No. 10 Pittsburgh Overwhelms No. 15 Kentucky in Cats’ Home Opener

It was a packed night inside of Rupp Arena Friday night, as 5,048 fans packed the arena to watch No. 15 Kentucky volleyball take on No. 10 Pittsburgh. But unfortunately for the Cats, the Panthers proved to be too much to handle in the home opener, as Pitt took the match 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-22).

As they did in their previous matches, errors proved to be a common theme once again against the Panthers, as Kentucky totaled 22 hitting errors and eight service errors on the evening. The Cats totaled just 31 kills through three sets of play and hit .084 on the evening. 

UK head coach Craig Skinner says the Cats have to put more of an emphasis on playing clean, especially as they prepare for a challenging stretch of the schedule. 

“It’s a combination of first contact, setting, and attacking. We’ve got to clean that up and become a little more efficient,” Skinner said. “We knew it would take some time to create this efficiency in what we’re trying to do but in the process we’ve got to be more aggressive.” 

Senior Reagan Rutherford led the offensive charge for Kentucky with seven kills. Jordyn Williams and freshman Brooklyn DeLeye each added six, Erin Lamb had five, and Elise Goetzinger had four. Only Williams and Goetzinger managed to hit above .300 for the match. 

Defensively, Kentucky struggled to contain the Pittsburgh attack and the Panthers totaled 41 kills on a .248 clip. Libero Eleanor Beavin led all Wildcats on the back line with ten digs. Freshman Molly Tuozzo and Rutherford each picked up seven digs of their own and Emma Grome had 6. 

Williams led the charge at the net, recording a match-high 5.0 blocks. Rutherford, DeLeye, and Grome each added two as well and the Cats totaled 7.0 as a team.

While Williams says the team isn’t satisfied with their recent performances, she’s just thankful to be playing after being sidelined with injury over the last two seasons.

“It was a great crowd, great energy,” Williams said. “It just felt good to be out there with my teammates, my friends and just go out there and play and show everyone what we’ve been working on the past two years, what I’ve been working on. It was a long time coming here but it feels great to just be out there.” 

Kentucky will attempt to regroup as they travel to Pittsburgh for a rematch with the Panthers on Sunday inside the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh. First serve is scheduled for noon and will be broadcast live on the ACC Network.