Inside The Panthers

Pitt Volleyball Announces Home Spring Scrimmages

The Pitt Panthers will play home volleyball scrimmages this spring.
Dominic Campbell|
No. 1 Pitt Volleyball Celebrates a Point in their win vs. No. 23 USC in Los Angeles
No. 1 Pitt Volleyball Celebrates a Point in their win vs. No. 23 USC in Los Angeles | Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers volleyball program will have some competition against other teams this spring.

Pitt announced two home scrimmages for their spring schedule, as they face Ohio State on Saturday, April 12 and Michigan on Sunday, April 13, both at Fitzgerald Field House with 1:00 p.m. tip-offs.

The Panthers normally play four matches in the preseason, two on the road and two at home, so they will likely travel to face two teams.

Pitt faced Michigan for a preseason exhibition on Aug. 24 in Ann Arbor, which Pitt won in five sets. Michigan holds a 6-3 advantage in the all-time series.

The Buckeyes hold a 12-11 all-time series lead, but the Panthers have won the past two matchups at home. This will make it three straight spring seasons that these two teams have faced off.

Both Michigan and Ohio State missed out on the NCAA Tournament last season. Michigan finished 18-13 overall and 8-12 in the Big Ten, while Ohio State finished 14-16 overall and 7-13 in the Big Ten.

Pitt returns AVCA National Player of the Year in junior right side hitter Olivia Babcock, Second Team All-American in redshirt senior middle blocker Bre Kelley and All-ACC Freshman Team honoree in sophomore middle blocker Ryla Jones.

The Panthers finished 33-2 overall and 19-1 in the ACC, their third straight season winning the conference title and sixth time in eight seasons doing so. They also made the Final Four for the fourth straight year, but lost in four sets to rival Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.

Pitt did lose a number of players, including First Team All-American setter Rachel Fairbanks, All-ACC honorees in libero/defensive specialist Emmy Klika and outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez, plus serve specialist Cat Flood, who had a 123-15 record, winning 89.1% of their matches the past four seasons.

They also lost First Team All-American outside hitter Torrey Stafford, who transferred to Texas this offseason. Incoming freshman outside hitter Samara Coleman, who enrolled mid-year, departed the program and landed at TCU.

Pitt did make additions to the roster, including redshirt senior Emery Dupes from Florida State, senior setter/outside hitter Brooke Mosher from Illinois and redshirt sophomore outside hiter Sophie Gregorie from Oregon.

Dupes and Gregorie are with the team and so too is freshman middle blocker Abbey Emch, who enrolled mid-year. Mosher is still at Illinois and will join the program in the summer.

Pitt head coach Dan Fisher, who won AVCA National Coach of the Year, just signed a three-year extension that will keep him through to the 2030 season. He just completed his 12th season in charge of the program and holds a 320-69 record (.823) since taking over the program in 2013, giving him the most wins for a Pitt head coach.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.

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