# Louisville Cardinals women's volleyball

The Louisville Cardinals women's volleyball team competes as part of NCAA Division I, representing the University of Louisville in the ACC. Louisville plays its home games at the L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. The team has been coached by Dan Meske since 2025.

## History
### Susan Johns (1977–1979)

Louisvilles first women's volleyball season came in 1977 under head coach Susan Johns. She held the job for 3 seasons finishing with a record of 28–60.

### Scott Luster (1980–1984)

Scott Luster was hired as the head coach in 1980. In 1982, he led the Cards to their first conference title in program history and first NCAA tournament berth. He would total two Metro Conference title and two NCAA tournament bids in 5 seasons at Louisville.

### Don Hardin (1988–1995)

Don Hardin finished his tenure at Louisville as the most successful coach in program history and set the program up for its future success. He finished with an overall record of 192–76 after eight seasons at Louisville. He led the Cards to six regular season conference titles and six NCAA tournament berths.

### Leonid Yelin (1996–2010)

Leonid Yelin is the programs all-time winningest head coach. Under Yelin, the Cardinals won multiple CUSA regular season and tournament titles. In 1996, Louisville reached the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in program history. The Cards would reach the Sweet Sixteen a total four times in 1996, 1998, 2004, and 2005.

### Anne Kordes (2011–2016)

Following the retirement of Leonid Yelin in 2011, former Louisville player Anne Kordes was hired. In 2016, Kordes announced her resignation to spend more time with her family.

### Dani Busboom Kelly (2017–2024)

Dani Busboom Kelly was hired as the head coach at Louisivlle in 2017. Under Kelly, the program would reach new heights including reaching the first Elite Eight in program history and reaching the national championship twice.
On January 29, 2025, she was hired by her alma mater to be the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers women's volleyball.

### Dan Meske (2025–present)

Following the departure of Dani Busboom Kelly, Dan Meske was hired as the head coach of Louisville. Meske was the associate head coach under Kelly since 2017. In 2022, he was name the AVCA Assistant Coach of the Year.

