Pitt’s non-conference run ended the way it has gone for most of the last few weeks: with a sweep and very little drama.
The Panthers rolled past Wright State at Victory Heights Arena on Sunday, winning 25-10, 25-14, 25-14 to finish 10-0 before heading into their break. Even with the schedule front-loaded with tough trips to Milwaukee, Salt Lake City, Provo and Orlando, Pitt didn’t blink. It closes the non-conference portion of the year with 15 straight set wins.
Olivia Babcock and Ayanna Watson powered the offense again, each finishing with 13 kills and no errors. Babcock’s .765 hitting percentage was a career best, minimum 10 attacks, while Watson hit .650.
“I give it all to [my setters and liberos]," Watson said. "They just make my job so easy, because they make every ball good, and that's all I need.”
Pitt barely gave Wright State a foothold. The Panthers committed just one attack error in each set and finished with a season-best .476 hitting percentage. They opened the first set by racing to an 18-5 lead and never looked back.
"I'm not totally sure why we seem to have our best energy on the 5th game in [nine days]," said head coach Dan Fisher. "But I'm glad to get through this stretch and have a few days off."
The Panthers now head into their end-of-summer break before welcoming Cal and Stanford, sitting No. 1 nationally in the unofficial RPI on the 4th-toughest strength of schedule, per Figstats.net. Fisher built this opening stretch to test his team with NCAA Tournament-level competition and a lot of travel, and the results have matched the challenge.
"We got a lot of wins against good teams in a short amount of time," Fisher said. "We're just so much better at it than we would have been 10 years ago.
It's become such a part of volleyball today, to be flying around all the time... ultimately, no matter how good you are with sleep and nutrition, once you step onto the court it's more just a mindset. We have a team that believes it can win regardless of what the preparation was."
If Pitt’s first 10 matches offered a snapshot of where this team is headed, the biggest names were easy to spot. Babcock and Izzy Starck have been the driving force, and in a made-up award that can absolutely have co-MVPs, they’ve earned it.
Babcock has put together her best non-conference stat line yet, hitting .363 with 164 kills, both career highs through the first 10 matches of a season. Starck has been every bit as important in setting the table.
Pitt is hitting .330 overall and has out-hit opponents by at least 80 points in every match except the tight one against Kansas on Aug. 28.
"We're just doing a really great job, especially the middles, being up in transition and being able to force a little more uncomfortable things [on opponents]," Starck said this weekend.
She has also been a force on defense, leading the Panthers with 84 digs and adding 23 blocks.
"I think it just builds trust," Babcock said of her setter's play. "Whether it's a set or a dig, it puts a lot of confidence in the players to know they have someone there that is going to make those plays."
One of Pitt’s most effective stretches has come with Ayanna Watson serving. Rotation 2, with Watson at the line, has been the team’s best rotation by the numbers. It puts Blaire Bayless and Babcock on the pins, with the middle and a back row that usually includes Starck and Trinity Thompson.
Entering Sunday, Pitt had won 53.1% of Watson’s service points, per Evollve.net. That number stands out even more because teams rarely win more than half their points on serve, and even No. 1 Nebraska is at 50.6%.
"I love serving -- serving is actually my favorite thing to do," Watson said. "I definitely take pride in it."
The Panthers have also won 71.6% of the points when Watson gets the first touch in serve-receive, also per Evollve.net, the best mark among Pitt passers. That combination makes Rotation 2 especially dangerous.
Another major development has been the emergence of Maaike Heilig. The 6-foot-4 Dutch middle blocker has become the go-to option in the middle and leads Pitt with 1.52 blocks per set.
"Maaike has been probably the most well-rounded [middle]," Fisher said. "Abbey [Emch] has probably been the stronger blocker, and Jordyn [Dailey] arguably is the stronger hitter.
They're still battling. They know how I feel: that we can win any two of the three."
This isn’t 2024, when Pitt tore through non-conference play without dropping a set and climbed to the program’s first-ever No. 1 ranking. But it is still an unbeaten team, and one that gets a little breathing room now after a demanding opening stretch.
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