Pitt Volleyball Lands 2026 WPIAL Setter Isabella Hoppe

The Pitt Panthers added their first commitment in the Class of 2026 for volleyball in a WPIAL setter from Pine-Richland.

Pitt Volleyball Lands Pine-Richland Class of 2026 setter Isabella Hoppe / Courtesy of Isabella Hoppe's Instagram

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers landed their first volleyball commitment in the Class of 2026, who has local ties to the area.

Isabelle Hoppe, who plays setter for nearby Pine-Richland High School in Gibsonia, Pa., announced her commitment to the Panthers in a post on Instagram.

"I am SO excited to announce my verbal commitment to further my athletic and academic career at the University of Pittsburgh," Hoppe wrote on her post. "The biggest thank you to my parents for providing me with constant love, support, and every opportunity to make me as successful as possible. Thank you to my AVC family, Dave Evans, Angela Seman, Pittsburgh Elite, USAV, NTDP, and Ellie for sitting through all of my tournaments wether she enjoyed it or not. And thank you to Coach Fish, Kellen, Kama, Michael, and Shaun for believing in me and providing this amazing opportunity. I would not be where I am without their support. H2P!!💙💛"

Hoppe stands at around 5-foot-8 and has excelled for Pine-Richland the past two seasons, earning Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Assocation (PVCA) Class 4A All-State honors twice and winning the WPIAL 4A Girls' Volleyball Title as a freshman in 2022.

She plays club volleyball for Academy Volleyball Cleveland (AVC) and recently received an invite to play with the USA U19 team this summer. She'll play in the NORCECA Girls Continental Championship from July 12-20 in Honduras.

Prepvolleyball.com rates her as the best setter in the Class of 2026 and the No. 7 recruit in the nation.

Other schools that showed interest in her were Stanford, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, Washington and Wisconsin, according to vbadrenaline.com

Hoppe had a number of Pitt connections prior to her commitment. Her father, Chris Hoppe, is an executive athletic director at Pitt and provides oversight to the men's basketball, swimming and diving and volleyball programs.

Her head coach at Pine-Richland is Angela Seman, who played as a libero for the Panthers from 2014-18.

Her 1,851 digs rank second most all-time in Panthers history, with her 532 digs as a redshirt freshman in 2015 and her 486 digs as a redshirt sophomore in 2016 ranking third and fifth most in a season for a Panther in the current 25-point scoring era, (2008-present).

Pitt associate head coach/recruiting coordinator Kellen Petrone tweeted two "Pitt is It!" signals, so there is still one more unknown commitment in the Class of 2026.

The Panthers had five commitments in the Class of 2024 in middle blockers Ryla Jones, Bianca Garibaldi from Argentina and Dalia Vîrlan from Romania, libero/defensive Specialist Mallorie Meyer and right side hitter/setter Kiana Dinn.

They also have two commitments in the Class of 2025 in outside hitter Samara Coleman and outside hitter/middle blocker Abbey Emch.

Hoppe also joins Jones and Coleman on the VolleyballMag's Fab 50 recruits for their respective class, giving Pitt one recruit in the 2024, 2025 and 2026 classes on the list.

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