Pitt Volleyball Freshman Departs Program

A Pitt Panthers volleyball freshman will head elsewhere.
Pitt Volleyball freshman outside hitter Samara Coleman departed the program and transferred to TCU
Pitt Volleyball freshman outside hitter Samara Coleman departed the program and transferred to TCU / Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers saw one of their star freshman depart the program and head elsewhere.

Outside hitter Samara Coleman announced on her Twitter that she will play for TCU and not Pitt next season.

Coleman committed to Pitt back in June 2023 and eventually signed her National Letter of Intent on Nov. 13, 2024, which marked the early signing period for volleyball programs and committed recruits across the country.

She also was supposed to join Pitt for this semester and play in the spring season, with posts of her at Pitt on Twitter that were recently deleted. Spring semester for Pitt started last week on Jan. 8, making this less than eight days from start of semester to joining TCU.

Coleman stands at 6-foot-1 and plays for Grand Oaks High School in Spring, Texas and for her travelball team, Houston Skyline. She also has experience in the USA National Team Development Program.

She has a vertical jump at 30 inches with one arm and a standing reach of 90 inches, according to herHudl. Her vertical helps her excel against her opponents and it doesn't hurt her to have such great power behind each swing.

Coleman had a great senior season so far, averaging 5.4 kills per set, 0.4 aces per set and is hitting .332. She also played well in the back row, with 2.6 digs per set and a 96.5% reception rate on opponent serves.

She earned 2024 AVCA Girls High School First Team All-American honors for her play this past season.

She made 499 kills, 4.1 per set, while hitting .351 as a junior. She also 49 service aces, 0.4 per set, made 309 digs, 2.5 per set, and excelled in serve-receive, making just 29 errors on 745 serves.

Coleman received a number of accolades for her efforts in 2023, including Texas State Writers Association Class 6A Player of the Year and VYPEHouston Public School Player of the Year.

Pitt volleyball now has just one outside hitter heading into next season in junior Blaire Bayless.

Sixth year Valeria Vazquez Gomez graduated after the 2024 season and is now playing with the Omaha Supernovas in the Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF), while serving specialist Cat Flood also graduated.

Sophomore Torrey Stafford, an AVCA First Team All-American, departed Pitt as well, choosing to enter the transfer portal, landing at Texas.

The Panthers now have just one freshman from the Class of 2025 in middle blocker Abbey Emch, who is currently practicing with the team.

Pitt also lost a number of players last season, with seniors in AVCA First Team All-American setter Rachel Fairbanks, All-ACC libero/defensive specialist Emmy Klika and setter Nisa Buzletepe all graduating

Freshman middle blocker Bianca Garibaldi also departed Pitt, transferring to ACC foe Georgia Tech, making it seven players from last year's team no longer on the roster.

The only other player who has experience at outside hitter is incoming Illinois transfer Brooke Mosher, who normally plays setter, but played at outside hitter earlier in her career.

Panthers head coach Dan Fisher will have to find a way to address a dire need heading into next season, whether that means moving players around, heading into the transfer portal or finding an international recruit.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

Follow Dominic Campbell on Twitter.