It’s really hard to win back-to-back games against any opponents. It’s especially hard to win back-to-back games against the No. 11 team in the nation. But Pitt volleyball did just that, defeating SMU in four sets on Sunday afternoon in the Petersen Events Center.
Pitt — who lost only one game in the regular season all of last year — couldn’t even make that feat happen against SMU, which should tell you all you need to know. Pitt is now on a 10 game winning streak, and most importantly for the Panthers, they are 2-0 in conference play.
Give them their flowers.
It feels like junior opposite hitter Olivia Babcock plays the same type of game every game. She starts slow, figures it out and then dominates the rest of the game.
The reigning AVCA player of the year hit -.125 in the first set, making three errors and only earning two kills. For the rest of the game, Babcock would only make three more errors and tack on 27 more kills.
“I was getting really frustrated with my swinging so I talked to [head coach Dan Fisher],” Babcock said. “He was like, ‘you technically didn’t hit any balls out [in the first set], so keep jumping high and taking big rips.’”
In the third set alone, Babcock had 13 kills. Despite the loss in the third set, the junior’s right arm accounted for half of the points Pitt scored. On Babcock’s season-high 29 kills, she hit .434 for the Panthers. The Los Angeles, California native also had a career-high 17 digs for the Panthers, leading them by seven digs in that category.
“I have been really focussed on it,” Babcock said of her back row defense. “Fish actually told me I was too hyper focussed on it at one point… [Last year] I feel like I was helping, contributing to the team’s success, but I definitely could have contributed more in the back row and that was just something I really wanted to work on.”
By the numbers
Graduate student setter Brooke Mosher had a career-high in assists on Wednesday against SMU with 51 and today, she surpassed her career-high once more with 52 assists for the Panthers.
With Mosher leading the offense, Pitt hit .310 against SMU.
“Setting is way better across the board,” Fisher said of how his team continues to improve. “I think there are a few rotations I still want to work on, but since day one, I think in all zones, Brooke is doing a better job.”
What about the other side?
When SMU went to Pitt last year, Pitt dominated SMU, winning in a quick sweep. Today, the Mustangs didn’t make it an easy win for the Panthers, winning a gritty third set 28-26 and scoring at least 20 points in every set.
The Mustangs had a breakout year last season, and today, it showed that wasn’t a fluke. Head coach Sam Erger has the Mustangs heading in the right direction. But the consecutive losses to Pitt will make it hard for SMU to win the ACC, since it now needs the Panthers to lose three games in conference play for the Mustangs to even have a shot of winning the ACC.
What’s next for the Panthers?
On Friday, Pitt hosts Clemson back at the Fitzgerald Field House at 6 p.m., and the game will air on ACCNX.
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