The Pitt women’s volleyball team is set to host perhaps its largest regular season match in program history on Wednesday evening at the Petersen Events Center, and an old foe will be the one across the court. Pitt earned its first No. 1 ranking in program history last week, and will be playing its first-ever home match as the top team in the land.
The No. 1 Panthers will welcome third-ranked Penn State, matching two of the best teams in the nation and renewing a historic rivalry between the state’s largest universities. Pitt enters the contest with a 6-0 record, and has not lost a single set this season, while the Nittany Lions will bring an unblemished 8-0 record to Wednesday’s showdown.
“I knew that Penn State would be very good, especially after our spring scrimmage with them,” Pitt head coach Dan Fisher said in a media availability on Monday. “They are absolutely deserving of their high ranking, and it's not post-season. We're a ways from there. There's a lot of improving yet to do, but this will certainly be a very nice test for our team to see where we're at.”
All the Panthers did to celebrate their newly minted No. 1 ranking was go on a trip to California and sweep a trio of matches. The West Coast swing was highlighted by a trouncing over No. 23 USC. Now that the road excursion is over with, all of Pitt's attention can be focused on the big match with an in-state rival.
Penn State is led by third-year head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley, but the architect of that program becoming a powerhouse was Russ Rose, who coached the Nittany Lions from 1979 to 2021 and guided them to seven national champions.
Of course, both fanbases can and will maintain the rivalry on Wednesday night, but Fisher pointed to the admiration he had for Rose, and maybe not quite feeling the same hostility as the fans might have.
“He was so generous with me and complimentary,” Fisher started to say when asked what it means to have his team ahead of Penn State. “But I do know. I've been here long enough, and I know what it means to Pitt fans to beat Penn State and to be above them in the rankings.”
The Panthers’ head coach more or less said this Penn State match is simply the next opponent on the schedule. There was some national championship discussion involving his team, which is totally fair given where his program has risen to in recent years. Pitt has played in three straight final fours and has become one of the country’s premier programs, but a national championship is something that has still evaded them.
He said it’s hard to reflect on big picture stuff like that in the present, but noted it’s a thing that is on his mind on how far the program has emerged.
“It's beyond what I certainly thought when I got here, but I think until we win a national championship, we're always going to be…you're not going to be seen in the same light as a Texas or Nebraska or Stanford until you win that,” said Fisher.
Penn State owns a 34-21 all-time record over Pitt. The teams did not play the past two seasons, but the Panthers ended Penn State’s season back in 2021 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on the way to their first-ever Final Four berth. Pitt also plans to to distribute rings to its team from last season, who claimed an ACC Championship and made a run to the Final Four.
The 2024 Panthers boast a powerful lineup, headlined by Olivia Babcock, the reigning ACC Player of the Week. Babcock was the national Freshman of the Year named by the AVCA last season and has picked up right where she has left off this season.
"She's one of the best players in college and she's able to carry a huge load and she's better than a year ago,” Fisher said. “And we're lucky she's at Pitt.”
Pitt and Penn State have met 54 times previously, but this is the first time both programs will enter as top five programs. The state of Pennsylvania is not always noted for its volleyball producing prowess, but Fisher recognizes the importance of this match.
Volleyball is growing with more of a television spotlight being shown on the sport than ever before, and having two of two of the most visible teams in the country from Pennsylvania during this push is certainly a significant step in the growth of Pitt's program, and throughout the state.
“But I do think it's huge for our state, and you're going to see probably the results of that inspiring young people over the next, 10-20 years of just with girls growing up thinking it's mainstream and dreaming of being like the girls they're seeing on Wednesday night,” he said of Wednesday’s significance.
