Three Panthers Named to AVCA Division I Player of the Year Watch List

PITTSBURGH – The American Volleyball Coaches Association announced the inaugural watch list for the 2024 Division I Player of the Year Award, presented by Nike Volleyball. Rachel Fairbanks, Olivia Babcock and Torrey Stafford are included in the 36-player list, representing 21 different programs. Nebraska leads the way with four athletes while Pitt and Wisconsin follow with three. 

Fairbanks is coming off an incredible junior season which resulted in her garnering her first ACC Setter of the Year award. She is only the second Panther to receive the prestigious honor, alongside assistant coach Kamalani Akeo. She was also named a First Team All-American, AVCA East Coast Region Player of the Year and First Team All-ACC awardee. Fairbanks is pacing the Panthers to first in the nation in hitting percentage (.343) and is 10th individually in assists per set (11.00).

Babcock’s freshman year was one for the books as she was named the program’s first ACC Freshman of the Year, First Team All-American, First Team All-ACC, AVCA East Coast Region Freshman of the Year and AVCA East Coast Region Team. She is second in program history for most ACC Freshman of the Week honors with five and earned AVCA National Player of the Week honors after registering 15 kills on 23 swings with zero errors in the sweep against then No. 8 Georgia Tech. She currently is 11th in the nation in points per set (5.33) and 22nd in aces per set (0.60). 

Stafford was a Third Team All-American and was named to the All-ACC First Team, AVCA East Coast Region Team and All-ACC Freshman Team in her rookie year. She notched three ACC Freshman of the Week honors and an ACC Offensive Player of the Week award. This year Stafford has elevated her game and is ninth in the country in kills per set (4.75) and points per set (5.38). She recorded a season-high 17 kills on a .571 hitting percentage in the sweep over Penn State on Wednesday night.