Louisville moves to 3-0 in the ACC
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – September 27, 2023 – By: Trey Curry
Middle blocker Phekran Kong tallied 12 kills and seven blocks while hitting .500 to lead the No. 5-ranked University of Louisville to a 25-12, 25-18, 25-16 sweep over Notre Dame on Wednesday night in South Bend.
Louisville hit .250 in the match with 39 kills, four aces, and nine blocks as they moved to 12-1 on the season. Opposite hitter Aiko Jones recorded eight kills, six digs, and three blocks, while outside hitter Anna DeBeer added seven kills and three digs. Setter Elle Glock had 30 assists, eight digs, and a block, and libero Elena Scott had eight digs and three assists.
Notre Dame hit -.115 in the match with 17 kills, five aces, and nine blocks. They were led by Lucy Trump’s seven kills and four blocks.
The Cardinals continue their four-match road trip as they head to Raleigh, North Carolina, for a matchup with NC State Sunday afternoon. First serve is set for 4:00 p.m.
Set-by-Set Recap
Set 1
Louisville began the night firing on all cylinders, taking a 5-0 lead on two kills from Jones and two more from Kong and forcing an early timeout by Notre Dame. The Cards continued rolling coming out, scoring four more consecutive points, headlined by an ace from Glock, to total the run at 9-0 before the Irish finally tallied back-to-back points to make it 9-2. Louisville then went on a 6-2 run, with kills from Jones, DeBeer, and middle blocker Cara Cresse accounting for the final three points, forcing another timeout by Notre Dame at 15-4. The Irish scored four consecutive points coming out to make it 15-8, but with the score at 17-10, the Cards finished the set on an 8-2 run, featuring kills from outside hitter Charitie Luper, Kong, and Jones, to win the set 25-12 and take a 1-0 match lead. Louisville hit .306 in the set with an ace and three blocks while never trailing.
Set 2
Louisville again came out firing in the second set by scoring the first three points, headlined by Kong and Jones teaming up for a block, but Notre Dame fought back to tie the match at 7 on multiple kills from Trump. Notre Dame took their first lead of the night at 13-12 on another kill from Trump, and led 15-13 going into the media timeout. The Irish maintained this lead at 17-15, but it was all Louisville after that, as the Cards went on a 10-1 run, including scoring the final seven points of the set, to close out the set 25-18. The run featured five kills from Kong and was capped off by an ace by Luper, as Louisville tallied an ace and three blocks in the set.
Set 3
Louisville continued its trend of strong runs to begin sets, as they took a 6-1 lead, highlighted by Luper connecting with Scott for a kill as well as a solo block by Kong, to force an Irish timeout. Notre Dame battled within three at 8-5 after back-to-back aces by Sydney Palazzolo, but the Cards quickly took the momentum back as they recorded four straight points on several Irish errors to take a 12-5 lead. Louisville later led at 15-7 before Notre Dame reeled off four straight points to make it 15-11, but a kill from Luper halted their run. Later, with Louisville leading 17-13, the Cardinals tallied three consecutive points on a kill from DeBeer and two attack errors by the Irish to take a 20-13 lead, forcing another timeout by Notre Dame. The Irish scored two consecutive points coming out, but Louisville ended the set on a 5-1 run, featuring a kill from middle blocker Reese Robins and an ace from DeBeer, to win the set 25-16 and finish the sweep. The Cardinals hit .318 in the set with two aces and three blocks, again never trailing.