Pitt Volleyball Sweeps Oregon in Season Opener

The Pitt Panthers swept Oregon in a top 10 battle on the road in their volleyball season opener.

Pitt Volleyball celebrates a win over No. 10 Oregon on the road. / Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- The No. 4 Pitt Panthers swept No. 10 Oregon in three straight sets, starting their volleyball season the best way they could.

The Panthers (1-0) get revenge on the Ducks (0-1), who defeated them last year in five sets at Fitzgerald Field House, holding off a reverse sweep. The Panthers also improve to 3-1 in the all-time series against the Ducks, with a four-set win at home in 2019 and a victory in 1978 as well.

Pitt also gets their first season opener victory since 2021, when they took down then ranked No. 23 Rice in five sets in the Carolina Classic in Columbia, S.C. They lost to San Diego in five sets in 2022, who would go on to make the Final Four, and to BYU in four sets in 2023, who made the Sweet 16.

The Panthers came out with an 8-3 lead in the first set, with freshman middle blocker Ryla Jones getting her first kill and sophomore right side hitter Olivia Babcock with three service aces, using her top-spin serve to great effect against the Ducks.

Oregon got back-to-back kills, but then Pitt responded with a 12-2 run to increase their advantage to 19-8 and eventually won the first set 25-12.

Babcock led the Panthers with five kills and sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford added four kills in the first set. The Panthers hit .545 in that set as a team, as the Ducks had no answers to begin the match.

Pitt opened up the second set with a 4-1 lead, thanks to two service aces from senior setter Rachel Fairbanks, but Oregon responded, taking a 6-4 lead and increasing that to 11-8, forcing head coach Dan Fisher to call a timeout.

The Panthers then went on a 10-3 run to regain the lead at 18-14, but the Ducks came back on a 7-2 run to take a 21-19 advantage.

Sixth year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez had three kills to help Pitt have a 24-23 lead. They looked to win the set, 25-23, before Oregon head coach Matt Ulmer challenged the attack, which showed Babcock touching it on the block before it went out, tying the set back at 24-24.

Pitt would eventually win the second set, 27-25, thanks to kills from redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley and Stafford.

The two squads kept it close through the third set, until the Panthers managed to get a slight 15-11 lead, which they held for almost the remainder of the period, at 19-15, 21-17, 23-19 and 24-20.

The Ducks stopped three straight match points, but Vazquez Gomez settled it with a final kill, earning the sweep.

Babcock led with 14.5 points, with eight kills, three service aces, a solo block and five block assists. Stafford had a sensational game, ranking first with 13 kills, hitting .333 and second with five digs.

Fairbanks put up a double-double with 34 assists and 10 digs, while also adding three service aces.

Kelley, coming off a season-ending injury after just four games in 2023, looked great against the Ducks, with seven kills and one error in nine attacks, hitting .667, plus four blocks. Jones had three kills and a block herself in her first game as a Panther.

Vazquez Gomez continues to show her versatility, posting nine kills, three service aces, five digs and a block.

Graduate student Cat Flood and junior Dillyn Griffin continued to work as serve specialists, but freshman Mallorie Meyer played well herself and was second to Flood coming off the bench.

Pitt will end their road trip against Long Beach State Saturday afternoon, with a tip-off of 7:00 p.m. (EST).

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