No. 1 Pitt Finishes Non-Conference Play With UMBC on Wednesday Night

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…