Louisville Volleyball Knocks off Defending National Champions in Season Opener

The opening match of the 2026 college volleyball saw the No. 7 Louisville Cardinals knock off the defending national champion & preseason No. 8 Texas A&M Aggies at Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The two met up in the Sweet 16 of the 2025 NCAA tournament where the Aggies reverse swept the Cards in Lincoln en route to the national championship.

On this night in Milwaukee, the Cards got sweet revenge led by their senior outside hitter, Chloe Chicoine, who was named MVP of the opening match of the 2026 AVCA Classic.

After jumping out to a 2-0 lead in sets, A&M got one back in the third before the Cards pulled away for a four-set win(25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 25-21).

Coach Dan Meske addressed what he told the team to rally them between the third and fourth sets.

“We call it a no fail mission, and that’s not just based on the result – it’s how we bounce back. I thought we exuded that point for point. The third set, the way we came out, we’ve seen that song and dance before. We go up 2-0, then we are down 8-2. This team, you know, was the first match ever for this team. You know we aren’t bringing that baggage with us, but what I also saw too, it just felt different.”

“The way they looked at each other, it was a great and confident vibe. At no point did I feel any panic. It’s a new team, this team is 1-0.”

Chicoine led the way for the Cards with 19 kills. Kentucky transfer Brooke Bultema & sophomore Chloe Meester each pitched in 11 kills of their own. Setter Nayelis Cabello added 45 assists, 9 digs and four kills.

On the defensive side, Payton Petersen tallied 23 digs in her first career start at libero. Back row mates Hannah Kenny and Kamden Schrand added 9 digs each.

Coach Meske praised the attacking of the Cards, after emphasizing executing a higher hitting percentage clip this season.

“We need to kill the ball at over 40%, tonight we hit 43%. Brooke was great .350, 11 for 20, and then Chloe Chicoine, unbelievable 19 of 38.”

Texas A&M found out shortly before the match that they would be taking on the Cardinals without their second team all-American from last season, Kyndal Stowers.

In set one, the Cards come out slow falling behind 3-0. Bultema and Cabello found some early chemistry on the slide from the middle. It was a sloppy match by each team from the service line, with 11 errors a piece. The set was back and forth to the midway point, before Meester got a kill and ace in back-to-back plays to push the Cards ahead 22-18. A Bultema kill and Chicoine block capped off the first set win.

The second set saw Kalyssa Blackshear and Meester get the Cards off to a hot start with multiple kills a piece as the Cards stretched a lead to 16-13 right after the set break. The Aggies rattled off four straight to take a 17-16 lead, before a few errors by A&M and some savvy spot shots by Chicoine pushed the Cards ahead for good.

Set three saw the Cards make too many errors to overcome as Bultema and middle hitter Hannah Sherman tried to keep the Cards in it at the net with a few blocks. After falling behind 8-3, the Cards had it at 12-11 before multiple errors saw that lead grow to 23-16.

The fourth set belonged to Chloe Chicoine. She tallied eight kills and got creative using the whole court with strong swings that painted the back stripe and timely rolls to catch the Aggies off guard. She topped off the match with an emphatic block, before her team stormed the court to celebrate the huge season opening win.

Coach Meske brought senior Jessica Drapp to the postgame press conference with him. Even though Rapp only had a couple of serves on the day, Meske emphasized her leadership and coined her the “culture queen of the program”. Rapp might have a post-volleyball calling as a DJ, as she loosened the team up with her abilities “on the aux cord” pregame.

The Cards will look to stay hot as they take on the No 6 Wisconsin Badgers back at Fiserv Forum on Saturday. The match is set to first serve at 4 pm EST and air on Fox.

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