Inside The Panthers

Pitt Volleyball Opening 2025 Season vs. Nebraska

The Pitt Panthers will face Nebraska to open the 2025 volleyball season.

Dominic Campbell

Pitt Volleyball Celebrates a Point
Pitt Volleyball Celebrates a Point / Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers will face one of the best teams in the country to start the 2025 volleyball season.

Nebraska head coach John Cook spoke on the Kicking Back with the Cooks podcast and revealed that they will face Pitt in the AVCA First Serve Showcase on Friday Aug. 22 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb.

He also revealed that Stanford will face Creighton and that there are four more teams involved, who will play on Saturday Aug, 24. Nebraska would face Stanford and Pitt would play Creighton with both matches taking place on Sunday, Aug. 25.

Nebraska normally plays volleyball at Bob Devaney Sports Center, which holds a capacity of 8,309 fans. Pinnacle Bank Arena holds a capacity of 15,290 fans for volleyball, almost twice as much.

Pitt is winless against Nebraska, losing all 15 matches against them in the all-time series, including five times in the NCAA Tournament.

The Panthers lost two twice to the Cornhuskers in the Final Four the past four seasons, losing in four sets in 2021 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio and suffering a loss in a sweep in 2023 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.

This matchup will serve as the first regular season matchup between the two teams since Aug. 29, 2015, when Nebraska won in four sets at the Bob Devaney Center. Nebraska would go on to win the National Title that season, finishing 32-4.

Cook just finished his 25th season as head coach of the Cornhuskers, where they finished 33-3 overall, 19-1 in the Big Ten, earning a share of the conference title, and made the Final Four, where they suffered a reverse sweep vs. Penn State.

He has led Nebraska to a 722-103 (.875) overall record and 438-57 (.885) in the Big 12/Big Ten, along with 12 Final Fours, four runners-up finishes and five National Championships.

The Cornhuskers return AVCA All-American in First Team junior middle blocker Andi Jackson, two-time Second Team/Big Ten Setter of the Year in junior Bergen Reilly and Second Team junior outside hitter Harper Murray.

Pitt will return 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 head coach Dan Fisher 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

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