Pitt Volleyball Sweeps Michigan in Highly-Contested Second Round Matchup
PITTSBURGH — A day after clean sweeping UMBC in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament, Pitt swept Michigan in what ended up as a highly-competitive second round matchup.
The first two sets of the match came down to the wire as the Panthers needed Olivia Babcock kills to close out each set, 25-23. The third set was just as competitive but the Panthers managed to pull away towards the end of it as they clinched the match win with a 25-18 set victory.
“Just like I always say, I think my team just trusts me in those big moments,” Babcock said after the match. “Something that we have highlighted the entire season is being good after 20 so I know that even if I am struggling leading up to that time, once it gets to that moment, if my team trusts me to take a big rip, I just want to do my job and hopefully score.”
While Pitt head coach Dan Fisher was not making any excuse as to why the match was so competitive, he stated that the quick turnaround from yesterday’s match gave his squad little time to actually prep for Michigan’s intensity.
Michigan head coach Erin Virtue, a close friend of Fisher, took advantage of that and had her team prepped for the Panthers’ attack which made for a highly entertaining match that could have easily went longer than three sets.
“I am not surprised, they are very well coached,” Fisher said after the match. “Erin had her team ready for us and their offense was really difficult without a day of preparation for us to get used to their speed. That was a big theme, us trying to find a way to make them uncomfortable defensively.”
While Babcock did what Babcock does as she finished with a match-high 24 kills, Marina Pezelj played a huge role in the Panthers’ second-round win as she tied her career high in kills with 12, including six in the second set.
Michigan jumped out to a quick 6-3 lead in the first set but Pitt rallied after a timeout and tied it up at six a piece on two crafty finishes above the net by Blaire Bayless and Pelezj.
Neither team led by more than one through the next portion of the set until the Wolverines used a 3-0 run to vault to a 17-13 lead, but the Panthers answered with a larger run of their own to tie the set back up at 19-19.
Despite that run, the Wolverines once again gained a lead at 21-20 before the Panthers closed the set out on a 5-2 run which was capped off on a big rip and kill by Babcock.
The Panthers carried the momentum that they gained at the end of the first set into the second set as they jumped out to a 6-3 lead behind three kills and a block from Babcock and two more kills by Pezelj.
The lead then turned into a 10-4 lead after another small scoring run fueled by the duo of Babcock and Pezelj. Just when it seemed like the Panthers grabbed hold of the game’s momentum, the Wolverines came clawing back behind a 5-1 run in which Pitt lost a challenge.
The Wolverines’ scoring stretch made the score 11-9 in favor of the Panthers and the small advantage stayed around two for the remainder of the set. The Panthers led 24-21 after a Pezelj’s sixth kill of the set but the Wolverines fought back with a kill and an ace to make it 24-23 before Babcock ended the set.
Again, Pitt carried its momentum into the following set and led 4-1 after kills from Bayless, Babcock and Bre Kelley, but again, the Wolverines came scratching as they answered with a 5-1 run to jump out ahead.
Just like in the second set, the third set saw neither team get out to more than a two-point lead until the Panthers used a 3-0 run to claim a 19-15 lead.
After a Wolverine kill, the Panthers pounced on their opponent and finished off the set and match behind two kills a piece from Babcock and Kelley followed by a clinching ace by Mallorie Meyer.
“I am proud of this group,” Fisher said. “We had two returning starters on the floor and here we are in the Sweet 16. I am proud of this city and the fan support that we have. We are going to do everything that we can to keep this going.”
Pitt now advances to its sixth-straight Sweet 16 under Fisher and will take on No. 4 Minnesota on Thursday or Friday.
