Inside The Panthers

Pitt Volleyball Releases 2024 Schedule

The Pitt Panthers released their 2024 Volleyball Schedule, which features great matches against a number of rivals.

Dominic Campbell

Courtesy of Pitt Athletics
Courtesy of Pitt Athletics /

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers released their 2024 volleyball schedule for the upcoming season, which features a number of top matchups against great rivals.

Pitt will open up their season with their annual Blue-Gold Scrimmage, an intrasquad game that everyone will get a chance to show their talents in front of fans for the first time in the season. The scrimmage will take place Saturday, Aug. 17 at Fitzgerald Field House.

The Panthers will open up the regular season the following weekend, as they travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. to take on the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday, Aug. 24.

The Panthers are 3-6 in the all-time series against the Wolverines and 1-2 under head coach Dan Fisher. The Wolverines won the last matchup in five sets in the 2018 NCAA Tournament Second Round at the Petersen Events Center.

Pitt will then travel to Eugene, Ore. to take on Oregon on Friday, Aug. 30 and then a neutral match against Long Beach State on Saturday, Aug. 31 in the same location.

Oregon, who made the Elite Eight the past two seasons, defeated Pitt in five sets at Fitzgerald Field House last season, staving off a reverse sweep comeback in that fifth set. This is the first time the two teams will face off in Oregon, with the first game coming on a neutral site in 1978 and then Pitt winning in four sets at home in 2019.

Pitt has never beaten Long Beach State with an 0-6 record against them, with this match the first between the two programs since 2007.

After two road trips, Pitt will host their season opener against Buffalo on Tuesday, Sept. 6 at Fitzgerald Field House. Pitt holds a 9-0 all-time series lead over Buffalo.

Pitt will then go back out to the west coast, this time to California for three games. They take on USC on Wednesday, Sept. 11, a rematch of last season's Second Round NCAA Tournament match, which saw Pitt win in four sets. This is the first match between the two teams in Los Angeles since the two they played in 1989.

They will take on two teams in Malibu, Calif. that weekend in Pepperdine on Friday, Sept. 13 and UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Sept. 14

Pepperdine has made it to the NCAA Tournament the past four years and won the WCC last season, while UC Santa Barbara finished 27-5 last season and made it to the NCAA Tournament as well.

The Panthers are 3-3 against the Waves, including 2-0 under Fisher, with a win in five sets on the road back in 2019. The Panthers are 2-5 against the Gauchos, but 2-0 under Fisher, including a sweep at home in 2017.

Pitt then returns home to face rival Penn State in the Keystone Classic on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at the Petersen Events Center. This game will serve as one of the biggest of the season and is the first regular season matchup in the rivalry since 2019.

The non-conference for Pitt finishes with three more home games at Fitzgerald Field House against East Carolina on Friday Sept. 20, Marquette on Sunday, Sept. 22 and then UMBC on Wednesday, Sept. 25.

The Panthers and the Pirates will face off for the first time ever, as the Pirates are coming off a solid season where they made the NIVC. The Panthers traveled to Milwaukee, Wis. to face the Golden Eagles last season and swept them. This game will serve as the second of the home-and-away.

The Retreivers will play the Panthers for the second straight season at Fitzgerald Field House, with the Panthers sweeping them last season.

ACC schedule starts the last weekend of September, with a change in the schedule with the additions of Cal and Stanford from the Pac-12 and SMU from the American.

Each ACC team will now play three teams home-and-away, down from four, and 20 connference games, instead of the previous 18.

The three home-and-away opponents Pitt are Louisville and Georgia Tech like previous seasons and SMU.

Pitt will play SMU twice over four days, hosting them on Wednesday, Oct. 9 for the ACC home opener and then going to Dallas, Texas on Saturday, Oct. 12. SMU won the American last season and is a great home-and-away opponent for Pitt to have.

The Panthers host the Cardinals on Friday, Oct. 25 at the Petersen Events Center and will travel to Louisville to play at the KFC Yum! Center on Wednesday, Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving.

Pitt lost in a sweep in the first match in Louisville last season, but won both their regular season and the Elite Eight matches in reverse sweeps to take momentum in the rivalry.

The Panthers travel to Atlanta, Ga. to take on the Yellow Jackets on Sunday, Sept. 29 in their second ACC game. They will host the Yellow Jackets in the final ACC regular season match on Saturday, Nov. 30 at Fitzgerald Field House, a game that may hold massive significance to an ACC title and a top four seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Pitt will also host Cal and Stanford on Friday, Oct. 18 and Sunday, Oct. 20, respectively, at Fitzgerald Field House. The Stanford matchup is one of the most important of the season, as they are one the best programs in the country and will vye with Pitt and Louisville for the ACC title.

Two other important matches will see Pitt host reigning ACC Champions Florida State on Friday, Nov. 15 and Miami on Sunday, Nov. 17. Florida State fought off a reverse sweep attempt from Pitt at home last season in five sets, which helped them to win the ACC Title, sharing it with Pitt, but earning the automatic qualifier spot.

The other ACC games at home include Notre Dame on Sunday, Oct. 27, North Carolina on Friday, Nov. 8 and Duke on Sunday, Nov. 10.

The other ACC road games include Clemson on Friday, Sept. 27, Boston College on Friday, Oct. 4, Syracuse on Sunday, Oct. 6, Virginia on Friday, Nov. 1, Virginia Tech on Sunday, Nov. 3, Wake Forest on Friday, Nov. 22 and NC State on Sunday, Nov. 24.

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Dominic Campbell

DOMINIC CAMPBELL

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