No. 1 Pitt volleyball sweeps No. 25 North Carolina

No. 1 Pitt did not trail once in its matchup against No. 25 North Carolina. Pitt had yet another sweep in the Fitzgerald Field House — where it has only lost one set all season.

Sophomore opposite hitter Olivia Babcock had yet another impressive performance in front of the home crowd, finishing with a team-high 18 kills and holding a .484 hitting percentage. 

Senior setter Rachel Fairbanks tabbed 37 assists, good for 12.3 per set and helped Pitt earn a team-hitting percentage of .434.

“I think the fans got to see us at close to our best offensively,” Pitt head coach Dan Fisher said. “All of our starters were hitting at a very good percentage.”

 Senior libero Emmy Klika held her own against the Tar Heels, earning 11 digs and keeping the Panthers alive in multiple rallies.

 First set

Pitt dominated North Carolina in the first set, winning 25-14 and holding onto a lead of three or more for the entirety of the set after getting out to a 3-0 lead. 

The Panthers held the Tar Heels’ best hitter, senior outside hitter Mabrey Shaffmaster, to a -.275 hitting percentage. North Carolina as a team hit a more respectable .200 in the first set. Pitt finished the first set with a team-hitting percentage of 429, led by five kills by Babcock — who also had a run of three straight aces. 

Second set 

The second set was an entirely different story than the first. Pitt still held onto the lead, but North Carolina was within three for the majority of the set. The Tar Heels tied the match up at 21 apiece, but the more talented Panthers came through in the end winning 25-22 after Babcock earned three of the last four points for the Panthers with kills.

North Carolina had an impressive .333 hitting percentage against Pitt in the second set. But the effort was still not better than the Panthers who finished the set with a .412 hitting percentage. Through two sets, Babcock earned 13 kills and Fairbanks dished out 25 assists.

“I feel like we all realized that if we continue slipping up, then [UNC] might take a set off of us,” Babcock said. “And again, obviously, that’s fine if that does happen, but we have to hold ourselves to higher standards… We just have to do the little things. And I think at the end of that set, we just started doing those little things that kind of slipped up when they started going on runs.”

Third set

It was all Pitt from the jump in the third and final set, as the Panthers won 25-16. North Carolina used both of its timeouts early in the set and neither could give the Tar Heels the boost they needed. 

Pitt hit its highest hitting percentage of the match in the third set — .476. And North Carolina hit its lowest hitting percentage of the match in the third set — .185. 

The opportunity to play yet another ranked team and get Pitt’s eighth-ranked win of the year was something the Panthers were happy to experience this season.

“The ACC is very tough this year, which is awesome with the new additions and just everyone, every team, stepping up,” Klika said. “It’s really fun to like have that challenge every weekend to play these teams.

“It’s a good experience for us to have that mentality and prepare for the teams we’re going to see in December,” Klika said. “We’re going to see ranked teams Game in Game out.”