Pitt Volleyball Freshman, 2026 Commits Make USA U19 Roster

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers will have one of their volleyball players, plus two commitments representing the program at the national level this summer.

USA Volleyball revealed their Girls U19 National Team roster for the 2025 FIVB Girls U19 World Championship, set to take place from July 2-13 in Osijek, Croatia, and Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, which has great Pitt representation on it.

Pitt freshman middle blocker Abbey Emch made the roster, and so too did Class of 2026 commitments in setter Isabella Hoppe and outside hitter Ayanna Watson.

All three of these players are among the 18 USA Volleyball announced for the initial roster, which will compete in the first training block, June 1-7 in Colorado Springs. 12 of these players will make the final roster and participate in the second training block in the Netherlands from June 26-30.

Emch hails from New Waterford, Ohio and played for Crestview High School, just a little over 60 miles northwest of Pitt's campus, near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.

She had an incredible senior season, averaging 6.4 kills per set, 0.8 aces per set and hit .501. She also played well in the back row, averaging 3.0 digs per set and a 94.0% reception in serve-receive.

Emch finished her high school career playing 338 sets and making 1,577 kills, 726 digs, 206 aces and 317 total blocks. She was had a 102-6 record over four seasons at Crestview, including winning 310 of 338 those sets.

She also earned District Player of the Year, MVAC Player of the Year, First Team All-Ohio, First Team All-District, FirstTeam MVAC and AVCA girls high school All-Region honors.

Emch is one of four middle blockers on the Panthers roster for 2025, along with AVCA Second Team All-American and redshirt senior Bre Kelley, sophomores in All-Freshman Team honoree Ryla Jones and Dalia Vîrlan.

She joined the program for the spring season, playing in all three spring matches and gaining experience with her position group.

Pitt volleyball assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Kellen Petrone pointed out the relationship the staff built with Emch as a reason she chose to commit and that they love both her talent and versatility on the court.

"Abbey, she played for a small club," Petrone said. "She questioned herself sometimes, "Should I go to a bigger club?", but she wanted to stay loyal and we supported her in that decision and she's someone that really a lot of the top schools wanted, but because of her connection to us and growing up around our program, she felt like this was home for her.

"For high school and club, she's a player that can do it all and, so she is someone that has filled whatever her role her team has needed. So the fact that she has not just played middle blocker, which is what she'll primarily play here, makes her just a better volleyball player."

Hoppe plays for Pine-Richland High School in Gibsonia, Pa., winning a WPIAL 4A Girls' Volleyball Title as a freshman in 2022, and for Academy Volleyball Cleveland (AVC).

She played for the USA U-19 squad at the NORCECA Girls Continental Championship in Honduras in July 2024 and won a gold medal, making this her second stint with the team.

Watson plays for Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas and also for Vegas Aces 16 Under Armour last season, her travel team.

She had a fantastic junior season for the Gaels, averaging 7.3 kills per set. 0.5 aces per set, 3.0 digs per set, hit .547 and had no reception errors. Her play earned her PrepVolleyball.com Class of 2026 High School Player of the Year honors.

Her performances helped Bishop Gorman finish with a 29-8 overall record, 12-0 record in the Class 5A Southern - Desert Conference and Las Vegas 5A State Champions.

She also plays with libero/setter Trinity Thompson on Bishop Gorman, who is also a Pitt volleyball commitment in the Class of 2026.

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