PITTSBURGH – The No. 1 Pitt volleyball team (9-0, 0-0 ACC) hosts UMBC (1-9, 0-0 America East) for a midweek match-up on Sept. 25 at 5 p.m. at the Fitzgerald Field House. The two programs will play each other for the third time in four years.
Pitt leads the series 4-0 and defeated the Retrievers in three sets last season. Five Panthers registered at least five kills while the team hit an efficient .488.
PANTHERS SWEEP GOLDEN EAGLES
• Pitt looked sharp against Marquette on Sunday afternoon, sweeping the Golden Eagles.
• The Panthers hit .398, and three players (Olivia Babcock, Torrey Stafford and Valeria Vazquez Gomez) recorded at least 10 kills.
• Rachel Fairbanks recorded 39 assists, six digs, three blocks and two digs.
PITT DOMINATES PIRATES
• The Panthers once again swept East Carolina on Friday night behind Olivia Babcock’s match-high 19 kills.
• Senior setter Nisa Buzlutepe recorded 30 assists, and Cat Flood tied her career high with three aces.
QB1 DOING QB1 THINGS
• Rachel Fairbanks was named the ACC Co-Setter of the Week for the first time this season.
• This marks the fifth Setter of the Week award of her career since switching to a one setter offense.
• She averaged 13.5 assists per set and set the team to a .391 hitting percentage.
THE ROOKIE IMPRESSES
• Ryla Jones earned her first ACC Freshman of the Week honor after an impressive three match stretch.
• She recorded seven kills in the sweep of No. 3 Penn State, hitting .636 on 11 attempts and added a match-high six blocks.
• Against East Carolina, she notched a career-high eight kills, hitting .800 on 10 attempts and added five blocks and three kills and four blocks in the sweep of Marquette.
SWEET SWEEP
• The Panthers swept No. 3 Penn State last Wednesday night in the Petersen Events Center in front of a record-breaking crowd (11,800).
• Pitt’s 21 straight sets won broke a program record.
• Torrey Stafford and Rachel Fairbanks shined, recording 17 kills and 42 assists, respectively.
• Freshman middle blocker Ryla Jones had a career-high seven kills on a .636 hitting percentage.
• Senior libero Emmy Klika registered 15 digs.
DYNAMIC DUO
• Torrey Stafford and Olivia Babcock have impressed in their sophomore…
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