photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

KU head coach Matt Ulmer signals out to his players during the Jayhawks' match against Iowa State on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence.

A Kansas team that contains more newcomers than returning players and features six freshmen, several in prominent roles, will get introduced to high-level college volleyball in a hurry.

The Jayhawks are set to open their season on Friday at 5:30 p.m. Central time with a road match against Pittsburgh as part of the Opening Spike Classic. The Panthers are fourth in the nation to open the season and have already knocked off No. 3 Kentucky in four sets as well as swept Xavier as part of the season-opening AVCA First Serve tournament held in Milwaukee.

Led by longtime head coach Dan Fisher, Pitt has reached the Final Four in five consecutive seasons. The Panthers feature right-side hitter Olivia Babcock, the reigning two-time national player of the year who, true to form, recorded 27 kills on .339 hitting in the win over Kentucky.

Setter Izzy Starck has joined Pitt after leaving Penn State early in the 2025 season for mental health reasons. Starck, a former freshman of the year, had 53 assists and 16 digs for the Nittany Lions when they beat KU in five sets on Aug. 25, 2025.

Besides Babcock, Starck’s other options on an increasingly diverse offense include pin hitters Blaire Bayless, a returning senior, and Ayanna Watson, a freshman from Las Vegas who was a top-10 recruit in the 2026 class. Pitt has another senior-freshman duo in the middle with Jordyn Dailey (a Kentucky transfer) and Maaike Heilig (a Dutch import).

Like quite a few top teams of late, Pitt has a player who transferred in after playing for current KU head coach Matt Ulmer at Oregon. In the Panthers’ case, it’s senior outside hitter Sophia Gregoire.

KU, for its part ranked No. 15 in the preseason, took down No. 13 Creighton in five sets at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, albeit in exhibition action, last Saturday. The Jayhawks, now in their second year under Ulmer, return all-conference middle blocker Reese Ptacek and have added one of the nation’s top young setters in USC transfer Reese Messer, as well as the Big 12’s preseason freshman of the year, outside hitter Taylor Stanley. With added athleticism at the pins — all six freshmen can touch 10 feet, 3 inches — the Jayhawks are hoping to play at a faster pace than in Ulmer’s first season.

Senior Aisha Aiono brings veteran experience to the middle with Ptacek, and junior Grace Nelson returns at outside hitter after a second-team all-league campaign in 2025, when the Jayhawks reached the Sweet 16.

Defensively, KU will rely heavily on its latest transfer libero, Olivia Hasbrook, previously of Ohio State, and the versatile Logan Bell already has a season under her belt as a defensive specialist.

The second outside hitter spot after Nelson is a bit of a question mark, with freshman Avery Poulton, from Bountiful, Utah, expected to step in and Bell also a candidate to hit as an undersized pin.

After facing Pitt, the Jayhawks will remain in the Steel City to battle another elite team, No. 5 Stanford, on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Central.