Preview: No. 1 Pitt Volleyball Hosts Rival No. 4 Louisville

No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball hosts rival No. 4 Louisville at home.

No. 1 Pitt Volleyball Sweeps No. 3 Penn State in the Keystone Classic at the Petersen Events Center / Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball will face off against their biggest rival in the No. 4 Louisville Cardinals on Oct. 25 at 7:00 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center.

Pitt Volleyball 2024 Season

Pitt comes into this matchup 17-1 overall, 7-1 in the ACC and ranked as the No. 1 team in the country for the past seven straight weeks in the AVCA Coaches Poll.

They have six ranked wins including three on the road against then ranked No. 10 Oregon in the season opener on Aug. 30, then ranked No. 23 USC on Sept. 11 and then ranked No. 13 Georgia Tech on Sept. 29, all sweeps.

The biggest win of the season for Pitt came against Penn State in the Keystone Classic, taking down the No. 3 team on Sept. 18 in front of a program record crowd at the Petersen Events Center of 11,800 fans.

Pitt also swept then ranked No. 15 SMU on Oct. 9 at Fitzgerald Field House, but would lose on the road to them on Oct. 12, suffering their first defeat of the season in five sets, after leading 2-1 after three sets.

The Panthers bounced back with a sweep of the Cal Golden Bears on Oct. 18 and also of No. 5 Stanford Cardinal, making it 16 matches they've won in sweeps, only dropping a set in the victory vs. the Boston College Eagles on Oct. 4 on the road.

Pitt has two of the best pin-hitters in the country in sophomores, right side Olivia Babcock and outside hitter Torrey Stafford

Babcock and Stafford rank first and second in the ACC with both points per set, 5.83 and 4.67, and kills per set, 4.39 and 4.13, respectively.

Stafford is hitting an incredible .390, which ranks No. 31 in the country and No. 3 in the ACC, but No. 2 amongst all pin-hitters in Division I.

Babcock also ranks No. 3 in the country for her points per set and No. 2 in the country for .78 aces per set. Her best match of the season came against Boston College, where she had a triple-double, making 14 kills, 10 digs and a program record 12 service aces.

Senior setter Rachel Fairbanks leads ACC with 10.52 assists per set and No. 18 in Division I, with her play leading Pitt to a .346 hitting percentage, the best in the country.

Pitt also ranks No. 3 in the ACC and tied No 7 in Division I with 2.83 blocks per set. Redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley averages 1.44 blocks per set, third best in the ACC and No. 13 in Division I, freshman middle blocker Ryla Jones averages 1.15 blocks per set, No. 10 ACC, and Babcock ranks No. 9 in the ACC with 1.24 blocks per set.

The Panthers rank No. 1 in the country with. a .099 opponent hitting percentage, holding nine opponents below .100 hitting, six in the ACC, and three for negative clips so far in 2024.

They also rank No. 4 in the country with 2.27 aces per set, thanks to Babcock, sixth year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez, graduate student outside hitter Cat Flood and Fairbanks. Gomez ranks tied for No. 5 in the ACC with 0.44 aces per set.

Pitt leads the ACC with 19.11 points per set, 13.07 assists per set, 14.00 kills per set, .78 opponent aces per set, 9.13 opponent digs per set, 8.81 opponent assists per set and 9.31 opponent kills per set.

Pitt Volleyball vs. Louisville Rivalry History

The rivalry between the two schools is one of the best in volleyball, with some of the most important matches in the sport recent history.

Pitt and Louisville have met twice in the regular season for the past five seasons and six times overall in the past two seasons.

The rivalry is also bolstered by two of the best coaches in the country in the Panthers' Dan Fisher and the Cardinals' Dani Busboom Kelly, who have helped their respective program serve as one of the best in the country.

Pitt holds a 10-8 lead in the series since Louisville joined the ACC in 2014, but Louisville holds an 8-7 advantage since Busboom Kelly took over in 2017.

