NEWS: Izzy Starck transferring to Pitt

If Pitt wants to win a National Championship, it could do worse than signing a setter who already has one under her belt.

Izzy Starck announced Tuesday on Instagram that she will transfer from Penn State to Pitt. She provides the Panthers with an elite plug-and-play setter, albeit one with question marks three and a half months after her 'WTF'-inducing announcement of a pause from playing volleyball.

Starck's pedigree couldn't be much higher: No. 1 overall recruit in her class as rated by PrepVolleyball, National Freshman of the Year in 2024, a phenom who quarterbacked Penn State to its eighth NCAA Championship.

Only three setters from the 2024 All-America Teams returned for this past season: Nebraska's Bergen Reilly, Wisconsin's Charlie Fuerbringer and Starck. Reilly was named a finalist for National Player of the Year in 2025 after leading the Huskers to an undefeated regular season. Fuerbringer had a 22-2 record and just guided Wisconsin to the precipice of the National Title match.

And then there's Starck.

Penn State was preseason No. 2 for 2025 following its National Championship, but the Nittany Lions took two early losses in Pittsburgh to Arizona State and TCU. Then came the news that, while it may sound dramatic, truly shocked the volleyball world. Starck wasn't at Rec Hall for the next match, which was also PSU's Championship Celebration, and posted that night on Instagram that she was sitting out the season for mental health reasons.

Months of rumor-mill-churning have followed (off-the-court stuff, nothing I'd feel comfortable publishing), and a month ago Starck announced her intention to transfer from Penn State.

Now she's headed to Oakland, and if the risk is high, the reward is even higher.

Starck's Impact for Pitt

With Starck in the fold, Pitt will be heading into 2026 with potentially one of the most dynamic attacks in the country. Olivia Babcock returns, fresh off her second straight National Player of the Year Award. Blaire Bayless will be back after nearly doubling her hitting percentage – from .158 in 2024 to .296 in 2025. Ayanna Watson will join the crew after being named a finalist for AVCA High School National Player of the Year. All three will benefit from Starck's second touch.

Starck will also be an impact player defensively. Just a few weeks into her college career, she was already the best blocking setter in the country by Chad Gordon's metrics. Simply put: If Starck can stay on the court, she will be one of the best all-around setters in the country.

Dan Fisher and Kellen Petrone have acquired some high-impact transfers over the last five years: Leketor Member-Meneh, Serena Gray, Courtney Buzzerio, Bre Kelley and Brooke Mosher all joined Pitt and went on to win All-America honors. Starck, with her cathedral ceiling, could potentially provide the biggest impact out of them all.

With Mosher graduating and backup Kiana Dinn bound for South Carolina, Starck joins a setter group that will include (if all stay) rising junior Haiti Tautua'a and highly-touted incoming freshman Isabelle Hoppe.

Starck has two years of eligibility remaining – a third with a redshirt seems possible, but unlikely. Ultimately the pressure will be on a single year: 2026, one last dance with Babcock. With Starck leading the charge, Pitt will be once again be one of the toughest attacks in the nation.

Middles Jones, Vîrlan Hit the Portal

Now Pitt's attention turns elsewhere in the portal, namely: middle blocker.

Two of the Panthers' middles, Ryla Jones and Dalia Vîrlan, announced their entry into the portal Saturday. Neither was particularly surprising; the writing was on the wall for Jones ever since she lost her starting spot to freshman Abbey Emch, and Vîrlan appeared in only 7 of Pitt's 35 matches.

The irony is, with Bre Kelley graduating, either Jones or Vîrlan would've likely grabbed a starting spot in 2026. Emch is currently the only middle blocker on Pitt's roster heading into the spring, though the incoming 6-foot-6 Jessica Smallwood (listed by Pitt as an opposite) will likely take reps at middle upon her arrival.

The portal is not deep with middles right now, but two players of interest each have three years of eligibility remaining: SMU's Maggie Croft, who totaled 9 blocks in a three-set Tournament win over Florida, and Ohio State's Kaia Castle, who earlier this season broke OSU's single-match blocks record with a 15-block night.

[3:50 PM UPDATE - I missed that Kaia Castle had already announced her transfer to Texas A&M. Good pickup for the Aggies.]

Back-row defense could certainly be supplemented as well, and I'd expect a veteran libero to enter the fold this winter for Pitt. The holiday shopping season will continue well past Christmas for the Panthers, that's for certain.