No. 7 Cardinals Have Block Party in Win Over Georgia Tech

Friday, November 21

Atlanta, Ga.

7:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

Georgia Tech

Kalyssa Blackshear and Cara Cresse celebrate a block

No. 7 Cardinals Have Block Party in Win Over Georgia Tech

November 21, 2025 | Women's Volleyball

By: Nancy Worley

ATLANTA -- Kalyssa Blackshear had 15 kills, hit .433 and had a career-high 10 blocks for her first double double to lead the University of Louisville to a 3-1 win at Georgia Tech in Atlantic Coast Conference volleyball action Friday night in Atlanta.

The Cardinals move to 23-4 and 15-2 in ACC play with the 25-23, 25-14, 23-25, 25-15 win. UofL hit .334 for the match with 54 kills, three aces and a season-high 21 blocks. Chloe Chicoine joined Blackshear in double digit kills with 15 as did Payton Petersen, who had 13 kills, hit .426 with three blocks. Hannah Sherman was a stalwart at the net with a career-high 14 blocks, which ties a school record set by Cara Cresse against Texas earlier this season. Cresse had 10 kills, hit .389 with eight blocks.

Georgia Tech falls to 15-11 and 10-7 in the league. The Yellow Jackets had 48 kills, hit .090 with four aces and six blocks. Noemi Despaigne showed out with 20 kills, hitting .326 and a block. Anna Fiedorowicz pitched in 10 kills but hit -.114 but added 10 digs.

In the first set, UofL's .351 hitting helped them come back from a four-point deficit midway through the first set. The Cardinal block struck five times with three by Kalyssa Blackshear proved enough as Louisville took the first set 25-23 with Blackshear collecting six kills and three blocks and Payton Petersen nailed five kills on eight swings, including the set point and added a block for good measure.

After trailing 12-7, Abigail Li served five straight points for the Jackets to pull within one at 13-12 which led to a Louisville timeout. Coming out of the break, the Cards pushed back and after Blackshear got her ninth kill that sparked a 5-0 scoring run and sparked a GT timeout with the Jackets down 20-14. UofL's .458 hitting proved too much as the Cards stretched that run to a 9-0 as they cruised to the 25-14 win.

The third set was a game of wild swings. UofL started out up 5-1 and then GT answered with a 5-1 run to tie at six. After trading points, the Cards went on a 4-0 run to go up 13-9 and force a Tech timeout. The pause reset the Jackets, who came out and put together a 4-0 run to tie at 13. Louisville scored three straight to go up 16-13 and GT ran of on a 5-1 run to tie at 17. The Cards called timeout after Tech tied at 20. The teams traded points until, tied at 23, the Yellow Jackets got a kill by Noemi Despaigne and a block from Bianca Garibaldi for the 25-23 win.

In the fourth set, the score was tied at seven early before a 5-0 run put the Cards up 12-7 and .304 hitting and seven blocks took a toll on Georgia Tech. After a kill and a block by Cara Cresse put the Cards up 17-10, the Jackets were only able to score five more points, falling 25-15.

The Cardinals head to Clemson for a Sunday match at 1 p.m. as ACC play continues.