No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball sweeps Virginia

PITTSBURGH – No. 1 Pitt Panthers in volleyball dominated another ACC opponent, defeating Virginia on the road in three straight sets.

Pitt (20-1 overall, 10-1 ACC) earns its fifth straight with its win, as it defeated both Cal and No. 5 Stanford two weeks ago and No. 4 Louisville and Notre Dame in four sets and five sets defeated. or last weekend.

This also improves the Panthers to 19-3 in the all-time series against the Cavaliers (17-5 overall, 7-4 ACC), 12 straight wins and 8-1 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Pitt began the first set with a 9-0 lead, but Virginia eventually answered with two of the next three points, 10-2. Pitt then regained its dominance with an 11-0 run to extend the lead to 21-2, including a great serving performance from sophomore attorney Olivia Babcock, who had three straight aces.

The Cavaliers scored a few points late, but the Panthers held on to win 25-9 sets. The Panthers beat the Cavaliers by a margin of .444 to -.032, and sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford led the way with eight kills and a .636 batting average.

Pitt opened the second set with a 7-0 lead, with two kills each from sixth-grader Valeria Vazquez Gomez, redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley and Babcock.

They used the 6-2 rotation in the second set, bringing in both senior setter Nisa Buzletepe for starting senior setter Rachel Fairbanks and sophomore outside attacker Blaire Bayless for Vazquez Gomez.

The Panthers defeated the Cavaliers again 25-9 to take the second set. They outscored their ACC opponents .500 to -.036, with Babcock recording five kills and a block in the period.

Pitt once again started well, with an 8-1 lead, with Babcock making two blocks and a kill. Virginia responded by cutting its lead to 12-8, Pitt scored three straight points and Virginia then scored four points to keep the lead at 15-12.

The Panthers took control for the remainder of the third set, winning it 10-3, 25-15 and also winning the match.

Pitt outscored Virginia .393 to -.011 in that matchup, making them the four ACC opponents with a negative hitting percentage.

Babcock and Stafford both led Pitt with 11 kills, with Stafford hitting .455 and Babcock hitting .375. Stafford was second with eight digs, while Babcock led with five blocks and added five digs.

Vazquez Gomez recorded six kills, joining Pitt in the 1,000 career kill club. She was the 19th player to achieve this and the ninth in the modern scoring era (2008 to present). With three service aces, she and Babcock also secured the team lead.

Fairbanks led the way with 28 assists and added two service aces and seven digs. Senior libero/defensive specialist Emmy Klika led the Panthers with 13 digs and also had five assists.

Pitt will close out their weekend with a road game against Virginia Tech on November 3rd at 1:00 p.m.

Be sure to bookmark Inside the Panthers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting reports and more!

Follow Inside the Panthers on Twitter: @InsidePitt