LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 1-seeded University of Louisville volleyball team advanced to the NCAA Regional Semifinal following a harrowing five-set win over No. 8-seeded Northern Iowa on Saturday night. Louisville won the match 26-28, 25-22, 23-25, 25-13, 22-20 at the KFC Yum! Center.

The 22-20 fifth set score is the highest score in school history in a fifth set, “The NCAA Tournament: survive and advance,” were the words from head coach Dani Busboom Kelly following the match. “You need to play great, and you need to have some luck, and I thought luck was on our side a little bit there in game five, but the crowd was super into it, and you could feel it the whole way.”

As a team, the Cards hit .161 on 56 kills, 52 assists, 73 digs, 25.0 total blocks, and five service aces. Outside hitters Charitie Luper and Anna DeBeer posted their respective seventh and 12th double-doubles of 2024 as both players knocked down 19 kills while Luper added 14 digs and DeBeer added 11. UofL defense was on high alert with seven different Cardinals tallied blocks and libero Elena Scott tied a season high in digs with 26. Middle blocker Cara Cresse stuffed a career-high 14 blocks against the Panthers and added seven of her own kills. Middle blocker Phekran Kong and outside hitter Sofia Maldonado Diaz each contributed six block assists to the defense. In their second matchup of the season with Louisville, UNI hit a .118 clip with 70 kills, 68 assists, 79 digs, 17.0 total blocks, and three service aces. Outside hitter and 2024 Missouri Valley Conference Co-Player of the Year Kira Fallert recorded a double-double of her own with 16 kills and 21 digs. Outside hitters Lily Dykstra and Cassidy Hartman along with middle blocker Olivia Tjernagel all posted 14 or more kills. Middle blocker Kaitlyn Sellner led the Panthers in blocks with nine and libero Erin Powers served an ace and added 25 digs. Louisville will host No. 4-seeded Purdue next week in Freedom Hall on Thursday at a to-be-determined time. Also playing in Freedom Hall will be the winners of Stanford/Loyola Marymount maatch and Florida as the Gators bounced the No. 3 seeded Jayhawks of Kansas in a five-setter.

Set 1: Louisville 26, Northern Iowa 28 The first 20 points saw eight ties that locked the score at 10-all. Luper and DeBeer recorded kills, Luper served an ace, and Maldonado Diaz and Cresse added solo blocks. Louisville went on a quick 4-0 run that saw Luper contributing two kills and a block assist with Kong. Down 14-10, UNI took its first timeout of the set and came back with a kill and block to get within two. Scoring remained tight as DeBeer, Luper, and Kong all tallied kills before a string of errors from the Panthers started another 4-0 run for the Cards and forced Northern Iowa to burn its second timeout at 20-16. DeBeer added a kill to the run, but the Panthers’ 11th kill put a stop to the scoring. UNI served a second ace and UofL committed an error that saw the Cards taking their first timeout of the set. Out of the timeout, the Panthers continued on a 6-0 run to take back the lead at 22-21 and force Louisville to use its second timeout. The Cards tied it up again at 22 apiece after an error from Northern Iowa, and a kill from Cresse combined with a block assist between Cresse and Reese Robins gave UofL the lead and set point at 24-22. Two more kills from the UNI knotted the score again at 24 before an error from the Panthers helped Louisville take the lead back. The Panthers tallied two more kills to put them at set point 26-25, until a kill from Luper tied it at 26. Northern Iowa added one more kill before an attack error from the Cards sealed UNI’s set win at 28-26.

Set 2: Louisville 25, Northern Iowa 22 Luper got the scoring started in the second set with a kill that was followed up by a block connection from Robins and Kong, giving Louisville an early 2-0 lead. UNI added a kill of their own and the Cards added an error to tie it up at 2. Luper knocked down another kill before the Panthers started a 4-0 run and forced UofL to take an early timeout. Following the timeout, the run ended and Louisville took back the lead at 8-6 off a 5-0 run, highlighted by kills from DeBeer and Maldonado Diaz and Northern Iowa taking their first timeout. Points bounced around after the timeout, with the teams putting up 10 tie scores through a 28-point stretcch. DeBeer, Robins, Cresse, and Kong all added kills, Elena Scott served an ace, and three Cardinals recorded blocks. With UofL up 22-20, UNI took their second timeout of the set. The Panthers stuffed their fifth block of the set to put them within one at 22-21, but Louisville remained in control. Luper knocked down another kill before connecting with Kong for a block to put the Cards at set point 24-22. Kong then connected with DeBeer for the set-winning block at 25-22.

