Pitt volleyball got its first victory of the season against TCU in four sets in its first game of the State Farm Showcase.
Despite losing the second set 25-22, the Panthers bounced back to claim the final two sets of the match handily, 25-15 and 25-21, and won three sets to one.
By the numbers
There was a lot of back-and-forth between the Panthers and the Horned Frogs for the majority of the match, but it was evident Pitt hit its stride in the third set of the game, hitting .419 — higher than its previous two matches against Florida and Nebraska.
Last year’s AVCA Player of the Year junior opposite hitter Olivia Babcock went the last three sets of the match without a single hitting error, finishing the game with only three errors in total — all of which came from the first set of the game.
On the other side
Although this was TCU’s first match of the 2025 season, it still presented as a considerable challenge for the Panthers. The Horned Frogs shone in the second set, holding Pitt to a .206 hitting percentage.
Junior opposite hitter Lauren Murphy had ten kills on 14 swings and helped put TCU in a favorable position to win the second set.
Pitt’s standouts
Junior outside hitter Blaire Bayless had her best game of the season so far against TCU. The junior notched a career-high of 14 kills — just five less than Babcock, who nabbed 19 kills.
“Obviously, I’m happy with my performance and my numbers,” Bayless said. “But like [head coach Dan Fisher] said, the more weapons we have in the front row, the better season we are going to have. So, continuing to swing good in the next couple of games coming up and being that offensive weapon the team needs on the left.”
Redshirt senior middle blocker Bre Kelley led the match with eight blocks. She had several against her younger sister, Becca Kelley, a redshirt sophomore opposite hitter for TCU. This was the first time that the sister duo faced each other in a collegiate game.
“It was fun, but also intimidating,” Kelley said. “The smack talk leading up to the game was intense, but I just knew that with the work that we’ve done in the gym and blocking that I was going to be pretty good against her.”
Olivia Babcock was the leading player in both kills and total points for this game with 19 and 23, respectively. Babcock also contributed two out of the eight total service aces for the Panthers.
What’s next for the Panthers
The tough schedule continues for Pitt as they prepare for the second round of play in the State Farm Tournament against Arizona on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
“We’ve always had good teams in our non-conference, but not this many,” Fisher said. “We’re struggling through some stuff right now, but we’re going to be way better off by the end of the year.”
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