Depth is key for No. 1 Pitt volleyball

It’s easy to get high on yourself after beating your rival and the No. 4 ranked team in the country. Some would argue it’s a healthy reaction because beating a top five team isn’t an everyday occurrence — even though No. 1 Pitt has now beaten a top five team three times this season. 

But still, avoiding getting too cocky is a must — it was for Pitt volleyball on Sunday against Notre Dame. Pitt volleyball needed a good response on Sunday.

“I thought our morning practice was pretty good. I thought we came out and jumped on ’em right away. And so I liked our response leading up to the first set,” head coach Dan Fisher said. “They just started making plays, and it just kind of took us a little too long to get back to being us.”

The unranked and sub-.500 Notre Dame team stepped up to the out-of-sorts Pitt level. It wasn’t Pitt’s A-game, but Notre Dame pushed a team it usually shouldn’t push around. It even out-blocked Pitt by five.

The Fighting Irish won the third set 25-22 with a combination of “making plays,” as Fisher said, and the Panthers not playing like their usual No. 1 ranked selves.

“I don’t think it ever feels good to not play your best,” Fisher said. “When you are not playing your best, the key is getting back to yourself and getting back to playing your normal game.”

But what keeps teams ranked No. 1 is when unexpected players step up when called upon. Pitt’s Swiss Army knife graduate student outside hitter/serving specialist/libero Cat Flood was the player to step up against Notre Dame.

Flood finished with a career-high in three separate statistics — eight kills, despite starting the game in a libero jersey, three assists and eight digs.

“I just want to get on the court and in whatever way I can,” Flood said. “And I just wanted to win really bad. I think coming after Friday in the five-setter, we talked about coming out super strong, and we didn’t. I knew that I had to be prepared to do the job for both positions.”

Not only did Flood earn a career high in kills — she was also efficient while doing so, hitting .500. Flood earned all eight of her kills in the third and fourth sets, including a run of three straight kills in the fourth set.

“We definitely got a big lift from Cat on the outside,” Fisher said. “[She] has been practicing well in that position all week.”

“Every time she steps on the court, she makes a difference,” sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford said. “And I think today, she had the opportunity to come in and give us the spark we needed.”

Stafford, like Flood, was a difference-maker against Notre Dame. The Torrance, California, native struggled in her past two games, hitting at or below .200  — her two worst performances this season. Against the Fighting Irish, she hit .438 while tallying a team-high 17 kills.

“I think Rachel did a good job of keeping me still in system and [keeping] my groove,” Stafford said. “And I think that in practices, we’re still working on our setter-hitter connection, and I’ve done a good job in the past few practices as well today in the game.”

Next, the Panthers travel to Charlottesville, Virginia, to play Virginia on Friday at 7 p.m. on ACCNX.