PITTSBURGH – The No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball team (15-0, 5-0 ACC) notched its 15th straight win and fifth top-25 victory of the season (25-17, 25-18, 25-9) against SMU (12-4, 4-1 ACC) on Wednesday night in the form of another sweep. Olivia Babcock recorded a match-high 18 kills, hitting a season best .571 while adding seven digs, four aces and three blocks. Rachel Fairbanks recorded a match-high 37 assists with seven digs, two kills and an ace.
Pitt and SMU battled from the first point of the match as SMU held an early 8-7 lead. The Panthers responded with a 5-0 run behind the serve of Fairbanks to force an SMU timeout. Fairbanks rattled off two more points, but a 3-0 run from the Mustangs caused Pitt to take its first timeout of the set. Three combined kills from Torrey Stafford and Babcock, and a Valeria Vazquez Gomez ace propelled Pitt to a comfortable 20-12 lead as the Mustangs took their final timeout. The Panthers sided out at an impressive clip down the stretch, and a kill from Bre Kelley captured the first set victory, 25-17.
The new ACC foes continued to battle it out for the first half of the second set. Neither team called a timeout until the media break with Pitt leading 15-12. An SMU error and a kill from Babcock caused the Mustangs to take a timeout, down 12-17. Another kill from Babcock and two Vazquez Gomez aces forced SMU to take its final timeout at 20-12. The Mustangs clawed for points down the stretch, but Pitt handled business and…
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