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BYU's Kate Prior (right) takes a swing against Pitt in a women's college volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026.

Courtesy BYU Athletics

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BYU's Claire Little Chambers (right) reacts during a women's college volleyball match against Pitt in the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026.

Courtesy BYU Athletics

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The first two sets of No. 24 BYU’s meeting with second-ranked Pitt on Friday showcased two teams playing a very high level of volleyball.

That level is difficult to maintain, however, and the Panthers did a better job of that the rest of the way, claiming a 3-1 (25-23, 24-26, 25-15, 25-20) victory in front of 5,073 fans on Friday at the Smith Fieldhouse.

Pitt — an NCAA Final Four team the past five seasons — rode the efforts of two-time NCAA Player of the Year Olivia Babcock (16 kills), Blaire Bayless (16) and Ayanna Watson (14) to eventually wear down what was a terrific effort from the Cougars.

“You get exposed here in front of five or six thousand people,” BYU head coach Rob Neilson said. “You get a different perspective on what it takes to take care of the little things. So we go back and hit the film and there’s a lot of stuff to touch on and get better.

“It’s fun to learn in these environments. I don’t know if moral victories are happening, it’s just we’re learning and figuring out how we can grow and develop into being a great team. I think you see pieces that we can be very good, so I like that.”

Senior Claire Little Chambers led BYU with 17 kills, 11 digs and three blocks in one her best performances as a Cougar. Kate Prior and KJ Burgess had nine kills apiece, with Burgess adding seven block assists. Lulu Po’uha finished with 16 digs and setters Kaylie Kofe and Alex Bower added 23 and 22 assists, respectively.

“I thought Claire was really good,” Nielson said. “Lulu, our libero, was really phenomenal in serve receive, so she’s really turning a corner and getting a lot better. Our opposites, they carried us those first two sets. Kate was phenomenal.”

BYU was cooking offensively in Set 1, hitting .447 and matching Pitt stride for stride. The Cougars led 20-18 but back-to-back blocks for points by the Panthers tied things up at 20-all. An insanely long rally at 23-23 ended up with the Cougars unable to keep a Watson swing in play, giving the visitors a 24-23 lead. At match point, BYU had two swings but couldn’t put the ball down, and Watson scored for the 25-23 Pitt win.

The Cougars took a 20-15 lead in the second set behind kills from Little Chambers and Burgess, but Babcock’s lethal jump serve got Pitt back into it. Tied at 23, Babcock’s hot serve was ruled just out and the Panthers challenged with a video review. The review upheld the call and BYU led 24-23. At 25-24, Po’uhu had a diving save on a Babcock tip, and Prior pounded down the final point of a 26-24 win to tie the match at one set apiece.

Pitt took over from there, rolling to a dominating win in Set 3 while holding BYU to a .000 hitting percentage (seven errors). In Set 4, the Cougars battled much better and tied it up at 8-8 on a swing from freshman Brooke Hardy. But the Panthers scored four straight points for a 12-8 advantage and BYU couldn’t make up that difference. Babcock got the final kill for the 25-20 win and the match.

Despite the loss, Bower said she and her teammates were optimistic about the rest of the season.

“This was a showcase to prove to the NCAA and to other teams what we’re capable of,” he said. “I think we could have executed and tapped on a couple of other points, but we hung in there every single time. We were right there, for sure. I think the girls walked away happy. Because we lost, we can understand that we have a lot of room to improve. You can take every loss as another opportunity to grow, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.

BYU (3-1) travels to Idaho for a game against Boise State on Tuesday and hosts UCLA in the Fieldhouse on Friday.

“I hope we saw the potential,” Bower said. “Our potential is that we can beat and hang with any team. No one should surpass us or undermine us. We’re capable of winning any game. So the potential is through the roof for this team.”