No. 1 Pitt Volleyball Sweeps No. 25 North Carolina

No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball swept No. 25 North Carolina.

Pitt Volleyball Celebrates a well deserved point / Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball took down a strong opponent in No. 25 North Carolina in three straight sets in another sweep at Fitzgerald Field House.

The Panthers (22-1 overall, 12-1 ACC) make it nine straight wins over the Tar Heels (18-4 overall, 10-3 ACC), dating back to 2016. This also improves the Panthers to 17-6 all-time vs. the Tar Heels, 8-1 at home and 10-3 since joining the ACC in 2013.

This makes it seven straight wins for Pitt, as they swept both Cal on Oct. 18 and No. 5 Stanford on Oct. 20, defeated No. 4 Louisville in four sets on Oct. 25 and Notre Dame in five sets on Oct. 27, two weeks ago, and swept both Virginia on Nov. 1. and Virginia Tech on Nov. 3 on the road.

The Panthers started out the first set with a 5-1 lead, increased it to both 12-6 and 19-12, burning both Tar Heels timeouts, and finished it off with a dominating, 25-14 set victory.

Sophomore right side Olivia Babcock starred for Pitt with four kills, added a block and had a run of three straight service aces in the first set. Fellow sophomore in outside hitter Torrey Stafford also had four kills of her own and added a block.

Pitt would lead early on in the second set, taking a 15-10 lead at the media timeout, but North Carolina made it much more competitive later on.

The Tar Heels went on a 6-2 run to cut the deficit to 17-16, but the Panthers got the lead back up to 21-17 with two kills from sixth year outside hitter Valeira Vazquez Gomez.

UNC then tied it up at 21-21 on a 4-0 run, with senior outside hitter Mabrey Schaffmaster making a kill and service ace.

Babcock led the Panthers on a 4-1 to close out the second set with a 25-22 win, with three kills.

Pitt used an 8-1 run in the third set to build a 12-4 lead and burn both of North Carolina's timeouts. They would hold onto that lead over their opponent the rest of the way, winning 25-16 and getting the sweep.

Babcock had another sensational game for the Panthers, leading with 18 kills and three service aces, while hitting .484 and adding three digs and two blocks. Stafford had eight kills herself, adding two service aces, two assists, four digs and three blocks, while hitting .438 in the sweep.

Middle blockers in redshirt junior Bre Kelley and freshman Ryla Jones also had good matches, leading Pitt with five blocks each. Kelley had six kills and hit .667, while Jones made five kills and hit .500.

Seniors in setter Rachel Fairbanks and libero/defensive specialist Emmy Klika led the Panthers with 37 assists and 11 digs, respectively.

Pitt now has eight ranked wins, including three 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.

Their highest ranked win on the season came at the Petersen Events Center against Penn State in the Keystone Classic, taking down the No. 3 team on Sept. 18 in front of a program record crowd at the Petersen Events Center of 11,800 fans.

Pitt also swept then ranked No. 15 SMU on Oct. 9 at Fitzgerald Field House, but would lose on the road to them on Oct. 12, suffering their first defeat of the season in five sets, after leading 2-1 after three sets.

Pitt will host Duke at 1:00 p.m. on Nov. 10 at Fitzgerald Field House to close out the weekend.

Make sure you bookmark Inside the Panthers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage, and more!

• Pitt Guard Returns From Injury
• Pitt Football Makes Top List for 2026 OL
• Preview: Pitt Looks For Response Against Virginia
• Preview: Pitt Looks to Add Another Explosive Win
• Pitt Basketball Hosting 2026 Guard

Follow Inside the Panthers on Twitter: @InsidePitt