No. 9 Texas volleyball suffered a tough defeat on Sunday in Nashville, Tennessee, falling to the No. 6 Louisville Cardinals 3-0. Texas failed to bring home a possible statement win in a neutral site as the Longhorns dropped to 3-3 on the season.
Texas could not overcome a dreadful first set against Louisville. The Longhorns came in and immediately looked outmatched, with the 25-12 score of the first set being their worst deficit of the season thus far. Despite showing some fight in the second set, Texas could not manage to win a single set and was swept for the second time this season.
The first set loss was defined by Texas’ inability to attack consistently. Sophomore outside hitter Cari Spears struggled early, recording four attacking errors in 12 attempts against the Cardinals in the first set. Spears has been great for Texas early in the season, but Louisville did well in minimizing her impact in this game.
Spears’ struggles were mirrored by freshman outside hitter Henley Anderson. Anderson failed to record a kill in 12 attempts in the first set. Both Spears and Anderson held a negative hit percentage after the first set and finished the game under .100.
A pair of seniors, outside hitter Torrey Stafford and middle blocker Nya Bunton, shined for Texas in the attacking game despite the loss. Stafford recorded 14 kills and only five errors, while Bunton recorded five kills in 10 attacks.
Texas continues to win or lose by its serves. During this game, Texas committed 13 service errors, more than double Louisville’s total of six. Despite the aggressive serve style, Texas only had two service aces, less than Louisville. The high-risk high-reward style of play helped keep them down throughout the game.
Texas was far less efficient while serving than Louisville, winning only 54.5% of rallies served, while Louisville won 78.2% of its rallies. Overall, the Longhorns were unable to find a way for their serves to push the Cardinals out of position in any way.
The Louisville Cardinals saw an exceptional performance from sophomore outside hitter Chloe Meester. Meester led the Cardinals in kills with 13 while not committing an error, bringing her hit percentage to .565. Meester was a clear threat on the outside, using her 6-foot-3-inch height to dominate smaller Texas defenders.
Meester was one of three Cardinals defenders with double-digit kills, alongside senior outside hitter Chloe Chicoine and sophomore opposite hitter Kalyssa Blackshear. The trio all had hitting percentages above .300 as they pushed Louisville to a top 10-ranked win.
Texas tried multiple different rotation players throughout the game in an attempt to provide bursts to the team off the bench. Senior setter Ella Swindle made an appearance for a short time in the second and third sets and had a good performance. In her short time, Swindle tallied four assists and helped ignite a last second push for the third set which fell short.
The Longhorns return to Texas to face the No. 8 SMU Mustangs in the Moody Coliseum in Dallas on Sept. 9 at 8 p.m.