No. 1 Pitt to Clash with no. 3 Louisville Wednesday night at the KFC Yum! Center

PITTSBURGH – The no. 1 Pitt volleyball team (27-1, 17-1 ACC) goes to the no. 3 Louisville (25-3, 17-1 ACC) for the second of two games against the Cardinals in the regular season. The highly anticipated match will take place on Wednesday night at the KFC Yum! Center at 19 and can be seen on the ACC Network.

Pitt has won the last three games against the Cardinals, all in five sets. The Panthers defeated Louisville in reverse celebrations last season, and the latter clinched a spot in the 2023 National Semifinals, Pitt’s third move. At least one of the two programs has won or had a share of the past seven ACC championships and has advanced to four straight Elite Eight appearances. Louisville narrowly owns the series record, 20-17.

OMAHA BOUND!
• Trained outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez heard her name called in the PVF draft, selected by the Omaha Supernovas with the sixth pick in the fourth round.
• She joins Pitt volleyball alumni Courtney Buzzerio, Kayla Lund, Leketor Member-Meneh, Chiamaka Nwokolo and Layne Van Buskirk in the league.

THE RIVAL
• One of the two teams has had at least a share of the ACC championship the past seven seasons.
(Pitt – 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)
(Louisville – 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022)
• The Pitt Panthers and Louisville Cardinals have advanced to the last three Elite Eights.
• Five of the last seven matches between the two teams have gone to five sets.
• Louisville defeated Pitt in the 2022 Final Four in five sets before the Panthers reverse swept the Cardinals in the 2023 Regional Finals.

BIG TIME BABCOCK
• Olivia Babcock earned her second AVCA National Player of the Week award of the season following her impressive performance against No. 22 at Florida State and Miami.
• This was the third time in her career Babcock has been honored.
• She is the only player in program history with more than one national weekly award to her name, as Pitt great Kayla Lund is the only other Panther to add the accolade to her resume.

ALL-ACC NODS
• Rachel Fairbanks and Olivia Babcock was named ACC Setter and Offensive Player of the Week respectively after two sweeps against no. 22 at Florida State and Miami.
• Fairbanks averaged 12.00 assists per game. set and 2.17 digs per set.
• She set Pitt to a .438 team hitting percentage for both games.
• Babcock averaged 8.08 points per game. set, 6.50 kills per set, hit .525, 1.17 blocks per set, 1.17 digs per set and 1.00 es per set.

BABCOCK GIVES HISTORY
• Olivia Babcock is now the all-time leader for most aces in a single season in the 25-point scoring era with 62 aces.
• She accomplished the feat with her third ace of the night against Miami and finished with five for the match.
• Babcock passed Lindsey Zitzke, who recorded 53 aces in the 2011 season.

AWESOME TRIO
• Rachel Fairbanks, Olivia Babcock and Torrey Stafford have been named semifinalists for the 2024 AVCA Division I Player of the Year award.
• Pitt’s three nominees lead the country, and Nebraska is the only other team to have more than one (2).
• All three were named AVCA All-Americans last season and are on pace to win the award again.

WELL OILED MACHINE
• Pitt is in the top 20 in the nation in hitting percentage (1st – .347), opponent hitting percentage (1st – .115), aces per. set (6. – 2.07), blocks per set (6. – 2.93), assists per set (10. -13.21) and kills per set (18. – 14.08).

SENSATIONAL STAFF
• Torrey Stafford hitting .375 for the season, good for 41st in the nation and first among all Division I outsiders.
• No other Power Four outside hitter ranks in the top 150 in slugging percentage.

KELLEY WARMS UP
• Intermediate blocker Bre Kelley has recorded at least five blocks in 12 games this season.
• Her ACC Defensive Player of the Week award (10/21) was the first of her career.
• Bre’s .800 hitting percentage against NC State is a career high (eight kills in 10 attempts).
• Her ten blocks against no. 4 Louisville tied career high and is a season high.

DYNAMIC DUO
• Torrey Stafford and Olivia Babcock have impressed in their sophomore campaigns after earning All-American status as rookies.
• Babcock is among the top 25 in the nation in aces per game. set (2nd – 0.71), points per sets (3. – 5.87) and kills per sets (16th – 4.54), while Stafford ranks 41st in hitting percentage (.375), 77th in points per set (4.38) and 86th in kills per set (3.77).
• Babcock or Stafford have either led or tied for the team high in kills in every game this season.

VOLLEYBALL TAHN
• Nine Pitt volleyball games are sold out this season (Penn State, Cal, Stanford, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Duke, Florida State, Miami and Georgia Tech).
• Eight of those nine took place at Fitzgerald Field House, while the win over the Nittany Lions was at the Petersen Events Center in front of a record 11,800 people.

LEADER OF THE PACK
• The Panthers defeated NC State in straight sets at Reynolds Gym.
• Olivia Babcock led with 17 kills (hitting .577), eight digs, three aces, two blocks and two assists.
• Rachel Fairbanks notched 33 assists and set the Panthers to a .437 team hitting clip, the highest opposing hitting percentage NC State has allowed this season.

REDUCED DEACS
• Pitt swept Wake Forest in Winston-Salem for its 16th ACC win.
• Torrey Stafford recorded a match-high 16 kills and hit .483 while adding 10 digs, three blocks, three assists and an ace.

WEATHER THE STORM
• The Panthers swept Miami on senior day and didn’t allow the Hurricanes to reach the 20-point mark.
• The win marked the 22nd sweep of the season.
• Rachel Fairbanks registered 36 assists and 10 digs for double-doubles, and Olivia Babcock notched 20 kills, five aces, three blocks and three digs, hit .531.
• Bre Kelley recorded nine kills on 12 swings, hitting a career-high .750 (while recording at least 10 attempts).

SWEEP THE SEMINOLES
• Pitt earned its ninth top 25 win of the season against then-No. 22 Florida State in a sweep.
• Olivia Babcock led the Panthers with 19 kills and Torrey Stafford added 10 kills to go along with a .563 hitting percentage.

COUNT THEM!
• Pitt earned its eighth top 25 win of the season against No. 25 in North Carolina.
• Five of those eight wins have come against ACC opponents (No. 13 Georgia Tech, No. 15 SMU, No. 5 Stanford, No. 4 Louisville, No. 25 North Carolina).
• The Panthers are 3-0 against top five teams this year (No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Louisville, No. 5 Stanford).