The 2025 Pitt Volleyball Midseason Awards
From MVP to Biggest Moment to Biggest Letdown, let's look at where the Panthers stand so far this season.
So it's not technically the halfway mark, as Pitt has now played 16 of its 30 regular season matches. But we're close enough! Let's dive in.
Big thanks to Evollve for many of the stats in this piece. Tell your volleyball-loving friends about 'em!
Most Valuable Player: Olivia Babcock
Well, that was easy. Let's move on.
Juuuuust kidding! Babcock remains one of the nation's best all-around players. She is carrying the offensive load for a top-five Pitt team and has even added back-row defense to her arsenal (leading Pitt with 135 digs).
It's also striking to me how steady Babcock's offensive numbers have been vs. last year, despite losing a first-team All-America setter in Rachel Fairbanks and a first-team All-America outside hitter in Torrey Stafford on the opposite pin.
- .323 hitting percentage (.323 last year)
- 4.83 kills per set (4.72 last year)
- 10.5 attacks per set (10.2 last year)
She is positioning herself to repeat as National Player of the Year, but much of that is contingent on Pitt returning to the Final Four – only one player in the last 20 years has won the award without her team qualifying for the final weekend (Samantha Bricio, USC – 2015).
Most Improved Player: Blaire Bayless
With Stafford and Valeria Vázquez Gomez out the door, 2025 was 'go time' for the breakthrough of Bayless. As I noted in my season preview, "if she can live up to the expectations placed on her, Pitt will once again have one of the nation's top offenses."
So far, mission accomplished.
The highly-talented Bayless could always fire big swings. The problem was those swings would too often be straight into a block or out of bounds.
No longer. This season, Bayless has dropped her percentage of attacks blocked from 9.8% (last season) to 5.3% and her percentage of attacks going out from 8.4% to 4.7%. Those improvements may seem slight, but they've allowed Bayless to catapult her hitting percentage from .158 to .310 overall.
Bayless stepped up big time in matches against TCU (14 kills, .448 hitting), Kentucky (9 kills in 3 sets, .400 hitting) and Georgia Tech (16 kills, .429 hitting). She'll need to keep doing so in crucial matches down the stretch.
Most Valuable Newcomer: Brooke Mosher
There were no guarantees that Mosher would be a plug-and-play setter for Pitt, especially after missing spring practice as she wrapped up her degree at Illinois.
But after some connection issues in the opening weekend, Mosher has been dynamite. She is quick to track down the ball and has been getting better at setting up smooth scoring opportunities for Babcock and the rest of the offense, quarterbacking a .301 team hitting percentage – 5th in the nation.
"Every single day in the gym, she's really focused on our connection," Babcock said of Mosher after Sunday's win at Florida State. "She's very open and honest in her communication with us, asking us what we need and what she can do better – and then we reflect and tell her what we can do better. Obviously we struggled at that early on, but I feel like every single game has gotten better and better. We talk about just putting up every ball hittable."
Mosher is perhaps even more valuable in front-row rotations than in the back row, as she's strong on the block and unafraid to smash the ball with her (non-dominant) left arm – good for a .371 hitting percentage. She's been a dynamic all-around player, and that's exactly what Pitt needed in the post-Fairbanks era.
Biggest Moment: Brooke Mosher service run at SMU
And then there's the serve. Mosher brought a fierce jump topspin serve to Pittsburgh, where she leads all Panthers with 26 service aces
Mosher has authored some dominant service runs in the first half, none more important than the one that opened Set 5 in Dallas. With Pitt on the verge of losing at Moody Coliseum for a second straight year, Mosher got the Panthers four straight points – including two aces – for an early 5-0 lead that SMU couldn't overcome.
Mosher fireballed some jump topspin serves to rattle off four straight points – including two aces. Even an early SMU timeout couldn't slow her, and the Panthers were quickly up 5-0 en route to victory.
