No. 2 Seeded Cardinals Advance with Sweep of Loyola

Friday, December 5

LOUISVILLE, KY

30 Minutes After Match 1

University of Louisville

25-6,16-4ACC

Loyola University Chicago

17-16,12-6Atlantic 10

Loyola Chicago

Louisville

December 05, 2025 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Erin Hughes

Louisville Press Conference

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 2-seeded University of Louisville volleyball team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament following a 3-0 win (25-17, 25-9, 25-12) over Loyola Chicago inside L&N Federal Credit Union Arena on Friday night.

"We're proud of a great win. Congratulations to Loyola Chicago on a great season - they had such a great run in the A10 tournament, they had two five-gamers to get here," said Louisville head coach Dan Meske. "We felt like they were going to be one of the hotter teams in the tournament. They had so much momentum going in, and it was just a challenge with the physicality difference. We were just quite a bit taller in stature and our block was bigger, but sometimes that's easier for your opponent to hit your elbows and do things like that, and I just thought we did an excellent job of controlling what we can control. Nayelis Cabello - she distributed the ball great, and I just thought we were a great version of ourselves today. So, we're proud of the win and really excited to move on to Marquette, who looked fantastic in their game against Western Kentucky."

Louisville (25-6, 16-4 ACC) hit .417 on the night with 43 kills, 39 digs, 12.0 blocks and five service aces. Opposite hitter Kalyssa Blackshear led the offense with 10 kills, hitting at a .400 clip with just two errors on 20 attacks and stuffing five blocks. Outside hitter Payton Petersen, outside hitter Chloe Chicoine and middle blocker Cara Cresse all recorded nine kills, with Petersen and Chicoine serving an ace and Cresse serving two. Middle blocker Hannah Sherman led the defense with six total blocks, including two solo stuffs, and added three kills. Setter Cabello logged 31 assists, three kills and three blocks. Libero Kamden Schrand served the Cards' other ace and led the backcourt with 10 digs.

Loyola Chicago (17-16, 12-6 A10) hit .011 with 21 kills, 30 digs, 20 assists and 3.0 blocks. Outside hitter Kaitlyn Burke had a team-high eight kills and fellow outside Karli Molnau was close behind with seven. Molnau along with setter Emma Henry and outside hitter Ann Marie Remmes each stuffed solo blocks for the Ramblers defense. Henry added two kills and 17 assists, and libero Sam Falk logged a team-high seven digs.

Louisville advances to play Marquette in the second round on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 6 p.m. inside L&N Arena. Marquette swept No. 7 seed Western Kentucky to advance. Louisville setter/libero Hannah Kenny will face off against her older sister Calli Kenny, a setter/defensive specialist/right-side hitter for the Golden Eagles.

Set 1: Loyola Chicago 17, Louisville 25
Blackshear knocked down two kills, Petersen added one and Chicoine served an ace to open the match on a 4-0 run and force Loyola's first timeout. With the Cards up 14-8 and on another 4-0 scoring runoff a kill from Chicoine, the Ramblers burned their second timeout of the set. The teams traded points until Sherman got UofL to set point with a solo block and ended the set with a kill, 25-17.

Set 2: Loyola Chicago 9, Louisville 25
Sherman brought her defense to the second set, stuffing blocks on two of the first three points. Louisville commanded the court and took an 8-2 lead that saw Loyola using up its first timeout. Cresse served a 4-0 run with two aces that helped extend the Cards' lead to 11 at 16-5 and forced a second Rambler timeout. UofL's fifth ace of the match came from Schrand that was followed by a kill from Cresse to give Louisville set point at 24-8. Loyola held off the end of the set with a kill, but an attack error by the Ramblers sealed the set win 25-9 for the Cards.

Set 3: Loyola Chicago 12, Louisville 25
Loyola grabbed the first point of the set, but Louisville led 9-4 as the Ramblers took their first timeout. Cresse, Blackshear and Sherman all teamed up for blocks en route to a 19-9 Cards lead as Loyola used its last timeout. Cresse knocked down her ninth kill and the Ramblers added an attack error to put UofL at match point 24-12. Chicoine and Addison Makun combined for a block to send Louisville to the second round with a 25-12 set win.

