Takeaways | Pitt volleyball is the team to beat before NCAA Tournament

Nothing changed for Pitt volleyball over the Thanksgiving break, as it just kept on winning. Pitt went 4-0 over the break with victories over Wake Forest, NC State, No. 3 Louisville and No. 19 Georgia Tech. 

The four victories helped the Panthers clinch an outright ACC Championship and earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers are geared up for another long postseason run and potentially their first National Championship.

Bre Kelley is playing like an All-American

Redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley is coming off a fantastic four-game stretch with 25 blocks in the four matchups, but more notably, 35 kills while hitting .500. 

Against Georgia Tech, Kelley earned a career-high 15 kills and nine blocks. Kelley was dominant in the fifth set to close out the Panthers’ 11th ranked victory of the season. The Florida transfer accounted for six of the 17 points the Panthers scored in the fifth set — four kills on six swings and two blocks.

To start the season, Kelley was not at 100%, still recovering from the ankle injury she suffered last season. But she seems to be at 100% now, which should scare opponents. 

“Me and Rachel [Fairbanks] just made it apparent that our connection just keeps on getting better throughout the season,” Kelley said. “We just talked about the more it draws blockers [to the middle], then our pins are wide open.”

And opponents do not want to leave the Pitt’s pins wide open. 

Beneficial to play emotional games before the NCAA Tournament

The NCAA Tournament is full of emotional games, because every game could end a player’s collegiate career if their team loses. The teams’ emotions are high, and winning is a must. The two-game stretch of Louisville and Georgia Tech was ideal for Pitt to play before the NCAA Tournament because it had a similar feel, but not as far as the threat of ending a team’s season.

“It’s preparing us for the Tournament,” sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford said. “Georgia Tech is a good team, probably a team we may see in the Tournament, and I think it just prepares us and feels good to come out on top of that.” 

“We may not want to play a five-setter, but it’s definitely preparing our bodies for hard [games], and that’s what we need,” Kelley said. 

The best part about the matches is the Panthers went 2-0 and didn’t have to deal with the pain of a loss.

“We have an expression — ‘You don’t need to lose to learn,’” head coach Dan Fisher said. “Hopefully, we learn a lot from tonight as we watch video, and I just know that this kind of game will be good for us as we go on to the NCAA Tournament.” 

Pitt 100% deserved the No. 1 overall seed

Twenty-nine wins and one loss — no team in the NCAA holds a better record. Every other team suffered at least two losses. 

Pitt didn’t just beat chumps this season, it constantly beat great teams. Five wins over top-10 teams and 11 victories over top-25 teams. In these 11 victories, Pitt won 33 sets and lost just five. Pitt got here not just by squeaking by some of the best teams in the country, but by dominating them. 

The only other team that could have earned consideration for the No. 1 seed was No. 2 Nebraska, but they have two losses against teams Pitt has swept. 

Nebraska lost to No. 10 SMU in Dallas via a sweep in early September and lost to No. 4 Penn State in State College in four sets this past weekend. 

Pitt lost to SMU on the road as well, but in five sets instead, and the game happened after Pitt swept SMU at home three days before.

Pitt is without a doubt the best team in the NCAA coming into the Tournament.

Now the Panthers have to prove it by bringing home Pitt’s first team national championship in 48 years.