Pitt Volleyball Eyes First Ever National Championship Appearance
Despite reaching the Final Four stage for the fifth-straight season, the Pitt volleyball team has yet to make it past the National Semifinal stage and will look to do so for the first time in program history later this evening when they take on Texas A&M.
The Panthers, led by head coach Dan Fisher and three-time AVCA First Team All-American Olivia Babcock, went 26-4 in the regular season which included an 18-2 conference record and an ACC Championship.
After another successful regular season, the Panthers earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament which granted them host rights through the Regional Finals, where they nearly swept their way to the Final Four, with the only set that they dropped came against Purdue in the Elite Eight.
Pitt’s path to the program’s first ever National Championship is much more clear after the Regional Finals as it looked like the Panthers were on a collision course with previously undefeated and overall No. 1 seed Nebraska.
Texas A&M, led by Babcock’s Team USA teammate Logan Lednicky, spoiled the Cornhuskers’ magical season with a five-set stunner in the Elite Eight to reach its first ever National Semifinal. The Aggies also became the first team since 2015 to dethrone the overall No. 1 seeded team prior to the Final Four.
Pitt and Texas A&M tip the Final Four off first with Wisconsin and Kentucky’s semifinal matchup following approximately 30 minutes after.
If the Panthers were to advance, along with Kentucky, it would be a rematch of a match from early in the season in which Pitt dominated the Wildcats in three sets. Pitt also knocked Kentucky out of the 2024 NCAA Tournament with a sweep in the regional finals.
Pitt and Wisconsin have not met on the volleyball court since the Panthers took down the Badgers in a five-set thriller in the 2022 Regional Finals held in Madison, Wisconsin. The only other meeting between the two programs came way back in 2008 which was a Wisconsin victory.
Aside from junior right side Babcock, who earned her third-straight AVCA First Team honor in as many seasons after averaging more than five kills, two digs and nearly a block per set, the Panthers are loaded.
A big reason for Babcock’s success is the play of setter Brooke Mosher, who was named as an AVCA Second Team All-American and All-ACC First Team this season.
Mosher transferred into Pitt as a redshirt senior to replace a former All-American in Rachel Fairbanks and succeeded in doing so as she averaged 9.97 assists per set and led to the Panthers to a .311 hitting percentage which is good for sixth in the nation.
Middle blocker Bre Kelley earned AVCA All-American Honor Mentions during her final season at Pitt as she became the first ACC Defensive Player of the Year in program history. Kelley averaged 1.44 blocks per set and held opponents to a .169 hitting percentage to this point in the season.
Babcock, Mosher and Kellley, along with the rest of the Panthers, will look to add another chapter to its already historic season when they take on Lednicky and Texas A&M with a spot in the National Championship on the line.
