No. 1 Pitt to Clash with No. 3 Louisville Wednesday Night at the KFC Yum! Center

PITTSBURGH – The No. 1 Pitt volleyball team (27-1, 17-1 ACC) heads to No. 3 Louisville (25-3, 17-1 ACC) for the second of two matches against the Cardinals in the regular season. The highly anticipated match takes place on Wednesday night in the KFC Yum! Center at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ACC Network.

Pitt has won the last three matches against the Cardinals, all in five sets. The Panthers defeated Louisville in reverse sweeps last season, and the second of which secured a spot in the 2023 National Semifinals, Pitt's third straight. At least one of the two programs have won or had a share of the last seven ACC Championships and have advanced to four straight Elite Eight appearances. Louisville narrowly owns the series record, 20-17.

OMAHA BOUND!
• Graduate outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez heard her name in the PVF draft, selected by the Omaha Supernovas with the sixth pick in the fourth round.
• She joins Pitt volleyball alumni Courtney Buzzerio, Kayla Lund, Leketor Member-Meneh, Chiamaka Nwokolo and Layne Van Buskirk in the league.

THE RIVALRY
• One of the two teams has had at least a share of the ACC Championship the last seven seasons.
(Pitt – 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)
(Louisville – 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022)
• The Pitt Panthers and Louisville Cardinals have advanced to the last three Elite Eights.
• Five of the last seven matches between the two teams have gone to five sets.
• Louisville defeated Pitt in the 2022 Final Four in five sets before the Panthers reverse swept the Cardinals in the 2023 Regional Finals.

BIG TIME BABCOCK
• Olivia Babcock earned her second AVCA National Player of the Week award of the season after her impressive performances against No. 22 Florida State and Miami.
• This was the third time of her career Babcock has been honored.
• She is the only player in program history to have more than one national weekly award to her name as Pitt great Kayla Lund is the only other Panther to add the accolade to her resume.

ALL-ACC NODS
• Rachel Fairbanks and Olivia Babcock were named ACC Setter and Offensive Player of the Week, respectively, after two sweeps against No. 22 Florida State and Miami.
• Fairbanks averaged 12.00 assists per set and 2.17 digs per set.
• She set Pitt to a .438 team hitting percentage for both matches.
• Babcock averaged 8.08 points per set, 6.50 kills per set, hitting .525, 1.17 blocks per set, 1.17 digs per set and 1.00 ace per set.

BABCOCK MAKES HISTORY
• Olivia Babcock is now the all-time program leader for most aces in a single season in the 25-point scoring era with 62 aces.
• She reached the feat with her third ace of the night against Miami and ended with five for the match.
• Babcock passed Lindsey Zitzke who recorded 53 aces in the 2011 season.

TERRIFIC TRIO
• Rachel Fairbanks, Olivia Babcock and Torrey Stafford have been named semifinalists for the 2024 AVCA Division I Player of the Year award.
• Pitt's three nominees lead the country, and Nebraska is the only other team to have more than one (2).
• All three were named AVCA All-Americans last season and are on track to earn the award once again.

WELL-OILED MACHINE
• Pitt ranks among the top 20 in the country for hitting percentage (1st - .347), opponent hitting percentage (1st - .115), aces per set (6th - 2.07), blocks per set (6th - 2.93), assists per set (10th -13.21) and kills per set (18th - 14.08).

SENSATIONAL STAFFORD
• Torrey Stafford is hitting .375 for the season, good for 41st in the nation and first amongst all Division I outside hitters.
• No other Power Four outside hitter ranks in the top 150 in hitting percentage.

KELLEY HEATING UP
• Middle blocker Bre Kelley has recorded at least five blocks in 12 matches this season.
• Her ACC Defensive Player of the Week award (10/21) was the first of her career.
• Bre's .800 hitting percentage against NC State is a career high (eight kills on 10 attempts).
• Her ten blocks against No. 4 Louisville tied a career high and are a season high.

DYNAMIC DUO
• Torrey Stafford and Olivia Babcock have impressed in their sophomore campaigns after earning All-American status as rookies.
• Babcock ranks among the top 25 in the nation in aces per set (2nd - 0.71), points per set (3rd – 5.87) and kills per set (16th – 4.54) while Stafford ranks 41st in hitting percentage (0.375), 77th in points per set (4.38) and 86th in kills per set (3.77).
• Babcock or Stafford have either led or tied for the team high in kills in each match this season.

VOLLEYBALL TAHN
• Nine Pitt volleyball matches have sold out this season (Penn State, Cal, Stanford, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Duke, Florida State, Miami and Georgia Tech).
• Eight of those nine took place in the Fitzgerald Field House while the victory over the Nittany Lions was in the Petersen Events Center in front of a record-breaking 11,800 people.

LEADER OF THE PACK
• The Panthers defeated NC State in straight sets in Reynolds Gym.
• Olivia Babcock led the way with 17 kills (hitting .577), eight digs, three aces, two blocks and two assists.
• Rachel Fairbanks notched 33 assists and set the Panthers to a .437 team hitting clip, the highest opponent hitting percentage NC State has allowed this season.

DOWNED THE DEACS
• Pitt swept Wake Forest in Winston-Salem for its 16th ACC victory.
• Torrey Stafford recorded a match-high 16 kills hitting .483 while adding 10 digs, three blocks, three assists and an ace.

WEATHERED THE STORM
• The Panthers swept Miami on senior day, not allowing the Hurricanes to reach the 20-point mark.
• The win marked the 22nd sweep of the season.
• Rachel Fairbanks recorded 36 assists and 10 digs for the double-double, and Olivia Babcock notched 20 kills, five aces, three blocks and three digs, hitting .531.
• Bre Kelley registered nine kills on 12 swings, hitting a career-high .750 (while recording at least 10 attempts).

SWEPT THE SEMINOLES
• Pitt earned its ninth top 25 win of the season against then No. 22 Florida State in a sweep.
• Olivia Babcock led the Panthers with 19 kills and Torrey Stafford added 10 kills to go along with a .563 hitting percentage.

COUNT 'EM!
• Pitt notched its eighth top 25 win of the season against No. 25 North Carolina.
• Five of those eight wins have come against ACC opponents (No. 13 Georgia Tech, No. 15 SMU, No. 5 Stanford, No. 4 Louisville, No. 25 North Carolina).
• The Panthers are 3-0 against top five teams this year (No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Louisville, No. 5 Stanford).