No. 4 Cards Take Down Rice to Win Bluejay Invitational

Sunday, September 14

Omaha, NE

1:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

7-1,0-0ACC

Rice

2-6,0-0American

Louisville

Rice

Kalyssa Blackshear, Nayelis Cabello, celebration

Photo by: Mallory Peak | Louisville Athletics

No. 4 Cards Take Down Rice to Win Bluejay Invitational

September 14, 2025 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Nancy Worley

OMAHA, Neb. -- Cara Cresse and Kalyssa Blackshear combined for 27 kills and 12 blocks to lead the No. 4 University of Louisville volleyball team to a 3-1 in over Rice to clinch the championship of the Bluejay Invitational Sunday afternoon on the Creighton campus.

UofL moved to 7-1 on the season with the 22-25, 28-26, 25-14, 25-15 win. Cresse had 14 kills, hitting .458 with Blackshear adding 13 kills and the pair each had six blocks. Outside hitter Payton Petersen added 11 kills, 11 digs and three aces. As a team, UofL hit .257 with 10 aces, and 13 blocks.

Rice drops to 2-6 with the loss. The Owls hit .149 with three aces five blocks. The Owls were led by Aaliya Smith's 11 kills.

Cresse was named the Bluejay Invitational MVP and she was joined by Payton Petersen and Kalyssa Blackshear on the All-Tournament team.

The Cardinals and Owls tied 13 times with four lead changes in the first set with the main advantage coming from Rice's .244 hitting percentage while UofL's hit a chilly .171. Both teams had four blocks and two aces. Early on, neither team could build more than a two-point lead and were tied at 18. Rice went on a 7-4 run down the stretch and ended the first set on an attack error by Louisville and then aced the Cards for the set point.

In the second set, Hannah Kenny served for three straight points to widen the lead to 11-4. Down six at 16-10, Rice rallied for five straight points to cut the lead to one at 16-15 and force a Louisville timeout. After the timeout, Rice scored once more to tie before committing a service error to end the run. The two teams continued to trade points and finally, after tying at 26, a kill by Cara Cresse and an ace by Ava Utterback gave UofL the 28-26 win and tied the set score at one. Rice hit .271 in the set but had no aces and only one block. Louisville hit .227 with two aces and four blocks.

The third set scoring stayed tight as the teams were knotted at 6 before UofL took a 5-1 run to go up 11-7. A block by Hannah Sherman and Kalyssa Blackshear gave the Cards a 15-10 lead at the media timeout. Blocking continued to give the Cards an edge as Cresse and Blackshear combined forces to put up the eleventh block of the match and force a Rice timeout as the Cards took an 18-11 lead. Rice called timeout down 22-13 after Nayelis Cabello scored on a setter dump. Louisville stayed in control outscoring the Owls 5-1 at the end with a Petersen ace and a Chicoine kill won the set at 25-14. UofL was aided by .312 hitting as the Owls were held to .000.

An 8-0 serving run by freshman defensive specialist Hannah Kenny was part of a 13-1 run that gave the Cards a 16-5 headstart in the fourth. The lead proved to be unsurmountable as the Cards rolled to a 25-15 win.

The Cardinals stay busy as the Battle of the Bluegrass is on the slate for Thursday with the Wildcats of Kentucky visiting the KFC Yum! Center at 6 p.m.