Dani Busboom Kelly reacts to Billie Jean King's good luck message as historic milestone awaits women's head coaches at NCAA Volleyball Final

Modified Dec 21, 2024 17:25 GMT

Louisville Cardinals’ head coach Dani Busboom Kelly has reacted to Billie Jean King’s good luck message, as she wished both Louisville and Penn State, along with their players and coaches, for the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament’s championship game. It is scheduled for December 22, Sunday.

On her X (formerly Twitter) account, the retired tennis legend spoke about how the volleyball championship will witness history on December 22, Sunday. She highlighted that both Louisville and Penn State are coached by women, which ensures that a female head coach will lead a team to a national championship victory for the first time.

King wrote:

“The @NCAAVolleyball National Championship on Sunday will make history, as both teams are coached by women for the first time ever. The game will also make history because a woman will win as head coach for the first time since the NCAA tournament began in 1981.”

She then went to give her best wishes to both the teams, adding:

“Good luck to @LouisvilleVB's Dani Busboom Kelly (@danib18) and @PennStateVBALL's Katie Schumacher-Cawley (@CoachKatiePSU), and their teams! 🏐”

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Dani Busboom Kelly, a former indoor volleyball player and Louisville’s present head coach, showed her excitement after reading Jean King’s message. She quickly reposted it on X, writing:

“This made my day! We have a ticket for you if you want to watch in person!”

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Head coach Dani Busboom Kelly on first practice session post SF win as Louisville Cardinals gears up for NCAA Volleyball Finals

Dani Busboom Kelly (Photo by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Dani Busboom Kelly recently reacted to her team Louisville’s semifinal victory over Pittsburgh. She not only shared her thoughts on the first practice session after the semifinal as they geared for the championship match but also commented on how she was 'in awe' of her team, adding (starting from 0:20 onwards):

“Just very thankful to be practicing today and still you know in awe of this team and what we did last night and just kind of soaking that in and took a light practice today. We'll get after it a little bit more tomorrow but used today as kind of a mental reset and organizational day and know I think our team's in great spirits and what we did today was fantastic.”

She added:

“But, yes, I'm still really proud and just haven't even had time to rewatch the whole game. So, excited to do that here when we get back to the hotel.”

It is worth noting that Louisville advanced to the championship game, defeating Pittsburgh by 21-25, 25-23, 29-27, 25-17 after losing the first set.