Inside The Panthers

Preview: Pitt Volleyball Hosts Rival Penn State

The No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball team hosts the rival No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions.

Dominic Campbell

No. 1 Pitt Volleyball Celebrates a Point in their win vs. No. 23 USC in Los Angeles
No. 1 Pitt Volleyball Celebrates a Point in their win vs. No. 23 USC in Los Angeles / Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- The No. 1 Pitt Panthers face off against the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions in the Keystone Classic in one of the biggest volleyball matches in the country this season at the Petersen Events Center.

Pitt Volleyball Background

Pitt is perfect on the season at 6-0 and has not dropped a set so far, the only Division I team to not do so. They also earned their first ever No. 1 ranking in the AVCA Coaches Poll last week.

They opened up the season in Eugene, Ore. sweeping both then ranked No. 10 Oregon on Aug. 30 and Long Beach State on Aug. 31. They swept Buffalo in the home opener at Fitzgerald Field House on Sept. 3 and then traveled again to the west coast, defeating then ranked No. 23 USC in Los Angeles on Sept. 11 and both Pepperdine and UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 13-14 in Malibu, Calif.

Pitt is holds the third best hitting percentage, .334, and opponent hitting percentage, .103, in the country. They are also No. 3 in the country with 2.44 service aces per set, No. 19 with 13.11 assists per set and tied for No. 22 with 13.94 kills per set, while ranking first in the ACC with 0.56 opponent service aces per set and 9.72 opponent digs per set.

Reigning AVCA National Freshman of the Year/First Team All-American in sophomore right side Olivia Babcock is eighth in the country with .71 aces per set and 5.38 points per set, and her 4.06 kills per set ranks in the top 50 too. She is also second on the team with 20.0 total blocks.

Third Team All-American in sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford healed from abenign tumor on her tibia in the offseason, which caused a stress fracture, leading to her having surgery in February.

She is jumping and swinging much better than last season and ranks No. 1 ACC/No. 14 NCAA with 4.54 kills per set and No. 2 ACC/No. 13 NCAA with 5.23 points per set, plus second, third and fourth on the team with a .976 reception rate, 2.31 digs per set and 11.0 total blocks, respectively. She is also third with a .356 hitting percentage for Pitt.

First Team All-American in senior setter Rachel Fairbanks looks like the best at her position in college volleyball, ranking No. 3 ACC/No. 29 NCAA with 10.36 assists per set and first on the team with 2.71 digs per set.

Pitt has also benefitted from the play of senior libero/defensive specialist Emmy Klika, first on the team with a .988 reception rate and second with 2.56 digs per set, as well as sixth year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez, third with a .952 reception rate and fourth with 2.22 digs per set.

Middle blockers in freshman Ryla Jones and redshirt junior Bre Kelley have done well in place of Chiamaka Nwokolo and Emma Monks, who graduated after last season.

Jones leads the Panthers with 21.0 total blocks and is second with a .359 hitting percentage. Kelley is still recovering from her season-ending ankle injury last September, but is hitting an impressive team-leading .486 clip and third with 13.0 total blocks.

Sophomore outside hitter Blaire Bayless is still fighting for playing time and so too are freshman middle blockers Dalia Vîrlan and Bianca Garibaldi.

Graduate student outside hitter Cat Flood and liberos/defensive specialists in freshman Mallorie Meyer/junior Dillyn Griffin are still working as serve specialists for Pitt.

Pitt also added Texas A&M transfer in senior setter Nisa Buzlutepe, after an injury to sophomore Haiti Tautua'a, which has kept her out all season. Freshman right side hitter/setter Kiana Dinn has also played in just one set and is currently on crutches, meaning that it's just Fairbanks and Buzlutepe at the setter position right now.

Penn State Volleyball Background

Penn State is undefeated themselves at 8-0. They have ranked wins over then ranked No. 15 Tennessee in four sets on the road on Aug. 30, a sweep of No. 4 Louisivlle at home on Sept. 3 and a reverse sweep of then ranked No. 9 Kentucky on the road on Sept. 6.

This is the highest ranked opponent the Panthers have faced in the regular season since the No. 2 Louisville Cardinals at home on Oct. 23, 2022, which the Panthers won in five sets. 

This is the first matchup between the two schools since a four-set win for the Panthers over the Nittany Lions in the Second Round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, en route to their first ever Final Four appearance.

The last regular season matchup between Pitt and Penn State took place in 2019, with a home-and-away over a weekend. Pitt stunned Penn State by sweeping them on the road for the first time ever on Sept. 20, but would lose in five sets at the Petersen Events Center on Sept. 22. 

Pitt and Penn State did play home-and-away during the spring season, which helped set up the rivalry to come back in the regular season, with Pitt winning at home in four sets and Penn State winning at home in five sets.

Players to Watch For on the Nittany Lions

Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley is in her third season at the helm, leading the program to back-to-back Sweet 16 finishes in the NCAA Tournament.

She has a great array of players and built a portion of her roster through the transfer portal, adjusting well to the new landscape of college sports.

The Nittany Lions have the second best hitting percentage in the country at .337 and are also tied for No. 6 in Division I/No. 1 in the Big Ten with 14.52 kills per set.

One of the reasons for that high hitting percentage is graduate student middle blocker Taylor Trammel, who is No. 3 in Division I/No. 1 Big Ten with a .523 clip. Trammel transferred from Purdue after the 2021 season.

Graduate student outside hitter Jess Mruzik transferred from Michigan prior to the 2023 season and finished with both Second Team All-American and First Team All-Big Ten honors. She leads the team with both 4.17 kills per set and 4.61 points per set, while ranking fourth on the team with 2.04 digs per set.

Freshman Izzy Starck is one of the best setters in college volleyball and is showing that in her first season. She No. 18 in the NCAA/No. 3 Big Ten with 10.63 assists per set, while also ranking third on the Nittany Lions with 2.11 digs.

Penn State also added two Nebraska transfers this past offsason in redshirt freshman outside hitter/right side Caroline Jurevicius and junior middle blocker Maggie Mendelson. Mendelson leads the team with 1.23 blocks per set and is second with a .368 hitting percentage, while Jurevicius is hitting .321 and averages 2.08 kills per set.

Graduate student outside hitter/right side hitter Camryn Hannah transferred from Clemson ahead of the 2023 season and earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors. She is second on the team with 3.40 kills per set and is hitting .329.

Junior Gillian Grimes and freshman Ava Falduto play at libero/defensive specialist, with Grimes leading Penn State with 3.19 digs per set and Falduto second with 2.33 digs per set.

Senior outside hitter Anjelina Starck, sister of Izzy Starck, is another player who has appeared in all 27 sets.

How to Watch

Pitt and Penn State will tip-off at 7:00 p.m. on the ACC Network. While some would say that these two teams should play on ESPN/ESPN2 or even ABC, the ACC Network has volleyball on Wednesday nights and chose this game.

No. 4 Louisville travels to face in-state rival in No. 11 Kentucky, so that game couldn't air on the ACC Network, getting the ESPN slot with the same time for tip-off.

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Dominic Campbell

DOMINIC CAMPBELL

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