Four days after the Pitt volleyball team’s dramatic five-set win over ACC rival Louisville, redshirt senior setter Brooke Mosher still had a scratchy voice. She had to shout a lot of instructions and encouragement and, at the end, let loose in celebration.

It was the second consecutive five-setter for the Panthers after escaping Notre Dame two days prior with a 3-2 victory. Though the Panthers enter this weekend’s home matches against N.C. State and Wake Forest at 15-3 overall and 7-1 in the ACC, they have had to work a little harder than last season.

Pitt swept 15 of its first 18 matches in 2024. It has swept only six matches through the first 18 this fall, but 13th-year coach Dan Fisher doesn’t see any sign of a drop-off.

“We’ve lost three (matches) this year, and they were all really close games,” he said. “So there really hasn’t been a team that’s just blown us out. I think that says a lot, that on our off days, we still had chances to win.”

And the fourth-ranked Panthers are doing it with a revamped lineup. Graduations plus Torrey Stafford’s high-profile transfer to Texas led to one of the team’s biggest reshuffles in recent memory.

Mosher has been the glue to hold it together. After spending four years at Illinois then not arriving in Oakland until after her graduation in May, Mosher committed to getting up to speed as quickly as possible.

She has delivered 9.99 assists per game, a team-leading 28 aces as well as 2.06 digs per set. And, at 6-feet tall, she has been an asset on defense, ranking sixth on the team with 33 total blocks.

“It was actually a pretty smooth transition,” Mosher said. “I feel like everything started to click after that first weekend (of matches). It was just getting those nerves out, and then it was pretty smooth sailing from there.”

Pitt dropped those first two matches — to No. 1 Nebraska and now-unranked Florida — but won its next 12 in a row. Included in that run were wins over current No. 10 TCU, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 6 Arizona State, No. 18 Penn State and twice over No. 7 SMU.

Given that Murderers’ Row — and its success in navigating it — Pitt ranked No. 3 in the latest RPI and also was No. 3 in the NCAA’s in-season top 16 for the tournament.

“I think this is just a really gritty group of girls,” said junior outside hitter Blaire Bayless, one of the players who has taken on a larger role. She averages 2.57 kills per set and has 34 total blocks. “I think we go into every game knowing that we have to earn it out of whatever opponent we’re playing. … We have to grind it out of teams.”

Amid all the change, junior Olivia Babcock has remained a constant whose value can’t be overstated. The reigning national player of the year set a program match record with 41 kills against Louisville and ranks sixth in the nation at 5.14 kills per set.

And as hard as it might be to believe, Fisher said she is even better than last year.

“Her defense is better. I think her blocking has also improved,” he said. “She’s able to hit lines and cross (court) a little bit better than she used to. Her serving still can be a little up-and-down, so she wants to improve there. But the main thing is, yeah, I 100% think she’s better than last year.”

Pitt also has had good play from its middles. Redshirt senior Bre Kelley leads with 95 blocks, sophomore Ryla Jones is second with 66 and they combine for nearly 3.00 kills per set.

Freshman outside hitter Dagmar Mourits from the Netherlands was averaging 2.24 kills per set and was fourth on the team in blocks before being sidelined by an ankle injury. Fisher said he expects Mourits back before the end of the regular season.

A dozen matches remain, including one more with Louisville on Nov. 26 at Petersen Events Center. At this time last year, Pitt appeared to be an overwhelming favorite to win the national title.

That might not be the case this season, but Pitt remains squarely in the conversation.

“Every game that we play and every environment we’re a part of is just preparing us for December,” Bayless said. “Every five-setter, every game that we kind of have to problem-solve and kind of learn to win in a hostile environment, all that’s going to help us down the line.”

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