Pitt volleyball showed up and showed out for its first game in the Peterson Event Center, besting SMU for the second time in a row. Despite losing the third set, the Panthers won the match three sets to one, going 25-20, 25-22, 26-28 and 25-21.
Pitt’s defense is digging deep
One of Pitt’s keys to victory over the Mustangs was to keep up its defensive prowess, and this goal was absolutely accomplished. Sophomore middle blocker Ryla Jones led the Panthers with seven blocks, redshirt senior middle blocker Bre Kelley added four blocks and juniors opposite hitter Olivia Babcock and outside hitter Blaire Bayless netted three blocks each.
Pitt’s back-row defense was also commendable, with 59 total digs for the match. Babcock set a new career high with 17 digs, and both redshirt senior libero Emery Dupes and first-year defensive specialist Izzy Masten came through with ten digs.
Babcock attributes her new career-high to a change in mindset.
“Now I’m very confident that if the ball comes to me, I am able to get a touch and get it up,” the opposite hitter said. “So I just feel like changing my mindset and getting [more] reps.”
The Panthers managed to hold graduate student opposite hitter Malaya Jones to a 0.171 hitting percentage, her second-lowest total of the season. Jones and SMU’s other outside hitter, sophomore Jadyn Livings, notched 14 kills, the majority of which came from the third set. The third set was SMU’s sole win of the match, where the Mustangs hit an effective 0.421, as opposed to the Panthers’ 0.340.
Offensive standouts and career-highs
Pitt’s setter-to-hitter connection has only continued to improve over the course of the season. Redshirt senior setter Brooke Mosher set another career high with 52 assists in Sunday’s game, breaking her previous career high of 51, which was set against SMU in Wednesday’s game.
“I think we’ve been doing a pretty good job as a team of being aggressive with our setting,” head coach Dan Fisher said. “Our setting is way better across the board … and I think, in all zones, Brooke’s doing a better job.”
When you have three players each hitting over 0.400, you have the right to brag about your setter. Both Kelley and Ryla Jones deserve their flowers for their six and seven kills and 0.600 and 0.467 hitting percentages, respectively, but the true offensive standout for the Panthers was by far Olivia Babcock.
“You know, when Liv’s streaking, she’s streaking,” Mosher said, “so it’s pretty easy to keep giving her the ball.”
After a surprisingly low -0.125 hitting percentage in the first set and accumulating only six kills over the course of the first two sets, Babcock bounced back to notch 13 kills in the third set alone. Then, she added another ten kills in the fourth set. The California native rounded out the match with 29 kills on 53 swings, hitting an impressive 0.434. With these stats, Babcock gained her fifth career double-double in digs and blocks.
The road ahead
Not only was Pitt able to effectively redeem itself from its loss to SMU in the 2024 season, but the Panthers also set themselves up for success in conference play. By handing one of the toughest ACC competitors back-to-back losses in the opening week for conference play, Pitt volleyball is certainly on track to make a deep run come December.
Pitt returns to the Fitzgerald Field House on Friday, Oct. 3, to face off against Clemson at 6 p.m. The game is available to stream on ACC Network.
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