Members of the Stanford volleyball team would probably swear that Charitie Luper had more than 30 kills for the University of Louisville volleyball team. But the stat sheet indicated that she had only 18 in UofL’s dominating performance in front of 7,898 fans at the KFC Yum! Center on Sunday.
Quite a turnaround from a week ago when the Cardinals lost in three sets to fourth-ranked Nebraska. Visions of a 3-1 loss to Stanford a year ago were haunting the Cardinals as well. There would no rolling over or needs for any excuses on Sunday
The fifth-ranked UofL team got off to a slow start before collecting its composure in rolling to a 3-0 sweep over the third-ranked team from the West Coast. The Cardinals winning by scores of 25-16, 25-23 and 25-22.
Not as easy as it sounds because Louisville trailed Stanford by 7-2 early in the second set. That was about the time when Charitie Luper would catch fire, coming through with 11 kills in one set. At one point, UofL would outscored the visitors by 10-1 to take a 15-13 lead. There would be six lead changes before the Cardinals would clinch the set by two points.
Coach Dani Busboom-Kelly’s team improved its season mark to 10-2 while also recording its second Atlantic Coast Conference win of the season. Anna DeBeer came through with 10 kills. Cara Cresse and Reese Robins added six and five blocks respectively. Elle Glock had 16 assists and Nayelis Cabello had 15. Elena Scott was credited with 13 digs and seven assists.
