Pitt Volleyball Opens Season With Top 10 Battle

No. 4 Pitt Panthers Volleyball travels to face No. 10 Oregon to start the season.

Pitt Volleyball Celebrates a well deserved point / Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- The No. 4 Pitt Panthers start their volleyball season with a difficult test, as they take on No. 10 Oregon on the road in a top 10 battle.

Pitt-Oregon History

Oregon came to Fitzgerald Field House last season and took down Pitt in five sets. They opened up with a two set lead, but Pitt battled back, winning the next two sets and taking a 13-12 lead in the fifth set. Late errors from Pitt allowed Oregon to get the victory.

The Panthers defeated the Ducks twice prior, including a four set victory in 2019 at Fitzgerald Field House and a victory on a neutral court in 1978.

Pitt Volleyball Preview

Pitt comes into the season ranked No. 4 in the country, with four straight appearances in the Elite Eight and three straight appearances in the Final Four, the only Division I team to achieve the latter feat.

Only No. 1 Texas, reigning National Champions, No. 2 Nebraska, runners-up, and No. 3 Wisconsin, who also made the Final Four in 2023, rank higher than Pitt in the first AVCA poll.

They also bring back five starters, including four All-Americans and five All-ACC players. This includes reigning AVCA National Freshman of the Year in sophomore right side hitter Olivia Babcock, First Team All-American in senior setter Rachel Fairbanks, Third Team All-American in sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford, Honorable Mention All-American in libero/defensive specialist Emmy Klika and All-ACC outside hitter in sixth year, Valeria Vazquez Gomez.

Serve specialists in graduate student/fan favorite Cat Flood and junior Dillyn Griffin both return to bolster Pitt in that aspect of their game.

The biggest question for the Panthers is at middle blocker. Graduate students in Honorable Mention All-American Emma Monks and All-ACC Chiamaka Nwokolo graduated, while Rachel Jepsen chose to go on an 18-month mission for the Church of Latter-Day Saints following the spring season.

Redshirt junior Bre Kelley is the only returning middle blocker from 2023, but she only played in the first four games after suffering a season-ending injury.

Pitt brought in two freshmen at middle blocker in January to play during the spring season in Ryla Jones, who hails from Fort Washington, Md., and Bianca Garibaldi, who comes from Argentina. They also added a fourth middle blocker in Dalia Vîrlan from Romania in the summer, to have depth at that position.

A recent injury to sophomore setter Haiti Tautua'a led head coach Dan Fisher to add depth in Texas A&M transfer/senior Nisa Buzlutepe, who hails from Turkey.

Sophomore outside hitter Blaire Bayless played for the USA U-21 team 2024 NORCECA Women’s U21 Continental Championship in Toronto, Canada back in June, helping them win gold. Expect her to play at both outside hitter and right side hitter too, as she fights to earn time on the court.

Two more freshmen came in libero/defensive specialist Mallorie Meyer from Roca, Neb. and right side hitter/setter Kiana Dinn from Union, Ky.

Fisher heads into his 12th season at the helm, looking to win his first National Title, but he'll just want to start the season with a win.

Pitt lost their two previous season openers, against San Diego in five sets 2022, who made the Final Four, and BYU in four sets in 2023, who made the Sweet 16.

A season opening win vs. the Ducks would play an important role for the Panthers, who want big wins to bolster their resume come NCAA Tournament time, earning themselves a chance to host.

Oregon Volleyball Preview

Unlike Pitt, Oregon loses almost their entire production from last season, with seven seniors graduating from their Elite Eight run.

This includes First-Team All-American setter Hannah Pukis, Second Team All-American middle blocker Kara McGhee, Third Team All-American right side Morgan Lewis and Honorable Mention All-American outside hitter Gabby Gonzales. The other departures include setter Elise Ferreira, libero Georgia Murphy and middle blocker Karson Bacon.

The Ducks do bring back junior outside hitter Mimi Coyler, who earned National Freshman of the Year honors in 2022 and was an Honorable Mention All-American last season. She also had 19 kills and six service aces against Pitt last season.

Another veteran presence on this team is senior defensive specialist Daley McClellan, who played in 33 of 35 matches last season. Redshirt freshman setter Cristen Cline is one player to watch out for, as she learned from Pukis last season and is someone head coach Matt Ulmer is high on.

The rest of Oregon's talent comes from the transfer portal, as Ulmer hopes to make another deep run to the NCAA Tournament.

Senior Michelle Ohwobete came from UC Santa Barbara, where she was the 2023 Big West Player of the year and an Honorable Mention All-America, postin a career-high 434 kills coupled with a .254 hitting percentage.

Redshirt senior middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu sat out last season after transferring from UC Irvine. She had a career-high 3.39 kills per set, 4.31 points per set and 1.28 blocks per set in 2022. She also led the Big West with 143 total blocks and was second with a .372 hitting percentage. She finished top 40 in the NCAA in both hitting percentage and blocks per set that season.

Senior libero Mackenzie Morris transferred in from Kansas State, where she led the Big 12 with 468 digs and a career-high 4.82 digs per set, which ranked first for all Power 5 liberos and 32nd in the NCAA, earning Second Team All-Big 12 honors.

The Ducks also added a talented setter in junior Roberta Purashaj. She was the AVCA Two-Year College National Player of the Year in 2023, after she set the Florida Southwestern single-season record with 1,035 assists in 2023 and finished third nationally with 11.01 assists per set.

How to Watch/Tip-Off

This game will start quite late for Pitt fans, with tip-off set for 10:30 p.m. (EST), making it a 7:30 p.m. start in Eugene, Ore. The Big Ten Network will broadcast the match, as Oregon joined the conference this past offseason.

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