# No. 3 Kentucky Volleyball Dominates Penn State in Historic Wrigley Field Victory **Published:** 2026-09-07T01:53:26.000Z **Source:** [UK Athletics](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/09/06/volleyball-cats-enjoy-surreal-experience-at-wrigley-field/) **AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) **Canonical:** https://feeds.lexingtonky.news/article/no-3-kentucky-volleyball-dominates-penn-state-in-historic-wrigley-field-victory No. 3 Kentucky volleyball defeated No. 13 Penn State 3-1 on Sunday night in the first-ever collegiate volleyball match played at historic Wrigley Field, clinching a 25-23, 25-21, 23-25, 25-15 victory in front of the largest crowd to ever watch a Kentucky Volleyball match. The Wildcats improved to 5-1 on the season, while Penn State fell to 3-1. The match was part of the inaugural 2026 SEC/Big Ten Volleyball Challenge at the iconic Chicago venue. Playing outdoors in the legendary Major League Baseball stadium presented early challenges as both teams fought to adjust to 11 mph winds blowing off Lake Michigan. Outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye recorded 21 kills to lead Kentucky's balanced offensive attack. Morgan Gaerte logged 15 kills on 32 swings and Asia Thigpen hammered in 12 kills for UK who had 60 kills on the night, a new season high for the team. The Wildcats defense anchored by 19 digs from Molly Tuozzo proved decisive, while setter Kassie O'Brien delivered 11 assists in the opening set and 48 total assists for the night. Chicagoland native Georgia Watson entered the match with Kentucky leading 22-12 in the fourth set and closed out the match with the final two kills for Kentucky, including on match point. Watson, who is from Huntley, Illinois, about an hour outside Chicago, provided the perfect finishing touch to the historic occasion. Kentucky head coach Craig Skinner heaped praise on the event, telling the Fox Sports broadcast team that the Wrigley experience stands among the most significant of his career. The Wildcats were among the Big Ten and SEC programs competing in the week of Sept. 1, 2026, with the event culminating on Labor Day weekend in Chicago with the action at Wrigley Field. ## Sources - [UK Athletics](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/09/06/volleyball-cats-enjoy-surreal-experience-at-wrigley-field/) - [WKYT coverage of Kentucky volleyball's historic Wrigley Field victory](https://www.wkyt.com/2026/09/07/no-3-kentucky-volleyball-makes-history-wrigley-field-with-3-1-victory-over-no-13-penn-state/) - [NCAA.com coverage of Kentucky's 3-1 win at Wrigley Field](https://www.ncaa.com/live-updates/volleyball-women/d1/volleyball-wrigley-field-live-updates-scores) --- This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from UK Athletics, enriched with 2 web searches. The original source is available at https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/09/06/volleyball-cats-enjoy-surreal-experience-at-wrigley-field/.