No. 1 Pitt meets Wednesday night at the KFC Yum! at No. 3 Louisville. center

PITTSBURGH – The No. 1 Pitt volleyball team (27-1, 17-1 ACC) faces No. 3 Louisville (25-3, 17-1 ACC) for the second of two games against the Cardinals in the regular season. The highly anticipated game will take place on Wednesday evening at the KFC Yum! instead. Center at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ACC Network.

Pitt has won its last three games against the Cardinals, each in five sets. The Panthers defeated Louisville in reverse games last season to earn a spot in the 2023 national semifinals, Pitt’s third straight game. At least one of the two programs has won or participated in the last seven ACC championships and has made four consecutive Elite Eight appearances. Louisville narrowly holds the series record at 20-17.

OMAHA-BOUND!
• Finished as an outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez heard her name in the PVF draft, being 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 at least a share of the ACC Championship in the last seven seasons.
(Pitt – 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)
(Louisville – 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022)
• The Pitt Panthers and Louisville Cardinals have made it to the last three Elite Eights.
• Five of the last seven games between the two teams went five sets.
• Louisville beat Pitt in five sets in the 2022 Final Four before the Panthers beat the Cardinals in the 2023 regional final.

BIG BABCOCK
• Olivia Babcock Following her impressive performances against No. 22 Florida State and Miami, she earned her second AVCA National Player of the Week award of the season.
• This was the third time in her career that Babcock was honored.
• She is the only player in program history to receive more than one national weekly award, as Pitt star Kayla Lund is the only other Panther to have the award added to her resume.

ALL-ACC nods
• Rachel Fairbanks and Olivia Babcock were named ACC Setter and Offensive Player of the Week, respectively, after back-to-back wins against No. 22 Florida State and Miami.
• Fairbanks averaged 12.00 assists per set and 2.17 digs per set.
• She held Pitt to a team batting average of .438 for both games.
• 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 aces per set.

BABCOCK MAKES HISTORY
• Olivia Babcock is now the all-time leader for most aces in a single season in the 25-point era with 62 aces.
• She accomplished this feat with her third ace of the night against Miami, finishing the match with five.
• Babcock passed Lindsey Zitzke, who had 53 aces during the 2011 season.

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

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

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

KELLEY HEATS UP
• Middle blocker Bre Kelley has recorded at least five blocks in 12 games this season.
• Her ACC Defensive Player of the Week award (Oct. 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 10 blocks against No. 4 Louisville tied a career high and is a season high.

DYNAMIC DUO
• Torrey Stafford And Olivia Babcock impressed in their sophomore years after earning All-American status as rookies.
• Babcock ranks in 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 is at the Ranked 41st in hits percentage (.375) and 77th in hits per set (4.38) and 86th in kills per set (3.77).
• Babcock or Stafford have either led or tied for the team with the most kills in every game this season.

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

Leader of the pack
• The Panthers defeated NC State in straight sets at Reynolds Gym.
• Olivia Babcock led the way with 17 kills (hitting .577), eight digs, three aces, two blocks and two assists.
• Rachel Fairbanks tallied 33 assists and pushed the Panthers to a team hitting clip of .437, the highest hitting percentage by an opponent that NC State has allowed this season.

The Diaks crushed
• Pitt defeated Wake Forest in Winston-Salem to secure its 16th ACC win.
• Torrey Stafford recorded a match-high 16 kills while hitting .483 and added 10 digs, three blocks, three assists and an ace.

Weathered the storm
• The Panthers beat Miami on Senior Day, preventing the Hurricanes from reaching the 20-point mark.
• The victory was the 22nd win of the season.
• Rachel Fairbanks recorded 36 assists and 10 digs for the double-double and Olivia Babcock posted 20 kills, five aces, three blocks and three digs and hit .531.
• Bre Kelley recorded nine kills in 12 swings and hit a career-high .750 (while recording at least 10 attempts).

The Seminoles swept
• Pitt picked up its ninth Top 25 win of the season against then-No. 22 Florida State.
• Olivia Babcock led the Panthers with 19 kills and Torrey Stafford Added 10 kills for a .563 batting average.

COUNT THEM!
• Pitt earned its eighth top-25 win of the season against No. 25 North Carolina.
• Five of those eight wins came 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 this year against the top five teams (No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Louisville, No. 5 Stanford).