No. 2 seeded Cardinals Head to Lincoln Regional to Face Texas A&M

Friday, December 12

Lincoln, Neb.

7:00 p.m. ET

University of Louisville

Texas A&M University

Kalyssa Blackshear and Cara Cresse Celebrate in the huddle

No. 2 seeded Cardinals Head to Lincoln Regional to Face Texas A&M

December 08, 2025 | Women's Volleyball

Louisville Volleyball Statistics After Marquette Louisville Volleyball Notes for Lincoln Regional

Cards Play Friday at 7 p.m. ET

By: Erin Hughes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 2-seeded University of Louisville volleyball team will take on No. 3-seeded Texas A&M in the team's 11th-ever NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal. The Cards and the Aggies face off at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 12, inside Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Neb. The match will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Should UofL advance, it will play the winner of No. 4 Kansas and No. 1 Nebraska in the Regional Final. The Jayhawks and the Cornhuskers match will take place 30 minutes after UofL and Texas A&M on Dec. 12.

Louisville advanced to the Lincoln Regional Semifinal after going 2-0 on the weekend following a sweep of Loyola Chicago in the first round and a five-set victory over Marquette in the second round.

Louisville hit above .400 in both matches, marking its first time doing so in back-to-back games all season. Outside hitter Chloe Chicoine was the star of the weekend after recording 37 kills across both matches, including a career-high 28 against Marquette, during which she also posted a .415 hitting percentage while adding seven digs and a block. Opposite hitter Kalyssa Blackshear logged double-digit kills in both matches, going for 10 against the Ramblers and 11 versus the Golden Eagles, both on 20 swings. Outside hitter Payton Petersen posted nine kills against Loyola and 19 against Marquette and added her 13th double-double of the year with 10 digs against MU. UofL totaled 23.0 total blocks on the weekend, with seven different Cards logging stuffs over the matches. Middle blocker Hannah Sherman recorded six blocks versus the Ramblers and middle blocker Cara Cresse added seven against Marquette. Setter Nayelis Cabello posted a career-high 62 assists in Saturday's match and added two aces and three kills on the weekend.

The Aggies hold a 5-2 all-time advantage over the Cards, but UofL took the last win 3-2 on Aug. 31, 2019 in Louisville.

Quick Peek at the Cards

Outside hitter Chloe Chicoine's 28 kills against Marquette in the second round were the most by a Cardinal in an NCAA Tournament match since 2005 when Lena Ustymenko had 31 vs. WKU.
Nayelis Cabello, Chloe Chicoine and Cara Cresse were named First Team All-ACC on Dec. 1. Kalyssa Blackshear and Payton Petersen received All-ACC Second Team honors, and Blackshear was selected ACC Freshman of the Year and added to the All-ACC Freshman Team.
Outside hitter Chloe Chicoine became the 27th Cardinal to reach 1,000 career kills on Oct. 10 against Virginia Tech. Chicoine is now 17th on UofL's all-time kills list with 1,228.
Middle blocker Cara Cresse surpassed 500 career blocks against No. 5 Stanford. She currently sits at 516 total blocks, tied for second in the program's rally-scoring era, is third in UofL all-time history with 425 block assists and 10th with 91 solo blocks.
Setter Nayelis Cabello and middle blocker Hannah Sherman received ACC Setter of the Week and ACC Defensive Player of the Week following matches against Georgia Tech and Clemson.
Middle blocker Cara Cresse was selected fifth overall by the Indy Ignite in the 2025 MLV Draft.
Middle blocker Cara Cresse was selected as the ACC Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this season on Nov. 17 following her performances against Florida State and No. 14 Miami.
Opposite hitter Kalyssa Blackshear was named ACC Freshman of the Week and setter Nayelis Cabello was selected as ACC Co-Setter of the Week on Nov. 10, their third time taking home their respective honors this season.
Opposite hitter Kalyssa Blackshear, setter Nayelis Cabello and middle blocker Hannah Sherman each received ACC Weekly Honors for their performances against Duke and North Carolina. Blackshear was ACC Freshman of the Week and Cabello was ACC Setter of the Week. Sherman was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week, her first career ACC honor.
Louisville was picked No. 6 of 16 total teams in the NCAA DI Committee rankings announced on Oct. 19.
Opposite hitter Kalyssa Blackshear was named the ACC Freshman of the Week on Oct. 13 following her performances against Virginia Tech and Virginia. Blackshear totaled 30 kills on the weekend, including 20 against UVA, and added six blocks.
Setter Nayelis Cabello and middle blocker Cara Cresse were named the ACC Setter and the ACC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 6, for their performances against Cal and No. 4 Stanford.
Louisville was ranked No. 9 in the NCAA RPI rankings as of Dec. 1.
Outside hitter Payton Petersen and middle blocker Hannah Sherman both set new career highs in blocks against Kentucky. Petersen stuffed five and Sherman added 11 of the team total 18.5 blocks.
Middle blocker Cara Cresse was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 15 for her performances against No. 2 Texas and at the Bluejay Invitational. Through four matches, Cresse posted 28 blocks and 49 kills and took home Bluejay Invitational MVP honors.
Opposite hitter Kalyssa Blackshear and outside hitter Payton Petersen were named to the All-Bluejay Invitational Team after combining for 71 kills, 16 blocks and 35 digs.
With a 3-1 win, Louisville handed Creighton its first home loss since 2022.
Middle blocker Cara Cresse matched her career-high with 14 blocks against No. 2 Texas. Outside hitters Chloe Chicoine (13 kills/14 digs) and Payton Petersen (18 kills/10 digs) both posted double-doubles against the Longhorns. Nayelis Cabello tallied a career-high seven blocks against UT.
Five different Cardinals posted new career highs against Illinois on Sept. 7. Outside hitters Chloe Chicoine and Payton Petersen along with middle blocker Kalyssa Blackshear set new highs in kills (17, 20 and 13), setter Nayelis Cabello extended her career high in assists (52) and libero Kamden Schrand added 28 digs, besting her previous high by 10.
Libero Kamden Schrand was voted MVP of the Cardinal Classic. Outside hitters Chloe Chicoine and Payton Petersen were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Louisville was voted to No. 9 in the AVCA Coaches Poll released on Dec. 1.
Setter Nayelis Cabello, outside hitter Chloe Chicoine and middle blocker Cara Cresse were selected to the ACC All-Preseason Team.
Chloe Chicoine and Cara Cresse were named to the 2025 AVCA Division I Player of the Year Award Watch List.
Nayelis Cabello and Cara Cresse were voted as team captains for the 2025 season. Chloe Chicoine joins them as a court captain.
UofL finished 2024 ranked No. 1 in the nation in blocks/set (3.09) and No. 10 in opponent hitting (.154). Cara Cresse was seventh in blocks/set (1.50).
The win over No. 1 Pittsburgh in the 2024 National Semifinals was the program's highest-ever ranked opponent win. The Cards' previous record was the win over No. 2 Texas in 2019 to advance to the Austin Regional Final.

