miami Sunday afternoon inside L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.
The Cardinals notch their 20th win of the year as they move to 20-2 overall and 11-1 in the ACC. As a team, Louisville hit .252 with five aces and eight blocks on the afternoon. Outside hitter Charitie Luper tallied 10 kills, nine digs, and a block, outside hitter Anna DeBeer recorded 10 kills, one ace, 12 digs, and two blocks, and middle blocker Cara Cresse totaled eight kills and two blocks. Setter Elle Glock had 30 assists and 8 digs, while libero Elena Scott anchored the defense with 13 digs on top of four assists and an ace.
Miami hit .128 in the match with two aces and six blocks as they fell to 15-7 overall and 8-4 in the ACC. Grace Lopez led the charge for the Hurricanes with 10 kills and 10 digs.
The Cardinals next travel to Atlanta, Georgia, for a matchup with No.11-ranked Georgia Tech on Friday night. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
Set-by-Set Recap
Set 1
The Cardinals came out firing on all cylinders in the first set, taking an early 6-1 lead featuring kills by Cresse and Luper as well as an ace by Scott to force a Miami timeout. The Hurricanes fought back into the set, coming within one at 11-10 after an ace by Milana Moisio, but the Cardinals responded with an 8-2 run, highlighted by kills from DeBeer, Luper, and Cresse and an ace by Jones, to take a commanding 19-12 lead and force another Miami timeout. Back-to-back kills by middle blocker Phekran Kong and DeBeer made the score 23-15, and another Glock-to-Kong connection put the Cardinals at set point at 24-17. The Hurricanes managed to fight off two set points, but the Cardinals ultimately prevailed on a Luper kill to secure the 25-19 set win and 1-0 match lead. Louisville hit .393 in the set with two aces.
Set 2
Louisville took the momentum into the second set, beginning on a 4-1 run headlined by three kills from Jones and a kill from Luper. Later, a solo block by DeBeer put the Cardinals up 8-5 before Miami reeled off three straight points to tie the match at 8. Louisville responded by scoring four consecutive points, highlighted by two kills from DeBeer, to take a 12-8 lead and force a Miami timeout. DeBeer landed another kill coming out to stretch the lead to 13-8, but the Hurricanes had their own response, tallying five consecutive points capped off by an ace from Savannah Vach to tie the set at 13. It continued to be a set of runs, as Louisville followed Miami’s run with a 6-2 run of their own, featuring two kills by Luper and an ace by Jones, to take the lead back at 19-15. Miami cut it to three at 21-18 after an Angela Grieve kill, but the Cardinals answered with consecutive kills by Jones and DeBeer to take a 23-18 lead and force another Miami timeout. DeBeer would later land an ace to finalize the 25-19 set win and give the Cardinals a 2-0 match lead. Louisville recorded two aces and two blocks in the set.
Set 3
The Cardinals took an early 4-2 lead in the third set with Jones landing another ace. Louisville maintained this lead up to a 10-8, but the Hurricanes then answered with five straight points, capped off by a solo block from Janice Leao, to take a 13-10 lead and force the first timeout of the afternoon by Coach Busboom Kelly. The Cardinals responded well with a 6-1 run coming out, highlighted by kills from Jones, Luper, and Cresse, to claim the lead right back at 16-14 and force a Hurricanes timeout. Miami just wouldn’t give in, coming back to tie it at 17-17 after a kill by Flormarie Heredia Colon, but the Cardinals again had an answer, following the tie with a 5-1 run, headlined by Kong and DeBeer teaming up for a block, to seize control at 22-18 and force another Miami timeout. Later, a Jones kill put the Cardinals at the doorstep of the sweep at 24-20, and Luper finished the Hurricanes off with a kill of her own to win the set 25-20 and give the Cardinals the 3-0 match win. Louisville tallied an ace and two blocks in the set.
