Pitt women's volleyball earns No. 1 overall seed for NCAA Tournament

After spending most of the season ranked atop the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, the Pitt women’s volleyball team was rewarded by being slotted as the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, which begins Thursday.

Pitt again will host in the first two rounds, with Oklahoma, Morehead State and UTEP the other teams that will visit Petersen Events Center. The Panthers open play at 7 p.m. Friday against Morehead State.

Pitt wrapped up the outright ACC title — the program’s sixth overall — Saturday with a five-set win over Georgia Tech. The win made the Panthers 19-1 in the ACC and 29-1 overall. Barring an upset of biblical proportions in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Pitt will reach 30 wins for the fifth time in the past seven years (one of those seven was the covid-shortened 2020 season).

The Panthers are led by sophomores Olivia Babcock and Torrey Stafford. Babcock leads the team in kills per set (4.54) and service aces (66). She also averages 1.19 blocks per set. Stafford averages 3.76 kills per set.

Sixth-year player Valeria Vazquez Gomez does a little of everything for the Panthers: She averages 2.10 kills per set, has served 34 aces, averages nearly 2 digs per set and has 35 total blocks.

Fifth-year senior setter Rachel Fairbanks averages 10.49 assists and 2.22 digs per set. She also has 30 aces as part of one of the nation’s best-serving teams. The Panthers average about two aces per set and have six players with at least 10 aces: Babcock (66), Vazquez Gomez (34), Fairbanks (30), Cat Flood (25), Stafford (18) and Dillyn Griffin (10).

The Panthers also are among the nation’s best blocking teams, leading the nation in opponent hitting percentage (.122). Bre Kelly (1.53), Babcock and Ryla Jones (1.11) average better than a block per set each.

Twenty-four of Pitt’s 29 wins came via 3-0 sweeps.