No. 12 Louisville Volleyball Tames Missouri Tigers 3-0 in Home Opener

Junior Amaya Tillman and sophomore Anna DeBeer had 10 kills each to lead the No.12 ranked University of Louisville volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep over Missouri in their first match of the Cardinal Invitational Friday night and move to 4-0 to the start the season with the 25-16, 25-18, 25-16 win.

DeBeer’s 10 kills came on 17 swings while hitting a team high .529 while Tillman hit .500 with 10 kills on 16 swings, adding five blocks. Tori Dilfer tallied 31 assists and Anna Stevenson and Elena Scott contributed two service aces each. As a team, Louisville had five aces, eight blocks and 26 digs. The Cardinal’s hit .469 for the match, the highest single match hitting percentage mark in Division I this year.

Missouri hit .184 with one block and four aces while adding eight service errors. Jordan Iliff and Anna Dixon led the offense with eight kills each. With the loss, the Tigers move to 0-4.

Set 1

The first set went back-and-forth early before UofL jumped to a 14-8 lead, forcing Mizzou to take their first timeout. Louisville kept pushing the pace, taking a 19-11 lead as the Tigers called their last timeout of the set. Hitting a blistering .400, the Cards attack held Missouri at bay to take the first set 25-16.

Set 2

A tightly contested start to the second set saw the Cardinals call their first timeout tied 10-10. The set remained close until a Tori Dilfer ace gave UofL its largest lead of the stanza so far, 20-15. Louisville finally took the set 25-18 with an Elena Scott ace. The team continued their explosive attack, hitting .481 with 16 kills.

Set 3

Another close contest, the teams traded points throughout the third set until Dilfer took over to serve, leading the team on a 3-0 run and an 11-8 lead forcing a Missouri timeout. The Cardinals carried their momentum through the break, extending their lead 19-13. Louisville would go on to complete the sweep scoring six of the final nine points for a 25-16 win.

UofL (4-0) will face off against South Dakota on Saturday, Sep. 4 at 6 p.m. ET at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.