Pitt volleyball drops first set of its season, but remains undefeated

No. 1 Pitt volleyball’s undefeated set streak ended on Friday as it dropped its 37th set played this season to .500 Boston College, 25-23, on Friday night. It’s not the quality of team many Pitt fans expected the Panthers to lose their first set to, but Boston College’s top of the ACC block made the Panthers struggle. 

The Panthers responded in the three other sets they played against Boston College, winning the second set 25-7, the third set 25-9 and the fourth set 25-20. Syracuse was an easier challenge for Pitt, as it easily swept the Orange (25-11,25-18,25-14). 

Stafford is the difference for Pitt 

Pitt cruised by Boston College in the last three sets not because it turned on a proverbial switch, but because head coach Dan Fisher inserted sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford into the lineup after he attempted to give her the night off.

Stafford played in the first set during the set loss. But in the final three sets, the Torrance, California, native was the answer the Panthers were looking for. 

Stafford finished Friday night’s matchup with 14 kills with five errors on 28 swings, good for a .321 hitting percentage while totaling seven digs and three blocks. 

The sophomore’s great weekend didn’t end on Friday. In her first set against Syracuse, Stafford had eight kills on nine swings, good for a .889 hitting percentage as Pitt cruised to a 25-11 first-set victory. 

Stafford finished her day with 16 kills on 25 swings with just two attacking errors, good for a .560 hitting percentage. 

Sunday was the seventh time Stafford hit over .400 this season. Stafford has arguably been the best player on the No. 1 team in the country and should earn consideration for AVCA National Player of the Year.

Babcock makes history

Sophomore opposite hitter Olivia Babcock is another Pitt volleyball player who should have her name considered for AVCA National Player of the Year. On Friday, she made history for the No. 1 team in the nation by having the most service aces in a single match for Pitt volleyball.

Babcock nabbed 12 aces against Boston College, passing Pitt alumni Diana Andreyko and Wendy Hatlestad who both tallied eight aces in their victories over Florida State and Savannah State, respectively.

It was obvious early on to Pitt fans that Boston College could not pass Babcock’s top-spin jump serve. The Los Angeles native had five aces in the first set alone. Babcock then surpassed Pitt’s record of eight in the second set where she earned five more aces to her name.

Babcock’s 12 aces also forced Boston College to set several free balls over to the Pitt side where it had an easy chance to earn the point. 

Babcock had a run of 11 serves in a row in the second set. In this run, she had five aces, forced Boston College to use both of its second set timeouts and made the Eagles switch up their personnel for serve receive.

If becoming the first Pitt volleyball player to earn double-digits in service aces wasn’t enough, Babcock also earned herself a triple-double. She finished her night with 14 kills, 12 aces and 10 digs. 

The last time a Pitt volleyball player earned a triple-double was when Rachel Fairbanks earned one as a sophomore in the NCAA Tournament against BYU. She finished the second-round NCAA Tournament matchup with 10 kills, 28 assists and 13 digs.   

Pitt’s defense is incredible

Opponents cannot figure out Pitt’s defense, and I don’t think any team will figure it out anytime soon. 

The highest hitting percentage Pitt allowed in a single set over the weekend was when Boston College defeated the Panthers in the first set. Boston College hit .200 — it would come nowhere close to that mark for the rest of the match. Pitt held Boston College to a negative hitting percentage in the match — -0.010. 

Syracuse ended its day against Pitt with a better hitting percentage than Boston College, but nothing to write home about. In the first two sets, Syracuse hit .000, and in the third set, the Orange hit .057, avoiding the dreaded negative hitting percentage. 

Redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley had her best blocking game at Pitt on Friday as she earned a season-high nine blocks. 

The only time in Kelley’s career where she tallied more blocks was at Florida when she nabbed 10 blocks against Stanford. Kelley gets a chance to meet Stanford again, but this time wearing the blue and gold, in two weeks on Oct. 20.

But before Pitt has its highly anticipated matchup with No. 5 Stanford, the Panthers have a home and home with No. 17 SMU. Pitt hosts SMU first on Wednesday at 7 p.m. where the game will air on ACCN, then the teams will travel to Dallas for a rematch on Saturday at 2 p.m. where the game will air on ACCNX.