Pitt Volleyball HC Dan Fisher Discusses 2024 Schedule

Pitt Panthers volleyball head coach Dan Fisher is discussed the upcoming schedule for his team.

Dec 15, 2022; Omaha, Nebraska, US; Pittsburg Panthers head coach Dan Fisher watches action against the Louisville Cardinals in the semi-final match at CHI Health Center. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports / Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers are less than three weeks away from the start of the upcoming season and head coach Dan Fisher is excited to face some of the best teams in the country.

The Panthers are coming off another fantastic season, 29-5 overall, 16-2 in the ACC, earning them a share of the conference title, a top four seed in the NCAA Tournament and their third straight Final Four appearance.

Fisher and his coaching staff spend a good portion of every offseason trying to find the best teams to add to their non-conference schedule. This gives his team great opportunites to play top teams in the country earlier in the season, but is also necessary when it comes to NCAA Tournament Selection time.

Pitt volleyball has earned a top four seed in two of the past three NCAA Tournaments, which allows them to host through to the Final Four, giving the team crucial home-court advantage throughout. 

The ACC schedule generally doesn't provide enough top, quality opponents for the Panthers, so they have to go out and find them in the non-conference and they have done it again in 2024.

They'll start off with a game on the road against Oregon in the season opener on Friday, Aug. 30. Oregon came to Fitzgerald Field House last season and fended off a reverse sweep attempt, taking down Pitt in five sets.

Fisher is excited to face the Ducks, who have made back-to-back appearances in the Elite Eight, on national television and also start the season off with a win, something the Panthers haven't done since 2021.

"I do," Fisher said on if he wants to play teams like Oregon to start out a season. "The last couple years, last two years we’ve lost our first game of the season, but I think that, we certainly want to start out winning, but I think playing someone good right away helps us know kind of where we’re at and I think we’ll have a big crowd. It’ll be on the Big Ten Network, it’ll feel big time." 

Pitt will go back out to the West Coast less than two weeks later, facing off against USC in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Sept. 11 and then two teams in Malibu, Calif. that weekend in Pepperdine on Friday, Sept. 13 and UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Sept. 14.

The Panthers took down the Trojans in four sets in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament last season at the Petersen Events Center.

Fisher sees this as another top opponent, with the game also on the Big Ten Network, that his team needs to play to host in the NCAA Tournament, even though he wanted more games at home in the non-conference portion of the schedule.

"I don’t, no, I like going out there once," Fisher said on going out to the west coast twice in a season. "It just kind of worked out that way. Another tournament that we were going to host fell through, but we need to play top teams and so that was how it came about."

Pitt will host rival Penn State in the Keystone Classic on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at the Petersen Events Center, in their most important game of the non-conference schedule.

This marks the first regular season meeting between the two teams since they faced off home-and-away in the 2019 season, with both teams winning on the road. It is also the first meeting between the two school since Pitt won in four sets in the Second Round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at the Petersen Events Center.

Fisher worked hard with Nittany Lions head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley to get a home-and-away deal, with the Panthers traveling next season. Fisher sees it as a double benefit, with two good teams facing off and cutting down travel that is extended for each team due to conference realignment.

"It took a while to get the contract signed, but I think Penn State’s going to be very good this year and I think it’s good for both of us, especially with, both our travels are getting [longer] in conference a lot," Fisher said on getting the rivalry back on schedule. "So when we have a team that close, that’s that good, that we can get big crowds at both places, I think it’s good for both of us."

Pitt will also host East Carolina, who made the NIVC last season, and both Marquette and UMBC, who made the NCAA Tournament once again, that upcoming weekend. These teams make for a non-conference schedule that Fisher is happy with, even with extended travel.

"I like it a lot," Fisher said. "I think we have enough good teams to give us a good RPI and a chance to host. Ideally, we would’ve maybe been home one more weekend."

The ACC schedule changes for Pitt, with the additions of Cal and Stanford from the Pac-12 and SMU from the American Athletic Conference (AAC), going from 15 teams last season to 18 teams this season.

The Panthers will play 20 games, instead of the usual 18, and will have three home-and-away opponents, instead of four.

Fisher does like having two more conference games on the schedule, seeing them as quality matches that will benefit his team. He does worry about added games making it harder later in the season for his players' health, with no more single match weekends like previous Novembers.

"Yeah I think, maybe come back to me at the end of the year, but going in I do like it," Fisher said. "I’m someone that, I still feel like, you know, college kids are young and the more the quality games we get, the better off we’ll be, but it is going to be different because we’ve had those kind of weeks last year at the end of the year to play a single [match], rest a little bit. So I like it right now, but ask me again at the end of the year."

Pitt will play rivals Louisville and Georgia Tech home-and-away, which they've done the past three seasons, and SMU will serve as the third and final one as well.

SMU, who won the AAC last season, replaces Boston College and Syracuse as the previous home-and-away opponents for Pitt, giving them a chance to play a much better opponent twice. Pitt will host SMU on Wednesday, Oct. 9 and then travel to Dallas on Saturday, Oct. 12.

"I don’t love it because it just gives us more travel, but this year I like it for RPI reasons because, they’re a very good team and so I think playing them twice will help our RPI," Fisher said on SMU.

Stanford comes into the ACC as one of the best programs in NCAA volleyball history, with nine National Championships and eight second place finishes. They finished 29-4 last season, won the Pac-12 and earned a top four seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Pitt will host Stanford at home on Sunday, Oct. 20 at 3:00 p.m. potentially putting this game on national television and making for a great matchup for both teams and the ACC too.

"I like that with them, you can look at our conference and look at the Big Ten, the SEC and go, “Hey, our top teams are as good as anyone’s,” Fisher said about Stanford.

Pitt will face Louisville right after Stanford on Friday, Oct. 25 at the Petersen Events Center and will face them on the road on Wednesday, Nov. 27 and then Georgia Tech on Saturday, Nov. 30 to end the season.

Fisher likes playing the best ACC teams closer together, since that's how it works in the postseason, but is also bullish on the ACC having great teams that will perform well in December.

"I like having it in a row because that’s how the [NCAA] tournament is going to be, but I would also, I think Florida State and Miami are going to be very, very good as well," Fisher said. "Miami got picked pretty low, I think seventh or something in our conference. We had them a little higher. So I think we’ve got a number of teams that are built to go deep into the tournament."

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

• Former Pitt Duo Score Touchdowns in NFL Preseason
• Pitt Keeping Contact with Four-Star 2026 G
• Former Pitt DB Shines in Texans Win Over Steelers
• Former Pitt QB Impresses in Eagles Preseason Opener
• Deion Sanders Takes Shot at Pitt HC Pat Narduzzi

Follow Inside the Panthers on Twitter: @InsidePitt