Pitt Volleyball Season Preview: Six Questions about the 2025 Team

It's been a long offseason, but Pitt Volleyball is back, it's ranked #3 in the preseason coaches' poll, and the season begins tomorrow. Let's hop right to it.

1. Who's new this season?

If you have been checked out of Pitt Volleyball news since the Final Four in December, you are returning to a ton of new faces. Gone are program legends and fan favorites like setter Rachel Fairbanks, outside hitter Valeria Vázquez Gomez, libero Emmy Klika (all on to pro volleyball) and serve-master Cat Flood (seemingly on to influencing? I'd do the same with 50K followers on TikTok and 20K on Instagram).

At one point in the offseason, after All-American Torrey Stafford and recruit Samara Coleman both jumped ship to the Lone Star State, Pitt only had one outside hitter on the roster... which... is not enough.

So it was off to the transfer portal and the international market. Here's a quick (so ignore the sentence fragments) run-through of your newest Panthers:

• #3 Emery Dupes - Grad transfer from Florida State, likely Pitt's starting libero. Was still trying to get back to 100% from injury last season. Capable passer and server, but will need to improve to replace the steady Klika.
  
• #6 Sophia Gregoire - Played freshman season at Oregon before well-liked head coach Matt Ulmer bolted for Kansas. Arrived in the spring with plenty of talent, but may need to fight for playing time against two international outsides (see #10 and #19 below).
  
• #7 Izzy Masten - Youngest player on the roster (age 17) after deciding to forego a fourth year of high school and make the leap to Pitt. Could wear the second libero jersey right away. Über-athletic, and crazy hops for 5'8, Pitt's coaches will find opportunities for Masten to shine.
  
• #10 Marina Pezelj - Only arrived in Pittsburgh in late July, so more time to adapt may be needed. Experienced already at age 19, Pezelj has already played outside hitter professionally in France and made her French national team debut this summer.
  
• #17 Brooke Mosher - Grad transfer from Illinois. Has the unenviable task of trying to follow Pitt legend Rachel Fairbanks at setter. Powerful jump topspin serve, joining that of Babcock and Bayless. Mosher is quick to the ball and won't be intimidated by tough opponents after playing Big Ten volleyball.
  
• #19 Dagmar Mourits - Outside hitter arrival from the Netherlands. Gets to be a 21-year-old freshman because... (?) Taller than her listed height of 6'2 and already looks to be a strong presence at the net. Capable of playing six rotations right away, given her passing ability.
  
• #20 Abbey Emch - Tall middle blocker prospect from just over the Ohio border (Crestview High School, 60 miles from Pittsburgh). Won a silver medal with the U19 National Team this summer. May be further down on the depth chart of middles right now, but the future is bright.

2. Is there enough firepower around Olivia Babcock?

Maybe. Maybe not. That answer will depend largely on the appetite for setting the middles and Blaire Bayless.

Pitt's middles are the strongest position group returning from a year ago. Bre Kelley (2nd Team All-American) and Ryla Jones (All-ACC Freshman) are back, bringing their intimidating presence to the front row. While there are some bumps and bruises – Kelley was nursing a pinky injury last weekend, and Jones was in a walking boot earlier this summer – neither injury should be enough to keep this duo from sharing middle blocker duties.

Blaire Bayless may be facing more pressure to step up than any other Panther, fresh off a Pan Am Cup gold medal with the United States U21 team.

Back when Pitt was recruiting her, Bayless was as highly touted as her classmate Olivia Babcock. But for her first two seasons, Bayless was stuck behind the more complete Stafford and Vázquez Gomez at outside hitter. Both are now gone, and Bayless is suddenly OH1 after mostly playing in specialized roles like blocking sub.

Want firepower? Bayless' arm has always required a special license to operate, and she now has the responsibility to pull blockers away from Babcock and keep defenses honest. She'll get the opportunity to play all six rotations. She'll get the opportunity to terminate. And if she can live up to the expectations placed on her, Pitt will once again have one of the nation's top offenses.

