PITTSBURGH – The No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball team (19-1, 9-1 ACC) won their ninth ACC match of the season against Notre Dame (9-10, 2-7 ACC), Sunday afternoon, 25-14, 25-20, 22-25, 25-19. Cat Flood recorded multiple career highs with eight kills, eight digs and three assists while hitting .500. Rachel Fairbanks notched a season-high 47 assists and added nine digs, three aces and a block.
Both teams were tied early at 3-3 until Notre Dame forced Pitt to take a timeout, down 4-6. The Panthers turned it on in the following stretch, outscoring the Irish 11-4, and Notre Dame called a timeout to talk things over. A pair of Pitt kills and a tough Panther block forced Notre Dame to take its final timeout, down 12-20. Olivia Babcock notched two kills in the next five points to lead Pitt to a 25-14 set one win.
Pitt carried over momentum from the first set victory and got out to an early 7-2 lead, forcing the Irish to talk things over. The Panthers and Irish went back and forth generating points, but Notre Dame was unable to put together a significant run in the following minutes. The Irish called their final timeout, down 8-15. Four different Panthers recorded kills to help Pitt capture the second set victory, 25-20.
Notre Dame responded well out of the break and forced Pitt to take a timeout at 1-4. The Panthers began to click offensively once again, and a solid service performance from Fairbanks propelled Notre Dame to take a timeout, with a narrow 10-9 lead. Multiple kills on the Irish side and three consecutive Pitt errors caused Pitt to take its second timeout, down 13-16. The Irish continued to roll and got out to a 20-15 lead, but three kills from Flood was too much, and Notre Dame took a timeout with a 23-20 lead. Notre Dame’s offense down the stretch was too much to handle as it took the third set, 25-22.
The Irish stayed hot and began the fourth set with a 4-2 lead. Both teams scratched and clawed until 13-13, but a 5-1 run from Pitt behind four straight serves from Stafford caused Notre Dame to take a timeout. Flood recorded a kill immediately after, but two consecutive Notre Dame kills forced Pitt to take a timeout with a 19-16 lead. The Panthers were able to hang on and take the fourth set, 25-19, and the match,…
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