You Don't Need to be Perfect... Just Win

Nobody’s perfect1… but you can be perfect record-wise for a while. And perfect records have done a lot for Pitt Volleyball over the years.

I hopped on the bandwagon in October 2018 when Pitt shot out to 23-0 to start the season, the nation’s longest winning streak at the time. My first tweet about the team came when the Panthers were 17-0 and ranked #6 in the country:

“More people need to start paying attention to this undefeated Pitt_VB team (myself included).”

My first-ever match came two weeks later when #6 Pitt hosted #21 Louisville, and I was not the only debutant Pitt Volleyball fan. A then-program-record 2,152 attendees filled the Field House on that chilly Sunday in October.

OK, so remember: it’s Missouri vs. Kentucky at the Pete today at 1 PM, then Pitt vs. Oregon around 3:30 PM. Winners play at the Pete again on Saturday at 5:00 PM for a spot in the Final Four. Got that? Oh yeah, and subscribe below:

Volleyball coaches, fans and players sing a common refrain when a reporter asks a question like: What do you say to someone who’s never been to a volleyball match before? Their response: “Just go to a match, and you’ll be hooked.”

And while this wasn’t my first volleyball match (that was almost two decades prior, when my brother was attending Georgia Tech), I watched Pitt go on a 15-1 run in the 4th set to beat Louisville and stay undefeated… and if you’ve gotten to this point in the newsletter, you know that I was hooked.

Others were hooked too. Despite losing its undefeated streak at 23 consecutive games, Pitt broke the attendance record again a few weeks later in an act of revenge against a Duke team that had snapped the streak. Another attendance record came against Penn State in 2019, then another against Louisville in 2023.

But it’s been nothing compared to 2024. There was a time in this Pitt Volleyball season when the possibility existed that they might not lose a single set.2 Winning 36 consecutive sets (and being #1 in the nation) to start a season will get folks talking, and the word of mouth led to the newest attendance record — 11,800 for a sellout of the Pete to watch a sweep of Penn State.

Of course, Pitt did drop a set (to Boston College) and then a match (to SMU), but the hype around the Perfect Panthers has set in motion the biggest bandwagon yet. I’ve started to hear more chatter about Pitt Volleyball in my day-to-day life than ever before.3

But I often wonder how much of that chatter makes its way to the team itself and the coaches.

Coach Dan Fisher was asked if there’s a different pressure to make the Final Four this year, as the #1 overall seed, as the team that was so… well, perfect.

Fisher has often said that the only differences he notices are more media and bigger crowds, as he reiterated at Wednesday’s pre-Regionals press conference.

“These girls get to this point because they're so competitive, because they're such perfectionists, so it's more just managing that perfectionism and putting it into something that's productive,” Fisher said.

And that’s the key — perfection is not needed. Production is. Being better than your opponent is how you survive and advance. Do it six times and you’re a National Champion. The trophy doesn’t have a spot for style points.

On Wednesday morning, flanking Fisher were two players that have been among the best in the country at their position: outside hitter Torrey Stafford and libero Emmy Klika.

“I also think that we try to go into every game as the underdog,” Stafford added to Fisher’s point. “We always say ‘underdog mentality.’ You never want to be too confident. With the number one seed obviously it could bring the pressure, but: Underdogs.”

Then Klika added: “I think, especially at this stage in the tournament, every team is so talented. I don't think we're going into it *expecting* anything. I think we're just going to hold our high standard on the court, and if we're holding our standard, playing the way we train, then hopefully that ends up in a win.”

Keeping an underdog mentality. Holding high standards. This may not sound much different than your typical athlete-being-interviewed-speak. But I think it reflects the kind of culture that Fisher has built. This is a team with a drive to win a National Title, no doubt, but also one where players are instilled with the goals of simply getting better each day to create the outcome they want to see.

While Stafford and Klika don’t always put up the kind of stat lines that have them appearing on the podium with Fisher for postgame pressers, Stafford owns a ridiculous .369 hitting percentage (the highest of any pin hitter from a Power 4 school this season) and Klika has worked her way to becoming one of the nation’s best passers.

Stafford, the star sophomore, has been playing years beyond her age by showcasing sharp passing, a lot more high-flying back-row attacks, and the ability to slice up a defense with her shot selection.

Klika, the solid senior, has grown into the kind of defensive stalwart you need to make a Final Four. Strong-hitting teams abound in the NCAA Tournament. They’re going to get past your block, so you’d better make sure you have someone mopping up the back row. Klika has been better than ever at doing just that.

Perfect? Not possible. But there are few six-rotation outsides who have performed better this season than Stafford. Few liberos as steady as Klika. Few setters as dead-on as Rachel Fairbanks. Few middles terminating like Bre Kelley. And no one scoring, serving and blocking all in one like Olivia Babcock, the likely National Player of the Year.

Oregon will show up with plenty of great players, led by a coach in Matt Ulmer who gets his Ducks to peak at the right time — exemplified by Elite 8 runs in 2018, 2022 and 2023. If you're focusing on one player, make it #15 Mimi Colyer, who carries most of the offensive load with 1,204 attacks and counting this season.

I expect that the bigger environment of the Petersen Events Center over the Fitzgerald Field House will make for better preparation for the bigger, bigger environment in Louisville hosting the ultimate goal: a National Championship match in front of 22,000 fans next weekend.

I don’t expect perfection. Just win, baby.