PITTSBURGH — No. 7 Pitt volleyball battled with a solid Wake Forest squad but managed to pull out the sweep Sunday afternoon at Fitzgerald Field House on Senior Day.
The Panthers’ (20-3 overall, 11-1 ACC) win over the Demon Deacons (16-7 overall, 7-5 ACC) is their fifth in a row, all of which have been sweeps. It also improves the Panthers’ record to 12-1 and an eight consecutive victories in the all-time series against the Demon Deacons.
“I was really impressed with Wake, especially with how well they played defensively in the back row,” Panthers head coach Dan Fisher said on the win. “I thought we made some really good swings that we handled. I thought that, and the numbers show, that our offense was good all day long. We had very few unforced errors. We hardly hit a ball out of bounds and if we did, it was close. I liked our focus on offense, and I think that we lacked a little bit of defensive intensity at times, but on the whole, real pleased.”
Both teams battled to begin the first set, with Pitt only up 10-9 and having to take a timeout. Pitt used a 4-1 run to build a 14-10 lead, but Wake Forest battled back to cut the deficit to two points at 18-16, forcing another Pitt timeout. That timeout proved crucial, as Pitt finished the set off on a 7-3 run to win 25-18.
The Panthers dominated the Demon Deacons in the second set, getting out to a 7-3 lead and building it up to 14-7, 20-12 and finishing it off 25-15.
Pitt once again started out with a sizable advantage over Wake Forest, 7-2 to begin the third set, but Wake Forest would come back to make it 9-6. Pitt managed to keep Wake Forest from making a true comeback, as they would hold at least a three point lead the rest of the way, winning the final set, 25-18.
First-year right side hitter Olivia Babcock led the Panthers with 14 kills, her third highest mark this season, while hitting an impressive .462. Fellow first year in outside hitter Torrey Stafford finished second with 11 kills and also hitting .400.
Junior setter Rachel Fairbanks had one of her best performances of the season against the Demon Deacons. She registered 33 assists and 11 digs for a double-double, making it her second of the season. Her other double-double came against No. 15 Kentucky on Sept. 3, as she made 25 assists and 15 digs in the four-set victory at the Petersen Events Center.
Graduate student middle blocker Chiamaka Nwokolo had seven kills, a .429 hitting percentage and a team-high in total blocks with three for Pitt.
Pitt volleyball also honored five seniors on Senior Day following the match. They honored each graduating player with a video, flowers and a plaque with their jersey on it. Graduate students in middle blocker Emma Monks, libero/defensive specialist Logan Mosley, setter Lexis Akeo and Nwokolo, as well as senior outside hitter and serve specialist Cat Flood all received honors with their families from Fisher and their teammates and the fans in attendance.
Mosley had her parents and her boyfriend there with her to join her on Senior Day. She loved the ceremony, but also the great performance from her teammates in the sweep for Pitt.
“Honestly, our intensity,” Mosley said on what she liked most from the victory. “We went into the game; we knew what we had to do, and we went out there and killed it. We had a scouting report and I think we executed that really well.”
Flood, who spent a lot of time on the service line in the win against the Demon Deacons, thought that they started well, which allowed them to have such a great performance in the sweep.
“I think one of the things with Sunday games that we just struggle with is just getting the groove right away,” Flood said. “I think right from the first set, it think we were all working pretty hard, because they’re a pretty good defensive team. I think we were just trying to out-spike and out-block. In the end, I think we ended up out-digging them. So, I just liked our performance on a Sunday, especially on a Sunday that meant so much to a lot of us.”
Pitt volleyball will travel down south next weekend and will face a tough Florida State team on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
