How Louisville used the scare of the second round to its advantage

A single tear rolled down Anna DeBeer’s cheek.

Her eyes had been watering for some time as she recalled the minutes-old moment against Northern Iowa in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, when the end of her college career seemed imminent.

“This could be my last time in this jersey,” DeBeer said, recalling her inner monologue in the deciding fifth set. “…I don’t want to go out like that.”

She wiped away her tears with trembling fingers, her cheeks almost the same shade of red as her cherry-red fingernails. After five seasons, two Final Fours, three Elite Eights and four Sweet 16s, this was the Louisville native’s last chance to lead U of L to its first national championship. Louisville, a No. 1 seed and host of the 2024 NCAA Championship, had earned the opportunity to play all six possible games at home.

Eliminate in the second round? DeBeer and the rest of Louisville’s senior class just couldn’t let it happen.

“I just looked every single one of them in the eye,” said senior Charitie Luper, “and I could see that they knew we were going to win this game.” I could tell they trusted me, so I gave it to them same mood back.”

From a 2-1 deficit, U of L came back and defeated a team that everyone – except UNI – thought should have been kicked out of the KFC. Yummy! Center. The pressure felt insurmountable. But they rallied (no pun intended). Through pure will, through unconditional trust, through non-verbal communication.

The elimination duel fueled U of L’s subsequent games, a 3-0 victory over No. 4 seed Purdue. A four-set win over No. 2 seed Stanford. And finally, the NCAA semifinal game against No. 1 seed Pitt, which Louisville won in four sets on Thursday night. U of L will compete against the winner of Nebraska-Penn State on Sunday for a chance to become the first team to win a national championship in its home state since the Huskers in 2015.

“It’s pretty surreal.”

Katie George walked into the media workroom Wednesday morning, just steps from where she played college volleyball. Today she was Katie George, the ESPN broadcaster. But Louisville-born Slash Cards alum Katie George never leaves. Couldn’t if she tried.

Media representatives must be impartial when covering games. And George expertly answered any questions about her pride and connection to U of L volleyball. But on Saturday, she treated herself to (if anything) cardinal red nails and a long black cardigan. A subtle sign of solidarity to their home team.

“It’s pretty surreal that this fairytale storyline is coming to fruition and Louisville has made it to this point,” George said. “I never got to play in the national semi-finals or the championship, and it is of course a great honor to be able to act as an analyst. But to do it in the arena where I played my four-year career is really special.”

Meanwhile, George’s Cards were preparing for their third game against the Pitt Panthers this season and their third NCAA Tournament meeting. It is one of the burgeoning rivalries in all of college volleyball. George saw the seed planted her senior year (2015) when Louisville won the ACC. Both programs have thrived since then, winning the ACC title outright or sharing it beginning in 2017.

The cards were black for the first time in the entire tournament on Thursday evening. Perhaps intended as a bad omen – for the Panthers. Prepare to mourn your potential championship season.

But Pitt came out and won the first set, which saw nine ties before finishing 25-21 in its favor.

Pitt quickly took control of the second period, taking a 7-2 lead before Louisville coach Dani Busboom Kelly called a timeout. U of L responded with a run of its own, eventually tying the score at 11 and then taking its first lead after a Pitt attack error. The crowd erupted.

Another mistake, this time from AVCA Player of the Year finalist Olivia Babcock. Louisville fans exploded. Time out Pitt.

George spoke at length before the Final Four about how excited she was for her ESPN colleagues and the nation to see how wild the city of Louisville is for volleyball. The locals were not disappointed. They quickly drowned out the chants of “Let’s go Pitt” from Section 115.

Louisville called a timeout trailing 22-21. During the break there is the Yum! Center Jumbotron showed a young Pitt fan in the crowd holding a sign that read, “All I was for Christmas is a national championship.” It’s a shame that Louisville really wanted to play the Grinch.

After the 23-23 tie (the tenth and final tie in the second set), Luper fired a kill over the net. “CARDS, CARDS,” the crowd responded. “Go cards, go!”

Set Point Louisville. Luper jumped up again. Clap! As the ball hit the ground, U of L fans hit the roof.

Volleyball enthusiasts everywhere – well, except Pittsburgh – rejoiced. What a competition. Please go to five sentences. Please go to five sentences. Please go to five sentences.

