Olivia Babcock, a standout Pitt volleyball player, is making history as the first female recipient of the prestigious Bob Prince Award. She will be honored on Sept. 29 at the 53rd Art Rooney Award Dinner in Acrisure Stadium’s UPMC Lounge.
The Bob Prince Award is presented annually to an individual who embodies the characteristics and legendary enthusiasm for Pittsburgh sports and the community of the late Pittsburgh Pirates broadcaster Bob “The Gunner” Prince. The award has been presented each year since 1986, with the exceptions of 2006 and 2021.
Babcock is one of the most decorated student-athletes in University of Pittsburgh history through the first three years of her career.
She is a two-time AVCA National Player of the Year, the 2025-26 ACC Female Athlete of the Year, and the 2023 AVCA National Freshman of the Year. She is also a three-time first-team All-American and a two-time ESPY nominee for best college athlete in women’s sports.
In her first three years of competition, the Pitt volleyball team achieved a 92-12 record. During this period, the team advanced to the NCAA national semifinal in each of her seasons.
Babcock holds the program’s single-season records in kills, kills per set, attacks, attacks per set and service aces. She ranks fifth in career kills at Pitt with 1,604, trailing the program record holder by 248 kills. In 2025, she broke the single-match program kills record twice, first by posting 41 kills against Louisville and later 45 kills against North Carolina.
Pittsburgh Pirates broadcaster Greg Brown received the award in 2025.
Past recipients include legendary Pittsburgh athletes such as Andrew McCutchen, Mel Blount, Jack Lambert, Rocky Bleier, Joe Greene and Jack Ham.
Other past winners with ties to the University of Pittsburgh include Damar Hamlin, James Conner, Jamie Dixon, Johnny Majors and Bill Hillgrove.
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