History says that Louisville is unlikely to have an elite, national-title-contendingvolleyball team.
The Cardinals have never played ina Final Four in the program's history, and noteam from the entire Atlantic Coast Conference has everreached the NCAA championship match. But through a month of regular season play, no schoolin the country has a more impressive résumé than the Cardinals.
U of L entered the season ranked No. 13, but after posting an unblemished non-conference record, now sit as the No. 5 team in the nation, their best ranking ever. Of their 10 wins this season, three have come against foes ranked in the top-10 at the time.
Those victories— a neutral-site sweep of Purdue, a nail-biter at home against Kentucky and then a sweep at Nebraska in front of more than 8,000 fans— have placed the Cardinals in the early conversation for national title contenders. And for good reason.
“Our goal is to win the ACC conference title,” U of L outside hitter Anna DeBeer, who won three state titles at Assumption, said before continuing:“We have dreams of winning an NCAA title, and I think this year, we have a really, really good shot at doing that.”
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The Pac-12 and Big Ten historically dominate volleyball. Since 1998, only two teams from other conferences — Texas, in 2012, and recently Kentucky — have won the national title.
And in contrast to another hardwood sport, NCAA titles have been hogged by teams from the West Coast. Penn State, and now UK, are the only teams east of the Mississippi River to win an NCAA title.
But more parity has entered the sport. Although Penn State, Nebraska and Stanford combined to win 21 of the past 28 titles entering this calendar year, none of those teams are currently ranked in the top-10. There are new faces among the sport's contenders.
Louisville coach Dani Busboom Kelly, who played and coached at powerhouse Nebraska, noted the change to the status quo.
“I’m really proud of what we’ve done,” she said, pointing out that theACC is on the rise,“and it proves when you get the right people in here and the right mentality, we can be just as good as any program in the country.”
When UK won the national title in spring 2021, following a COVID-postponement, it became the first school to be crowned a first-time champion since 2005.
Louisville has a chance to become another.
Lee Feinswog ofVolleyballMag.com, a national volleyball site, said that this year, two teams stand out as the elite: Texas and Wisconsin, which are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the country.
But Feinswog said that about six schools, including U of L and UK, are in the next tier. “Nobody would be surprised,” if one of those teams won it all, Feinswog said.
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U of L’s offense begins with fifth-year senior setter Tori Dilfer, a third-team All-American last year. The daughter of Super Bowl-winning quarterback Trent Dilfer — who has attended multiple games this year — Dilfer expertly runs Louisville’s offense.
“Some people think she’s the best setter in the country,” Feinswog said.
She passes to powerful Louisville hitterslike Aiko Jones, an All-American from Jamaica, and DeBeer, who Feinswog calls “a star.”
Jones’father ran track at Nebraska, and Busboom Kelly first noticed her at a camp in Lincoln. When Busboom Kelly became the U of L coach, she recruited Jonesto Louisville, and the 6-foot-2 opposite hitter redshirtedand is now one of the team’s top options.
DeBeer, a former Kentucky Ms.Volleyball, leads the team in kills per set.
“You just feel safe when she’s on the court, like you’re always going to have a chance to beat anybody,” Busboom Kelly said of DeBeer.“She’s going to make plays in big moments.”
Anna Stevenson and Claire Chaussee are powerful attackers, too, and the Cardinals’ defense is anchored at the net by Amaya Tillman. Then, at libero, is freshman Elena Scott, who played setter last year at both the high school (Mercy) and club level, but was recruited to Louisville to play a new position.
"They have all the pieces," Feinswog said of the Cardinals.
U of L earned a marquee win over rival and defending NCAA champion Kentuckylast week, which DeBeer, a Louisville native whose father went to UK, said was her favorite match of the season up to that point. But a few days later, the Cardinals may have outdone themselves, handing Nebraska its first sweep since 2019 and doing so in front of the largest crowd (8,286) that many players, including DeBeer, had ever played in front of.
"To come out and play how we did, in front of a crowd that had maybe 30 Louisville fans, I think it was pretty cool," DeBeer said.
Louisville begins conference play Friday with a home match against Miami at 7 p.m. and then a 1 p.m. match Sunday against Florida State. Both are at the L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.
Busboom Kelly said she expects her team to compete for an ACC Championship, and improve from last year’s performance in terms of the national tournament. The program has gone to back-to-back Sweet 16s, including its first-ever Elite Eight in 2019.
“Our goal is to go further and keep writing history for Louisville volleyball, and that would be getting to the Final Four and winning the championship,” she said.
She admitted those goals were “pretty high.” And even though historical precedentmay indicate thatLouisville shouldn'tbe one of college volleyball'stop programs, very recent history — as in, the undaunted Cardinals'10-0 start — suggests otherwise.
“We kind of proved it in this non-conference,” Busboom Kelly said. “When we’re playing our best, we’re really tough to beat, even against the best teams in the country.”
Louisville vs. Miami
When:Friday at 7 p.m.
Where:L&N Federal Credit Union Arena
TV:ACC Network
Hayes Gardner can be reached athgardner@gannett.com;Twitter: @HayesGardner.