The Panthers have five ACC titles, 2017-19 and 2022-23, and the Cardinals have four ACC titles, 2017 and 2020-22, during that time as well.

Both teams have won their regular season games at home these past two seasons, with the home crowd playing a big role in each victory.

Pitt faced off against Louisville at the Petersen Events Center last season on Nov. 18, 2023 and pulled off a dramatic reverse sweep in front of a then program record 8,865 fans.

The rivalry also extends further past the regular season into the NCAA Tournament, as Pitt and Louisville played each other in these past two postseasons.

They faced off in the 2022 Final Four in Omaha, Neb., with a back-and-forth match that went to five sets. Great serving from the Cardinals saw them dominate in that final set, 15-2, to make the Championship game.

Louisville looked like they would defeat Pitt again this past season in the Elite Eight, going up 2-0. Pitt would have the benefit of a great Fitzgerald Field House crowd and controlled the final three sets, reverse sweeping Louisville again, to make their third straight Final Four.

Louisville 2024 Season So Far/Players to Watch Out For

Louisville is 16-2 overall and 8-0 in the ACC, as they currently sit on top of the conference heading into this matchup.

They have seven ranked wins on the season, including five at home against No. 3 Wisconsin in the season opener on Aug. 27 in four sets, No. 9 Creighton on Sept. 15 in five sets and sweeps of No. 15 Tennessee on Sept. 1 and ACC foes in No. 3 Stanford on Sept. 29 and Georgia Tech on Oct. 6.

The Cardinals have two road wins against top 25 opponents, defeating their rival in the then ranked No. 11 Kentucky in four sets on Sept. 18 and the No. 21 Florida State Seminoles in five sets on Oct. 11.

Louisville's two losses came against then ranked No. 7 Penn State on the road on Sept. 3 and vs. then ranked No. 5 Nebraska on Sept. 22 at home, both in sweeps.

They don't boast the statistical feats that Pitt has this season, but Louisville is one of the best blocking teams in the nation, with their 3.10 blocks per set as a team the best in the ACC and second best in Division I.

Redshirt junior middle blocker Cara Cresse, Second Team All-ACC in 2023, is second in the ACC and fifth in the country with 1.61 blocks per set. Fellow middle blockers in graduate student Phekran Kong and sophomore Reese Robins both also average around a block per set too.

The Cardinals also have one of, if not the best, liberos/defensive specialists in the nation in senior Elena Scott.

Scott, who has earned AVCA Second Team All-American honors the past two seasons and received the ACC Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2023, is second in the ACC with 4.68 digs per set. She is also incredibly impressive in reception, not just on swings, but in serve-receive too.

Their two most popular players are their outside hitters in graduate student Anna DeBeer and senior Charitie Luper.

DeBeer leads the Cardinals with 3.15 kills per set and 3.80 points per set, while Luper is second with 3.05 kills per set and 3.45 points per set. Both players possess great verticality and power behind their swings, giving the Panthers much to deal with defensively.

Louisville also added senior outside hitter Sofia Maldonado Diaz from Arizona and she is third on the team with both 2.18 kills per set and 2.53 points per set.

The Cardinals are also running a 6-2 rotation this season with two setters. Senior Elle Glock is still the starter and freshman Nayelis Cabello is the backup.

How to Watch: No. 1 Pitt Volleyball vs. No. 4 Louisville

This match will not air on linear televison/cable and instead will air on streaming on ACCNX (ACC Network Extra).

The next time these two teams face off in Louisville on Nov. 27, the ACC Network will broadcast the match.

Pitt Volleyball Head Coach Dan Fisher Press Conference

Make sure you bookmark Inside the Panthers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage, and more!

• Twitter Reaction to Pitt Win vs. Syracuse
• Pitt’s Defense Dominates in Win Over Syracuse
• Pitt QB Leaves Game With Injury
• Pitt LBs Pull Off Three Pick-Sixes
• Pitt Kicker Ben Sauls Sets School Record

Follow Inside the Panthers on Twitter: @InsidePitt