Best Individual Performance: Olivia Babcock at home vs. SMU
On the back end of that two-match series against the Mustangs, Olivia Babcock absolutely took over at the Petersen Events Center. I've seen Babcock dominate before, but never so completely against a Top 10 opponent.
James Santelli
In all phases, from the front row to the back row, Babcock was on fire. Her best set was the one that Pitt *lost* – totaling 13 kills on 20 attempts. If that match had gone to a 5th, Babcock would have threatened the Pitt record for kills in the rally scoring era (36 kills, set by Stephanie Ross in 2006).
When you need Babcock to take over a match, she can do it.
Best Team Performance: Sweep of Kentucky on neutral court
Yes, it's the match that had me declaring The Return of the Panthers after a snappy three-set win in Fort Worth, Texas over a team which has only suffered one other loss – a five-setter to #1 Nebraska in Nashville.
James Santelli
Pitt's offense was clicking that night for a .349 hitting percentage. While the second (25-22) and third sets (25-23) were close affairs, Pitt ultimately prevailed thanks to a front row that doubled up Kentucky in blocks.
It's also a win that keeps looking better and better, as the Wildcats have won nine in a row to remain at #3 in the AVCA coaches' poll. It's no guarantee that Pitt will finish above Kentucky when the tournament committee sits down and decides, but that win sure helps the case.
Biggest Letdown: Reverse-swept at Miami
Aw nuts, I'm going to have to write about that match now, aren't I?
Let's keep this short: Miami is one of the best serving teams around, now 2nd in the nation with 2.32 aces per set. The Hurricanes' service game kept Pitt on its heels all night, and Flormarie Heredia Colon did the rest – entering the National Player of the Year conversation with a program record 38 kills while no other Miami player had more than six.
Still, the Panthers let the 5th set slip away (one in which they hit .571), allowing a reverse sweep after being up 2-0 for the first time since 2020-21 Elite Eight match they lost to Washington.
Pitt head coach Dan Fisher has said "winning is a skill," and it's one that this Panthers group is still refining as it tries to win another ACC title.
Biggest Improvement Needed: Overall service game
There are other areas that need to improve for Pitt to be a championship contender, including serve-receive and setting Bre Kelley (who's down from 1.9 kills per set last year to 1.5) in the middle.
But it's the service line that has taken the biggest step back in 2025. After winning 51.0% of service points (2nd in D1) last year, they're winning just 45.3% of service points (75th in D1). Last season, Pitt's 1.92 aces/set were 14th in the nation. Now it's down to 1.48 aces/set – 190th in the nation.
It's no great shock – according to Chad Gordon's metrics, Pitt lost the NCAA's 1st (Fairbanks), 6th (Vázquez Gomez) and 8th (Cat Flood) most valuable servers in the country.
Serving is also the only part of Babcock's game that has been down from a year ago, as her ace rate has been nearly cut in half from 17.5% to 9.2% while the error rates remains above 20%. It's an issue that Babcock acknowledged this weekend.
"I've just been struggling with my confidence on that recently. It's just been one of those things where I'm not putting in enough work," Babcock told ESPN after Sunday's match against Florida State. "I feel like it really reflects when I go back to the line, because I'm just not having good self-talk. I'm just like 'Don't miss. Don't miss.' And that's the worst possible self-talk to have, especially as a jump server. Your mindset needs to be: just go for it."
Babcock also noted that part of it is managing her practice load – understandable for a player who is responsible for so much in six rotations for Pitt.
Still, Pitt is getting decent results from its main three servers, winning at least 48% of points when Mosher or back-row specialists Mallorie Meyer or Izzy Masten are on the line. If the Panthers can keep improving when other servers are called upon, that will provide major benefits.
This Pitt team is not the same War Machine-dominant team of a year ago, but it is one still fully capable of another Final Four run. And there is still plenty of runway to shore up some of their trouble spots to go after the big dogs – undefeated-but-still-vulnerable Nebraska and Texas.
