University of Maryland, Baltimore County had a history of upsetting No. 1-seeds before its contest against No. 1-seed Pitt volleyball. But the Retrievers had no chance of repeating the magic that their basketball team made in 2018, as it fell to Pitt in a sweep (25-10, 25-17, 25-13)
“We lost to a team that was better than us today and probably most days,” UMBC head coach Kasey Crider said. “And we don’t currently have an Olivia Babcock slayer.”
Key stats
Pitt did not commit a single hitting, serving or receiving error in the entirety of the first set. The first error the Panthers committed came at the 2-1 point in the second set when Babcock was blocked.
This Pitt team is already dangerous, but if it can play clean volleyball as it did in the first set, any team in the Tournament is really going to struggle to take this squad down.
“Every game has a different story,” head coach Dan Fisher said. “ I think it was a good sign for our mental state that we were that locked in from the start.”
Babcock sets another program record
Junior outside hitter Olivia Babcock set a program record for kills in a single season, eclipsing Wendy Hatlestad’s mark of 555 in 2003. Babcock entered the game with 545 kills, and she surpassed Hatlestad’s record with Pitt’s sixth point of the third set. Babcock entered the game having already eclipsed her single-season best of 538 kills in 2024.
“It says a lot about how my team trusts me to take those big rips and just gives me the opportunity to score and get as many kills as I do,” Babcock said.
Give them their flowers
Pitt’s middle blockers asserted their dominance against UMBC, not committing a single error and earning 14 kills on their 19 swings. First-year middle blocker Abbey Emch nabbed eight kills on her 12 swings, and redshirt senior Bre Kelley tabbed six kills on her seven swings.
“If we set [Emch] a ball, it’s very likely to be a kill, and if not, it’s going to give the other team a hard time,” Babcock said.
The duo also made their presence felt on defense. Emch earned six blocks while Kelley had two. Then, sophomore Ryla Jones also had two blocks in her one set played.
What’s next for the Panthers?
Pitt has a quick turnaround for its second round matchup as it faces Michigan, which won in a sweep in its first round match against No. 8 Xavier, tomorrow at 7 p.m., and the game will air on ESPN+
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