ESPN Adds League One Volleyball, Pitt Star to Represent

League One Volleyball will have some of their games broadcasted on ESPN, which will likely feature some Pitt Panthers in the years to come.

League One Volleyball will have some of their matches broadcasted on ESPN, which will feature some Pitt Panthers in the future / Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- ESPN will broadcast League One Volleyball for the first season of the new professional women's volleyball league's existence, with some Pitt Panthers likely to feature as well.

ESPN will put 10 matches for the new league on its main channels and then 18 of them on their streaming platform, ESPN+. League One Volleyball begins its first season in November, but ESPN won't start broadcasting games until next January.

The season will run through to next April, with teams in Austin, Atlanta, Houston, Madison (Wis.), Omaha, and Salt Lake City ready to compete this fall.

One former Pitt Panther will play for League One Volleyball in middle blocker Serena Gray. Gray spent two season with the Panthers in 2021 and 2022, leading them to back-to-back Final Fours, earning All-American Honorable Mention in 2021 and First Team honors in 2022.

Gray, who is playing for Beziers Volley in France, doesn't have a team yet in League One Volleyball, but will still represent Pitt this fall.

Senior setter Rachel Fairbanks and sophomore right side hitter Olivia Babcock are both League One Volleyball Student-Athletes. This doesn't mean they signed to play for the league once they graduate, but that they are essentially ambassadors for it, going through NIL to do so.

The USA will now have two women's professional volleyball leagues, as the Pro Volleyball Federation raps up its first season this month. Former Pitt middle blocker Layne Van Buskirk (2016-19) played for the Las Vegas Thrill and former outside hitter Leketor Member-Meneh (2021) is competing for the championship with the Atlanta Vibe.

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