After three NCAA national volleyball semis in a row, No. 4 Pitt aims higher

Most coaches are loath to reflect on their accomplishments while still in the prime of their careers. 

So when asked if this was what he envisioned for the program when he took over 12 years ago, Pitt’s Dan Fisher, normally thoughtful and erudite in his answers to the media, responded in simpler terms.

“It’s probably more than I envisioned,” he said. “I was just trying to make playoffs and not get fired.”

There’s little chance of that happening in the foreseeable future. Not for a coach who has taken his team to the last three NCAA national semifinals.

Since taking over in 2013, Fisher has built his own national power on top of so-called Cardiac Hill in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood.

And as Pitt embarks on the 2024 season, expectations are perhaps higher than they ever have been. While the final four teams of 2021 and 2022 featured a largely rotating cast of characters – particularly at the pins – this team will look a lot like the 2023 group that won 29 matches and a second straight ACC title (the Panthers’ fifth since 2017).

There’s sixth-year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez, the 6-foot-1 Puerto Rican who earned second-team All-ACC honors after averaging 2.27 kills and 1.96 digs per set while recording 34 aces. She was a VolleyballMag third-team All-American in 2022.

There’s 6-2 grad outside hitter Cat Flood, the consummate role player from Wilmette, Illinois, who easily could have spent her fifth year at a program where she might get more touches but instead returned to Pitt.

There’s 6-foot senior setter/right side Rachel Fairbanks, the 2023 ACC Setter of the Year and VolleyballMag second-team All-American from Tustin, California, who has played more than 300 sets in her career.

And there’s senior libero/defensive specialist Emmy Klika, an All-ACC second-teamer and VBM honorable mention All-American who averaged more than three digs per set.

“They have been in big moments,” said Fisher, whose team was ranked No. 4 in the AVCA preseason poll behind Texas (1), Nebraska (2) and Wisconsin (3). “They have succeeded in big moments. I think they bring a level of self-belief.”

But, despite their glowing resumes, are not even the team’s most talented players.

Last year’s incredible freshman trio are now sophomores.