University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Bayless, Babcock, Starck Recognized As Volleyball Preseason All-ACC
7/30/2026 1:59:00 PM | Volleyball
PITTSBURGH – Pitt Volleyball seniors Blaire Bayless and Olivia Babcock, along with junior transfer Izzy Starck have been named to the 2026 Preseason All-ACC Team, as announced by the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) today. As well, the Panthers are projected to finish second in the ACC, as voted on by the league's 18 head coaches.
Bayless, an outside hitter from Plano, Texas, was named second team All-ACC in 2025 as well as being recognized to the AVCA East Coast Region Team. A year ago, she posted career highs with 318 kills, 115 digs, 58 blocks and 16 assists. She had double-digit kill totals in 14 matches and notched a career-high 16 against Georgia Tech with a .429 hitting percentage. She also hit .448 with 14 kills against No. 25 TCU.
In her career, Bayless has played in 72 matches for Pitt with 404 career kills, 155 digs and 86 blocks.
Babcock, a senior right side, is the two-time defending AVCA Player of the Year and has led Pitt to three consecutive NCAA national semifinal appearances in her career. She is one of the most decorated student-athletes in University of Pittsburgh history. Along with being a two-time AVCA National Player of the Year, Babcock is a two-time ESPY nominee for best college athlete in women's sports, the 2025-26 ACC Female Athlete of the Year, the 2023 AVCA National Freshman of the Year and a three-time first team All-American.
Along with the awards and team recognition, Babcock is the program's single season record holder in kills, kills per set, attacks, attacks per set and service aces. She ranks fifth in career kills at Pitt with 1,604, trailing the program record holder by 248 kills. In 2025, she twice broke the single match program kills record, posting 41 against Louisville and then 45 against North Carolina.
Starck, a junior setter, will play her first season at Pitt in 2026 after transferring from Penn State. She was limited to just four matches as a sophomore, but was the AVCA National Freshman of the Year in 2024 and an AVCA Second Team All-American. She was a five-time Big Ten Setter of the Week and six-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week on the way to being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and first team all-conference. She played in all 135 sets for the Nittany Lions, starting all 37 matches. Starck averaged 10.99 assists per set, led the team with a .283 hitting percentage, and added 342 digs, 99 blocks and 19 service aces.
Starck's 1,483 assists were the most by a Penn State player in a single season in the 25-point rally scoring era, posted 40 in a match 20 times and 50 in a match five times. She had a career-best 56 assists, along with 11 digs, in Penn State's reverse sweep of No. 3 Nebraska in the NCAA semifinal.
In the 2026 ACC Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll, Pitt received seven first place votes and 277 total vote points. Stanford edged the Panthers as the preseason favorite with 10 first place votes and 280 points. Louisville also received one first place vote and was picked third with 257 points. SMU (245), North Carolina (225), Georgia Tech (198), Miami (193), Florida State (180), NC State (148) and Wake Forest (131) round out the top 10.
Pitt volleyball opens the new Victory Heights Arena and Sports Performance Center with the annual Blue/Gold scrimmage on Aug. 8 at 2 p.m. A Fan Fest will take place beginning at noon. Pitt's regular season begins Aug. 23-24 at the AVCA First Serve Showcase in Milwaukee before hosting the Opening Spike Classic Aug. 28-30, featuring Kansas, Stanford and Wisconsin. The Panther Challenge takes place Sept. 11-13 before ACC action starts at home against California and Stanford Sept. 25 and 27, respectively.
