The Perception Game: Pitt Needs to Rebound... and Find a Second Scoring Option

You know what other fanbases' think of Pitt Volleyball? They think the Panthers are somewhere between overrated and fraudulent, that head coach Dan Fisher is a big meanie, and that Olivia Babcock would be best served just transferring or turning pro after this season.

Now, most of these internet commenters are from Nebraska, so I don't care much about their opinions.

But does the perception matter? I wish I could say it doesn't. However, this is a perception business. Players and their parents can't help but see what the Huskers Volunteer Keyboard Brigade writes. The perceived blue bloods get the top recruits, the better TV opportunities and ultimately more resources to compete. The online ravings are a tiny part of the overall perception, but indeed still a part.

That is all to say: Pitt whiffed on a pretty primo opportunity this weekend. In the program's first ever game on network TV, Pitt was thoroughly out-played by the nation's best team – #1 Nebraska. Then, in another national TV showcase on ESPN, the Panthers were upset by a Florida team they should have been able to take care of.

Pitt will be fine. Dan Fisher is a gem. Olivia Babcock's not going anywhere. But the perception business was not booming this weekend.

What's Needed for this Pitt Team

So how does it improve? Let me remind you that I'm a Pitt fan first and a volleyball analyst... well, not second. Maybe fifth or sixth. I'll let Fisher handle the volleyball adjustments – some of which he already made on Sunday, taking the libero jersey from Florida State transfer Emery Dupes and handing it to 17-year-old Izzy Masten.

Credit is due to the opponents. Nebraska has top-tier talent at every position, though I'm loath to tell that to the nation's most annoying fans. Florida played strong defense, and Jordyn Byrd is a revelation for the Gators – back in her home state after being stuck in Depth Chart Hell and Injury Purgatory at Texas – hitting .368 against Stanford and notching 23 kills against Pitt.

What is clear is that the Panthers will need to get better setting and find more ways to terminate. Last year's Pitt team was held under .200 hitting just once last season (at Boston College, who featured the nation's block leader – Julia Haggerty). The latest Panthers team was held under .200 twice in one weekend.

Opponents can key in on Babcock when she is carrying the offense, and carry she did. Last season, Babcock didn't have a match with more than 40 swings until halfway through it – a five-set loss at SMU. This weekend, she recorded 58 attacks against Nebraska and an almost-career-high 68 attacks against Florida.

While volleyball players need not adhere to a 'swing count' like a baseball pitch count, common sense dictates that Pitt should closely monitor their 20-year-old superstar who was jump-serving, leaping from the back row, and taking aggressive swings in a competitive Team USA gym this summer.

You can let Liv cook, but only so much. Pitt is still a strong serving team and will drive teams nuts defensively. Still, they'll need more point-scorers in the absence of last year's left-side option, the off-to-Texas Torrey Stafford.

Options Needed

Who will the new second offensive option be? Early on, it was Dagmar Mourits from the Netherlands, whom I'll give some early applause for playing six rotations in her NCAA debut. Nebraska and Florida both targeted her with their serves (Florida in particular – 43 receptions while no other Panther had more than 13) and Mourits held her own as a sharp passer. But she'll need to rack up points to hang on to the starting outside hitter job.

Pitt certainly won't give up on Blaire Bayless – however, she was conspicuous in her absence from the lineup, completely sitting out two sets on Friday and one set on Sunday. Newcomer Marina Pezelj is coming for her playing time, and I think the next few matches will help determine who will see the floor in big moments in September against Top 10 opponents like Kentucky, Penn State and SMU.

It's also worth remembering that neither starting middle blocker is fully healthy: Bre Kelley still had a cast over her pinky and Ryla Jones is only a few weeks removed from having a boot on her left leg. Getting them more involved will help keep defenses honest.

Bouncing Back

This is certainly not the first time Pitt has faced some early adversity. The 2020 team departed quarantine just to fall to Syracuse in back-to-back matches. That was the last time they have started 0-2. The 2022 team opened with a neutral-site loss to #25 San Diego, which turned out to be a fellow Final Four team. In 2023, the Panthers hit just .034 in a season-opening loss to BYU – en route to hitting .303 as a team that year.

Fisher once called the non-conference slate "the preseason," and there's a certain wisdom to treating it like that – even if the tournament selection committee will not.

None of the early losses in the early 2020's held back those Pitt teams, but none were as high-profile as these losses on FOX and ESPN (frankly, I can't even remember if the match against San Diego was streaming). There are more national TV opportunities to come, and now Pitt gets to spend the next two weeks here at home. We can trust in Fisher & Co. to start making the needed improvements to get back to old-fashioned Winning Pitt Volleyball.

Winning is the only way you stop bad perceptions from festering.