Seven Panthers Earn All-Region Awards, Most in Program History
12/5/2023 10:46:00 AM | Volleyball
PITTSBURGH – Seven Panthers were named East Coast All-Region by the AVCA on Tuesday morning. This is the most selections Pitt has had in program history. Rachel Fairbanks was named East Coast Region Player of the Year for the first time in her career, and Olivia Babcock earned East Coast Region Freshman of the Year honors. This is the third time in four years a Panther has been named Player of the Year. Kayla Lund did so in 2020 while Courtney Buzzerio held the honor in 2022.
Fairbanks and Babcock add the accolades after recently being named ACC Setter and Freshman of the Year, respectively.
Fairbanks is running a one setter offense for the first time in her career, recording a career-high 825 assists and has notched four ACC Setter of the Week awards. Most recently, she was named First-Team All-ACC and ACC Setter of the Year. She is setting Pitt to a blistering 0.306 team hitting percentage, good for third in the nation. In addition, Fairbanks has dug 167 balls, recorded 57 kills, 40 blocks and 21 aces.
Babcock has been instrumental in her rookie season, being named ACC Freshman of the Week five times, ACC Offensive Player of the Week and AVCA National Player of the Week. She earned First-Team All-ACC and All-ACC Freshman Team honors. Babcock leads the Panthers in points and kills with 476 and 377, respectively.
Stafford has impressed as a freshman, being a six-rotation player all season long. She is second on the team with 358 points and 334 kills and third with 180 digs. Stafford is an All-ACC First-Team performer and All-ACC Freshman Team awardee. She has notched three ACC Freshman of the Week honors and an ACC Offensive Player of the Week award.
Vazquez Gomez continues her excellent play as a six rotation outside hitter. She has 274 points, 225 kills, 191 digs and 29 aces to her name. Vazquez Gomez is also hitting a career-high 0.273. Her 29 aces and 0.30 service aces per set is a personal best. She earned her second consecutive all-conference honor this season.
Nwokolo has been effective from the middle all season long, hitting a career-high 0.430 while notching 137 kills. Her 1.17 blocks per set is a personal best and is instrumental in Pitt being second in the nation in blocks per set (2.95). She was recently named Second Team All-Conference for the second season in a row.
Monks saved her best season for last. She was named Second Team All-ACC and All-Region after leading the Panthers with 151 blocks and blocks per set (1.56), good for fourth in the nation. In addition, she is fifth in the ACC and 18th in the nation, hitting 0.399.
Klika's first full season at libero has been impressive. She has a career-high 319 digs and recorded 103 assists while passing at a high rate of 0.944. She anchors the Pitt defense and is integral in the Panthers being sixth in the nation in opponent hitting percentage. Klika is named All-Region after earning her first career all-conference honor, finding herself on the Second Team.
