LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville edges out Oregon in grueling five-game match.
The No. 1 University of Louisville volleyball team outlasted No. 3 Oregon 3-2 in a five-game thriller to win the Louisville Regional final and advance to the semifinals of the 2022 NCAA Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 10 here at the KFC Yum! Center.
In a contest that needed all five sets to decide the winner, Louisville won the rallied from a set down and some nervous moments in the fourth game to win the contest 25-23, 23-25, 13-25, 27-25, 15-6 and make progress to the National Semifinal in Omaha, Neb., next week.
Anna DeBeer led Louisville with 17 kills, while Claire Chaussee had 13 and Aiko Jones finished with 12. Raquel Lazaro finished 45 assists in the epic contest that saw Amaya Tillman ending with a joint-game-best seven blocks. Read Here Also: Wisconsin vs Pittsburgh: Where to Watch the NCAA Volleyball Showdown?
Mimi Colyer finished with 17 kills for Oregon, while Brooke Nuneviller (15) Morgan Lewis (13), and Karson Bacon (10) also finished with double figures. Bacon also had seven blocks and Nuneviller ended with 16 digs in the defeat.
The Cardinals advanced to Omaha with a 26-7 overall record and improved to 3-1 in the recent five-set matches. Louisville all extended its win streak to 12 matches and heads to its second successive NCAA National Volleyball semifinal.
Saturday’s game was the first head-to-head meeting between Louisville and Oregon in program history, according to the Cardinals’ official website here.
Louisville wins nail-biter against Oregon in five-game thriller
Louisville trailed 14-9 early in the first set to roared back, behind some key services and defensive plays, tied the game at 20-20, and then went on to win the set 25-23. Oregon contributed to falling behind as well in the opening set with eight errors.
Oregon started the second set on the back and fell behind by five points after tallying seven service errors in the opening 11 games. The Ducks came back, however, to tie the game at 11 after scoring the Cardinals 8-3. Both teams continued to trade points and were even locked at 18 before the Ducks outlasted the top-seeded Cardinals 25-23 in the end to knot the scores at 1-1.
Oregon had three kills and an ace to open the third game with four straight points and then forced Louisville to take an early timeout after scoring two more points to 6-0 up on a couple of errors. The Ducks dominated the third set to go 2-1 before the Cardinals came back to win the fourth set –made it 2-2 and then to set up the thrilling final set which eventually went to win the shown.
Louisville starters: Chaussee,Claire; Kong,Phekran PK; DeBeer,Anna; Jones,Aiko; Scott,Elena; Lazaro,Raquel; Tillman,Amaya
Oregon starters: Nuneviller,Brooke; Pukis,Hannah; Murphy,Georgia; Lewis,Morgan; Colyer,Mimi; Robey,Kiari; Bacon,Karson