Quick Peek at Texas A&M

Jamie Morrison has led the Aggies for three seasons and owns a 62-25 record with the program. A&M advanced to the Regional Semifinals with a 3-0 win over Campbell and a 3-1 win against in-state rival TCU.
The Aggies landed four players on the All-SEC First Team. Opposite hitter Logan Lednicky, middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla, setter Maddie Waak and outside hitter Kyndal Stowers all earned yearly honors.
In addition to her First Team recognition, Lednicky was named a Semifinalist for the AVCA Player of the Year Award. The senior has 398 kills on the year and is 10th in the SEC in kills per set with 4.06.
Cos-Okpalla has eight different SEC weekly honors this season. The blocker is third nationally and first in her conference with 1.67 blocks per set and has 170 blocks in 2025. Cos-Okpalla also owns a .427 hitting percentage, good for 13th in the country.
Waak commands the Aggie offense, leading the nation with 11.49 assists per set. The senior has added 53 kills, 42 blocks and 27 aces as well.

Quick Peek at Kansas

Matt Ulmer is in his first year in Lawrence and has led the Jayhawks to a 24-10 record and a 13-5 bid in Big 12 play. Kansas advanced to the Regional Semifinal after a 3-0 sweep of High Point and a 3-1 win over No. 5 seed Miami.
Middle blocker Reese Ptacek and outside hitter Jovana Zelenovic were named First Team All-Big 12 this season. Zelenovic was also a unanimous decision for the Big 12 All-Rookie Team. Ptacek was named to the AVCA Player of the Year Watchlist on Oct. 2.
The Jayhawks added four to the All-Big 12 Second Team, including setter Katie Dalton and libero Ryan White. Dalton has 8.84 assists per set which puts her eighth in the Big 12. White's 3.97 digs per set has her fourth in the Big 12 and 114th nationally.
Joining Dalton and White on the Second Team were outside hitter Grace Nelson and Rhian Swanson. Middle blocker Aurora Papac joined Zelenovic on the All-Rookie Team.
Swanson's 15 kills led Kansas to its victory over Miami in the second round and saw the senior pass 500 career kills.

Quick Peek at Nebraska

Former Louisville coach Dani Busboom Kelly has led Nebraska to its third undefeated season in program history in her first year with the team and was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year. The No. 1 overall seed swept Long Island and Kansas State to advance to its Regional Semifinal.
Three Cornhuskers are in the running for the AVCA Player of the Year Award. Middle blocker Andi Jackson, outside hitter Harper Murray and setter Bergen Reilly were all named semifinalists for the award.
Jackson set the Big Ten record for hitting percentage in conference matches with a .559 clip in Big Ten play. She, Murray and Reilly were joined on the All-Big Ten First Team by middle blocker Rebekah Allick.
Reilly was named Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Setter of the Year. The junior has led Nebraska to a .353 season hitting percentage that leads the national.
Defensive specialist/libero Laney Choboy and outside hitter Taylor Landfair were added to the All-Big Ten Second Team. Opposite hitter Virginia Adriano was named to the All-Freshman Team, and senior defensive specialist/libero Maisie Boesiger earned one a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.