Louisville's red and white is very familiar to the Illinois volleyball team.

Senior middle blockers Lisa Argabright and Shelly O'Bryan and assistant coach Anne Kordes are Louisville natives. Head coach Don Hardin coached the Cardinals for eight years.

When the two teams met on Saturday, the Illini couldn't see the red and white across the net.

"Honestly, I kept myself out of it," Kordes said. "I really didn't focus that it was Louisville at all."

These four Illini kept their focus on advancing to the Sweet Sixteen rather than facing an old friend, and it worked as Illinois swept Louisville in three games (30-26, 30-26, 32-30).

Hardin said Friday he wanted Argabright and O'Bryan to treat the Louisville game like it was any other. He didn't want them to try to do more than they needed to because it was Louisville. The two did that and combined for 18 kills.

"It actually really didn't affect me," Argabright said. "Like we talked about (Friday) night, we couldn't let that affect us and we just had to go and take care of what we know how to do on our side of the net."

Throughout the entire weekend Hardin and Kordes kept telling everyone that they are Illini now and that their time spent in Louisville is behind them.

"I am an Illinois coach and I don't think of myself as a Louisville coach and it is not just because of my paycheck," Hardin said. "Our hearts are here and our minds are here."

Kordes used to coach Louisville setter Jennifer Craven and defensive specialist Candace Cogan and is amazed at the progress they have made while in college.

"(Craven) is the setter that ran most of the offense, she is doing an incredible job," Kordes said. "(Cogan) the libero is another one. I couldn't be more proud of those kids that have grown up through the club ranks, and I got to coach them when they were 12 or 13 years old, and now they are just incredible athletes."

For Argabright, her final match in Huff Hall was exactly what she wanted.

"It's incredible to beat Louisville here at Huff to advance to the Sweet Sixteen," Argabright said. "I am extremely excited. It is a wonderful way to end Huff."