Rachel Fairbanks Named Back-to-Back ACC Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year

PITTSBURGH – Pitt great Rachel Fairbanks has been named the 2024 ACC Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive year, the conference announced Thursday afternoon. Fairbanks joins elite company as Forever Panthers Serena Gray (2021, 2022) and Chinaza Ndee (2020) also received the award. In addition, eight Panthers were named to the All-ACC Academic Team.

Fairbanks graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in finance, finishing with a 3.71 career GPA.

She was named an AVCA First Team All-American, All-ACC First Team and AVCA East Coast Region Team performer, Volleymag First Team All-American, AVCA National Player of the Year semifinalist and Pittsburgh NCAA Regional All-Tournament team member this season. She averaged a career-best 10.67 assists per set, good for fourth in program history for assists per set in the 25-point scoring era and led Pitt to a team 0.332 hitting percentage, good for first in the nation and a program best. Her 1,067 assists is the sixth most in the 25-point scoring era, and Fairbanks eclipsed 3,000 assists in the win over Oregon in the Regional Semifinal, becoming the eighth player in program history to accomplish the feat.

All-ACC Academic Team

Blaire Bayless**, Urban Studies

Rachel Fairbanks***, Finance

Cat Flood***, Management

Dillyn Griffin***, Communication: Rhet & Comm/Psychology

Ryla Jones*, Undeclared

Emmy Klika***, Sport Science

Mallorie Meyer*, Undeclared

Valeria Vazquez Gomez***, Health and Physical Activity