Go ahead and try it.
Call Louisville volleyball a Cinderella team. The Cardinalsarelistening intently,convertingmisnomers intofuel for the upcoming NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championshipin Omaha.
A Cinderella season in 2019? Sure, they'll take that. The Cardinals forged their best finish in program history by upsetting No. 2 seed Texas to advance to the Elite Eight.
One pandemic, a 9-month split season, anACC championship and an 11-seed later, they're enteringthis NCAA Tournamentwith experience and expectations. Disproving doubters will be part of the fun.
"(Analysts) called us, 'Oh, the Cinderella team from last year!' It's like, OK, we can't be the Cinderella team again this year. We're the 11th seed. We are supposed to make it far. We have to put that behind us and focus on, 'This is a new year,'" Cards coach Dani Busboom Kelly told the Courier Journal this week.
As one of the tourney's 16 automatic qualifiers,U of L (14-2) has a first-round bye and begins its title hunt at noon April 15 in the CHI Health Center Omaha. The Cards face San Diego (12-4) or Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (14-4) in the second round.
Only 48 teams made the cut in this year's streamlined NCAA Tournament. Avictory would vault the Cardinals into the Sweet 16 againstNo. 6-seed Washington, Towson or Dayton.
More: Four college volleyball teams from Kentucky bound for NCAA Tournament
U of L plans to work on itselfuntil leaving Monday for Nebraska, a luxury so late in the season, but this campaign has been anything but usual due to the pandemic. The ACC started competition in the fall and resumed in the springinstead of a typical slate spanningfrom August to December.
This year's team played seven matches from Sept. 25 to Oct. 25and nine matches from Feb. 6 onward. The second half of the season included multiple postponements and cancellations.
"Looking back, I think it doesn't feel as tough right now as it was in certain moments, like getting canceled 5 weeks in a row," ACC setter of the year Tori Dilfer said. "Every week it was like, 'Wow, this is hard. Are we ever going to get to play? Are we going to have enough conference matches?' (Now) I kind of forget we had a 2-month break there with Christmas. In my head, it kind of feels like two different seasons."
Louisville's trove oftalent recently was recognized with league awards. Sophomore middle blocker Amaya Tillman was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year and an All-ACC Second Team member, outside hitter Anna DeBeer claimed Freshman of the Year honors and made the All-Freshman Team,and Busboom Kelly was tabbed the ACCCoach of the Year. Dilfer, DeBeer, Aiko Jones and AnnaStevenson wereFirst Team, All-ACC.
A core of returnees, good team chemistry, talent and creative coachingthrough the long season contributed to the program's third ACC title in the last six seasons. Statistically, the team's advantages manifested in a nation-best blocks per set (3.25) with an ACC-best opponent hitting percentage (0.132).
Beating preseason ACC favorite Pittsburgh on the road Oct. 25 (and snapping Pitt's 37-match home winning streak) counted among U of L's top triumphs. It was the Cardinals' first win on Pitt's court in Busboom Kelly's four-season tenure as head coach. She said the 3-1victory infused the Cards with confidence, andTillman agreed.
"That Pitt game was really fun and I think we got to showcase how much of a team we are and our energy," Tillman said. "That was a big game where we all were playing our hardest and trusting each other on the court."
Although theseason has been a mental grind, Busboom Kelly said adversity has strengthened the team. The Cards are exactly where they need to be entering the NCAA Tournament, which is to say they're playing their best volleyball. The team has thrived since beating Georgia Tech 3-0 at home March 26.
"Georgia Tech's one of the best offensive teams in the country. For us to be able to hold them to their worst hitting percentage of the year and just get everybody clicking —I think that was probably about the best we've been playing," Busboom Kelly said.
The Cardsclinched a share of the ACC crown six days later by beating Miami 3-1 in Coral Gables. They subsequentlyswept North Carolina to clinch the title and atrip to Omaha.
Dilfer said the team fares better when others doubt its mettle. Thechip on its collective shoulder has propelled it to key wins this season, and she sees that trend continuing with theCinderella talk.
That'salso why Tillman, who's third in the nation and tops in the ACC in blocks per set (1.65), is eager to show the NCAA Tournament field why the Cards earned a seed.
"We're just not this Cinderella team," Tillman said. "We're more than that. We're creating history here at U of L."
NCAA DI Volleyball Championship
SECOND ROUND, CHI Health Center Omaha
No. 11 seed Louisville v. San Diego or Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
When: April 15
Time: Noon
Broadcast: ESPN3
Reach Shannon Russell atslrussell@gannett.com and follow on Twitter @slrussell.
