Red Squad Wins in Five Sets in Red/Black Scrimmage

Friday, August 15

LOUISVILLE, KY

6:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

RED and BLACK SCRIMMAGE

August 15, 2025 | Women's Volleyball

By: Nancy Worley

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Alanna Bankston had 14 kills and nine digs to lead the Red Squad to a 21-25, 25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 15-11 win over the Black Squad in the Red/Black Scrimmage Friday night in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.

"It was a good scrimmage," said first year head coach Dan Meske. "We have been working on a lot of things in practice that we got to see tonight out there on the court. Especially around the net, with scrappy play and trying to use our hands more around the net. We saw a lot of that in the scrimmage which is 'crowd gets going and you lose that. So I thought we had a good foundation on the things that we value and I saw it on both sides. Both sides fought really hard and we had really close scores and nobody gave up. It was a good scrimmage."

The Red Squad saw transfer Chloe Chicoine connect for nine kills and 15 digs. Cara Cresse had 11 kills and three blocks. Setter Nayelis Cabello had two kills, 10 digs, 38 assists and five blocks.

The Black Squad was led by Kalyssa Blackshear's 13 kills with Payton Petersen adding nine kills and 19 digs. Libero Kamden Schrand had 17 digs and setter Molly Wilson added 33 assists and 16 digs.

"I got really excited at the end. This was a cool opportunity because we had CC McGraw and Parker Mikesch (assistant coaches) head coach each team," said Meske. "For me, being an assistant here, I always appreciated the opportunity to do some different things in a scrimmage. Both of them did a great job and drafted their teams. I made some switches during the match and the players were like 'hey, wait, she's on my team'. But it was all in good fun. I got the itch to put all the coaches on one end and really divvy up responsibilities in the last set."

Next up for the Cards is the Alumni Match Sept. 23 at 2 p.m. in L&N Arena.