It’s a force of habit now, as Pitt volleyball is headed to its fourth consecutive Final Four after sweeping Kentucky in the Elite Eight.
Senior setter Rachel Fairbanks and senior libero Emmy Klika have made a trip to the Final Four in every year of their Pitt careers. Graduate student serving specialist Cat Flood has been to the Final Four all but one of her years at Pitt, and sixth-year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez has made it to the National Semifinal all, but two years.
It’s domination, no other word to explain it.
“Who does that, makes four straight Final Fours?” head coach Dan Fisher said. “It’s incredible.”
Sophomore opposite hitter Olivia Babcock won the Pittsburgh regional MVP after her 31-kill performance against Oregon and 13-kill match against Kentucky on Saturday night.
The Panthers were much more in control than the Wildcats throughout the game. Kentucky committed 23 hitting errors, and Pitt had only nine.
The Panthers had their best hitting percentage of the NCAA Tournament this season with a .333, and the Wildcats had their lowest of the postseason with a .167 hitting percentage.
First set
Kentucky helped Pitt start the match by committing 10 errors, giving the Panthers a free 10 points. Pitt made two errors and held on to a 15-12 advantage.
The Panthers eventually stretched its lead to six, leading 21-15, making Kentucky burn both timeouts. But Pitt would limp to the finish line, letting Kentucky go on a 7-2 run and only trail by one.
“I didn’t really love how we played to end that first set,” Fisher said. “We kind of got a little tentative. And we weren’t just playing aggressive volleyball.”
But Pitt closed the set out, leaning on Babcock to earn the two final kills of the set. Babcock would finish the first set with six kills while hitting .545. As a team Pitt hit .360 in the first set and held Kentucky to a .209 hitting percentage.
Second set
Pitt committed more hitting errors in the second set than it did in the first set before it even earned a point in the set, as it had three early hitting errors. Fisher called an early timeout as his team trailed 4-0.
The Panthers couldn’t seem to get by the pesky Wildcats in the second set, trailing by a point multiple times, but Kentucky would always lengthen its lead to four or five.
That was until first-year defensive specialist Malorie Meyer stepped to the service line. Meyer stepped up to the service line with the Panthers trailing 22-18, and she subbed out with her team tied 23-23.
“That was not their strongest rotation,” Fisher said. “We knew it and Mallorie was serving great and as she did [against Oregon], just provided an incredible spark.”
During Meyer’s run, the Panthers forced four errors from the Wildcats. Pitt, tied up 23-23 with Kentucky, finished the set out by forcing an attacking error from sophomore outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye, and Fairbanks earned an ace by serving toward DeLeye.
Pitt won the second set 25-23 and hit .182. Kentucky had an even worse output than the first set, hitting .103 against the Panthers.
Third set
The Panthers and Wildcats went back and forth to start the third set out, as they tied up at 11 a piece. But Pitt would then go on a 6-1 run with Babcock tallying two kills, an ace and a block for the Panthers.
Kentucky called a timeout, went back and forth with the Panthers and called another timeout while trailing 20-15, but it wasn’t enough for the Wildcats.
Pitt would close out the sweep with a 25-17 third set victory. The Panthers had a blazing .500 hitting percentage and held the Wildcats to a .188 hitting percentage.
With the win, Babcock is headed to her second straight National Semifinal, and despite the troubles the Panthers have had in the past, she knows this season is different.
“We’re a different team,” Babcock said. “We’re a more experienced team, and it’s very clear that when we step on the court we want it.”
“I think there’s no doubt in my mind that this year when we come out and play in a Final Four, we’re going to compete to win,” Babcock said. “We’re not playing not to lose, we’re playing to win.”
Redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley, who hit .500 and earned eight kills in the sweep, is going to play in the first Final Four of her career next Thursday.
“I’m just blessed to get to have this opportunity to play with these girls that I love in the game that I love,” Kelley said. “Just super stoked.”
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