Preview: Pitt Volleyball Battles Oklahoma in Second Round

Pitt Panthers volleyball battles No. 8 Oklahoma in the second round.

Dominic Campbell | Dec 7, 2024

Pitt Volleyball Celebrates a Point / Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball will face a formidable opponent in No. 8 Oklahoma in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament at home.

Pitt Volleyball Regular Season Review

Pitt finished with a 29-1 overall record and a 19-1 record in the ACC, winning them the conference title outright. This is their third straight ACC Title and their sixth in the last eight seasons.

They also held on to the No. 1 spot in the AVCA for the final 13 weeks of the season, accrued 11 ranked victories and dropped just 10 sets all season, least in Division I.

This allowed them to earn their first ever No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. It is the third time they've earned a top four seed, allowing them to host through to the Final Four.

Pitt had all seven starters make the All-ACC Teams, with sophomore right side hitter Olivia Babcock winning ACC Player of the Year and head coach Dan Fisher earning ACC Coach of the Year Honors.

The Panthers had four All-ACC First Team honorees in senior setter Rachel Fairbanks, redshirt junior Bre Kelley and sophomores in outside hitter Torrey Stafford and Babcock.

They also had two All-ACC Second Team honorees, in graduate student Valeria Vazquez Gomez and senior libero/defensive specialist Emmy Klika, and middle blocker Ryla Jones made the All-ACC Freshman Team.

Pitt is in their ninth straight NCAA Tournament, and after making the past four Elite Eights and three Final Fours, they start their quest to win their first ever National Title.

They easily took care of Morehead State in the First Round in a sweep on Dec. 6, making it nine straight Second Round appearances.

Stafford led with 14 kills and hit .312, Fairbanks had 33 assists, eight digs and tied a season-high with five aces, Klika led with 12 digs and Babcock made 12 kills and 11 digs for her second double-double of the season and second career double-double in the NCAA Tournament.

Oklahoma Preview

Oklahoma finished the regular season with a 14-10 record, 8-8 in their first season in the SEC and finished No. 32 in RPI.

They had five-set road wins back-to-back vs. rival Texas on Nov. 3 and Ole Miss on Nov. 7, plus a four-set win at home vs. Tennessee on Sept. 29, all three NCAA Tournament teams.

Oklahoma found themselves down two sets to UTEP in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, but would embark on a reverse sweep, taking the final three sets to move on in this postseason.

The Sooners have a fantastic outside hitter in junior Alexis Shelton, who earned All-SEC First Team honors. She averages 5.05 points per set, 4.39 kills per set, 2.04 digs per set and hits .256.

Shelton finished with 21 kills, hit .273, added six digs and four blocks in the win over the Miners.

Oklahoma also has two All-SEC Second Team honorees in graduate students in outside hitter Kari Geissberger and middle blocker Lydia Martyn.

Geissberger transferred in from Loyola Marymount and has averaged 2.48 kills per set and hit .306 this season.

Martyn has averged 2.85 points per set, 2.05 kills per set, 1.15 blocks per set and is hitting .365 on the season. She made 12 kills and led the Sooners with a .688 hitting percentage in the win vs. the Miners.

Senior setter Peyton Chamberlain has had a solid season, averaging 10.30 assists per set and had 50 assists in the win for Oklahoma over UTEP. Graduate student libero/defensive specialist Callie Kemohah leads with 3.12 digs per set and also adds 1.35 assists per set.

Sooners freshman outside hitter Kamille Gibson, who transferred from the Volunteers, is averaging 2.68 kills per set and is another threat against the Panthers.

Oklahoma head coach Aaron Mansfield is in his second season in charge of the program and is looking to get his team into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2010.

Pitt will look to stay on track and make their fifth straight Sweet 16 and host two more matches before the Final Four with a win over Oklahoma.

How to Watch: Pitt Volleyball vs. Oklahoma

Pitt and Oklahoma will start their NCAA Tournament Second Round match at 7:00 p.m. on Dec. 7 at the Petersen Events Center. ESPN+ is broadcasting all matches in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

This is also the second meeting between the two teams, as Pitt defeated Oklahoma in four sets on Aug. 31, 2018 at the Seton Hall Classic in South Orange, N.J.

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Published Dec 7, 2024