Pitt Volleyball Well-Represented on All-ACC Teams

Pitt Panthers volleyball is well-represented on the All-ACC Teams.

No. 1 Pitt Volleyball Celebrates a Point in their win vs. No. 23 USC in Los Angeles / Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers volleyball had a fantastic 2024 regular season and earned numerous All-ACC honors.

Panthers head coach Dan Fisher earned ACC Coach of the Year honors, as they finished 29-1 overall and 19-1 in the ACC. They won the conference outright and won their third straight ACC Title and sixth in the past eight seasons.

Pitt had 11 ranked wins, including eight in conference play, defeating Louisville and Georgia Tech home-and-away, as well as SMU, Florida State and North Carolina at home.

This is Fisher's third time winning the award, with his previous two honors coming in 2017 and 2018.

The Panthers had four All-ACC First Team honorees in senior setter Rachel Fairbanks, redshirt junior Bre Kelley and sophomores in outside hitter Torrey Stafford and right side Olivia Babcock, who won ACC Player of the Year.

Fairbanks is averaging 10.49 assists per set, second best in the ACC and No. 27 in Division I. She has also led Pitt to the best hitting percentage in the nation at .341, is averaging 2.2 digs per set and 0.37 service aces per set, No. 8 in the ACC.

Kelley missed all of last season with an injury after just four games, but has come back as one of the best at her position in the nation. She leads the ACC with a .514 hitting percentage and ranks third in the ACC/seventh in the nation with 1.53 blocks per set.

Stafford is hitting .377, which ranks fourth best in the ACC and tied for No. 38 in Division I, but No. 3 amongst all pin-hitters. She also ranks fifth and sixth in the ACC with 3.76 kills per set and 4.32 points per set, respectively.

Babcock ranks 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 ranks 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.

Pitt also had two All-ACC Second Team honorees in graduate student Valeria Vazquez Gomez and senior libero/defensive specialist Emmy Klika.

Vazquez Gomez is making 2.10 kills per set and 1.98 digs per set, while hitting .251 on the season. She also recently joined the 1,000 kill and 1,000 dig club at Pitt this season and is averaging 0.36 aces per set, tied for No. 9 in the ACC.

Klika leads the Panthers with 2.78 digs per set and holds a 94.8% reception rate on opponent serves. She is also a big reason why the Panthers lead the nation in opponent hitting percentage at .122.

Middle blocker Ryla Jones made the All-ACC Freshman Team for her performance this year. She is averaging 1.11 blocks per set and 1.21 kills per set, while hitting .398.

This makes it all seven Panthers starters earning All-ACC honors, representative of the great season they've had.

Pitt faces Morehead State in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on Dec. 6 at 7:00 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center.

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