Cardinals Ready to Open Season at Jeep AVCA First Serve

Friday, August 21

Milwaukee, WI | Fiserv Forum

6:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

#8 Texas A&M

Photo by: Mallory Peak | Louisville Athletics

Cardinals Ready to Open Season at Jeep AVCA First Serve

August 20, 2026 | Women's Volleyball

The No. 7-ranked Cardinals will play No. 8 Texas A&M on Friday, Aug. 21 and No. 6 Wisconsin on Saturday, Aug. 22.

By: Sam Gercak

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville volleyball team will open the 2026 season this weekend with a pair of top-10 matchups at the Jeep AVCA First Serve in Milwaukee, Wis.

The No. 7-ranked Cardinals will kick off the year with a rematch against No. 8 Texas A&M, the defending national champions who knocked Louisville out of the 2025 NCAA Tournament in the regional semifinals. The season-opening match against the Aggies will take place on Friday, Aug. 21 at 6:00 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Louisville will then take on No. 6 Wisconsin on Saturday, Aug. 22 at 4:00 p.m. ET, with the matchup against the Badgers set to be televised on FOX.

TEAM NOTES

The Cardinals head into Dan Meske's second season as head coach after finishing the 2025 season with an overall record of 26-7 (16-4 ACC) and advancing to their seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament regional semifinal.
Louisville enters the season ranked No. 7 in the AVCA/Taraflex Preseason Poll, the fifth consecutive season the Cardinals have opened the year ranked in the top 10 nationally. The Cards were also picked to finish third in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll.
The Cards will be playing at the AVCA First Serve event for the second time in three seasons, having beaten Wisconsin 3-1 to open the 2024 season at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.

Louisville will play their first two matches of the season against teams ranked in the top 10 nationally for the first time since 2017, when they lost to No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 4 Minnesota as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

PLAYER NOTES

The Cardinals return 11 members from the 2025 team, including six regular starters from a year ago.
Louisville also welcomes six newcomers, adding five freshmen as well as senior Brooke Bultema, who transfers in after spending the previous three seasons at Kentucky.
Setter Nayelis Cabello and outside hitter Chloe Chicoine were two of 30 players named to the AVCA Player of the Year Preseason Watch List. The pair also earned Preseason All-ACC honors, where they were joined by opposite hitter Kalyssa Blackshear and outside hitter Payton Petersen.

Cabello and Chicoine both earned AVCA All-American Honorable Mention last season, while Blackshear was named the 2025 ACC Freshman of the Year.

For the latest information on Louisville Volleyball, visit GoCards.com, or follow the team's Instagram and X account at @louisvillevb or on Facebook at facebook.com/LouisvilleVB.