No. 5 Stanford (14-3, ACC 6-2) came into the Fitzgerald Field House boasting a .292 hitting percentage — the second-best in the ACC. It left Oakland with an overall hitting percentage of .283. No. 1 Pitt (17-1, ACC 7-1) easily swept Stanford, winning the sets 25-17, 25-16 and 25-20.
Pitt kept Stanford to such a low hitting percentage because it shut down the Cardinal’s best hitter, junior outside hitter Elia Rubin. The junior hit -.038 against the No. 1 team in the nation.
“It started probably number one with [Olivia Babcock] matchup against Elia Rubin. And that was a very good matchup for us,” head coach Dan Fisher said on why Pitt held Stanford to such a low hitting percentage. “She’s one of the best hitters in the country. Liv was able to make her very uncomfortable.”
After a five-set loss to No. 12 SMU, the Panthers returned home to a sold-out crowd in the Fitzgerald Field House for both games this weekend. Pitt swept Cal at home on Oct. 18, but this matchup had top-five magnitude.
“I know we had the same amount of people as Friday but, the environment just felt so much more electric,” sophomore right-side hitter Babcock said. “It definitely reflected onto the court. We all had the same energy as the crowd.”
This energy was definitely reflected in Babcock’s play. The sophomore led the match with 17 kills while hitting .361.
Sunday’s match kicked off with the teams trading points to feel one another out. The Panthers took an early lead with four early kills and two blocks taking a 9-4 advantage. What the Panthers lacked in serve-receive, they made up with their blocking. A combined Senior setter Rachel Fairbanks and redshirt junior Bre Kelley block forced a Stanford timeout. The Cardinals followed the timeout with a 3-0 run that included two Pitt errors and a kill from senior middle blocker Sami Francis. Subsequently, Pitt took its first timeout.
Sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford helped the Panthers separate even more after Fisher’s timeout with three kills in four plays. The Cardinal had deja vu after another point by Kelley — this time a kill — forced Stanford’s second timeout of the set. Back-to-back kills from Babcock and first-year middle blocker Ryla Jones closed out the first set, as Pitt won 25-17.
Similar to the first, the second set started with the teams trading kills. A successful challenge from Stanford tied it at 3-3, but a few plays later, Pitt challenged another call and won it. A Babcock ace and a Jones kill made Stanford take its first timeout of the set. The teams then traded service errors out of the timeout.
After the back-to-back service errors, a 5-0 Pitt run comprised of a kill from fifth-year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez, a Fairbanks ace, Babcock reigning in 2 kills and a block assist with Kelley brought the score to 15-7. Following a couple of close-fought points, the teams traded 3-0 runs. Pitt gained ground with errors from the Cardinal, but a kill from Francis started a run for Stanford.
But Pitt finished the battle of runs with three straight kills bringing the score to 23-13. Pitt lost the first set point because of a kill from first-year middle blocker Lizzy Andrew, but a Cardinal service error ended the second with a 25-16 Pitt victory.
The third set, like the first two sets, had a back-and-forth to start. Babcock separated the teams with a 4-0 service run and forced a Stanford timeout. Off the timeout, Jones won a joust against All-American senior setter Kami Miner and then notched a kill to gain some distance for Pitt. Fairbanks has seen practicing for moments of this magnitude all the time in practice.
“We do a lot of drills for moments like that,” Fairbanks said. “Just to see her execute it so well was cool.”
The teams then traded kills to bring the score to 11-8, Pitt immediately met this with a 3-0 run fueled by Cardinal attack errors.
Stanford wouldn’t go down without a fight. Two Francis kills and a kill by sophomore opposite hitter Jordyn Harvey forced Fisher to take just his second timeout of the game at 15-12. Fisher used his timeouts for rest, instead of a time to critique.
“I don’t think there was anything I said that was particularly inspiring,” Fisher said. “Against a good team, I think they’re truly just timeouts.”
Out of the timeout, two Stafford kills gave Pitt more wiggle room. The Panthers challenged a crucial out call and won, giving Pitt an 18-14 advantage instead of a 17-15 lead. Pitt kept on dominating with a 3-0 run charged by two Babcock kills and a kill from sophomore outside hitter Blaire Bayless to hand Pitt a 21-15 lead.
A kill from Kelley stopped a potential run for the Cardinals. Pitt’s first match point was lost to a Babcock service error, but a Stafford kill ended the match and gave Pitt a 25-20 third-set victory and sweep of the Cardinal.
This win was Pitt’s first in the series against Stanford, losing its first four matchups. Now that Stanford, Cal and SMU have joined the ACC, the level of in-conference difficulty has increased.
“The ACC is better than it ever has been,” Fairbanks said. “We’ve had a lot of games to prepare for teams like Stanford.”
Next, the Panthers take on ACC rival No. 4 Louisville at the Petersen Events Center on Oct. 25 for its second top-five match of the week.