With TV ratings, attendance on the rise, the spotlight is about to shine bright on Pitt Volleyball
The next week and a half will be crucial for Pitt's big dreams

Pitt Volleyball can turn the page on its first lost of the season, but even if the pressure of an undefeated season is gone, that doesn’t mean things get easier for the Panthers now.
The next eight days will put Pitt into some bright spotlights. If they can come out on the other side victorious, it’s not only a good sign for the national championship hopes of the nation’s #1 team, but also the hopes of sustaining the positive attention on the program.
Yes, you want to win the ACC. Yes, you want to host in the tournament. But there are other important items at play in the week and a half ahead.
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Top-10 Attendance
A total of 2,512 fans crowded into the Field House for last Wednesday’s home sweep of SMU. Pre-pandemic (and pre-Final Four runs), that would’ve been good for 5th-best in Pitt Volleyball history. Now, it’s just a Wednesday.
Pitt has averaged 3,663 fans per game this season — good for 10th in the nation. The program has *never* finished in the NCAA Top 10 in attendance, so now is their chance. (Pitt Volleyball out-drawing schools like BYU, Tennessee and Stanford? Wouldn’t have expected that a few years ago).
Sure, the 11,800 attendance against Penn State has tilted the average. But here’s what Pitt has coming up at home:
- Friday, Oct. 18 vs. Cal - It’s against a Penguins home game and high school football, but Friday nights are always good for student attendance.
- Sunday, Oct. 20 vs. #5 Stanford - Already sold out! That’s around 3,000.
- Friday, Oct. 25 vs. #4 Louisville - Pitt raised the prices for this one at the Pete, igniting a mild uproar among fans who had already purchased tickets, but I’d still expect more than 10,000 to be there.
- Sunday, Oct. 27 vs. Notre Dame - Sunday is typically Pitt’s best day for attendance, and it will help that they face a name brand in Notre Dame on a day that the Steelers aren’t playing. We could see close to 3,000 again at Fitz.
Attendance totals may not mean as much in a non-revenue sport as it does in basketball or football, but they’re still important. Top athletes want to play in front of serious crowds, not empty home gyms. Recruits will see a packed Pete for the Louisville match and know that Pitt fans will always bring the support.
And of course, a bigger crowd can provide a bigger home-court advantage — helping out a Pitt team that is 36-1 in its last 37 home matches. They’ll need that advantage in their upcoming matchups.
TV Attention
Another thing top athletes want? To play in front of a national TV audience. Even with most matches available via streaming nowadays, television attention still matters.
When Pitt plays #5 Stanford on ESPN this Sunday, it could be the most-watched regular season match in program history. Yes, they’ll be going up against the NFL and the U.S. Grand Prix on the broadcast networks, but volleyball on ESPN networks has seen steady viewership and a ratings increase of 16% from last year.
ACC Network and Big Ten Network are nice and all, but ESPN is the big show, and a decisive Pitt win over the school that has the most NCAA Volleyball Championships would be another major achievement for Pitt Volleyball.
Stanford: More Than Reputation
And yes, championship-winning Stanford is still good. They have top 15 wins over Kentucky, Minnesota, SMU, Wisconsin and Texas. Their only losses are to #2 Nebraska and #4 Louisville.
Stanford’s weakness? Service errors.
- They win 65.9% of points when the other team is serving (6th in the nation).
- They only win 43.8% of points when they're serving (135th in the nation).
- That’s in part because they average 13 service errors per match — 2nd-highest in the nation.
Thank you, Evollve (as always) for those stats.
However, even if the Cardinal can’t limit mistakes from the service line, they’re dangerous. They missed on 22 serves in three sets last night at #12 SMU, but still swept the Mustangs in Dallas — closely in all, 25-22, 25-23, 35-33(!).
When you watch Stanford, be on the lookout for three stars:
- Setter Kami Miner. If Rachel Fairbanks isn’t the best setter in the ACC, then it’s Miner. Both were first-team All-America last year.
- Outside hitter Elia Rubin. Fun fact: Rubin and Torrey Stafford played for the same high school team in Los Angeles. And if you think they ROLLED through teams, you’re absolutely right.
- Libero Elena Oglivie. She ranks as Chad Gordon’s #6 passer in the nation, the biggest factor why Stanford is so strong in serve-receive this season.
In the middle of one of Pitt’s biggest matches of the season, there will be an important rankings release: the first (and possibly only) in-season Top 16 from the NCAA women’s volleyball committee.
Pitt will likely have the #1 spot. The question will then become: can they hold on to it?