Typically when you’re in the fourth year of higher education, you might figure it’s time to graduate. That’s the thinking of the University of Pittsburgh women’s volleyball team in its fourth-straight year at the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Final Four.
The Panthers haven't been able to get past the semifinals in each of the three previous years. This year, Pitt enters the semifinals Thursday night in Louisville (6:30 p.m., ESPN) as the top-ranked team in the nation.
Pitt setter Rachel Fairbanks has been to each of the Panthers’ Final Fours in the past four years. She’s one of four Panthers who have done so. The others are: Cat Flood, Valeria Vazguez Gomez and Emmy Klika.
This year’s team is better prepared, Fairbanks said.
“I think, me along with the older players on the team, are used to high-pressure situations like this,” said Fairbanks, speaking Wednesday in the KFC Yum! Center where the championship will take place. “Pressure is a privilege, so we love being in situations like this.”
Each of this year’s national semifinals features all-conference matchups. The other semi is an all-Big Ten showdown between Penn State and 2023 NCAA runner-up Nebraska.
Pitt’s semifinal against the University of Louisville is a rematch from their all-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) encounter two years ago in Omaha.
Panthers coach Dan Fisher said in ‘22 that the rivalry between the Panthers and Cardinals had elevated the ACC’s volleyball exposure nationally.
“I think our rivalry has been: We’ve made each other better,” said Fisher, who’s in his eleventh season coaching the Panthers. “I also think the landscape has changed.”
But not the path of facing each other.
Besides the regular-season matchups during the conference — which Pitt swept both times this year — they met again last year in the NCAA tournament. The Panthers denied the Cardinals from advancing to the Final Four in the regional final.
To borrow a volleyball term, Pitt likes to “swing away,” and the city of Louisville — headquarters to one of baseball’s most reputable bat companies — presented conference-rival coach Fisher with an unexpected welcome: a souvenir bat.
“I just got a gift of a really cool Louisville slugger bat that I think will probably be in my office forever,” he said Wednesday.
Two years ago, Louisville Cardinals coach Dani Busboom Kelly acknowledged the fledgling rivalry between the two teams.
“This rivalry means a lot,” she said. “I think it’s made both of our programs so much stronger, and there’s a lot of respect between our programs. That makes it fun.”
It’s a tough ticket for the sold-out KFC Yum! Center semis. But Pitt fan Mike Van Thiel and his wife Nair got tickets and drove from Pittsburgh to Louisville on Tuesday.
Van Thiel declared Pitt with its 33-1 record — its only loss coming against SMU — the best team among the semifinalists. But he’s bracing himself for a similar disappointment from a year ago, with a semifinal loss in Tampa.
He cites what he calls “The Pitt Factor.”
“Pitt only wins today because they know it’s going to hurt more when they lose tomorrow,” said Van Thiel.
A semifinal victory Thursday would propel the Panthers to the title game against either Nebraska or Penn State. The Huskers defeated the Panthers in the semis last year.
A title match against Penn State would make it an all-Keystone State women’s volleyball championship, which has never happened before.
But just reaching the title match would already be a “graduation.”
All-American Panthers
Four Panthers on Wednesday were named All-Americans by the American Volleyball Coaches Association — making Pitt the only U.S. team with three First Team All-Americans.
The AVCA honored players Olivia Babcock, Rachel Fairbanks, Torrey Stafford and Bre Kelley for their performance this season.
Babcock was named a First Team All-American for the second time after notching ACC Player of the Year and East Coast Region Player of the Year honors for the first time in her career. In addition, she is one of four finalists for the AVCA National Player of the Year award.
Fairbanks became a First Team All-American for the second consecutive season and is now a three-time All-American. She is also a First Team All-ACC and an AVCA East Coast Region Team player.
Known as a stellar outside hitter, Stafford was named a First Team All-American for the first time after earning Third Team All-America honors in her freshman season. A First Team All-ACC and AVCA East Coast Region member for the second straight year, she leads the nation in hitting percentage among Power Four outside hitters
Kelley earned Second Team All-American honors for the first time as well as being named to the AVCA East Coast All-Region Team. Kelley also has been named a First Team All-ACC player for the first time in her career.
