By Jocelyn Scurlock

Louisville fell to the Texas A&M Aggies in the regional semifinals by way of a reverse sweep.

Flow, then ebb

The Cards found themselves trailing the Aggies early due to a few hitting and serving errors, but were able to find an answer pretty quickly.

Both Chloe Chicoine and Payton Peterson came alive and produced some very timely kills to build the momentum.

Blocking also played a huge role in set one.

Hannah Sherman logged a few monster blocks against Texas A&M’s heavy hitters which gave them a small lead and forced the Aggies to call a time out. 

The break didn’t stop Louisville and they were able to close out the first set 25-22, hitting an impressive 0.457 hitting percentage.

In set two the teams went back and forth for the first few points, but Texas A&M started to pull away, forcing Louisville to burn both of their timeouts.

Coming out of the break, the Cards were down 21-16, but they were able to rally, led by Setter Nayelis Cabello who served eight points in a row to win the set 25-22.

Louisville continued their momentum to start the third by passing near perfect in serve receive and going for every ball on defense.

The Aggies refused to give up and kept the score close leading to 15 ties and four lead changes. 

Despite fighting until the end, Louisville dropped the set 25-23 and were forced to go to a fourth.

The Cards once again found themselves trailing early in the set. Although their defense was strong, Louisville’s hitters struggled to get anything past the Aggies’ block.

Head coach Dan Meske called a time out with his team down 17-8, in hopes of bringing the energy back to their side of the net.

Cara Cresse tried her best to get her team back into the game, logging two kills and an ace, but unfortunately there was just not enough time left in the set and the Cards dropped the fourth 25-18.

Both teams came to play in the fifth set, tying it up multiple times. 

Peterson had a huge kill towards the end of the match, but it ultimately wasn’t enough to get ahead.

After fighting until the very end, Louisville dropped the set 15-12 and the match 3-2.

Eye of the beholder

Year one of the Meske-era has come to an abrupt end.

The Cards ultimately had a good season, living in the top 10 the entire season and making a regional semifinal.

But the way it ended was a bit disappointing, with the talent being far superior to most teams and the final loss being eerily similar to several collapses throughout the year.

Regardless, there are far worse first years to have. The real test will come in Meske’s second year at the helm.

The 2025 campaign ends with a 26-7 record for the Cards.

Photo Courtesy/ Mallory Peak / Louisville Athletics