No. 5 Pitt Volleyball Outlasts No. 11 SMU

DALLAS, Texas. — The Pitt Panthers are off to a strong start in ACC play.

No. 5 Pitt (9-2, 1-0 ACC) defeated No. 11 SMU 3-2 on the road to extend its winning streak to nine matches. The Panthers now have ranked wins over No. 25 TCU, No. 7 Arizona State, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 13 Penn State and No. 11 SMU.

Pitt looked impressive in its last outing against the Nittany Lions. The Panthers went on the road and handled their in-state rival 3-1 with set victories of 25-23, 25-17 and 25-17. Their only loss was in the third set, 25-23.

The Panthers continued their strong play against SMU, but three kills and a block gave the Mustangs an early 4-1 lead. Pitt fought back to make it a 7-5 deficit until kills from Ryla Jones and Olivia Babcock, plus two SMU errors, made it a 4-0 run and forced the Mustangs to call a timeout.

Brooke Mosher continued her impressive service run with an ace, followed by another SMU attack error to make it an 11-7 lead for the Panthers. Pitt maintained the four-score lead until a kill by Blaire Bayless and the seventh SMU error of the set forced the Mustangs to use their second timeout at 20-14.

SMU chipped away at the lead with the help of two Pitt errors and a kill. The Panthers used a timeout and got back on track with two kills from Babcock and one from Dagmar Mourits to close the first set 25-20.

Like the first set, the second set started with Pitt down 4-1, but it took the Panthers longer to close the gap. Pitt made it a one-point game at 9-8 after a kill by Bayless and a block by Bayless and Jones. However, SMU grew the lead again to 14-10.

Kills from Babcock and Dagmar made it 15-12 at the media timeout, but two Pitt attack errors caused Dan Fisher to use a timeout with his team down 17-13. It didn't seem to help, though, because Pitt had to use another timeout three scores later at 19-14.

The break seemed to work this time, as the Panthers cut the lead to two and forced a timeout when SMU committed an error. Babcock and Jones got kills and Mosher recorded her second ace. It remained a two-score game until a Babcock kill and an error by the Mustangs made it 22-21.

Babcock tied the set with her 12th kill of the night to make it the first tie of the set at 22-22. SMU used a timeout, and it was still tied two scores later, but a bad set and a kill ended the second set 25-23 in favor of SMU.

The Panthers started the third set hot by going on a 4-0 run and forcing SMU to use an early timeout. The Mustangs managed to get a few scores, but so did Pitt to make it a 10-4 lead. The Panthers maintained the six-point gap until an ace and a kill shortened the lead to 12-8.

Pitt brought the lead back up to six with Babcock's 16th kill of the match and an SMU error at 18-12. SMU used a timeout at 20-14, and Pitt did the same at 22-17. The Panthers promptly took the third set 25-19 after a kill by Dagmar, an ace by Mallorie Meyer and an SMU error.

The fourth set started pretty even, with neither side maintaining an advantage until SMU had a 7-5 lead. But Pitt scored three straight to make it 8-7. The Mustangs then answered and scored three of their own to make it 10-8.

The Panthers tied the set at 10 off two SMU attack errors, but the Mustangs quickly captured the lead again and maintained it to the media timeout at 15-13. Pitt brought it within one at 16-15, but SMU re-extended the lead to 20-16.

The Mustangs got a kill and an ace to force a Pitt timeout at 22-17. Another SMU ace, a kill and a block ended the fourth set 25-18 for the Mustangs.

The final set of the match started with Mosher on the line for Pitt, and like clockwork, the Panthers jumped to a 3-0 lead and forced SMU to use a timeout. Mosher tallied her fifth ace of the match after the break, and the lead grew again with a block by Babcock and Jones.

SMU finally got on the board with a kill, but Bayless followed for the Panthers. Mourtis got a kill and SMU burned its final timeout of the match, down 7-1. Jones and Babcock got a block, and SMU recorded two kills and two errors to make it 10-3.

Mourtis and Mosher got kills, and the 29th attack error on the Mustangs made it 13-5. Babcock's kill put it at match point, but SMU fought back with a 4-0 run to force Pitt to use a timeout. However, the Panthers closed it out with a kill by none other than Babcock for the 15-9 set five win.

It was a hard-fought match by both sides. The Panthers played well in each set except for the fourth and parts of the second when they were down 19-14 at one point. Pitt out-hit SMU .294 to .187, had 59 kills to SMU's 54 and committed seven fewer attack errors.

Babcock led the Panthers with 22 kills and hit .400. Mosher was dominant from the service line with five of Pitt's six service aces and Jones had six total blocks and seven kills.

Pitt and SMU will travel back to Pittsburgh to face one another again in the Petersen Events Center at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 28. That match will air on ESPN.

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