No. 16 Florida Volleyball Rallies to Take Down No. 3 Pitt in Five Sets

Last Updated: August 25, 2025By

LINCOLN, Neb. – After losing the first and third sets, the No. 16 Florida volleyball team earned it’s first victory of the season, rallying past No. 3 Pitt in five sets (19-25, 25-15, 15-25, 26-24, 15-13) at the AVCA First Serve Showcase on Sunday afternoon inside Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Sunday’s win marks the first for head coach Ryan Theis at the helm of Florida volleyball as well as the Gators first series victory over Pitt since 1998. It’s also the program’s first top-three win since defeating then-No. 2 Stanford on Aug. 29, 2023.

Setter Alexis Stucky had a double-double for the second-straight match, totaling 44 assists and 11 digs. The All-American guided a balanced Gator attack that finished with a .204 hitting percentage and had eight players record at least one kill throughout the five sets.

Outside Hitter Jordyn Byrd was named the AVCA Player of the Match after recording a team-high 23 kills. It marks a career-high for the redshirt sophomore, who finished with 24.5 points and added three blocks, two digs and one assist to her stat line. She closed out her debut weekend with 40 total kills, hitting .265 across two matches.

Sophomore Jaela Auguste had a standout performance, registering a career-high four aces and a career-high eight blocks to go along with nine kills and an assist.

Three additional Gators, sophomore Alec Rothe, redshirt freshman Kira Hutson and freshman Milica Vidacic, added eight kills apiece to Florida’s 60 team kills.

Florida totaled 13.0 team blocks to Pitt’s 14.0, but held the Panthers to a .186 hitting clip. Rothe and Stucky both finished with five blocks, while Hutson and Byrd had three apiece.  Vidacic also contributed two blocks as well to the team’s stat line.

Freshman libero Lily Hayes had a career-high 21 digs to lead Florida’s backcourt, while Hutson tallied a career-high 12 in her second match returning back from injury. Senior Emily Canaan and sophomore Ella Vogel were just shy of double digits, having nine and eight respectively.

After struggling at the service line on Friday, the Gators bounced back with eight aces compared to the Panthers’ five. While Auguste, Stucky, and Vogel accounted for all of Florida’s aces, sophomores Taylor Parks and Bella Lee delivered steady serves in crucial moments down the stretch.

Records:

No. 16 Florida (1-1, 0-0 SEC)

No. 3 Pitt (0-2, 0-0 ACC)

 

Series record:

Florida moves to 2-3 against Pitt (1-0 under Theis)

3-set: 1-1 | 4-set: 0-2| 5-set: 1-0

Home: 1-1 | Away: 0-1 | Neutral: 1-1

 

How It Happened

Set 1

  • The Gators opened with a 4-2 lead, but aggressive serving from Pitt allowed for a 4-0 scoring run to head into the first media timeout with a 10-6 lead. Rothe put one down out of the break, but the Panthers offensive attack maintained a 16-11 advantage. Florida kept the fight, as an ace from Vogel inched UF within three, but Pitt responded with three-straight points to extend its lead to 20-15 at the second media timeout. Following the break, points from Hutson and Vidacic crept the Gators back within three (21-18), but the Panthers closed out with a 25-19 win.

  • Set 1 Stats | .171 Hitting %| 14 Kills | 13 Assists | 12 Digs | 2.0 Blocks | 1 Ace

  • Pitt | .393 Hitting %| 13 Kills | 13 Assists | 16 Digs |4.0 Blocks | 1 Ace

Set 2

  • Points from Hutson put the Gators up 5-3 and an ace from Auguste followed by a kill from Byrd kept the momentum going, as Florida went into the media timeout up 10-7. Following the huddle, Byrd put one down to end a long rally and stretch the lead to 15-9 to force a Pitt timeout. Three-straight aces from Auguste and a block from Byrd extended the Gator lead to 20-11, but the Panthers rallied with three-straight points before an ace from Vogel sealed the 25-15 win for the Gators.

  • Set 2 Team Stats |.167 Hitting %| 10 Kills | 8 Assists | 14 Digs |4.0 Blocks |5 Aces

  • Pitt| .033 Hitting %| 7 Kills | 7 Assists | 12 Digs | 2.0 Blocks | 0 Aces

Set 3

  • A kill from Rothe ended a Pitt 5-0 scoring run behind the serving of 2024 Player of the Year Oliva Babcock. Gator errors allowed for the Panthers to take a 10-4 lead heading into the first media timeout. Florida continued to find its rhythm, falling to a 9-15 deficit, but back-to-back blocks from Auguste helped the Gators inch back within six. Pitt recorded two-straight blocks to extend their lead and come away with a 25-15 win.

