No. 1 Pitt to Play No. 4 Louisville and Notre Dame at Home This Weekend

PITTSBURGH – The No. 1 Pitt Panthers (17-1, 7-1 ACC) are home once again this weekend as they play rival No. 4 Louisville (16-2, 8-0 ACC) on Friday night in the Petersen Events Center for alumni night. Pitt concludes the weekend against Notre Dame (9-8, 2-6 ACC) in the Fitzgerald Field House on Sunday at 1 p.m. 

The Panthers and Cardinals have a storied history as of late. Pitt took two of the last three matches last season in five-set wins, coming back from two sets down. The first win came at the Petersen Events Center as Pitt set a previous all-time attendance record with 8,865 fans. The second took place in the Fitzgerald Field House to advance to Pitt’s third straight Final Four. At least one of the two programs have won or had a share of the last seven ACC Championships and have advanced to four straight Elite Eight appearances. Louisville narrowly owns the series record, 20-16. 

Notre Dame holds the advantage over Pitt with a 25-19 record, but the Panthers have won four straight. Most recently, Pitt defeated the Irish in South Bend in three sets as Torrey Stafford led the charge with 12 kills, seven digs and two blocks, hitting .276. 

BALLER BABCOCK

• Babcock was named the AVCA Player of the Week for the second time in her career last week.

• She averaged 7.0 points per set, 5.5 kills per set, 1.83 blocks per set and 1.33 digs per set for the week. 

• She notched a match-high 16 kills, hitting a season-high .577, five blocks, two aces and two digs in the match against Cal. 

• Babcock recorded a match-high 17 kills, hitting .361 against No. 5 Stanford in the sweep and added six blocks, six digs and an ace.

PANTHER DOMINANCE

• Three Panthers earned ACC weekly honors after two sweeps against Cal and #5 Stanford.

• Rachel Fairbanks (Setter), Olivia Babcock (Offensive Player) and Bre Kelley (Defensive Player) notched the awards after impressive play.

COMPREHENSIVE EXCELLENCE

• One of the two teams has had at least a share of the ACC Championship the last seven seasons

(Pitt – 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)

(Louisville – 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022)

• The Pitt Panthers and Louisville Cardinals have advanced to the last three Elite Eights.

HISTORY MAKERS

• The Panthers defeated No. 5 Stanford for the…