Pitt women’s volleyball takes 19-1 record on the road for 2 matches

PITTSBURGH — The No. 2 Pitt women’s volleyball team takes a 19-1 overall record and a 9-1 ACC mark on the road this weekend for matches against Wake Forest on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and NC State on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Panthers enter the road trip holding the No. 1 spot in the official NCAA RPI rankings for the third consecutive week.

Pitt has reeled off five consecutive victories following its lone loss of the season to SMU, matching the second-best 20-match start in program history. Head coach Dan Fisher leads the program as the winningest active coach in NCAA Division I volleyball by winning percentage, posting an .852 mark over his career.

Since the start of the 2021 season, Pitt and Nebraska lead NCAA Division I women’s volleyball with 172 victories each. The Panthers hold a 172-21 record over that span, including a 94-10 mark in conference play and have reached three consecutive Final Fours.

Seniors Olivia Babcock and Blaire Bayless announced on Sept. 26 that they will return to Pitt for a fifth season in 2027 under new NCAA rules enacted over the summer. The announcement occurred during a timeout at a Pitt football game against Bucknell at Acrisure Stadium. Babcock and Bayless have compiled an 111-13 record together while losing just two home matches in four seasons.

Babcock, the reigning two-time AVCA National Player of the Year, leads the country in points per set and ranks second in kills per set while hitting .372. She is one of only five players in AVCA history to win back-to-back player of the year honors, aiming to become the first three-time winner in college volleyball history. Bayless is averaging career highs across multiple statistical categories this season, posting 3.23 kills, 1.62 digs and 0.62 blocks per set.

On Oct. 8, Bayless was added to the National Player of the Year Watch List alongside Babcock and setter Izzy Starck. Starck, a junior setter and former AVCA Freshman of the Year at Penn State, is averaging 10.45 assists per set in her first season with the Panthers. She guides an offense that ranks second nationally with a .332 attack percentage, with the team hitting .367 or better in five consecutive matches. On defense, Pitt ranks second nationally with 3.18 blocks per set.

Middle blocker Maaike Heilig leads the front line with 78 total blocks, ranking eighth nationally at 1.53 blocks per set, while Abbey Emch ranks ninth nationally with 1.49 blocks per set. Freshman libero Trinity Thompson has averaged 2.61 digs per set over the past nine matches, recording a career-best 14 digs against Stanford.

Middle blocker Jordyn Dailey recently posted 12 blocks across two matches against Georgia Tech and Clemson. Wake Forest enters Friday’s match with a 9-12 overall record and a 3-7 mark in conference play, though the Demon Deacons are 5-2 over their past seven home matches. NC State carries a 13-8 overall record and a 4-6 league mark into the weekend, holding a 9-1 record at home while limiting opponents to a .184 hitting percentage.

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