By Vinny Porco

No. 3 Louisville volleyball lost to the No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats, 3-1 Sunday afternoon at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky.

The loss is Louisville’s second, the first coming in U of L’s second game of the season against No. 6 Wisconsin on Aug. 22.

Killing it early

The Cards got off to a hot start in the first set. They earned four points before the Wildcats could get one, with Addison Makun and Chloe Chicoine both logging two block assists in a row. Chicoine’s second kill of the game to take a 7-2 lead caused Kentucky to call an early timeout.

The kills continued thanks to outstanding complimentary play by Nayelis Cabello, who even got one for herself to take an 11-5 lead. Kentucky then answered a further Louisville three-point sequence with one of their own before a Kalyssa Blackshear kill took the Cards into the media timeout up 15-8.

The Cardinals celebrate a point during a volleyball game against Kentucky on Sept. 20, 2026 in Memorial Colosseum. (Photo by Adam Mouchrani / The Louisville Cardinal)

The teams continued to go back and forth, until a long standout point that Kentucky’s Morgan Gaerte finally claimed with a kill that got Memorial Coliseum on its feet. Louisville called timeout up 18-13.

The teams continued to trade points somewhat evenly, but the Wildcats just couldn’t eclipse a four or five-point lead. A Brooke Bultema solo block gave Louisville the set 25-19.

Second-set deadlock

Chicoine and Gaerte traded kills to begin the second set, but Kentucky would quickly begin to pull away. Two consecutive Gaerte kills gave the Wildcats a 5-2 lead before Louisville could get back on the board.

The Cardinals caught up, and even took a 7-6 lead thanks to a block assist by Makun and Chloe Meester.

Despite quality defensive play from Louisville, the Wildcats were able to keep things deadlocked with Brooklyn DeLeye and Asia Thigpen’s performance at the net. Yet another Gaerte kill then gave them a 10-9 lead.

Louisville stayed poised, however, as a four-point swing that included an ace from Meester caused Kentucky to call timeout down 13-11.

Out of the following media timeout, the Wildcats were able to work their way up to a 20-17 lead with even more Gaerte kills and some Louisville errors. The Cards kept close due to some errors on Kentucky’s part, eventually compelling the Wildcats to call timeout tied 22-22.

Chicoine responded to a high-powered kill from DeLeye with one of her own, and a Payton Petersen service ace brought things to a set point. Louisville failed to convert, and the set remained deadlocked for several points, with key players on both teams making big plays on set points.

Eventually, yet another DeLeye kill was enough to take the second set 29-27.

Falling apart

The teams both opened the third set by committing errors, landing at a score of 5-5. The Wildcats then rifled off three kills in a row from Kennedy Washington, DeLeye and Kassie O’Brien. Louisville called timeout down 8-5.

The teams continued trading errors as they did early in the set. Thanks in part to a pair of Louisville service errors,  Kentucky entered the media timeout leading 15-11. The Cards called another timeout just two points later following back-to-back kills from Gaerte and Washington.

Kentucky’s key players got even more involved, with another handful of kills giving them a 21-14 lead. But a strong sequence that followed from the Cards including solo blocks from Makun and Meester led the Wildcats to take a timeout up only 22-19.

Chloe Meester and Addison Makun celebrate a block during a Sept. 20, 2026 volleyball game against Kentucky at Memorial Colosseum. (Photo by Adam Mouchrani / The Louisville Cardinal)

The momentum was short-lived, however. The deficit proved too much for Louisville late in the set. Two big kills from DeLeye gave Kentucky a 24-20 lead, and a Gaerte kill one point later sealed the deal. Kentucky won the third set 25-21.

The fourth set was back-and-forth early, but high-level play at the net from Thigpen, DeLeye and Gaerte allowed the Wildcats to maintain a one-to-two point cushion. An O’Brien ace then gave them a 9-6 lead. 

Kills by Blackshear and Chicoine allowed the Cardinals to maintain a three-point deficit despite a continued Gaerte masterclass. They called timeout down 11-8, but continued to struggle afterwards. Louisville allowed four consecutive kills from Lizzie Carr, DeLeye, Thigpen and Gaerte leading up to the media timeout.

The Wildcats’ domination didn’t stop there. The Cards called another timeout down 17-9 soon after following a solo block and kill by Thigpen.

Louisville was then able to pull together a three-point sequence thanks to a Cabello kill and two Wildcat errors. Meester then followed up two Kentucky kills with two of her own, and another from Cabello led to a Wildcat timeout at 19-15.

The Cardinals traded kills with Kentucky, but the deficit was too much to overcome late. DeLeye aced Petersen on set point to take the fourth set 25-19 and win the match 3-1.

Analysis

The Cardinals had some good momentum in the first set as the opposition struggled with errors. They logged only three in the set compared to UK’s 10. Louisville took a 7-2 lead and rolled with it, never letting the lead fall below four after that point.

Kentucky was able to get their key players involved in a major way in the second set, logging 25 kills as a team. Both Gaerte and DeLeye had eight, and Thigpen had six. The Wildcats won the kill battle in the third and fourth sets as well, with 22 more than Louisville for the match. 

The Cards began to really bottom out by the third set, logging a .103 hitting percentage. Service errors added to Kentucky’s cushion, and Louisville’s effort to come back at the end was too little too late. The players, at this point, seemed to be out of steam, and dropped a disappointing fourth set to close out the match.

The home environment, though small and compact, was significant for the Wildcats. 6,045 fans packed the historic Memorial Coliseum to watch them win, with the turnout being Kentucky volleyball’s fifth largest in history.

The Cards have a few easier games on the horizon, but will be looking ahead towards their home match against Stanford on Oct. 11. For now, Louisville women’s volleyball will look to start a new win streak against Syracuse on the road Friday, Sept. 25.

Feature Photo by Adam Mouchrani / The Louisville Cardinal