University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Friday, August 28
Pittsburgh, Pa.
6:30 PM
Pitt
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Kansas
No. 4 Pitt To Host No. 15 Kansas, No. 6 Wisconsin For Opening Spike
8/27/2026 2:53:00 PM | Volleyball
PITTSBURGH - No. 4 Pitt continues a difficult non-conference slate by hosting No. 15 Kansas and No. 6 Wisconsin Thursday and Saturday for the Opening Spike Classic. The Panthers host Kansas Friday at 6:30 p.m. followed by No. 5 Stanford vs. Wisconsin at approximately 9:00 p.m. On Sunday, Pitt will face Wisconsin at noon with Stanford and Kansas at approximately 2:30 p.m.
SETTING THE STAGE
- No. 4 Pitt continues a difficult non-conference slate by hosting No. 15 Kansas and No. 6 Wisconsin Thursday and Saturday for the Opening Spike Classic.
- Following the weekend, Pitt will have played three ranked teams in its first four matches. Of Pitt's first seven matches, five will be against teams that were ranked in the AVCA preseason poll.
- Pitt will host the Opening Spike Classic inside the Petersen Events Center. The Panthers have won 21 consecutive matches inside the Pete.
SCOUTING KANSAS
- No. 15 Kansas will open the regular season against Pitt Friday at 6:30 p.m.
- Kansas went 24-11 a year ago, which included a record of 13-5 in the Big 12. The Jayhawks beat High Point and Miami (Fla.) in the NCAA Tournament before a three-set loss to Nebraska in the third round.
- Head Coach Matt Ulmer begins his second season in Lawrence in 2026. He went 166-77 in eight years as the head coach at Oregon before taking the Kansas job a year ago.
- Kansas lost its top two hitters from a year ago but return middle blocker Reese Ptacek (2.53 kills/set, .314 attack %) and pin hitter Grace Nelson (2.50 kills/set, .201 attack %).
SCOUTING WISCONSIN
- Like Pitt, No. 6 Wisconsin opened the season at the Jeep AVCA First Serve. The Badgers were swept by No. 3 Kentucky in their season opener but bounced back to sweep No. 7 Louisville.
- Head Coach Kelly Sheffield has led Wisconsin since 2013 with a mark of 347-74. Prior to that, he spent five years at Dayton (131-33 record) and seven years at Albany (142-79 record). In total, he is in his 26th year with a mark of 620-186.
- Setter Charlie Fuerbringer had 33 assists and eight digs in the team's win over Louisville and she was named MVP of the match. Freshman Audrey Flanagan led Wisconsin with 13 kills in the win.
THE FIRST SERVE
- Pitt opened the season with wins over No. 3 Kentucky and Xavier at the Jeep AVCA First Serve.
- Two-time defending National Player of the Year Olivia Babcock unleashed new aspects of her game in the opener, finishing with 27 kills in a four-set win over No. 3 Kentucky. Junior transfer Izzy Starck dished out 41 assists and the duo staked their claim to the title of "Best setter/hitter duo" in the country.
- Pitt's defense was on full display, holding Kentucky to an .086 hitting percentage. That was the lowest attack percentage for a Kentucky team since they hit .084 in a three-set loss to Pitt on Sept. 1, 2023.
- Pitt then limited Xavier to just a .169 attack percentage in a three-set sweep of the Musketeers Monday.
- While Babcock took a backseat, finishing with "only" 12 kills on a .450 attack percentage, senior Blaire Bayless was all over the court with 13 kills, four digs and two blocks.
- Freshman Maaike Heilig had 13 blocks over the course of the weekend and had seven kills on seven swings. Another freshman, Ayanna Watson, recorded 14 kills over the course of the two matches, hitting .467 against Xavier.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
- Pitt is on a 52-match winning streak at home, dating back to Sept. 14, 2023.
- While the volleyball program is moving into a new home in 2026 (Victory Heights is replacing Fitzgerald Field House), the Panthers have played a handful of matches inside Petersen Events Center in recent history.
- "The Pete" has been good to Pitt and the Panthers have won 21 straight matches in the facility dating back to 2019.
- And it's not like Pitt is playing cupcakes inside Petersen Events Center. All 21 of those matches were either NCAA Tournament contests (14 of the matches) or against ranked opponents during the regular season (the other seven). Including all of those matches, Pitt has beaten 13 ranked teams during the 21-match win streak and three that were ranked inside the top four in the country.
- In fact, Pitt has lost just 13 sets during that 21-match win streak and has been pushed to five sets just four times (2022 vs. #13 Georgia Tech, 2023 vs. #4 Louisville, 2024 vs. #4 Louisville, 2024 vs. #14 Oregon).
- Pitt has not lost in the Petersen Events Center since Dec. 7, 2019 when it fell to Cincinnati in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
HARD TO BEAT
- Pitt is 155-20 (.886) over the past five seasons, including a mark of 49-6 (.891) in regular season non-conference matches.
- In non-conference play, Pitt has gone undefeated twice in the last five years, doing so in both 2021 (11-0) and 2024 (10-0).
- Pitt is 17-5 against ranked opponents in non-conference play over the past five years and 32-1 against unranked teams, only losing a four-set match in 2022 to a criminally unranked Towson squad that went 29-2 on the season.
NOT DUCKING THEM EARLY
- This was the sixth consecutive year in which Pitt opened the regular season against a ranked opponent.
- Pitt is 3-3 in those six season openers with victories over No. 23 Rice in 2021, No. 10 Oregon in 2024 and No. 3 Kentucky last week.
FISHER IN HIS 14TH SEASON
- Head Coach Dan Fisher is in his 14th season at the helm of the Pitt volleyball team.
- He is building upon his unprecedented success, earning his seventh ACC Championship and is seeking his first National Championship.
- Fisher holds a 352-74 overall record at Pitt, good for a .826 winning percentage. Including two seasons as the head coach at Concordia, he is 427-76 for an .849 win percentage.
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Players Mentioned
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