Pitt Volleyball didn’t just christen Victory Heights Arena on Friday night. The Panthers announced it with a sweep.
No. 2 Pitt rolled past Jacksonville 25-11, 25-16, 25-19 in the first match in the new building, hitting .418 as a team and holding the Dolphins to .087. The place was packed, the lights were brand new, and the noise level was enough to give even Dan Fisher a little trouble.
“Some of those early timeouts were really hard for me to communicate with the players,” Fisher said with a smile. “This place is an incredible environment.
It's loud. There's a lot of energy.
The sound system is great. The lighting system is great.
I think the fans really appreciated all of that, and there's just not a bad seat. It's a great home for us.”
The sold-out crowd got the full show, and not just on Friday. Matches two and three on Saturday and Sunday were sold out as well.
“It certainly is nice to have validation from the community that our hard work is paying off,” Fisher said.
That validation has been years in the making. Fisher stood at a podium at the Petersen Events Center in January 2020, when Pitt first unveiled Victory Heights and the plan for a new facility built into the hillside near the Pete for volleyball, wrestling and gymnastics.
Back then, the Panthers were still chasing a breakthrough in the NCAA Tournament. Since then, the program has climbed all the way to a place where Pitt’s strategic plan says the goal is to “Maintain Pitt Volleyball among the top programs in the country, consistently competing for ACC Championships and in contention for a national championship.”
The opening night stage looked every bit like a program that has arrived. Cheerleaders carrying P-I-T-T flags led the team out, the spotlights swept across the floor and seating bowl, and fans filled the courtside seats in a building that replaces the 75-year-old Fitzgerald Field House.
For Blaire Bayless, the new setup is more than a shiny backdrop. It’s practical, too.
“The upgrades have given us more opportunities to better our program,” said the fourth-year outside hitter. “With a larger training room, treatment is a lot easier. With having our own practice facility, it's really nice to be able to have our own court.”
Bayless did plenty on the court as well. She finished with a match-high 17 kills on 29 swings, hitting .483, and was the Panthers’ main scoring option for much of the night.
“Being able to play in front of this crowd in this building, and have these new facilities, there are no words for how grateful I am to be surrounded by a community that wants to see athletics thrive as much as it does here,” Bayless said.
The contrast from where Pitt was before the arena announcement is stark. The season before Victory Heights was unveiled, the Panthers opened at home on a Friday afternoon against Cleveland State in front of 302 people. On Friday, they opened their 2026 home slate in primetime on national TV with 3,576 fans in the building.
And the fan base has grown up with the program. The novelty is gone.
The signs are homemade. The noise is real.
Pitt has now won 54 straight home matches, and one more would move the Panthers into the Top 10 on the all-time Division I home winning streak list.
“It’s what we want,” Fisher said. “We want people to be scared to come here.”
There were also a few lineup wrinkles as Pitt managed the workload during a stretch that includes four matches in five days after a long road trip. Fisher went with sophomore Izzy Masten as the lone libero instead of splitting duties between Mallorie Meyer and Trinity Thompson, and he liked what he saw.
“I thought she was rock solid,” Fisher said. “I can hardly remember a mistake she made.”
At middle blocker, Maaike Heilig did not play, while Jordyn Dailey and Abbey Emch split time and drew praise from Fisher for being “good offensively and defensively.”
Pitt also opened the third set without Olivia Babcock and Izzy Starck, turning to Sophia Gregoire on the pin and Haiti Tautua'a at setter. The Panthers looked sluggish early in that frame, but still finished the set hitting .370.
More rotation changes could be coming this weekend, with High Point set for Saturday at 5 PM and Wright State on Sunday at 1 PM. Those matches are the final tune-up before Pitt opens ACC play on Sept. 25.
Outside hitter Marina Pezelj was active in warmups Friday, but she did not play and has not appeared in a match this season.
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