Backyard Brawl is about more than just football

Beyond heated West Virginia-Pitt basketball and football battles, friendly competition between… Beyond heated West Virginia-Pitt basketball and football battles, friendly competition between the two schools exists across all sports. They brawl in a big backyard.

In the women’s tennis version of the Backyard Brawl, the Panthers are undefeated against the Mountaineers over the last two seasons.

‘The last four scores have been 4-3, so that makes for a great rivalry between the two schools,’ said Pitt women’s tennis coach George Dieffenbach. ‘The girls know their personnel. They know our personnel … It’s a match that we look forward to.’

Before two victories last season, Pittsburgh had never defeated West Virginia, going 0-27.

‘Up until last year, we had never beaten them before,’ said Pitt tennis senior Christie D’Achille. ‘They’ve always been our biggest rival on our schedule and our number one team that we set out to beat.’

West Virginia women’s tennis coach Marc Walters agrees about the rivalry.

‘I think there’s been a momentum swing in the rivalry over the past three years,’ said Walters. ‘Pitt’s really kind of handed it to us in everything. It stings doubly when it’s Pitt that’s beating you.’

Indeed, Walters, a Morgantown native, noted his built-in personal disposition toward Pittsburgh.

‘[Pitt is] No. 1 on my calendar,’ said Walters. ‘I have a deep affinity for WVU sports … I have personal feelings that it’s sickening to me to lose to Pitt.’

Still, the tennis rivalry is without hostility. Many players and coaches know each other.

‘We see them all year,’ said Pitt tennis senior Kristy Borza. ‘We know all the girls, they know all of us, and we know the coach. We’ve had a long relationship with West Virginia. We always look forward to playing them, but I would say we more look forward to beating them.’

‘I think it’s a very healthy rivalry,’ said Dieffenbach. ‘We have a lot of respect for their coach, and their team and their school.’

Walters noted Dieffenbach helped him familiarize himself with the Big East when he began coaching at West Virginia.

‘As far as coaching friends go, George is one of the coaches that helped me get acquainted with the conference,’ said Walters. ‘George is one of those coaches that I’ve enjoyed working with and can certainly be honest with. When we have our matches … everything is first class on both ends.’

The women’s gymnastics team hopes it can follow the same path as the tennis team. Panthers gymnastics last defeated West Virginia in 2000.

‘[West Virginia has] a really respectable program,’ said Pitt senior gymnast Alix Croop. ‘It would be awesome to beat them. We’re always right up there with them, so we’re capable of doing it.’

Like the tennis rivalry, many opposing gymnasts know each other.

‘We have old teammates from back before college on their team, or friends that we competed against before,’ said Croop. ‘For us it’s like we’re friends with them, but at the same time we want to beat them.’

The friendly rivals have faced each other 56 times.

Ties in the sport are rare, but both deadlocks in Pitt history have come against West Virginia. Croop stated that the ties add to the rivalry.

Then, there’s wrestling, a sport in which the Backyard Brawl traces back to 1934-35.

‘It’s a pretty big deal,’ said Pitt senior wrestler Zach Scheaffer. ‘[A win in the Pitt-West Virginia match usually] puts you first or second in the conference.’

Scheaffer and the Panthers last year snapped a Mountaineer six-game winning streak over the squad, winning 18-17. To win under the ‘hostile crowd’ at the West Virginia Coliseum was one of Scheaffer’s favorite Pitt experiences, he said.

‘To beat West Virginia, everybody was really pumped,’ said Scheaffer. ‘We edged them out and beat them. It was really intense.’

Wrestling is 30-22-2 all-time against West Virginia, the program’s most wins against any opponent.

‘Hopefully we can keep beating them,’ said Scheaffer.