Inside The Panthers

Pitt Volleyball RS Olivia Babcock Earns ACC Honor

Pitt Panthers volleyball right side hitter Olivia Babcock earned an ACC weekly honor.

Dominic Campbell

Pitt Volleyball RS Olivia Babcock
Pitt Volleyball RS Olivia Babcock /

PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers volleyball sophomore right side hitter Olivia Babcock is playing some of her best volleyball right now and is receiving recognition for it.

Babcock earned ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors for her performances in sweeps over then ranked No. 23 USC on Sept. 11 and good mid-major opponents in Pepperdine on Sept. 13 and UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 14.

Babcock led with a season-high 17 kills, while adding five digs and three blocks in the win over the Women of Troy.

She tied with fellow sophomore in outside hitter Torrey Stafford with 14 kills vs. the Waves, while also leading with .407 hitting, finishing second with three total blocks and third with nine digs, with her digs a season-high for her.

Babcock was first with 15 kills, hit .419 and tied for the lead with both graduate student outside hitter Cat Flood with two services and fellow sophomore in outside hitter Blaire Bayless with six digs in the win over UC Santa Barbara.

She finished her last week with 45 kills, a .346 hitting percentage, six service aces, 20 digs and seven total blocks, averaging averagedĀ 6.17 points, 5.11 kills, 2.22 digs, 0.78 blocks and 0.67 aces per set, helping her earn the first of many weekly ACC awards.

Babcock had an incredible freshman season in 2023, playing a large role in Pitt earning a share of the ACC Title and making it back to the Final Four for a third straight time.

Her enthralling top spin serve led to 51 service aces, ranking No. 2 all-time in a season in Pitt history in the 25-point scoring era (2008-present) and No. 6 all-time, while her 0.44 service aces per set is level with the best in a season.Ā 

She also made 420 kills and 3.62 kills per set, which rank No. 8 and No. 9, respectively, while her 119 block assists, also rank ninth best in the 25-point scoring era for Pitt. She also finished fifth on the team with 159 digs, 1.37 per set, and led the team in points at 536.5.Ā 

Babcock earned numerous accoldes, including All-ACC Freshman Team, All-ACC First Team, All-ACC Freshman of the Year, AVCA All-East Coast Region Team, AVCA East Coast Region Freshman of the Year, AVCA First Team All-American and AVCA National Freshman of the Year.

She also made the USA Women's Volleyball Team as they played at the NORCECA Womenā€™s Final Six Pan American Cup, June 26-30 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She was the only freshman on the team, which was a group of some of the best college players, and earned a silver medal.

Pitt will need Babcock to put on a big performance as they face No. 3 Penn State at the Petersen Events Center on Sept. 18, with a 7:00 p.m. tip-off on the ACC Network.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

Follow Dominic Campbell on Twitter.