When the Panthers’ final timeout expired in the third set, the chants of “Let’s go Pitt” and “Let’s go Cards” clashed so violently that all the words could no longer be deciphered? Louisville came back from a 23-21 deficit to tie the game at 25.

Then 26 all.

Then 27 all.

Until sophomore ace Kamden Schrand put the cards up 28-27. And a block from Kong and freshman Nayelis Cabello sealed the game.

Louisville led 2-1.

Early in the fourth set, DeBeer apparently suffered an injury after colliding with Kong near the net. The Louisville native received a standing ovation as two staff members helped her off the field while her right foot dangled off the ground.

Shaken but determined to avenge their captain, the Cards went on a big run, eventually doubling the Panthers 14-7. As DeBeer walked back to the bench, where she skipped around a bit and jogged through the tunnel, the home crowd cheered.

U of L won the fourth set 25-17.

Louisville demonstrated that determination during its recent performance at the Yum! Center. The bare minimum to survive a game of this type includes a total of 28 ties and nine lead changes – but none in the final set.

“You have to believe”

“‘This is it,'” Busboom Kelly thought to himself. “’We just lost a place in the top four and we’re slipping.’”

After winning sets 1 and 3, UNI led U of L 14-12 in the fifth set. It was the first of nine match points.

The match should never have lasted this long. The top-seeded home team struggling to field an eighth seed? What about Louisville’s Fairy Tale Run?

“When you make mistakes, the pressure increases, and sometimes you start playing not to lose, but to win,” said George, analyzing the game weeks later. “One of the main signs that a team is winning rather than losing is when they start tipping the ball, throwing it and avoiding the block. They don’t play aggressively. They start serving lollipops. You can tell the pressure is coming on them.”

Cara Cresse’s career-high 14 blocks (six of them in the fourth set) kept the cards in control; The U of L seniors’ emphatic offense sealed the comeback.

A service error, followed by DeBeer’s 17th kill, tied the game. Another service error prevented the Panthers from putting the game away. After both teams traded points until the score was tied at 20, Luper secured match point at 21:20 with her 19th kill. DeBeer finished with her 19th kill and Louisville’s 22nd point.

DeBeer screamed, as did the rest of the 4,300-plus crowd as her teammates surrounded her near the net. They had survived and moved on. DeBeer burst into tears.

“I didn’t know I had so much in me,” she said afterwards.

DeBeer’s teammates describe her as the embodiment of Cardinals volleyball. The fifth-grader and Louisville native watched the 2012 Final Four as an 11-year-old at the KFC Yum! to. Center. She’d be damned if she couldn’t play along in return.

As team captain, DeBeer led timeouts and breaks between sets with motivational speeches. Perhaps the most inspiring moment came before the final sequence. DeBeer stood in front of the bench with his hands on his knees.

“Hey, you have to believe it,” she said. “All right. Everyone, there are no (expletive) doubts in our minds right now. No (expletive) doubts. We come together, we fight, we have it.”

And they did. Got it, that is. Until the national championship game.

“The senior class just won’t let us lose.”

Busboom Kelly walked into the Freedom Hall media room last Saturday wearing a red shirt, black blazer and wet hair.

She had just been literally showered by her players in the locker room. They squeezed and shook their blue Powerade bottles to celebrate their third Final Four berth in four years, flooding Busboom Kelly and the rest of the Louisville coaching staff in the process. A suitable substitute for spraying champagne bottles if about half of your participants are under the legal drinking age.

“When the Final Four was announced here in 2024, it was like a dream,” Busboom Kelly said after the win over Stanford — a team with which U of L shared its regular-season games. “Can we ever do this?” Will we have a team that could do it? Then to get through this season with all the pressure… and just play the way we did tonight was incredible.”

Stanford won the first set 25-22, but Louisville fought back to win the next three sets 25-14, 28-26 and 25-20. DeBeer posted a match-high 15 kills, while senior Sofia Maldonado Diaz posted a season-high 12 kills, four digs and seven blocks. Luper (who recorded her eighth double-double of the season against Stanford) and senior libero Elena Scott were selected to the All-Regional team.

George described the transition from Round 2 to Rounds 3 and 4 as “complete aggression.” The will and the strength to do it. Check out Cresse’s steadfast blocks, DeBeer and Luper’s callous kills, and Scott’s fearless diving saves.

“It feels like the senior class just won’t let us lose right now,” Busboom Kelly said. “…I think the fear of UNI helped fuel that attitude and hunger.”

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