Pitt Volleyball Stars Make All-American Teams
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PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers volleyball saw their best players make the AVCA All-American Teams following fantastic showings in 2024.
Pitt had three First Team All-Americans in sophomores, right side Olivia Babcock and outside hitter Torrey Stafford, plus senior setter Rachel Fairbanks. Redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley also earned Second Team All-American honors.
The Panthers led the nation with three First Team selections and four total players on the All-American teams.
Babcock, who is also a finalist for National Player of the Year, earns her second First Team All-American honor, doing so last season, when she also earned AVCA Freshman of the Year honors.
She also earned ACC Player of the Year honors, just the second Pitt player to do so, after outside hitter Kayla Lund did it in back-to-back seasons, 2019 and 2020.
She finished the regular season ranked second in the country with .69 aces per set, fourth with 5.87 points per set and No. 16 with 4.54 kills per set, while leading the ACC in all three categories. She also ranked tied for ninth in the ACC with a .328 hitting percentage, No. 8 in the conference with 1.19 blocks per set and is averaging 1.76 digs per set.
Babcock has 71 service aces on the season, which easily broke the program record in a single season the 25-point scoring era (2008-Present) and also broke the program record in a single season all-time, of 67.
She also earned AVCA National Player of the Week honors twice, after sweeps vs. then ranked No. 22 Florida State on Nov. 15 and Miami on Nov. 17, and after sweeps of Cal on Oct. 18 and then ranked No. 5 Stanford on Oct. 20, with all matches at home.
Babcock posted two triple-doubles on the season in a five-set victory at home over then ranked No. 19 Georgia Tech at home on Nov. 30, and in the four-set road win over Boston College on Oct. 4.
She finished with 18 kills, 12 digs and a career-high 10 blocks vs. the Yellow Jackets and 14 kills, 12 service aces and 10 digs vs. the Eagles. Those 12 service aces are a program record and the most in a Division I match this season.
Babcock has stepped up her performances in the NCAA Tournament, as she recently set a career-high in kills wth 31 in the five-set win over No. 4 Oregon in the NCAA Tournament. Those kills also broke a program record for both kills in an NCAA Tournament match and in the 25-point scoring era, while also ranking tied for No. 7 in a match all-time in program history.
She also posted double-digit kills and led the Panthers in each match, as they've made it to their fourth straight Final Four.
Fairbanks earns her third All-American honor and second First Team All-American honor, earning First Team honors in 2023 and Third Team honors in 2022. She also earned First Team All-ACC honors this season too.
She is averaging a career-best 10.56 assists per set and helped Pitt to a team hitting percentage of .332, the best in the nation. She also has had a great season on the service line, with 0.39 aces per set and has done well in the back row, with 2.20 digs per set.
Stafford earns her second All-American honor, as she earned AVCA Third Team All-American honors in 2023.
She is fifth in the ACC and leads all pin-hitters in the Power 4 with a .359 hitting percentage, and is top 50 in the nation overall. She ranks sixth in the ACC with 3.67 kills per set and seventh in the ACC with 4.22 points per set.
Kelley came back after a season-ending ankle injury in 2023, which required surgery after just four games and had a sensational season in 2024. She leads Pitt with a .514 hitting percentage and ranks fifth in the nation with 1.53 blocks per set.
This is her first All-American nod and she also earned First Team All-ACC honors too.
Pitt volleyball faces rival Louisville in the Final Four at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. on Dec. 19 at 6:30 p.m.
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