3. What are the big matches in 2025?

Well, the first one is this Friday as Pitt plays its first-ever game on network television with a visit to #1 Nebraska on FOX. That's the opening stage of Pitt playing 9 of its first 14 matches against teams in the preseason Top 25, including:

Aug. 22 at #1 Nebraska – FOX
Aug. 24 vs. #16 Florida (in Lincoln) – ESPN
Aug. 31 vs. #25 TCU (at PPG Paints Arena) – FS1
Sept. 1 vs. #13 Arizona State (at PPG Paints Arena) – FS1
Sept. 10 vs. #7 Kentucky (in Fort Worth) – ESPN
Sept. 17 at #2 Penn State – Big Ten Network
Sept. 24 at #10 SMU – ACC Network
Sept. 28 vs. #10 SMU – ESPN
Oct. 5 vs. #22 Georgia Tech – ACC Network

Facing Nebraska is big. Going into Rec Hall to take on defending National Champs Penn State is huge. But the biggest matches will always be against Louisville (on the road October 19, home on November 26). The rivalry is quickly becoming one of the most fierce in women's college sports, and last season's Final Four upset at the KFC Yum! Center is sure to make Pitt more revenge-minded than ever.

4. Can Pitt continue its regular-season sellout streak?

Sure, you might have been there for the NCAA Tournament last December. But were you there when the Panthers opened their 2019 season in front of 302 adoring fans on a Friday afternoon at Fitzgerald Field House? Doubt it. (But I was!)

Pitt Volleyball have come a long way since the three-figure crowds of family members and boyfriends (and family members asking me if I was a boyfriend).

Pitt now takes a streak of eight straight Field House sellouts into its final season in the old spiking grounds. The 2024 Panthers set a program record of 83,545 across 19 home matches – regular season and tournament – good for 5th-highest in NCAA Volleyball. It was the first time Pitt finished in the nation's Top 10 in attendance.

I expect all 10 matches at Fitz this season to sell out, and the two matches over Labor Day Weekend at PPG Paints Arena – technically not home matches – to fill up the lower bowl. Your best bet to see the team is to get your tickets early or plan to be there for one of two matches at Petersen Events Center: Sunday, September 28 vs. SMU and Wednesday, November 26 (the night before Thanksgiving) vs. Louisville.

5. Will the Panthers be as good as they were last year?

Nope! And that's okay.

Last year's team won its first 36 sets and was #1 for almost the entire season (yeah, yeah, that's a load-bearing almost) and had a setter in Rachel Fairbanks who went straight from Pitt to quarterbacking the team with the best record in League One Volleyball (LOVB) and earning a spot on the U.S. senior national team.

(P.S. Why didn't Pitt retire the #10 jersey in honor of Rachel Fairbanks? And will #5 eventually be retired after Olivia Babcock?)

Losing Fairbanks, Stafford and Vázquez Gomez almost guarantees that Pitt will take a step back offensively.

But defensively? There's heat there.

The block will be led by the Killer B's – Bre, Babcock and Blaire (sorry, Ryla – not a 'B' name). Back-row defense will take a hit with the loss of Klika, but Mallorie Meyer and Izzy Masten look ready to sweep the floor. Pitt may need to win matches in different ways, grinding teams into a fine powder instead of easily firing off 25-12 set victories, but they'll win them all the same.

6. Can Pitt win the National Championship?

The 2024 Pitt Panthers were the best team in school history. They're going to take a step back. As noted in Question 3, they face a gauntlet of tough opponents in the first half of the schedule.

Last year, Pitt was the nation's best team in September. And in October. And in November. But not in December.

This year, Pitt doesn't need to doesn't need to dominate the early months. They could lose a few of those matches and take a dip in the rankings. Buy the dip – a Dan Fisher-coach team never stays down for long. There's a reason 10 out of 18 ACC head coaches picked Pitt to win the conference again.

And being a conference favorite over loaded teams like Louisville, Stanford and SMU makes you a clear national title contender.

Oh yeah, there's also the matter of National Player of the Year Olivia Babcock returning after spending the summer on Team USA, loading up swings against opponents like Italy, Brazil and Czechia. Good luck, Virginia Tech.

Eyes on the regular-season prize – an ACC title and a Top 4 overall seed – and the National Championship that has eluded previous Pitt teams could be in their sights.