Pitt Volleyball Facing Top SEC Team

It is a four-team showcase with Pitt and Kentucky, who won the ACC and SEC Championship, respectively, facing off. Louisville and Texas face off as well, they finished in second place in the ACC and SEC, respectively.

The Panthers and Wildcats will play first at 6:30 p.m. and then the Cardinals and Longhorns battle at 9:00 p.m., or 30 minutes past the ending of the first match.

The inaugural 'Showdown at the Net' serves as a battle between the ACC and SEC, creating great non-conference matchups over two days, Sept. 9-10, with ESPN leading the way, broadcasting both matches at Dickies Arena.

It also includes seven matchups with teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season. Stanford will travel to face Missouri on ESPN, SMU will host Texas A&M on ESPN2 for an in-state battle, Georgia Tech goes to Tennessee on SEC Network and North Carolina hosts Florida on the ACC Network on Sept. 9.

The three other matches take place on Sept. 10, as Miami hosts Ole Miss on ACC Network Extra, NC State hosts South Carolina on the ACC Network and Florida State travels to Oklahoma on the SEC Network.

16 teams each from the ACC and SEC will play across the two days, with the other seven matchups on streaming.

This will mark the 10th time Pitt and Kentucky have faced off, with Pitt holding a 6-3 lead in the all-time series.

The Panthers have won the past three matchups over the past two seasons. This included home-and-away matchups over the Labor Day weekend in 2023, where the Panthers swept in Lexington on Sept. 1 and won in four sets at the Petersen Events Center on Sept. 3, plus sweeping the Wildcats again in the Elite Eight last season, also at the Petersen Events Center.

Kentucky brings back SEC Player of the Year and AVCA First Team All-American in junior outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye. They also return All-SEC Second Team junior libero Molly Tuozo.

SEC Coach of the Year Craig Skinner also added two transfers from Purdue in AVCA Second Team All-American and First Team All-Big Ten senior outside hitter Eva Hudson and redshirt junior middle blocker Lizze Carr, plus Marquette transfer in junior libero/defensive specialist Molly Berezowitz.

Pitt brings back AVCA National Player of the Year in junior right side hitter Olivia Babcock, Second Team All-American in redshirt senior middle blocker Bre Kelley and All-ACC Freshman Team member in sophomore middle blocker Ryla Jones.

They also added transfers in redshirt sophomore outside hitter Sophia Gregoire from Oregon and redshirt seniors in setter Brooke Mosher from Illinois and libero/defensive specialist Emery Dupes from Florida State.

Pitt volleyball now has six confirmed non-conference dates on their schedule for the 2025 season.

This includes Nebraska on Aug. 22 and Florida on Aug. 24 in the AVCA First Serve at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb. It also includes the StateFarm Volleyball Showcase at PPG Paints Arena, where they'll battle TCU on Aug. 31 and Arizona State on Sept. 1.

Pitt also battles Penn State at Rec Hall, but with no confirmed date yet.