The city of Louisville rallied behind the UofL volleyball team in their Elite Eight matchup today against the Oregon Ducks at the KFC Yum Center. The Ducks gave the Cardinals their toughest challenge up to this point in the tournament, ultimately pushing them to the brink of their elimination from the tournament.
But, the adversity the Cardinals faced did not stop them from pulling together massive rallies, which would ultimately lead them to a 3-2 match win over #3 Oregon. With this win, Louisville was pronounced the Regional Winner and is set to hit the road to Omaha, Nebraska for their second straight Final Four appearance.
Oregon, at one point in the first set, held a 13-8 lead over Louisville and looked to be in the driver’s seat. But, the Cardinals rallied and were able to tie the score at 20 even. Louisville would go on to win that set 25-23, which extended their tournament set win streak to 10 straight wins.
In the second set, Louisville came out with an impressive 7-2 lead over the Ducks behind a pair of kills from ACC Player of the Year Claire Chaussee. The Ducks tied the set up at 10 a piece and from there on the points went back and forth between the two teams. The Ducks would ultimately come out victorious in this set with an identical score of the first set, winning 25-23.
This set win by Oregon handed Louisville their first set loss all tournament long having swept their previous three opponents. Building off the momemtum of the set win, Oregon would go on to win the third set in convincing fashion, posting a 25-13 statement win.
Louisville was in their first test of adversity all tournament long in their home stadium. Their backs were up against the wall and there are only two responses to have when that happens: fight your way out or give up. The Cardinals chose to do the former and wound up fighting off the Ducks and clinching a much needed fourth set win forcing a fifth set to decide the match once and for all.
For the shortened fifth set, Louisville convincingly handled Oregon and stamped their ticket to Omaha for their second straight appearance in the Final Four. Anna DeBeer led the Cardinals with 17 kills, 10 digs, and 3 blocks, which ultimately earned her the award for All-Regional MVP.
At one point during the game, DeBeer landed on the knee she injured earlier this season but she would not let her pain take her out of this historic run for Louisville. She fought through it and said “Adrenaline takes over.” In a situation that was physically taxing for her, she fought through it and wound up earning the MVP award.
The fight in her even garnered attention from the opposing team when Oregon’s Outside Hitter Brook Nuneviller was quoted saying, “She’s special.”
DeBeer’s teammate and fellow member of the All-Regional Team Aiko Jones finished the game with 12 kills and ended the evening with the quote of the night when she said:
Anna DeBeer says Louisville got pushed to a point where it hadn’t been in a while. Aiko Jones says the Cards weren’t “going out like chumps.”
— Tyler Greever (@Tyler_Greever) December 11, 2022
“Instead, we went out like studs.”