Inside The Panthers

No. 1 Pitt Volleyball Sweeps Miami

No.1 Pitt Panthers volleyball sweeps Miami at home.

Dominic Campbell

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

PITTSBURGH -- The No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball team continued their dominance as they swept Miami at Fitzgerald Field House on Senior Day.

The Panthers (24-1 overall, 14-1 ACC) win their 10th straight match dating back to Oct. 18 and remain on top of the ACC. They also improve to 16-4 in the all-time series vs. the Hurricanes (18-9 overall, 9-7 ACC), 8-1 at home and their 12th straight victory against them since 2015.

They also finish this four-match homestand undefeated, with sweeps over then ranked No. 25 North Carolina on Nov. 8, Duke on Nov. 10 and No. 22 Florida State on Nov. 15.

Pitt and Miami kept it close early on, 7-6, before the home team would use an 8-3 run to lead 15-9 at the media timeout and then a 5-2 run right after to extend their advantage to 20-11.

Sophomore right side Olivia Babcock had three kills and redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley had two kills each on the runs for the Panthers.

Miami didn't back down, cutting the lead down to four points, but Pitt would hold on for the 25-19 set victory.

The Panthers hit an outstanding .720 in the first set vs. the Hurricanes, with 20 kills and two attack errors on 25 swings. Babcock hit .900 with nine kills on 10 swings and Kelley hit .800 with four kills on five swings.

Miami took an early 3-1 lead in the second period, but Pitt utlized their terrific block three times on a 6-1 run, giving them a 7-4 advantage and buring a timeout from the road time.

The Hurricanes stayed in it, down just three points, but a 4-0 run for the Panthers, with two service aces from babcock, gave them an 18-11 lead.

Miami kept it within four points, 21-17, but Pitt went on a 4-1 run to close out the second set, 25-18.

The Panthers fell behind early in the third set, as Hurricanes junior outside hitter Flormarie Heredia Colon made a kill and two service aces to give her team a 5-1 lead.

Kelley made two kills, as Pitt would tie it up at 5-5 on a 4-0 run, but Miami would still lead 7-6.

Babcock played an important role for the Panthers in the third set, as she would lead her team on a 5-0 run, with two more service aces, as they took a 12-7 lead.

Miami stayed within a few points of Pitt, but never managed to get close enough to threaten, allowing the home team to win the third set, 25-18, and get the sweep.

Babcock finished with another incredible performance in the sweep of the Hurricanes. She had 20 kills, the most for her in three sets, plus five service aces, three digs and three blocks, while also hitting .531.

She also broke the single season record for most aces in the modern scoring era (2008-Present), with 56 so far in 2024. She broke the previous record of Lindsey Zitzke, who had 53 service aces in 2011 and broke her freshman season total in 2023 of 51 as well.

"For Olivia, it was probably one of the best games in Pitt history," Panthers head coach Dan Fisher said. "If you factor in her serve and how many kills and how many blocks and how high of a percentage she hit. That was about as dominant as I've seen in a while from Liv'. Nice job."

The Panthers celebrated five players on Senior Day, who are currently in their final season with the program. This includes seniors in libero/defensive specialist Emmy Klika and setters in Rachel Fairbanks and Nisa Buzlutepe, graduate student outside hitter/serving specialist Cat Flood and sixth year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez.

Pitt will head back out on the road next weekend, as they take on Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Nov. 22 with a 7:00 p.m. start time.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

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