Pitt Volleyball Approaches NCAA Tournament with New Definition of Success

Fresh off a run to the Final Four, the Pitt Panthers continue to aim their sights higher and higher.

PITTSBURGH -- The last roughly half a decade of Pitt Panthers volleyball has yielded an unprecedented embarrassment of riches. Head coach Dan Fisher has guided his team to four ACC titles over the last six years, a combined record of 162-23, six consecutive NCAA Tournament berths, two Elite Eight appearances and one mystical Final Four - the first by any Pitt women's team in school history - achieved last season. 

The cast of characters has not always been the same, but Pitt's standards have. Despite losing two program pillars, players that have become synonymous with this dominant run - Kayla Lund and Chinaza Ndee - to graduation last spring, the Panthers are still one of the best teams in America. They ended the regular season third in RPI and earned a No. 2 national seed in this year's tournament. 

Fisher and his two captains - Ashley Brownske and Chiamaka Nwokolo - believe that's a reflection of the culture of this team. Not just winning, but pushing to redefine success as they achieve more and more is in this program's DNA. 

“One of the things that attracted me here was the want to never, ever be complacent," Nwokolo said. "I think that [Fisher] does a good job of, whenever we make an accomplishment, there’s always more, something else to achieve. I’ll never forget we went to a Final Four and came back in the spring and it’s like ‘Let’s go win a national championship’. So we’re never just okay with our successes.”

Nwokolo knew that last year's Final Four run was not good enough - at least not for her and Brownske. Mere weeks after falling in the national semifinal to Purdue, they were back in the open gym, leading their team through voluntary-in-name-but-mandatory-in-reality practices at the onset of the offseason. Fisher noticed and it made selecting his new captains, after enjoying three years of steady leadership under Ndee and Lund, a no-brainer.

For all they lost, lots of the team that made history last season is back and Brownske believes this team has been forged by their past - not just last year's run but the grueling out-of-conference schedule they played this fall. So on Selection Sunday, when the Panthers learned they did not get a No. 1 seed and would have to run past a particularly difficult segment of the bracket to get to the later rounds, they embraced the challenge. 

Redshirt junior outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez even said that this is what Pitt should expect and that if you don't want to be tested, you shouldn't be here. Brownske said the team is energized by, not scared of their path to another Final Four. 

"Again, we were in the group that could have gotten that last spot, but also we weren’t expecting anything," Brownske said. "I think the position we’re in allows us to be really battle-tested and if we get through all these people in our path, then we’ll be more confident going into the Final Four.”

Confidence is what comes across most clearly when you watch and listen to these Panthers. Last season, it seemed like the Final Four was the summit but once they got a taste, Pitt could not be satisfied. A new summit - a national championship - has appeared out of the mist and now this team has the experience to justify their belief in themselves. 

“Since we’ve been to a Final Four before, we know what it takes to get there," Brownske said. "And so we’re going to do everything in our power to get back to that place and go after a national championship.”

The Panthers kick off their NCAA Tournament run on December 2 at 7 p.m. against Colgate at the Petersen Events Center. The match will air on ESPN+. 

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