Pitt’s women’s volleyball has had a national title within its grasp the last four seasons and has come up short.

It has lost in the semifinals.

Will this be the season the Panthers (26-4) break through?

“I do not know. We have to get there first,” Pitt coach Dan Fisher said. “We keep showing up. Pittsburgh, we need you. We need you at each round. We want the home court advantage.

“We lost our first game of the season to Nebraska. We were not that far off to forcing a fifth set. The other three games were nail-biters, and we were better statistically in those games. The main takeaway is that we can beat anyone. When we are playing, our best is incredible. I like us at our best, and there is no question we are the best we have ever been.”

The No. 4-ranked Panthers open the NCAA championships 6:30 p.m. Friday at Petersen Events Center against the University of Maryland Baltimore County (13-11). The winner advances to a second-round match at 7 p.m. Saturday against the winner of Michigan (21-10) and Xavier (26-4).

Michigan and Xavier play at 4 p.m.

Pitt is seeded No. 1 in its regional for the third consecutive year.

The Panthers are 5-0 against UMBC. The Retrievers defeated Albany to win the American East Championship.

Pitt has been in the NCAA Tournament eight consecutive seasons under Fisher.

“We are very excited to get started,” Fisher said. “We had two goals this year. One was to win the ACC title, and the other was to win a national championship. And it took a lot of work to put ourselves in a position and have a good seed. We are healthy and ready to get going.”

The Panthers lost to ACC rival Louisville in the 2024 tournament.

“Every year is different,” Fisher said. “If you look at our starting lineup, there are only two returning starters. This is the most physical team we have ever had … and we are showing that lately with how we are blocking.”

The returning starters are opposite hitter Olivia Babcock and middle blocker Bre Kelley.

Babcock was named ACC Player of the Year, and Kelley was the first Panther to win ACC Defensive Player of the Year.

Pitt also had five players named to the All-ACC teams. Brooke Mosher was named to the first team along with Babcock and Kelley. Earning second-team honors were Blaire Bayless and Marina Pezelj. Mosher has more than 3,000 career assists.

“I was a little surprised that I won the defensive award,” Kelley said. “It is special to have that. I am grateful.”

Babcock and Kelley have helped nurture the young Panthers, a squad that has continued to get better.

“I feel this tournament is different, and this team is different because of the experience they got at the beginning of the year,” Babcock said. “I feel going through something that felt so much like a Final Four.

“We got immediate pressure before even really playing with each other. Having to adapt in that situation and how much we have grown since then just shows how much talent and grit this team has.”

Fisher said they started slowly this season, but they are playing their best volleyball now.

“We have to realize that everyone is good in the tournament,” Fisher said. “We have coached them to take it one point at a time. I was pleased how the committee seeded us.”

Babcock said every loss has been a learning experience for the team.

“This team is very new,” Babcock said. “We had to gel and grind through our losses. It is going to help us. We had to learn each other.”

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