## Season-by-season results

| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | AVCA poll |
| Susan Johns (–) (1977–1979) |||||||
| 1977 | Susan Johns | 4–18 | | | | |
| 1978 | Susan Johns | 11–18 | | | | |
| 1979 | Susan Johns | 13–24 | | | | |
| Total: | Total: | 28–60 | – | | | |
| Scott Luster (Metro Conference) (1980–1984) |||||||
| 1980 | Scott Luster | 10–23 | | | | |
| 1981 | Scott Luster | 26–18 | | | | |
| 1982 | Scott Luster | 39–14 | 10–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I first round | |
| 1983 | Scott Luster | 33–19 | 9–3 | 3rd | | |
| 1984 | Scott Luster | 29–12 | 7–0 | 1st | | |
| Total: | Total: | 137–86 | 26–4 | | | |
| Bob McCarthy (Metro Conference) (1985–1987) |||||||
| 1985 | Bob McCarthy | 18–19 | 5–1 | | | |
| 1986 | Bob McCarthy | 17–25 | 2–4 | | | |
| 1987 | Bob McCarthy | 14–15 | 2–3 | | | |
| Total: | Total: | 49–59 | 9–8 | | | |
| Don Hardin (Metro Conference) (1988–1994) |||||||
| 1988 | Don Hardin | 16–15 | 3–3 | 4th | | |
| 1989 | Don Hardin | 21–12 | 5–2 | | | |
| 1990 | Don Hardin | 22–8 | 5–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I first round | |
| 1991 | Don Hardin | 28–8 | 6–0 | 1st | NCAA Division I first round | |
| 1992 | Don Hardin | 24–9 | 5–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I first round | |
| 1993 | Don Hardin | 13–13 | 5–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I first round | |
| 1994 | Don Hardin | 29–5 | 6–0 | 1st | NCAA Division I first round | |
| Don Hardin (Conference USA) (1995–1995) |||||||
| 1995 | Don Hardin | 29–6 | 12–0 | 1st | NCAA Division I second round | |
| Total: | Total: | 182–76 | 47–9 | | | |
| Leonid Yelin (Conference USA) (1996–2004) |||||||
| 1996 | Leonid Yelin | 26–5 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Regional Final | 16 |
| 1997 | Leonid Yelin | 16–12 | 13–3 | 1st (American) | | |
| 1998 | Leonid Yelin | 29–5 | 14–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I Regional Final | 21 |
| 1999 | Leonid Yelin | 19–12 | 13–3 | T-1st | NCAA Division I first round | |
| 2000 | Leonid Yelin | 26–8 | 12–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I first round | |
| 2001 | Leonid Yelin | 26–7 | 13–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division I second round | |
| 2002 | Leonid Yelin | 28–6 | 12–1 | T-1st | NCAA Division I second round | |
| 2003 | Leonid Yelin | 25–6 | 12–1 | T-1st | NCAA Division I second round | 20 |
| 2004 | Leonid Yelin | 30–3 | 13–0 | 1st | NCAA Division I Regional Final | 16 |
| Leonid Yelin (Big East Conference) (2005–2010) |||||||
| 2005 | Leonid Yelin | 31–3 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Regional Final | 11 |
| 2006 | Leonid Yelin | 25–7 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I first round | |
| 2007 | Leonid Yelin | 22–8 | 13–1 | T-1st | NCAA Division I first round | |
| 2008 | Leonid Yelin | 19–11 | 11–3 | 3rd | NCAA Division I first round | |
| 2009 | Leonid Yelin | 21–11 | 10–4 | 4th | NCAA Division I first round | |
| 2010 | Leonid Yelin | 23–8 | 12–2 | 2nd | NCAA Division I second round | |
| Total: | Total: | 141–48 | 72–12 | | | |
| Anne Kordes (Big East Conference) (2011–2012) |||||||
| 2011 | Anne Kordes | 24–9 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I second round | |
| 2012 | Anne Kordes | 30–4 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I second round | 17 |
| Anne Kordes (American Athletic Conference) (2013–2013) |||||||
| 2013 | Anne Kordes | 30–4 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I first round | |
| Anne Kordes (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2014–2016) |||||||
| 2014 | Anne Kordes | 15–15 | 7–11 | 8th | | |
| 2015 | Anne Kordes | 27–5 | 18–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I second round | 21 |
| 2016 | Anne Kordes | 12–18 | 7–13 | 10th | | |
| Total: | Total: | 138–55 | 71–29 | | | |
| Dani Busboom Kelly (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2017–2024) |||||||
| 2017 | Dani Busboom Kelly | 27–4 | 18–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I first round | |
| 2018 | Dani Busboom Kelly | 24–9 | 14–4 | T-3rd | NCAA Division I second round | |
| 2019 | Dani Busboom Kelly | 22–10 | 12–6 | 3rd | NCAA Division I Elite Eight | 14 |
| 2020 | Dani Busboom Kelly | 15–3 | 12–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I Sweet Sixteen | 11 |
| 2021 | Dani Busboom Kelly | 32–1 | 18–0 | 1st | NCAA Division I National Semifinals | 3 |
| 2022 | Dani Busboom Kelly | 31–3 | 17–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Runner-up | 2 |
| 2023 | Dani Busboom Kelly | 27–5 | 15–3 | 3rd | NCAA Division I Elite Eight | 6 |
| 2024 | Dani Busboom Kelly | 30–6 | 17–3 | 3rd | NCAA Division I Runner-up | 2 |
| Total: | Total: | 208–41 | 123–21 | | | |
| Dan Meske (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2025–present) |||||||
| 2025 | Dan Meske | – | – | – | – | |
| Total: | Total: | – | – | | | |
| Total: | Total: | 834–366 | 339–75 | | | |
| National champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion |||||||

## Conference affiliations

Louisville has been affiliated with multiple conferences.
* Metro Conference (1977–1994)
* Conference USA (1995–2004)
* Big East (2005–2012)
* American Athletic Conference (2013)
* Atlantic Coast Conference (2014–present)

## Championships
### Conference championships

Louisville claims twenty-one conference regular season titles and ten conference tournament championships.

### Big East Championships

Louisville joined the Big East Conference in 1995. Louisville would win four conference tournaments in 1998, 2000, 2003, and 2004 and six conference regular season titles in 1995, 1996, 199, 2002, 2003, and 2004.

### ACC Championships

Louisville became a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2014 and won its first ACC championship in 2015, the first by any Louisville team. The Cards would then win the conference in 2017, 2020, 2021, and tied with Pittsburgh in 2022. The ACC recognizes the regular season champion as the conference champion and has not held a conference championship tournament since Pitt joined the conference.

## Rivalries
### Pittsburgh

The volleyball rivalry between Louisville and Pittsburgh began in 1981. As of 2024, Louisville is 21–18 in the series. The series became a conference rivalry after Louisville joined the Big East and after both programs moved to the ACC.
The rivalry reached a new level after Dani Busboom Kelly was hired at Louisville, with both programs regularly competing for the conference regular season and tournament titles. Both programs began having sustained success at the national level with Louisville and Pitt making their programs first Elite Eight in 2019 and 2020 respectively and regularly earning top seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
In 2022, the two programs met in the Final Four for the first time. Louisville would go on to beat Pitt 3–2 to reach the first national championship berth in program history. The two program would meet in the Final Four again in 2024 where Louisville would once again defeat Pitt 3–1 to advance to its second national championship berth in 3 seasons.

### Kentucky

The in-state rivalry with Kentucky began in 1976 when the two programs played for the first time. As of 2024, Louisville is 29–37 in the series.