Pitt
10-2,2-0ACC
#11 SMU
8-4,0-2ACC
No. 5 Pitt Wins Tenth Straight against No. 11 SMU
9/28/2025 6:06:00 PM | Volleyball
PITTSBURGH – The No. 5 Pitt volleyball team defeated No. 11 SMU, 3-1 (25-20, 25-22, 26-28, 25-21) Sunday afternoon at the Petersen Events Center. Olivia Babcock had a match-high 29 kills, including 13 in the third set, to lead the Panthers to their 10th-consecutive win.
As a team, the Panthers had 61 kills on a .310 hitting clip. Brooke Mosher tallied a career-high 52 assists, after previously setting a career-high with 51 earlier this week against SMU. Blaire Bayless added 12 kills, including eight in the first two sets.
Defensively, Ryla Jones led Pitt with seven blocks while Babcock logged a career-high 17 digs. Kelley added four blocks and six kills, while the Panthers held the Mustangs to a .268 hitting clip.
Behind a team 11 kills, the Panthers took the first set 25-20. The Pitt offense started the match hot, with five different Panthers logging a kill in the first set. Pitt carried a 15-13 lead through the media timeout and never trailed in the back half of the set. Bayless had a team-high three kills, including one for set point, while Kelley logged four blocks.
Pitt took the second set 25-22 and never trailed during the set. The Panthers continued their momentum from the first set, starting on a 6-1 run and forcing an early SMU timeout. The Mustangs brought the set within one at 18-17, but the Panthers ended on a 7-5 tilt to take a 2-0 match lead. Pitt tallied 14 kills and hit .407 as a team, once again led by Bayless with five.
SMU took a back-and-forth third set, 28-26. The set saw 14 ties and four lead changes, including three lead changes after SMU reached set point. Babcock logged an astounding 13 kills in the set on 20 total attempts, including back-to-back kills that brought the Panthers back within one at 11-10 to force another SMU timeout. Despite rallying to a 26-25 set-point lead, SMU scored three consecutive points to take the set.
Pitt led for the entirety of the fourth set and used the 25-21 set win to take the match, 3-1. Babcock led the Panthers again with nine kills in the set, including the winning kill on match point. Pitt logged 16 team kills and two aces in the final set.
NOTES
• Pitt claimed its sixth top 25 victory of the season.
• Pitt remains undefeated with a 16-0 record in the Petersen Events Center since the NCAA Tournament in 2019.
• Olivia Babcock logged a career-high 17 digs. Her previous high was 13, which she had three times, most recently against Penn State (9/17/25).
• Brooke Mosher tallied a career-high 52 assists. She previously set a new career-high with 51 four days ago against SMU (9/24/25).
