By Logan Weaver

Fifth-ranked Louisville women’s volleyball extended their winning streak to five games with a 3-1 victory over the Missouri Tigers on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at the KFC Yum! Center. 

The Cards came out swinging in the first set, with a first-point kill by Chloe Meester to the wide-open line on the Missouri court. 

The two teams traded points early to adapt to each other’s rhythms before Kalyssa Blackshear fueled a strong early run for Louisville with four kills. The Tigers struck back with a 7-2 run of their own before the Cardinals bounced back with three consecutive points after a media timeout. 

Meester, just as she started the set, led the Cards to a 25-21 win with a closing kill to the center of the court. 

Missouri captured its first lead of the night with the opening point of the second match. The Cardinals responded quickly with a 7-2 surge behind heavy attacks from Blackshear. 

During the first 10 points there were three long rallies, both teams refusing to let the ball hit the court. A strong block by Meester and Addison Makun kept the cards on top while Missouri’s offense started to pick up momentum, eventually leading to a Missouri 15-13 lead and forcing a Louisville timeout. 

The Tigers approached the rest of the set with a fast-paced, scrappy offense, tooling the Cardinal block and finding the holes in their defense, leading them to a 25-22 second-set win. 

After a brief reset, the Cardinals came out blazing with a 7-1 point run that included three straight kills by Chloe Chicoine, which forced a Missouri timeout. Chicoine stayed active even after the break with four more kills. 

All aspects of the Cardinal rotation worked together smoothly to create a seamless passer-setter-hitter connection. 

Hannah Kenny moved with ease across the court, feeding passes straight to Nayelis Cabello and keying Chicoine for kills both in front of and behind the 10-foot line.

Missouri attempted a comeback but was ultimately stopped by a powerful block by Cabello, leading the Cards to a 25-15 third-set victory. In this set, the Cardinal’s defense held the Tigers to only 11 kills, while Chicoine had 11 kills alone. 

Cabello and Brooke Bultema set the tone early in the fourth set, meeting at the net to kick off an 8-2 run. 

Meester kept up the pace, utilizing a fast-paced middle offense to target the open holes in Missouri’s defense and ultimately gaining four consecutive kills to take the Cards to a 15-5 lead going into the media break. 

Though the Cards started to lose momentum heading towards the 20th point, freshman Blair Thiebaud raised the energy with a string of aces. 

Continuing their dominant front-row attack, Blackshear and Makun finished the game with a set of kills, pushing the team to a 25-17 set win. 

The Cards’ KFC Yum! Center opener brought milestone performances across the board. Chicoine and Blackshear both set season highs with 22 and 20 kills apiece. Cabello also set a season-high 59 assists, just three shy of the most of her career.

Next up, the Cards will be heading to Houston to compete in the Rice Invitational from September 11-13th featuring matchups against Rice, Northern Iowa and No. 15 Creighton. 

Feature Photo by Adam Mouchrani / The Louisville Cardinal