What they are saying
Louisville head coach Dan Meske

Opening Statement:

"We're proud of a great win. Congratulations to Loyola Chicago on a great season - they had such a great run in the A10 tournament, [they had] two five-gamers to get here. We felt like they were going to be one of the hotter teams in the tournament. They had so much momentum going in, and it was just a challenge with the physicality difference. We were just quite a bit taller in stature and our block was bigger, but sometimes that's easier for your opponent to hit your elbows and do things like that, and I just thought we did an excellent job of controlling what we can control. Nayelis Cabello - she distributed the ball great, and I just thought we were a great version of ourselves today. So, [we're] proud of the win and really excited to move on to Marquette, who looked fantastic in their game against Western Kentucky."

(On how Louisville was able to get better as the match went on)
"Yeah, so we went up 4-0. I thought it was a great time out by Loyola Chicago, and then they closed that gap really quickly. Todd Chamberlain, our assistant coach, was making halfhearted threats to our team if we don't score a point after the time out you can't sit in time outs. We were getting ready to just stand because we came out kind of cold. It was a really well-timed time out by her [Amanda Berkley]. But I also thought we made a couple of uncharacteristic hitting errors, just really weren't a great version of ourself and [Nayelis Cabello] like I said; I thought distributed the ball great. When we just kind of settled back into who we were, I thought that we played a really clean game, and we were able to use our physicality to our advantage."

(On how the past two losses helped prepare for the next stage of the season)
"That's why we love our conference. The last two matches of the year were against potential Final Four, National Championship caliber teams, and unfortunately we weren't able to hang a W there. But because it's our conference, were able to learn those lessons and apply them to the tournament. I thought they exposed two really specific things that we've been working really hard on that were great at today, that was out of system setting. I thought when our non-setter set the ball, we terminated really well.
You saw Hannah Kenny was able to set a little bit more today as well. And then our first contact, which Payton [Petersen] talked about as well. We just really locked in on our first contact, passed great, and I think we [served] five aces, so we served great as well."

Louisville player quotes

(On the match expectations and what she saw in match from Loyola-Chicago)
Cara Cresse, R-Sr., MB
"I think we knew we were going to have to kind of adjust a little bit to their offense in a way. And I'm just doing really good defensively. I think we really executed on our scout this week, and we also knew that we were just gonna have to come out, bombing away, and, like Dan said, the physicality difference can be challenging, but we just swung high and hard, and I think that went great for us."

Payton Petersen, So., OH
"I think we could have expected maybe a little bit more tips, and a little bit more junk that we needed to handle on our side. They were going for it and we kind of adjusted our block a little bit, but I think just picking up the little things here and there is something that we had to work on, and I think we did great tonight with it."

(On blocking)
Cara Cresse, R-Sr., MB
"Going off of that, pin set up great tonight. All we had to do tonight was close, and we really trusted them, trusted the scout, and Dan made a comment at the beginning of the game. To have a goal, our standard should be four blocks a set. So, we were really determined to execute that."

Payton Petersen, So., OH

"I think every night you have to come out, you aren't just going to get blocks, like it's just what happens. I think our blockers being disciplined and we know that they're going to do certain things. But we have to look at the scouts, see what they're doing, and maybe make adjustments. I thought our right-side blocker specifically did a great job adjusting to the line. Obviously, Cara and [Hannah] Sherman are huge blockers on our team and they're just always closing, and it just makes it easy as a pin blocker."

Notes

Sister Hannah Kenny and Calli Kenny will face off in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Hannah Kenny is a freshman setter/libero for Louisville, and Calli is a sophomore setter/defensive specialist/right-side hitter for Marquette.
Setter Nayelis Cabello posted 37 assists and three kills in the first round against Loyola Chicago. The Sophomore now has 80 kills on the year.
Louisville held Loyola Chicago to a .011 hitting percentage, the second lowest of the season behind Cal's .000 clip on Oct. 3.
The Ramblers' nine points in the second set against Louisville was the third lowest an opponent scored in a 25-point set (Cal - 5 points, second set; Syracuse - 8 points, first set).
Opposite hitter Kalyssa Blackshear logged her 18^th game with 10 or more kills, posting a team-high 10 against Loyola.
Louisville posted its 15^th match of the season with five or more aces, serving five against the Ramblers. Middle blocker Cara Cresse has served two aces in three straight matches.
Middle blocker Hannah Sherman stuffed six blocks against Loyola, including two solo blocks, her 15^th match of the season with five or more blocks.