Inside The Panthers

No. 1 Pitt Volleyball Sweeps Cal

No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball bounced back with a sweep over ACC foe Cal.

Dominic Campbell

Pitt Volleyball Celebrates a Point
Pitt Volleyball Celebrates a Point / Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball got back to winning ways, dominating Cal in a sweep at a sold-out Fitzgerald Field House.

The sweep for the Panthers (16-1 overall, 6-1 ACC) is thier 15th of the season, with their only win not a sweep coming in four sets against the Boston College Eagles on the road on Oct. 4. It is also the first win for the Panthers over the Golden Bears (10-9 overall, 2-5 ACC) since 1981, their only previous matchup.

This win for Pitt comes off their first loss of the season against then ranked No. 15 SMU in Dallas on Oct. 12. They led two sets to one, but dropped both the fourth and fifth sets in the defeat. Pitt also swept SMU at home on Oct. 9, as the two teams faced off in four days since they are ACC travel partners.

It also improves Pitt to 11-0 after a loss since the 2021 season, as they've made the Final Four the past three years.

"Well, we wanted a good response, clearly, after feeling like we didn't play our best in our last match and I thought we got that," Fisher said. "I thought our defense was great and it started with our serving. I think we put just a ton of service pressure on them and holding a team that good to negative [hitting] is not easy to do. I thought we were relentless and we played hard from the first point to the end. Pleased with the win, but pleased with how we played."

The Panthers opened up the first set with a 5-0 run to force a Golden Bears' timeout, up 9-3. Senior setter Rachel Fairbanks made a kill and back-to-back solo blocks on the run.

Cal cut it to four at 10-6, but Pitt went on a 9-0 run with Fairbanks on the service line and sophomore right side Olivia Babcock making four kills, forcing another timeout. Both teams traded points the rest of the way and Pitt won the first set 25-12, holding Cal to a -.114 hitting percentage.

Pitt has held every them they faced in the ACC to .000 or negative hitting in at least one set this season, something that Fisher takes pride in.

"As good as we are offensively, I'm still a defensive-minded coach," Fisher said. "I just like the idea that in every rotation we can get a team stuck and go on a run, that the other team never feels like they have a break. So I hope that trend continues."

The Golden Bears kept it close initially in the second set, with a 4-2 run to cut it the Panthers' lead to 9-7, but a kill from redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley put Fairbanks back on the service line.

Fairbanks put on an incredible performance, leading Pitt on a 14-0 run with five service aces along the way, while Babcock made three kills during the run as well, en route to a 25-9 set victory.

This is the seventh set that Pitt has held an oppoennt to below 10 points, doing so previously vs. Long Beach State on Aug. 30, Pepperdine on Sept. 13, then ranked No. 13 Georgia Tech on Sept. 29, twice against Boston College and against SMU on Oct. 9.

The Panthers used a 5-1 run to lead 8-4 early in the third set that created a deficit the Golden Bears couldn't cut the rest of the way. They increased it to 15-7 at the media timeout and then to 18-7, forcing a timeout from the Golden Bears.

Sixth year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez excelled from the service line during the run and also had three kills in the third set. Kelley had two kills and a block on the run herself.

The Panthers got some production from their bench, as graduate student outside hitter Cat Flood made two kills and freshman middle blocker Dalia Vîrlan made two solo blocks as they won the third set, 25-10.

Fairbanks starred in the victory, with 28 assists, four blocks, six digs and those five service aces, the second most she's had in a career, behind her six she had vs. American on Sept. 9, 2022.

Her play also helped Babcock play a great match, leading with 16 kills, .577 hitting and five total blocks with Kelley.

"I think she was frustrated with how she played the last game and like any great player, it motivates them and specifically, I know she didn't think she served well, clearly she did well that well and then she also really made it a point in practice to connect better with Liv' and I thought that was as good as they're timing together has been this year, Fisher said."

The Panthers held the Golden Bears to -.048 hitting, their lowest mark of the season and third time thye've held an opponent to a negative hitting percentage, all in the ACC. It is also the lowest hitting percentage for a Panthers' opponent since they held Coppin State to -.099 in the First Round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Sophomore outside hitter Blaire Bayless got the start in place of Vazquez Gomez, which Fisher wanted to get her more game time and also get the chance to start instead of coming off the bench in a tough moment.

Freshman middle blocker Ryla Jones had a solid night herself, with six blocks and a .857 hitting percentage.

Pitt will host No. 5 Stanford in their next matchup on Oct. 20 at 3:00 p.m. on ESPN. The program announced previously that this match is sold out.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

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