No. 1 Pitt Volleyball Sweeps Marquette

The No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball team swept Marquette to stay undefeated.

Pitt Volleyball Celebrates a Point / Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- The No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball team stayed undefeated as they swept former Big East opponent Marquette Sunday afternoon at Fitzgerald Field House.

The Panthers (9-0) keep on their best start since they were 15-0 in 2021, when they made their first FInal Four. The sweep over the Golden Eagles (4-5) also keeps the Panthers the only undefeated team in the top 25 and also the only team to not drop a set in Division I this season.

The win for the Panthers is the second straight vs. the Golden Eagles, who they swept in Milwaukee in 2023, and ties the all-time series at 7-7. The teams played 11 times over an eight year period from 2005-12 when they were in the Big East conference.

Pitt took control to begin the match with leads of 7-2 and 17-7, that forced Marquette to take two timeouts.

That second timeout for Marquette allowed them to go on an 8-3 run, cutting the deficit to 20-15. Pitt sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford got a service ace and a kill to get to set point and a service error from Marquette gave Pitt the 25-18 set victory.

The Golden Eagles started out better than the Panthers in the second set, with a 9-8 lead, forcing a timeout. The Panthers would respond with a 7-2 run, featuring two kills from sophomore right side hitter Olivia Babcock and a kill and a solo block from Bre Kelley, getting a 15-11 lead and a Golden Eagles timeout.

Pitt extended their run to 10-2 with three straight points out of that timeout and held on to win the second set, 25-18.

The Panthers opened up the third set with a 7-3 lead, with two kills, a block and a service ace from Babcock.

The Golden Eagles would respond with a 5-2 run out of a timeout to cut the deficit to 9-8, but the Panthers used a 10-1 run to increase their advantage to 19-9 and finished off with a 25-16 set and match victory.

Pitt hit .398, their second highest mark of the season, and held Marquette to .194, their eighth opponent they held to below .162.

"I liked that our offense was incredible today," Pitt associate head coach Kellen Petrone said on the win. "I thought Rachel [Fairbanks] was really good. There were a couple of loose plays out there, but I liked is that we didn't let too many runs happen throughout the game."

Babcock led with 14 kills and two service aces, plus had a season-high nine digs, just off a double-double, two total blocks and two service aces.

Sixth year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez had a great game, with 10 kills and led Pitt with .476 hitting.

"Valeria's playing her best volleyball in her last year, and which is interesting, because you don't always see that. At times, people in their sixth year get kind of over it, but she is, her passing is improved, her defense is as good as it's always as it's always been. What's nice about her performance is in some really tight moments, she has been able to make a play."

Stafford made 13 kills, hit .440 added seven digs and a career-high four assists. Seniors in setter Rachel Fairbanks led with 39 assists and libero/defensive specialist Emmy Klika had a season-high 18 digs vs. Marquette.

Middle blockers in freshman Ryla Jones and redshirt junior Bre Kelley led with four total blocks each. Kelley had two solo blocks and had six kills too.

Pitt will finish off their non-conference against mid-major opponent UMBC on Sept. 25 with a 5:00 p.m. tip-off at Fitzgerald Field House.

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