Errors plague No. 15 Kentucky volleyball again as No. 10 Pitt wins in four

After suffering a sweep against No. 10 Pittsburgh at home on Friday night, the No. 15 Kentucky volleyball team was hoping to flip the script in Sunday’s rematch against the Panthers back in Pittsburgh. But while the Cats showed more flashes of greatness than they did in Friday’s match, the result ended up being the same as Pittsburgh knocked off the Cats in four sets (25-21, 25-27, 25-13, 25-22) to hand Kentucky its second-straight loss.

Errors proved to be the theme of the match for the Cats once again, as Kentucky committed 29 hitting errors and 15 service errors. Kentucky hit just .135 on the evening and struggled to find a consistent offensive rhythm for much of the match. 

But Sunday’s result wasn’t all bad, as Kentucky showed flashes of the offensive brilliance that the coaching staff has been hinting at. Senior Reagan Rutherford poured on a match-high 19 kills on a .357 clip. Elise Goetzinger got the start in the middle and added 12 kills of her own on a .233 hitting clip. Jordyn Williams had six kills, Brooklyn DeLeye had five, and Erin Lamb had four. 

Defensively, Kentucky put out its best blocking performance of the season thus far with 13.0 team blocks, led by 7 from Goetzinger. Rutherford and Williams each added five, Lamb had three, and DeLeye had two. 

On the back line, libero Eleanor Beavin picked up 12 digs to go along with a pair of service aces and a trio of assists. Freshman Molly Tuozzo continued to impress by adding eight of her own, Rutherford had seven, and Grome had 6.

With the loss, Kentucky falls to 1-3 on the season and will be back in action Friday against Houston. The match will be played in West Lafayette, Ind. and is set for a 4:00 pm start time