LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bellarmine volleyball is set to begin another exciting season this weekend with three matches as the Knights play host to Rutgers, Purdue Fort Wayne and Evansville for the 2026 Bellarmine Classic August 28-29 in Knights Hall.

The Knights will officially kick off the season on Friday, August 28 at 7 pm E.T. with a contest against the Rutgers. Their weekend will continue on Saturday, August 29 at 10 am E.T. against Purdue Fort
Wayne before closing out the event against Evansville at 6 pm E.T.

Friday's session will also include neutral site matches between Rutgers and Purdue Fort Wayne at 11 am E.T. and Purdue Fort Wayne and Evansville at 4 pm E.T. On Saturday, Rutgers and Evansville will face off at 1 pm E.T.

About the Scarlet Knights
• Last season, Rutgers turned in a 12-20 overall record while going 3-17 in the Big Ten Conference. The Scarlet Knights finished 17th in the league last season, and we're picked to finish in 17th again this season in the Big Ten Preseason Poll.
• Junior Aspen Maxwell returns for Rutgers after leading the team with 378 kills and and 450 points and ranking second with 83 blocks while adding 134 digs and 28 aces. Fellow junior Lily Bolen will continue to run the Sycamores offense after amassing 1,068 assists a year ago while ranking second on the team with 251 digs and 38 aces. Alleigh Dutton rounds out the trio of junior returners, coming back after leading the team with 327 digs in 2025.
• Bellarmine and Rutgers will meet for the first time on the court on Friday evening.

About the Mastodons
• In 2025, Purdue Fort Wayne went 3-26 overall and 1-17 in Horizon League Conference play. The Mastodons finished the league in 10th place last season.
• Junior Riley Rosneck led the team with 408 kills last season while also ranking third in digs with 228. She won't have to worry about who is setting her the ball this season as sophomore Haiden Means is back after dishing out 847 assists last year. On the defensive side, senior Becky Barrett will continue to control the back line after recording 494 digs while junior Mya Plemons will protect the net after collecting 107 blocks a year ago.
• Bellarmine and Purdue Fort Wayne have met just one time in BU's Division I era. Last season, the teams faced off in the PFW Invitational on Sep. 20 where the Knights came away with a 3-2 victory. Bellarmine and Purdue Fort Wayne were common opponents in the Division II days, battling against each other as GLVC foes. The Knights and Mastodons faced off 28 times between 1983 and 2000, before Purdue Fort Wayne transitioned to Division I, with the Mastodons taking a commanding 27-1 lead in the all-time series. The last time the teams met was October 1, 2000, resulting in a 3-0 Bellarmine loss. The Knights' lone win came on September 29, 1991 in 3-2 fashion.

About the Purple Aces
• Last year, Evansville turned in a 6-22 overall record and went 2-11 in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Purple Aces finished the season ranked 10th in the league and were not among the Top 6 teams in this year's MVC Preseason Poll.
• Senior Chloe Cline returns after ranking second on the team with 203 kills and 67 blocks last season. Senior Lexi Owen will lead the charge this season after being the second setter last year, recording 277 assists. Junior Sabrina Ripple is back to lead the effort at the net after collecting 84 blocks in 2025.
• Bellarmine and Evansville will meet for the first time in the Division I era on Saturday night. In the Division II days, the teams met 8 times between 1976 and 1984 with Evansville taking an 8-4 advantage in the series.

An Overview of the Knights
• In 2025, Bellarmine turned in a record setting 11-17 overall record wth a 5-11 showing in ASUN play. The team's 11 wins mark a new single season Division I era high water mark while the 5 ASUN wins were good for second most since joining the league in 2020. The Knights finished the season 9th in the league, missing out on the final playoff spot by only a few games.
• Bellarmine returns 10 players from its 2025 roster, eight who saw starting or key time in the lineup in Natalie Bland, Erika Smith, Payton Parsons, Maddie Hagan, Abby Julius, Mary Herman, Sarah Turner and Mya White. Bland and Smith led the group, starting all 28 matches while Parsons played in all 28 as a libero with White making 20 starts in 27 appearances.
• Bland led the Knights' offense with 333 kills last season. Defensively, Parsons led with 419 digs while Smith racked up 86.0 blocks.

Knights in the Opener
• Bellarmine is 22-28 all-time in season opening matches and are 6-5 when starting at home in Knights Hall.
• Since transitioning to Division I in 2020, Bellarmine is 2-4 in its first match of the year.
• The last time the Knights won their season opener was a 3-0 victory over Indiana State in 2025, snapping a five-year opening match losing streak.
• Bellarmine will start its season at home for the second straight year after going 11 consecutive seasons with a season opening road trip. The Knights 3-0 win over Indiana State was their first season opening home win was since 2005, defeating Spalding 3-0.
• Bellarmine is 29-20 all-time in their home opening game. Since transitioning to Division I in 2020, Bellarmine is 4-2 in home openers, with the Knights' winning each of their last three.

Familiar Faces
• From last year's squad, the Knights return Bland, Smith, Parsons, Hagan, Julius, Cam Herman, Bella Wynja, Mary Herman, Turner and White.
Newcomers
• Bellarmine added four freshmen to the team this season in Mady Yaden, Maddie Carnes, Abbie Lyttle and Ava Long.
• Redshirt junior Emily Cook joins the Knights after spending the last three seasons at Spring Hill College. Last season, Cook played in 22 sets across 14 matches and totaled 91 assists and a career-high 5 aces.
• Senior Addison Putt joins the Knights after three seasons at UIndy. Last season, Putt scooped up 11 digs, including a career-high five against Kentucky Wesleyan (9/14).

Departures
• The Knights said goodbye to graduates Kylie Van Hoy, Tessa Nauert and Addie Poehner. Van Hoy is the program's Division I leader in assists while she and Nauert are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the career matches and sets played in the D1 era (Nauert 109 matches, 386 sets; Van Hoy 107 matches, 379 sets).

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