By Jace Martin

ACC Volleyball returned to L&N Federal Credit Union Arena Wedneday as Louisville hosted Notre Dame in its first home conference match of the season. A strong performance by the Cardinals resulted in a three-set sweep over the Fighting Irish.

Before the ACC home opener, Louisville won their first two ACC matchups on the road against Syracuse and Boston College, also sweeping both. The team showed no slowing down at home, now having won nine straight ACC sets to open up conference play.

The Cardinals’ preparation heading into ACC play included facing seven ranked opponents in their first 12 non-conference games.

“We wanted to try to play the toughest non-conference schedule of anybody in the country, and I think we accomplished that,” Head Coach Dan Meske stated.

Louisville setter Nayelis Cabello offered praise for how the Cardinals handled their pre-conference schedule. “I think we handled it really great,” she said. “We used [two losses to ranked teams] to our advantage to figure things out so we can get into ACC play and the postseason so we can win it out.”

Louisville women’s volleyball setter Nayelis Cabello sets the ball in a Sept. 30, 2026 match against Notre Dame at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Morgan Davenport / The Louisville Cardinal)

During the Notre Dame match, Louisville’s offense was led by two of the team’s outside hitters, sophomore Chloe Meester and senior Chloe Chicoine.

Meske had some high praise for Meester following the match. “She’s just going for it,” he said. “She has the opportunity to win any set at any time. And so for us moving forward, we want to make sure that she has three opportunities to serve in every single set, and I think she was playing off her serve today.”

On top of praising Meester’s performance against Notre Dame, Coach Meske also had lots of great things to say about Chicoine.

“Everything. She does everything. She is almost the unsung hero of our team,” Meske stated. “She’s so steady with it that I think sometimes it gets lost. She has been probably our most reliable player all year.”

The Cardinals continue ACC play with a rematch against Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana on Saturday. When asked about Saturday’s rematch, Meske said he wanted to see his team to both improve their use of the scouting report and improve their stats from Wednesday night.

‘We hit .350. Can we hit .370 next time we play them? They hit .130. Can we hold them to .120? Now we have got some goals that we can try to improve on,” he said. “I told them, why play that second match if you are not going to try to be better.”

Meske and his team are certainly not done this year. With hopes of winning both an ACC Championship and a National Championship, the Louisville Volleyball Team is always trying to improve while still reflecting on the success they have achieved so far.

“Pleased, not satisfied,” Meske remarked.

Feature Photo by Morgan Davenport / The Louisville Cardinal