2025 Gazette Female Athlete of the Year: Chloe Meester of Mount Vernon

MOUNT VERNON — As Chloe Meester walked across the stage, accepted her diploma and shifted her tassel, a packed family vehicle awaited in the parking lot.

When you’re an elite athlete, the transition from high school to college can be as brief as a seven-hour late-May drive from Mount Vernon to Louisville, Ky.

Chloe Meester is, without debate, an elite athlete.

“She sticks out in a crowd,” said Dan Meske, volleyball coach at the University of Louisville. “She was born to stick out.”

Not simply because she stands 6-foot-3. Meester blends grace with that frame, and that combination enabled Mount Vernon to seize state championships in volleyball and basketball within the past nine months.

The Gazette honors Meester — along with Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Libby Fandel — as its 2025 Female Athlete of the Year.

“Chloe definitely finished her career at a Hall of Fame level,” Mount Vernon volleyball coach Maggie Willems said. “She was good as a freshman. She was elite by her senior year. Watching that growth was amazing.”

How did this happen, where it happened? It started with a tract of land along Highway 1.

Brad Meester had recently retired after a 14-year NFL career, all with the Jacksonville Jaguars, as a center. He and his wife, Jamie — high school sweethearts at Aplington-Parkersburg — were looking to return close to their roots, along with their rapidly growing family.

“We knew we wanted to move back to Iowa,” Brad said. “I wanted to be somewhere in the country off a paved road, near a small town with a bigger city close by.”

A buddy told Brad about a property — it was a bean field at the time — about 5 miles south of Mount Vernon.

Bingo.

The Meesters’ acreage sits at the southern edge of the Mount Vernon school district. A few yards further south, and Chloe possibly would have been a Solon Spartan.

Chloe is the third of six siblings, all girls.

“It’s awesome, it really is,” Brad said of sharing a house with seven females. “There’s a lot of emotion, crying, lots of stuff. But I wouldn’t change it for the world.

“I don’t know that I wanted a big family. If we’d have had a boy early on, we might have stopped at three or four.”

Chloe was in third grade when the family moved from Jacksonville to Mount Vernon.

“She’s been my best friend since she came here,” said Eryn Jackson, another member of the Mustangs’ title teams in volleyball and basketball. “It’s been a good bond for me. All of the memories, we’ve experienced them all together.”

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Most tall kids experience a clumsy stage at some point. Meester’s journey to 6-foot-3 (and size-13 feet) was relatively smooth.

“Her growth was steady, and she was never like a baby giraffe,” Jamie said.

Meester isn’t merely a tall girl who happens to do sports. She is an athlete who happens to be tall.

At Mount Vernon, she entered the volleyball program as a dynamic hitter and left as a complete, diverse player.

Her hands would have made her an intriguing weapon as a setter. Heck, she could have played libero in a pinch.

“She could have played anywhere,” Willems said. “She came in as a freshman and I don’t think she wanted to be a six-rotation player. When she was a sophomore, I think she was a little honked off at me that she wasn’t.

“I’m a ball-control-first person, and that forced her to find the tools to earn a spot in the back row. She had to work for it.”

She did, because she wanted to be in the action, all of the time.

“I hated coming off the court,” Meester said. “I wanted to be more involved. If I came off the court, I wasn’t as focused.”

Meester finished her volleyball career with 2,071 kills, was honored as state player of the year by the Iowa Girls Coaches Association and Gatorade, and earned first-team all-America honors by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

The road to a state title was a one-step-at-a-time endeavor. The Mustangs were Class 3A quarterfinalists in 2021, semifinalists in 2022, runners-up in 2023, then won it all — convincingly — last fall.

Then, in March, the basketball team followed suit. Meester was a first-team all-stater in hoops, averaging 13.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game and shooting 61 percent from the floor.

“When we made our first home visit, we got to see her play basketball,” Meske said. “She had a casual 18 points and 10 rebounds.

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“It was really, really cool to get a multisport athlete.”

The 2024 NCAA tournament runner-up, Louisville traditionally has utilized outside hitters in the 6-foot range. So Meester will create some matchup issues for opponents.

“When we identify potential superstars, they have to be athletic and coordinated and have leadership qualities,” Meske said. “Chloe is a different mold of outside hitter.

“We’re not afraid to play freshmen. Chloe is such a unique outside, she’ll get that opportunity.”

Meester is listed as a business major. But those who know her best are in consensus where post-volleyball life will take her.

“Honest truth, I think she wants to go into cosmetology,” her father said.

“She’s in her room all the time. Her hair has to be a certain way. She makes us late; it stresses me out.”

Jackson said, “Chloe is the hair girl. She would do everybody’s hair on the bus or in the locker room.”

“I think she’ll own her hair salon someday,” Willems said. “She cared about her hair, and she wanted to make sure everybody else’s hair looked good, too.”

Look good, play good.

“I’m very strict about how my hair can look,” Meester said. “Before matches, Willems would come in, and I’d still be messing with it.

“During (January term), I went to my hair stylist and toured it. I love that place.”

Her career path, that’s a discussion for another day. Now, Meester wants to work her way into the Cardinals’ rotation.

If and when she does, remember ... she hates coming off the floor.

Chloe Meester: 2025 Gazette Female Athlete of the Year

Full name: Chloe Grace Meester

School: Mount Vernon

Date of birth: Oct. 16, 2006

Family: Parents, Brad and Jamie Meester; sisters, Lily, Emma, Sophia, Aubree and Adalynn

High school accomplishments: State volleyball player of the year as a senior both by the Iowa Girls Coaches Association and Gatorade. First-team all-America selection by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Three-time first-team all-stater, finishing with 2,071 kills. Mustangs qualified for state four times — they were 3A quarterfinalists in 2021, semifinalists in 2022, runners-up in 2023 and champions in 2024. A two-time first-team all-stater in basketball, leading the Mustangs to a 3A state title as a senior (they were semifinalists the previous year). Qualified for state track in the hurdles as a sophomore and junior.

College: Will play volleyball at the University of Louisville. Plans to major in business.

2025 Gazette Female Athlete of the Year voting

Thirteen staffers from the sports and photo departments participated in the voting; points were tabulated on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis. First-place votes in parentheses.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Chloe Meester, Mount Vernon (6½) 58½

1. Libby Fandel, Cedar Rapids Xavier (6½) 58½

3. Libby Dix, Mount Vernon 28

4. Noelle Steines, Tipton 22

5. Jayden Kuper, Monticello 9

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES (alphabetic order)

Mackenzie Bridgewater, North Linn; Mackenzie Childers, Cedar Rapids Prairie; Pearson Hall, West Liberty; Makenna Hughes, Williamsburg; Lydia Kriegel, Iowa Valley; Brooke Krogmann, West Delaware; Morgan Miller, Iowa City Regina; Carly Rich, Williamsburg; Morgan Rupp, Linn-Mar.

OTHERS NOMINATED (alphabetic order)

Danielle Boche, Cedar Rapids Jefferson; Abby Hoyt, Springville; Addison Lange, Independence; Maddie Pavelka, Marion; Abi Roberts, Linn-Mar; Addy Tupa, Center Point-Urbana.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com