Set 3: Louisville 23, Northern Iowa 25 UNI took the first two points of the set on kills before Cresse got UofL on the board with a kill of her own. Points went back and forth as the Panthers jumped out to a 10-6 lead and on a 3-0 run, forcing the Cards to burn their first timeout. DeBeer, Luper, and Maldonado Diaz posted more kills as Northern Iowa extended its lead to 15-11 and Louisville took its second timeout. UNI stuffed another block before UofL went on a quick 3-0 run after blocks from Hannah Sherman with Maldonado Diaz and DeBeer. The Cards were back within two at 16-14 when the Panthers used their first timeout of the set. Luper immediately served her second ace of the match out of the timeout, and an error from Northern Iowa locked the score at 16. Scoring was tight as neither team went on a run, but UNI eventually pulled out 24-22 and at the first set point. An attack error by the Panthers staved off the win, but Northern Iowa put the set away 25-23 with a kill.

Set 4: Louisville 25, Northern Iowa 23 The Panthers’ 12th block of the match put them on the board first, but the Cards answered with three points including an ace from Scott. UNI added two more kills and an error before UofL started a 4-0 run, highlighted by Cresse recording three block assists with Luper and Robins. At 8-3, Northern Iowa chose to take its first timeout, and came back with a kill to end the run. Points bounced around as Maldonado Diaz and Luper notched kills, and Maldonaldo Diaz teamed up with Sherman for a big block. With Louisville ahead 15-9, UNI took its final timeout, again answering with a kill out of the timeout. The Panthers continued to fight, but the Cards only allowed three more points for the rest of the set. A kill from Cresse gave UofL set point at 24-13, and an error from Northern Iowa sealed the set win 25-13 for Louisville. In the fourth set alone, Cresse led the defense by tallying six blocks and a kill.

Set 5: Louisville 22, Northern Iowa 20 In the match-deciding set, UNI and UofL had 14 tie scores, seven lead changes, and nine match points as both teams fought to the end. The Panthers nabbed the first point on a kill, but DeBeer quickly knocked down two kills to answer. Northern Iowa followed with a 3-0 run that was ended by DeBeer’s third kill of the set, but Louisville was still down 4-3. UNI tabbed another block, before Cresse tallied two more points on a kill and a block connection with Robins that saw each team holding five points. The Panthers had two more points to retake the lead before the Cards burned their first timeout of the set down 7-5. After the timeout, UofL recorded three straight points off a kill from Luper and an ace from Kamden Schrand to lead 8-7 at the changeover. Northern Iowa went on a 4-0 run the climb back 11-8 after the changeover from three kills and a block, making Louisville take its last timeout of the match. Luper knocked down another kill and UNI added an error to UofL’s score before the Panthers chose to use their first timeout. A block from Sherman and Maldonado Diaz even the score at 11-all, until Northern Iowa retook the lead on a kill. The teams traded points as UNI got to the first match point at 14-12; that match point was held off by a service error before a DeBeer kill tied it at 14. DeBeer and Cresse connected for a block that gave the Cards the third match point at 15-14. The Panthers held Louisville at bay, going up 16-15 and at fourth match point. A service error from UNI held off its win and knotted the score at 16. Kong and Cresse matched up for a block that gave UofL the lead and fifth match point at 17-16. Scoring bounced around until it was even at 20 apiece. Luper recorded her 19th kill of the match to put Louisville at the ninth match point at 21-20. DeBeer’s 19th kill of the match locked in the Cards’ regional semifinal appearance, winning the set and match 22-20.