Column | The difference Pitt volleyball’s seniors have made

A sweep in the Fitzgerald Field House isn’t a hope for Pitt volleyball fans, it’s expected. This weekend, Pitt swept No. 22 Florida State and Miami like it was nothing. Neither team even reached the 20-point threshold in all six sets.

The Panthers have swept all but one of the 12 opponents they have played at the Fitzgerald Field House this season — the lone set loss coming against Notre Dame. 

In the 37 sets the Panthers have played in the Fitzgerald Field House this season, the opponent has reached 20 points or more just five times.

The team is simply dominant. But it wasn’t always like this for Pitt volleyball. Head coach Dan Fisher inherited a middle-of-the-pack Big East team that was making the jump to a far better ACC. 

Pitt struggled in the first few years, failing to make it to the postseason, but eventually made it to the NCAA Tournament in 2016, Fisher’s fourth full season with the program. But Pitt wanted to do more than just get into the postseason. The Panthers wanted to get into the postseason and advance. 

In 2020, Pitt finally took that leap. Pitt made it to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in the Fisher era and Elite Eight for the first time in program history. 

Before the 2020 season, Fisher and associate head coach Kellen Petrone added two key pieces who are currently in their final season of eligibility — sixth-year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez, who redshirted in 2019, and graduate student serving specialist/outside hitter Cat Flood.

“They came at a time where we were losing in the second round every year,” Petrone said. “And we were always [trying to] figure out, how do we break through, and then we break through during the COVID year with Valeria and Cat.”

But an Elite Eight wasn’t good enough. So, it made history in the following season by making it to the Final Four. 

To make that jump, Pitt added two more key players who are now in their final season of eligibility — senior libero Emmy Klika and senior setter Rachel Fairbanks. Both have simply been program changers.

“We would not have made three Final Fours without them,” Petrone said. 

This season, with three consecutive Final Fours behind them, Pitt is still hungry — hungry for a National Championship. It has veteran leadership, and it has great players in positions that need to play great.

“Championship teams have a great setter and a great libero, and that’s what we have now,” Petrone said. “They’re playing their best volleyball in their last year, and so that’s why we are having the season we are having.”

But the National Championship level talent that the Panthers are losing isn’t the only thing the players will miss from this group of graduating seniors.

“It’s like having a big group of sisters,” redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley said. “The whole team is like a little family to me. Those girls, ever since I walked in the door, had my back continuously. And I just can’t fathom them being gone.”

“They are family and taught us a lot of lessons,” sophomore opposite hitter Olivia Babcock said. “I’m just so grateful that I have been able to experience all of them. I think my life is so much better with them in it, and so is this program.” 

The Panthers will dearly miss Fairbanks, Flood, Klika, Vazquez Gomez and Texas A&M transfer graduate student setter Nisa Buzlutepe. 

The best way for the Panthers to officially say goodbye to these players is to leave them with a ring on their finger that says “National Champion.”