No. 1 Pitt Volleyball Sweeps Virginia

No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball swept Virginia in three sets on the road.

Pitt Volleyball Celebrates a Point / Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball dominated another ACC opponent, sweeping Virginia on the road in three straight sets.

Pitt (20-1 overall, 10-1 ACC) gets their fifth straight win with their victory, as they swept both Cal and No. 5 Stanford two weeks ago and defeated No. 4 Louisville and Notre Dame in four sets and five sets, respectively, last weekend.

This also improves the Panthers to 19-3 in the all-time series vs. the Cavaliers (17-5 overall, 7-4 ACC),12 straight victories and 8-1 in Charlottesville, Va.

Pitt started out the first set with a 9-0 lead, with Virginia finally responding with two out of the next three points, 10-2. Pitt then resumed their dominance with an 11-0 run to increase the lead to 21-2, including a great serving performance from sophomore right side hitter Olivia Babcock, who had three straight aces.

The Cavaliers would get some points late on, but the Panthers held on for the 25-9 set victory. The Panthers out hit the Cavaliers, .444 to -.032, and sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford led with eight kills and a .636 hitting percentage.

Pitt opened up the second set with a 7-0 advantage, with two kills each from sixth year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez, redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley and Babcock.

They would use the 6-2 rotation in the second set, bringing in both senior setter Nisa Buzletepe in for starting senior setter Rachel Fairbanks and sophomore outside hitter Blaire Bayless for Vazquez Gomez.

The Panthers once again defeated the Cavaliers, 25-9, to take the second set. They outhit their ACC foe, .500 to -.036, with Babcock making five kills and a block in the period.

Pitt once again started well, with an 8-1 lead, with Babcock making two blocks and one kill. Virginia responded by cutting their lead to 12-8, Pitt scored three straight points and then Virginia scored four points to keep it at 15-12.

The Panthers would take control the rest of the third set, winning it on a 10-3 run, 25-15, and taking the match too.

Pitt outhit Virginia in the match, .393 to -.011, making it four ACC opponents they've held to a negative hitting percentage.

Babcock and Stafford both led Pitt with 11 kills, with Stafford hitting .455 and Babcock hitting .375. Stafford was second with eight digs, while Babcock led with five blocks and added five digs.

Vazquez Gomez had six kills, putting her into the 1,000 career kill club with Pitt, the 19th player to do so and the ninth in the modern scoring era (2008-Present). She also tied for the team lead with Babcock with three service aces.

Fairbanks led with 28 assists and added two service aces and seven digs. Senior libero/defensive specialist Emmy Klika led the Panthers with 13 digs and made five assists too.

Pitt will conclude their weekend as they face Virginia Tech on the road on Nov. 3 with a 1:00 p.m. start.

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