How Assumption's Anna DeBeer is behind Louisville volleyball return to the Final Four

Anna DeBeer didn't need to say much.

Louisville volleyball's season was slipping. No. 3 Oregon had handed the Cardinals consecutive set losses for the first time in nearly a month, and they found themselves trailing 2-1 against the Ducks Saturday.

"When my adrenaline gets going a different side of me comes out, and nobody likes the other side," DeBeer said. "When I felt in the zone, I just looked at our setter Raquel (Lazaro) and was like, 'Set me the ball.'"

Lazaro didn't need to be told twice.

With the weight of the season on her shoulders, DeBeer — the Louisville native and former Assumption volleyball star — led the Cardinals back to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Final Four after posting 17 kills and 10 digs to push the No. 1 Cards past Oregon 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 13-25, 27-25, 15-6) at KFC Yum! Center.

DeBeer returned Nov. 11 from a right knee injury that kept her out 12 games. She's playing the final stretch of the year with a brace over her right leg. Two nights earlier, DeBeer led the Cardinals with 11 kills as Louisville trounced Baylor, but DeBeer's return to form almost encountered a set back early in the fifth set.

As DeBeer tracked the ball in midair, she slipped and landed on the hardwood with her braced knee taking the brunt of the impact. DeBeer said it was the first time she had landed that hard on her injured knee. The force of the thud combined with the placement was enough to slow DeBeer momentarily, but she refused to leave the court.

"I just needed a second for it to kind of chill out but I wasn't going to let myself get taken out," DeBeer said.

DeBeer's toughness is nothing new to the Cardinals or to anyone that's watched her game as she's grown up. During her senior year of high school, DeBeer led the Rockets to the their third-straight championship while nursing shoulder and foot injuries.

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Assumption volleyball head coach Ron Kordes described DeBeer as a fiery leader, and her college coach wholeheartedly agreed. In her sixth season at the helm, U of L's Dani Busboom Kelly considers DeBeer one of the most reliable players on the team and feels at ease whenever the junior outside hitter is on the floor.

"We wouldn't be here hosting a regional if it weren't for Anna, and we're going to need her in the Final Four," Busboom Kelly said. "I always say that she's like my safety blanket when she's out there."

DeBeer's road back to full health has been a cautious journey. Busboom Kelly said that she had to work DeBeer back into the lineup slowly and even play her in the back out of position.

Like most security blankets, DeBeer made everything all better Saturday. Even though DeBeer hasn't been the same player that led the Cardinals in kills (343), attacks (836) and double-doubles (eight) last season, Busboom Kelly values the leadership and passion she brings on the court.

"When we knew she was cleared it was like, 'OK, we need to start working her in the back row and that's not even her skill," Busboom Kelly said. "We just needed her attitude, leadership and competitive spirit."

In the fifth set, after the Cardinals had rallied in the fourth set to tie the match, DeBeer recorded six of her team-high 17 kills on the Ducks' defense. There was nothing the Ducks' Brooke Nuneviller (15 kills, 16 digs in the match) or Pac-12 freshman of the year Mimi Colyer (17 kills, nine digs, four blocks) could do to slow down DeBeer.

"She's special," Nuneviller said. "She has such a fast start, so we definitely had troubles with her. I was at my block every time the ball was going to her because she wants the ball. There's just players like that and she gave us problems."

DeBeer was focused on lifting the Cardinals to victory. And doing so not far from where she grew up.

"We weren't going to lose that fifth set after the fourth," DeBeer said. "These seniors have worked so hard, and we knew we weren't done."

After the final buzzer sounded, DeBeer and he teammates went on a victory lap throughout the Yum! Center. It wasn't just a chance to celebrate a second-straight trip to the Final Four, but also an opportunity to show appreciation to her lifelong fans.

"It definitely helped a lot, and I'm just extremely blessed," DeBeer said. "This whole city of Louisville is behind this team and just to see everyone come out to support us meant the world."

Follow Courier Journal reporter J.L. Kirven on Twitter @JL_Kirven for more updates on Louisville prep sports.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville volleyball, led by Anna DeBeer, back in NCAA Final Four