Inside The Panthers

Pitt Volleyball Olivia Babcock Named NPOY Finalist

Pitt Volleyball RS Olivia Babcock is up for a national award.

Dominic Campbell

Pitt Volleyball Right Side Hitter Olivia Babcock
Pitt Volleyball Right Side Hitter Olivia Babcock / Courtesy of Pitt Athletic

PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers volleyball sophomore right side hitter Olivia Babcock has had a sensational season and is up for the top award in the country.

The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) named their four finalists for the AVCA Division I Player of the Year, or National Player of the Year, which includes Babcock.

The other three finalists are Kentucky sophomore outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye, Wisconsin fifth year outside hitter Sarah Franklin and Nebraska senior defensive specialist/libero Lexi Rodriguez.

She has also earned the ACC Player of the Year Award and AVCA East Coast Region Player of the Year Award as well this season.

Babcock 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.

She 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 is also the only second Pitt player to win ACC Player of the Year Award, as former outside hitter Kayla Lund won in back-to-back seasons in 2019 and 2020.

Babcock earned two AVCA National Player of the Week honors this season for her great play.

She earned it most recently for her play in the sweeps of then ranked No. 22 Florida State on Nov. 15 and Miami on Nov. 17, both at home.

She averaged 8.08 points per set, 6.50 kills per set, 1.17 blocks per set, 1.17 digs per set, 1.00 ace per set and hit .525 in both matches, helping her earn ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the third time this season.

Babcock finished with 19 kills and hit .519, while also making four digs and four blocks in the win over the Seminoles. She also had 20 kills, the most for her in three sets this season, plus five service aces, three digs and three blocks, while also hitting .531 vs. the Hurricanes.

She earned the honor the first time this season for her play in sweeps of Cal and Stanford in October.

She led with 16 kills. hit a season-high .577, while also adding five total blocks, two service aces and two digs against Cal on Oct. 18. She also led with 17 kills, hit .361, along with six total blocks, six digs and a service ace vs. then ranked No. 5 Stanford on Oct. 20, with both matches at home.

Babcock finished that weekend averaging 7.0 points per set, 5.5 kills per set, 1.83 blocks per set, 1.33 digs per set and hitting .452 in both games, also earning ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second time.

One of her best games of the season came against Boston College on the road on Oct. 4, a four-set victory.

Babcock finished with a triple-double, with 14 kills, 12 service aces and 10 digs in the victory. This was the first triple-double for her at Pitt and the first for the program since Rachel Fairbanks had 10 kills, 28 assists and 13 digs in the sweep over BYU In the Second Round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at the Petersen Events Center.

Those 12 service aces set the record for the most in a single match in Pitt history. The previous record for service aces in a match sat at eight total, which Diana Andreyko had in a five set win vs. Florida State on the road on Sept. 3, 2005 and Wendy Hatlestad had in a sweep vs. Savannah State at home on Sept. 13, 2002.

She also holds the record for most service aces in a match in NCAA Division I this season. She broke the previous high of 11 that Nicholls State junior outside hitter Leah Linares Castro had in the four-set victory in the season opener vs. South Carolina State on Aug. 30.

Babcock also had a triple-double in the last match of the season, a five-set thriller over then ranked No. 19 Georgia Tech at home on Nov. 30. She finished with 18 kills, 12 digs and a career-high 10 blocks in the victory.

She recently set a career-high in kills wth 31 in the five-set win over No. 4 Oregon in the NCAA Tournament, which set the 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.

Babcock earned numerous accoldes as a freshman in 2023, including All-ACC Freshman Team, All-ACC First Team, ACC Freshman of the Year, AVCA All-East Coast Region Team, AVCA East Coast Region Freshman of the Year, AVCA First Team All-American and AVCA National Freshman of the Year.

She also earned ACC Offensive Player of the Week and AVCA National Player of the Week honors for her performance in the sweep of then ranked No. 8 Georgia Tech on the road on Nov. 10, 2023, making it the third time she's received the honor in her career.

Babcock led the Panthers with 15 kills against the Yellow Jackets and had an incredible .652 hitting percentage. She also finished second with four total blocks, added three digs and tied with Dillyn Griffin for two services aces, best on the Panthers.

She also made the USA Women's Volleyball Team as they play at the NORCECA Women’s Final Six Pan American Cup, June 26-30 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The team won silver and Babcock served as the only rising sophomore on the team.

Babcock will find out if she is the National Player of the Year at a banquet in Louisville, Ky. on Dec. 20.

Pitt will also play in their Final Four match against rival Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville on Dec. 19, where they'll look to make their first National Title match.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

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