No. 4 Pitt Beats No. 3 Kentucky in Four Sets

MILWAUKEE, Wisc. – The Pittsburgh Panthers, ranked No. 4 in the nation, knocked off No. 3 Kentucky 3-1 (25-14, 21-25, 25-13, 25-21) on Sunday afternoon in the 2026 American Volleyball Coaches’ Association First Serve event. The loss is the first of the season for the Wildcats who will head home from week zero’s competition with a 1-1 record and a win over No. 6 Wisconsin in its back pocket.

Morgan Gaerte led Kentucky with 14 kills on 37 swings and Brooklyn DeLeye also had 13 kills in the match to go alongside her three service aces. Kassie O’Brien had 38 assists in the match on 45 of Kentucky’s kills with Molly Tuozzo yet again notching double-figure kills as she collected 16 digs in the match.

Kentucky will now return home to open the 2026 home season for the Bluegrass Battle inside Historic Memorial Coliseum beginning Friday. The Wildcats will play Utah State at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday as the 2025 NCAA runner-up banner will be unveiled prior to the match and then the Wildcats will play South Florida at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday evening. All non-UK matches of the tournament will be free of charge.

Tickets for both UK matches this weekend are on sale at UKathletics.com/tickets.

Pitt closes out the AVCA First Serve on Monday against Xavier.

Set One

Kentucky lost its first set of the season, as it dropped a 25-14 decision to the Panthers in the opening frame. The Wildcats managed only 10 kills on 31 swings with 11 errors, more than the entire match Friday night against Wisconsin. UK hit -.022 for the set, its first set hitting negative in over four years. Pitt rode the arm of Olivia Babcock to a .348 number with six kills in the set to take the 1-0 lead.

Set Two

Kentucky rescued set two with three-straight aces from Brooklyn DeLeye in crunch time as she dropped a trio of topspins to the floor to push Kentucky to a 25-21 second-set win and start a new ballgame as the Wildcats squared the match. Kentucky trailed a majority of the set as it scored the first two points, but then fell down four points at 11-7 and burned an early timeout. The Panthers led 15-12 at the media timeout and then after Kentucky won four of the next five points – Pitt called its first timeout. Lizzie Carr hammered her fifth kill of the match and third of the set to put Kentucky up 21-20 to unstrangle the deadlock and it was DeLeye’s serve that took control from there to give Kentucky the second set. DeLeye and Morgan Gaerte co-led Kentucky with six kills each after the second set and Georgia Watson entered in the early parts of the set, providing Kentucky with a pair of kills on two swings to hit 1.000 in her season debut.

Set Three

Pittsburgh cruised to a third-set victory, as they took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-13 win in the third frame. The Wildcats and Panthers traded early points before the Panthers went on a 4-0 rally to take a 13-9 lead and Kentucky called its first timeout of the set. With the Panthers leading 13-11 after the Wildcats cut the lead to two, Pitt hammered off six points in a row, the longest scoring run of the match, to lead 18-11 as the Wildcats called their final timeout. The Panthers hit .500 for the set with 15 kills to one error and Kentucky hit .029 with eight kills to seven errors and UK was stuffed five times in the set with UK recording one.

Set Four

Kentucky jetted out to a 6-1 lead in the fourth set, but the Wildcats saw that lead evaporate halfway through the frame when the Panthers squared the frame at 13 all. Pitt then won five of the next seven points to take the lead by multiple points as the Panthers closed the match and won the fourth.

For the latest on UK Volleyball, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @KentuckyVB.