Texas A&M volleyball is at the site of its final game last season for Friday’s Sweet 16 match in the NCAA Tournament. 

Last year, the Aggies lost to Wisconsin in five sets. Now, they are seeing a different shade of red when they take the court against the second-seeded Louisville Cardinals. 

A&M (25-4, 14-1 SEC) learned after the 2024 match they can compete against anyone in the country and have said that the “why not us” mentality has carried them throughout the season. 

This match could be a battle of offenses. Outside hitter Logan Lednicky has said a balanced offense does wonders for a team and she leads the Aggies with 398 kills. Other outside hitters who will take big swings for the Aggies are Kyndal Stowers and Emily Hellmuth.

But Louisville (26-6, 16-4 ACC) has three hitters who are just as dangerous: Chloe Chicione, Peyton Peterson and Kalyssa Blackshear who combine for 1,088 kills. 

The winner will play No. 1 seed Nebraska or No. 4 Kansas on Sunday afternoon. 

Here are updates on Texas A&M’s second-round game against Louisville: 

Louisville calls a timeout in the middle of a 4-0 Aggies run. But the fourth point goes to Louisville after challenging an Aggies net fault and the call is overturned. The teams trade four points until a Peterson kill cross-court kill. A&M goes on a 2-0 run and Louisville calls a timeout. The Cardinals call another timeout after a 2-1 run that puts the Aggies into the redzone. 

Hellmuth leads a 3-0 run with two kills but A&M’s block didn’t chase an offspeed shot. Hellmuth’s kill and Perkins’ block starts a 2-0 run, but errors from A&M tie the match at 10. Sherman finds a kill for Louisville, but the Cards tie the match with a service error. The Aggies and Cards trade points and the lead until Cos-Okpalla taps the ball over. 

Stowers attacks through the block of Louisville to open the set, but Louisville finds Blackshear and Peterson for quick points. Hellmuth is stuffed on the left side to give the Cardinals the lead and a corner-to-corner ace in a 4-0 run. Lednicky is hammering kills to keep the Aggies close. 

After a 2-0 run, A&M ties it at 23. A Peterson kill makes it Louisville set point. A free ball to Louisville gives the Cards time to set up for the kill to take set one. 

Louisville’s scoring run continues out of the timeout by stuffing Hellmuth. Its block is coming alive and has three so far in the set. The Cardinals step over the service line gifting A&M a small lead, but Chicione is hard to stop as she notches her fifth kill. Peterson’s kill gives Louisville the lead, but is short lived after a Lednicky offspeed.