LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Sympathy? Adjustments? Extra time on the practice floor to develop another player?
There wasn’t time for any of that for the University of Louisville’s volleyball team.
Not after the Cardinals knew they would be without their best and savviest all-around player, senior outside hitter Anna DeBeer, in the NCAA championship match against Penn State Sunday afternoon at the sold-out KFC Yum! Center.
Sidelined by a severely sprained right ankle, DeBeer did what she could do — lead the cheers from the sidelines.
"I knew it was going to be hard, but I knew that I just needed to do whatever I could, whatever that role was," DeBeer said after the match.
Her black warmups were a sharp contrast to the red uniform tops that her Louisville teammates wore for the match. They were also the first clue she would be unable to go in the match the Cards lost in four fiercely competitive sets.
Unfortunately, 2 1/2 days was not enough healing or recovery time for DeBeer to return from the nasty injury she sustained in the Cards’ semifinal win over Pittsburgh Thursday night. When she sat in the locker room post-match without her shoes and socks, DeBeer's swollen right ankle was nearly twice the size of her left.
When DeBeer walked onto the court more than 45 minutes before the match and remained by the bench instead of warming up with her squad, it was apparent a terrible blast of luck would force her to miss the push for the championship she has been chasing since she came to U of L from Assumption High School five seasons ago.
Terribly unfair? You bet.
"It just seemed like all the stars were aligning for such a perfect game in Louisville, finishing my career," DeBeer said. "We worked so freaking hard to get where we are and it was just so close. That's what is really hard."
So what could coach Dani Busboom Kelly do but rotate freshman Payton Petersen and several others into the lineup and ask her team to compete like crazy.
Grind. Throw your bodies around the floor, dialing up the defense, tightening up the passing. Figure it out point by point. Concede nothing, not an inch of the floor.
And that’s what the Cardinals did. They battled the second-ranked Nittany Lions as relentlessly as they could be battled, fighting off 10 set points to rally and win the epic second set
The Cards were great. Penn State was simply greater, winning the program’s eighth national title, 25-23, 32-34, 25-20 and 25-17.
Mark it down as the Cards’ second national runner-up finish in the last three seasons, an indicator Louisville is respected power on the national stage, a program that will continue chasing a national title. They finished with a 30-6 record — and actually played Penn State closer than they did while losing their third match of the season in three sets at University Park, Pa., on Sept. 3.
The Nittany Lions took the opening set, 25-23 — and it was as close as that score suggests. Neither team led by more than four points.
The Cards scored five of the first eight points. But Penn State rallied through the power of its front line, getting kills from Taylor Trammell, Caroline Jurevicius, Camryn Hannah and Jess Mruzik to push ahead 14-10.
Louisville pushed back to tie the set at 15, 19 and 23. But Penn State scored the final two points on a Louisville net violation and a service ace by Mruzik which handcuffed Louisville’s Charitie Luper.
Set two was a classic. Louisville rallied mightily from a 17-10 hole to tie the set at 24. That was the first of the 10 set points the Cards secured to avoid falling behind 2-0.
The 10th and final save came on a kill from Sofia Maldonado Diaz. Charitie Luper followed with another powerful strike. The Cards won it when Maldonado Diaz and Hannah Sherman blocked Hannah.
Penn State flexed its superior height and power in the third set. After Louisville scored the first point, the Nittany Lions took the next four as well. They never trailed.
The fifth set was also too much Penn State. The Nittany Lions opened with back-to-back-to-back kills, while sprinting to a 7-1 lead. The Cards fought off one championship point but could not survive a second. Penn State won it on a kill by Hannah, her 19th of the match.
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