Pitt volleyball rolls past Washington State, advances to NCAA Elite Eight for 4th straight season

There were times Thursday when the Pitt women’s volleyball team appeared to be running on automatic pilot while methodically handling Washington State in straight sets 3-0 in the NCAA Sweet 16 at Fitzgerald Field House.

Even coach Dan Fisher seemed a bit surprised by the Panthers’ dominance after a tightly contested first set that saw Pitt pull away for a 25-20 victory.

“I expected the match to go a little bit more like the first set, that there’d be a little bit more deuce games,” he said. “My sense was going into this that we were a bit better than them in some areas. Not a lot. I went in thinking we were going to have to grind it out.”

It didn’t happen that way. After a touch-and-go first set that saw the lead go back and forth for much of the way, top-seeded Pitt got its footing and rolled to scores of 25-13 and 25-16 in the final two sets.

“Our serve and pass just kind of broke down in that second set, and we let Pitt run off a lot of points,” Washington State coach Jen Greeny said. “They got their block going and played some great defense. As the game went on, they were able to take advantage of that.”

Olivia Babcock registered 15 kills, Torrey Stafford contributed 10 and Rachel Fairbanks assisted on 31 points as Pitt met little resistance from fourth-seeded Washington State after the first set.

The Panthers (28-4) asserted themselves on their home court to secure a spot in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive season. They’ll meet second-seeded and fellow ACC member Louisville (26-4) on Saturday at Fitzgerald for the third time this season.

The teams split a pair of regular-season contests. Louisville won 3-0, on Oct. 13 at home, and Pitt claimed a 3-2 decision Nov. 18 at Petersen Events Center.

Pitt, in its second Final Four appearance in 2022, fell to Louisville, 3-2.

“Louisville is one of those teams where neither one of us are going to back down,” said Babcock, a 6-foot-5 freshman setter from Los Angeles who was named ACC Freshman of the Year. “Both of us are really going to want it, and that will bring out the best in both of us.”

In their Sweet 16 match, Pitt dominated Washington State (26-7) in the third set, leading from start to finish. The Panthers’ largest lead in the second set was the final score, and they secured their five-point victory in the first set on a service ace by Cat Flood.

“Tough day today,” Greeny said. “Pitt is a quality team. We didn’t have our best day, and that happens sometimes. Overall, I’m really proud of this team and what we’ve done.”

Playing before a sellout crowd at cozy Fitzgerald Field House, Pitt performed as though it knew its surroundings well.

“It’s definitely a home-court advantage,” said Pitt grad transfer Emma Monks, who previously played at Michigan State. “There are faces you see every day. It was like competing in practice. It’s home.”

Babcock said the Panthers played “freely,” like they had been here before.

“We practice here every day, so it really is like our home, honestly,” she said. “I feel like all of our previous games here have just been so fun and family-friendly, if that makes sense. I kind of got that vibe today.”

For Fisher, whose teams have won five ACC championships in a seven-year span, this year’s team might just be his best.

“This is a new year, a different group and we have our own identity,” he said. “This feels, at times, like the best team I’ve ever coached at Pitt, when we’re playing our best.

“When we’re firing on all cylinders, we’re pretty scary. I hope we can do that (on Saturday).”