Even on a night when an NCAA Division-I player racked up a rare-as-hen’s-teeth 40 kills, a statement-making victory in a match played between top-10 teams before 11,461 fans on national television justifiably hogged the spotlight.
With hometown hero Anna DeBeer leading the charge, VolleyballMag.com Super 16 Media Poll No. 8 Louisville — runner-up in the NCAA Tournament in 2022 and a Final Four team in 2021 – took out No. 7 Pittsburgh — a 2022 NCAA semifinalist — in the minimum three sets at the downtown Yum Center before the second-largest crowd in program history and an ESPNU TV audience.
Elsewhere on a newsworthy Friday night in NCAA women’s volleyball across the country, Georgia Tech kept pace in the Atlantic Coast Coast Conference after dodging a five-set threat against Florida State.
Also, Wisconsin (ranked No. 1 in the VBM Poll) and No. 2 Nebraska rolled on in the Big Ten, No. 11 Florida continued to upstream in the SEC, No. 3 Stanford had a surprisingly easy time with USC in the Pac-12, The Citadel kept its undefeated season intact (just barely) and Dayton pushed its winning streak to 14.
In the stat line of the night, Evansville’s Giuliana Cardona recorded…
