No. 1 Pitt Volleyball Sweeps No. 15 SMU

No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball swept No. 15 SMU in their ACC home opener.

No. 1 Pitt Volleyball celebrates a service ace from outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez in the sweep of No. 15 SMU / Courtesy of Pitt Athletic

PITTSBURGH -- No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball excelled yet again in 2024, as they swept No. 15 SMU at Fitzgerald Field House to stay undefeated.

The Panthers (15-0 overall, 5-0 ACC) are one of just two undefeated teams left, along with the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. The win over the Mustangs (12-4 overall, 4-1 ACC) marks the first ever in the first meeting between the two schools.

The win for Pitt is also their fifth ranked win of the season and second at home, as they took down No. 3 Penn State on Sept. 18 at the Petersen Events center. This also includes three wins on the road against then ranked No. 10 Oregon in the season opener on Aug. 30, then ranked No. 23 USC on Sept. 11 and then ranked No. 13 Georgia Tech on Sept. 29, all sweeps.

SMU started out the first set with a 4-2 advantage and lead 8-6 over Pitt, with senior outside hitter Jamison Wheeler making two kills.

The Panthers responded with an 8-0 run to take a 14-8 lead. Sixth year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez made two kills and a solo block and senior setter Rachel Fairbanks had a solid service run with an ace.

SMU scored three straight points, leading Pitt head coach Dan Fisher to take a timeout. That timeout proved valuable, as Pitt got back on a 6-1 run to increase their lead to 20-12, forcing SMU to take their final timeout. Vazquez Gomez had an ace on her service run and sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford had two kills.

Stafford added two more kills and the Panthers would hold on to win the first set, 25-17. The Panthers outhit the Mustangs .314 to .054 and Stafford led with six kills.

Neither team gained a grasp of the lead in the second set, but SMU did have a 12-11 advantage.

The Panthers then went on a 9-0 run with Vazquez Gomez on the service line and the Mustangs taking both of their timeouts, to take a 20-12 lead. Vazquez Gomez had two service aces and a kill, while sophomore right side Olivia Babcock had two kills.

SMU went on a 4-1 run out of their final timeout, but Pitt would close the second set on a 4-2 run, 25-17.

Babcock had an incredible second set, with 12 kills in the period, almost half of the points the Panthers scored.

The Mustangs took an early 4-2 lead in the third period, with back-to-back service aces for graduate student outside hitter Maya Tabron forced Fisher to call a timeout.

Babcock took over on the service line, after a service error from SMU. She used her jump serve to make four aces and also had two kills on a 7-0 run to give Pitt a 10-4 lead.

The Panthers never relinquished the lead the rest of the set, improving it to 16-7 and finishing the match off on a 9-2 run 25-9.

Fisher praised his team for their fight back after going down early in each of the three sets, especially after they finished the third set the way they did after calling the timeout.

“...I think, and I’ve shared this with this group, it’s the best group I’ve ever had in terms of, if we’re in practice, just not settling for a bad practice, just fighting to turn things around, Fisher said.”

Pitt hit .427, their fourth highest mark of the season and SMU hit .109, their lowest clip of 2024. Fairbanks played a large role for Pitt, with 37 assists and seven digs.

Fairbanks loved the attack from her team in the win. She also spoke on the team's undefeated record and that they're happy to have it, but it's not their main focus throughout a match.

“We try to tune it out, honestly," Fairbanks said. "Obviously it’s amazing, we’re grateful, but we aren’t going into games being like, “Oh we haven’t lost a game. We can’t lose this one.” It’s more like, we treat every game as it’s game and we treat every point like if it’s the most important point ever. "

Babcock had a fantastic match, with 18 kills, .571 hitting percentage, four service aces, seven digs and three blocks in the sweep.

Stafford played efficiently on the attack once again, with 13 kills and a .423 hitting percentage, while also adding four assists and six digs.

Vazquez Gomez had a season-high 14 digs, tied her season-high of three service aces and added six kills in the win vs. the Mustangs,

Pitt will face SMU again in Dallas on Oct. 12 with a 2:00 p.m. start, as a part of their home-and-away.

"I think it’s exciting," Babcock on the back-to-back matches vs. SMU. "It's definitely going to be a tough environment, especially since their crowd is probably going to be definitely going at us because they’re probably angry and I think it’s definitely going to be a tougher game than it was today.”

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