  • Set 3 Team Stats | .000 Hitting %|7 Kills | 7 Assists |10 Digs |3.0 Blocks | 0 Aces

  • Pitt |.152 Hitting %| 11 Kills | 10 Assists | 16 Digs |4.0 Blocks | 2 Aces

Set 4

  • The Gators fell to an early 6-2 deficit, but a slide from Auguste and a kill from Vidacic kept Florida within striking distance heading into the first media timeout trailing 7-10. A dump from Stucky followed by an ace from Vogel inched the Gators within one, but errors allowed for the Panthers to stretch their lead to 16-12. A slide from Auguste and back-to-back kills from Byrd closed the gap, making the score 16’s across the board. Points were exchanged heading into the final moments of set four, as Byrd put one down off an assist from Parks to head into the final media timeout with a 20-19 lead. With the race to 25 inching near, a Babcock ace gave Pitt match point, 24-23, but a block from Auguste and Stucky tied it back up to 24 and sent the sophomore to the service line where she recorded her fourth ace of the match to take it to five after giving the Gators a 26-24 victory.

  • Set 4 Team Stats | .378 Hitting %|20 Kills |19 Assists |17 Digs |2.0 Blocks |2 Aces

  • Pitt | .263 Hitting %|13 Kills |10 Assists |10 Digs |3.0 Blocks |1 Ace

Set 5

  • In the final set where winner takes all, the Gators battled point-for-point until Pitt attacking errors gave Florida an 8-5 lead. Florida maintained a three-point advantage until an ace and two Panther kills evened the score at 11. From there, the two teams traded points until Byrd recorded back-to-back kills to clinch the upset and come away with a  15-13 fifth-set victory.

  • Set 5 Team Stats | .320 Hitting %| 9 Kills |9 Assists |17 Digs |2.0 Blocks |0 Aces

  • Pitt |.105 Hitting %| 10 Kills | 10 Assists |13 Digs |1.0 Blocks | 1 Ace

Head Coach Ryan Theis‘ Opening Statement…
“Just an amazing team effort. I think everybody who isn’t injured got in and helped in different stretches and made big plays. Whether it was to give somebody else a break or come in and serve a couple points, Bella and Taylor had great serves off the bench. It’s fun watching these guys compete, they are a fun group.”

Coach Theis on the team’s overall fight throughout opening weekend…

“Playing really good teams in the beginning, I always say we are going to see what’s broken. So yeah, we have things to get better at, but one thing I am now aware of, is that these guys have character, grit and they are never going to give up.”

Alexis Stucky on what this win means for the season and for the team…

“When you play great teams, they are going to expose some things. So, there are definitely things that we need to go back and work on, but it’s a great start for the team. We are only going to get better, so this was a really good showing for us.”

Jordyn Byrd on walking us through match point…

“Before Taylor served, I looked at every single person on the court and I said, “Listen, I don’t care what you do, but cover because when Stucky sets me I’m swinging, no matter what.” With this being my actual first year competing, having my teammates support has given me all the confidence to go out there and produce what I can.”

Notables

  • All players eligible for play saw action in Sunday’s match

  • Florida is now 1-0 in five-set matches this season

  • The Gators sit 1-1 in neutral-site matchups in 2025

  • UF moves to 1-0 against national ranked top-5 teams in 2025

  • The Gators are 1-1 against teams ranked in the AVCA Top-25 this season

  • Florida is now 1-0 when playing on a Sunday

  • The Gators even to 1-1 in August matches

  • Florida is now 1-1 against ACC Opponents

  • Six Gators either set or tied a career high:

  •  Alexis Stucky recorded her second double-double match of the season, 12th career

  • One Gator finished with double-digit kills:

  • Three Gators finished with double-digit digs for the first time since Nov. 20, 2024:

Up Next
The Gators return to the O’Dome for back-to-back home matches this week, beginning with an exhibition against international opponent PVK Olymp Praha on Tuesday, Aug. 26, at 7 p.m. Admission is free, and the first 500 fans will receive a Florida volleyball team photo card. Florida then opens its regular-season home slate on Sunday, Aug. 31, hosting Norfolk State at 1 p.m. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a team poster. Check out list of 2025 Florida volleyball home promotions.

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