No. 1 Pitt routs No. 3 Penn State in women's volleyball showdown

Pitt senior libero Emmy Klika has played in three straight national semifinals. She has been on some of volleyball’s biggest stages.

But as she walked through the tunnel for warmups before the top-ranked Panthers’ matchup with in-state rival Penn State, she admitted she had chills.

And why not? A volleyball-record crowd of 11,800 filled Petersen Events Center on Wednesday night to see a pair of national heavyweights go head-to-head.

Klika and her teammates didn’t disappoint the partisan Panthers crowd.

Using effective serving and the relentless attacks of sophomores Torrey Stafford and Olivia Babcock, Pitt swept the third-ranked Nittany Lions, 25-15, 25-19 and 25-18. The win moved Pitt to 7-0, and Penn State suffered its first loss of the season to fall to 8-1.

“I thought that except for two little bursts, our players played great,” Pitt coach Dan Fisher said. “They handled the emotions of the game really well.”

Said Klika: “I don’t know if it felt ‘easy,’ but it felt like everything was kind of clicking for us.”

The match couldn’t have started better for Pitt or worse for Penn State, depending on the point of view. After two straight net violations on the Nittany Lions, an ace by Valeria Vazquez Gomez and an Babcock kill, Pitt led 4-0 and was never threatened.

The Nittany Lions never even strung two points together until Pitt had gone up 14-6.

“We looked like a deer in headlights at times,” said Penn State coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley. “Our serve receive wasn’t great, and Pitt played a great match.”

Penn State settled down in the second set, even taking its first lead of the match at 8-7. But Pitt scored seven of the next 10 points — keyed by three kills and a pair of blocks by Babcock — to create breathing room.

Twice the Nittany Lions pulled within one — 17-16 and 18-17 — but Pitt regrouped, getting a pair of kills by Stafford and an ace by Rachel Fairbanks down the stretch to secure the win.

Pitt completed the sweep by going on runs of 5-0 and 6-0 in the third set to build a big lead and finish off a convincing performance. Penn State kept it interesting, going on a 6-0 run after getting down 18-8, before Pitt found its footing again thanks to three straight kills by Stafford.

“I think for the first time this season, we felt like we lost our heads a little bit,” Penn State grad outside hitter Jess Mruzik said. “Our first couple of matches, we were pretty even-keeled, even when things were kind of hitting the fan, but we felt like we were still going to figure it out.

“But for the first time, we felt like we didn’t have that control.”

Pitt, meanwhile, was in total control. The Panthers have been in control all season, having swept all seven matches.

But there was no NCAA championship trophy in the building Wednesday night, and that, Stafford said, keeps the Panthers pushing forward.

“I think the team and coach have made it very clear that we want to be the No. 1 team in the country at the end of the season,” she said. “Obviously, it’s good for the fan support and bringing people to our games.

“But we just have a good, level head and want to take it game by game.”