UNC volleyball falls, 3-0, to No. 3 Louisville

The North Carolina women’s volleyball team (19-6, 11-5 ACC) fell to No. 3 Louisville (23-3, 15-1 ACC), 3-0, at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Louisville’s offensive firepower and dominant blocking defense suffocated the Tar Heel offense, capitalizing on early attack errors by North Carolina. Despite UNC’s attempts to go toe-to-toe with the Cardinals on their Senior Day, Louisville capitalized on UNC’s errors to overpower any advances by the Tar Heels.

The Cardinals rode a series of dominant runs to top the Tar Heels in the first set, totaling nine blocks in the first set. North Carolina’s first set began a game plagued by mistakes, including 18 attack errors, 13 of which occurred in the first two sets.

Louisville came out of the gate firing with a quick kill by redshirt junior middle blocker Cara Cresse, which kicked off a series of dominant runs for the Cardinals. North Carolina responded to get on the board with a powerful swing by redshirt sophomore outside hitter Chelsea Thorpe.

After the response by the Tar Heels, Louisville fired off another 3-0 scoring run, leading to a UNC timeout to regroup. Out of the timeout, Louisville showed off its formidable front line, firing off blocks on back to back possessions. The Cardinals totaled five blocks early in the first set. 

The Tar Heels continued to rally despite numerous failed attempts to penetrate the Louisville defense, riding a series of kills to chip away at the Louisville lead, 15-8.

Despite UNC’s attempts to respond to the Cardinals, Louisville went on a 9-0 run led by graduate middle blocker Phekran Kong, who totaled 5 of the Cardinals’ nine blocks in the first set. The Tar Heels were unable to respond to Louisville’s dominant blocking performance, losing the first set by a margin of 15, 25-10.

North Carolina found its groove and countered the Cardinals’ dominant first set, firing off a 4-0 run to take a 7-3 lead. 

Graduate middle blocker Alexis Engelbrecht fired off back-to-back kills to reinforce the Tar Heels’ lead in the second set, 9-6.

The momentum swung Louisville’s way once again off of a 3-0 run thanks to three consecutive kills by graduate outside hitter Anna DeBeer, who totaled nine kills on the day. The Cardinals tied the Tar Heels in the second set, 12-12. 

After tying the game, Louisville didn’t look back, amassing a 7-0 run after a series of kills and mistakes on the part of the Tar Heels. 

Graduate outside hitter Emani’ Foster totaled six kills in the first half, powering the Tar Heels’ offense and encouraging her teammates to keep responding. Foster provided an offensive bright spot for the Tar Heels in the first half, leading North Carolina’s charge to respond to the Cardinals.

On match point to take a two set lead, sophomore outside hitter Safi Hampton kept Louisville at bay, soaring up and over the Louisville block for a dynamic kill. Louisville immediately snapped back to take the second set, 25-18, ending the half up two sets to zero.

The third set began as a tense back-and-forth series, with both sides taking turns executing strong kills to respond to the other side. 

Hampton executed the Tar Heels’ second block on the day, tying the set 9-9. The Tar Heels rallied to tie the game again after Foster exploded for a soaring kill, keeping North Carolina in this set 12-11.

Even with North Carolina’s spark of momentum in the third set, Louisville exploded for a 3-0 run to lead 15-12 and dominated a series of tough rallies. 

A series of blocks by Louisville’s front line ended any hopes for the Tar Heels of responding, ending the set on a 3-0 scoring run. The Tar Heels fell after a rally by the Cardinals in the third set, 25-13, to be swept.

After a long stretch on the road, North Carolina looks to bounce back in their return to Carmichael Arena against California on Friday at 7 p.m.

@alexdjones_

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com