Pitt Volleyball swept Coppin State to open the NCAA Tournament, but now faces a tougher challenge in No. 8 USC 7:00 p.m. Saturday night in the Second Round at the Petersen Events Center.
The Trojans finished the regular season with an 18-12 record and 12-8 in Pac-12 play. They earned the No. 8 seed, despite finishing No. 25 in the AVCA Coaches Poll, which would’ve put them at a No. 6 or a No. 7 seed. They were 3-8 against NCAA Tournament teams, with wins over then ranked No. 17 Purdue in four sets on the road on Sept. 15 and both against then ranked No. 4 Washington State in five sets on Oct. 20 and a sweep of then ranked No. 15 Arizona State on Nov. 5 at home.
USC swept UMBC in Friday afternoon at the Petersen Events Center. The won the first set 25-18, but dominated the both the second and third sets, 25-10, 25-12, respectively. They held UMBC to a .043 hitting percentage, their best defensive performance of the season, while hitting .420 themselves, their second-best mark in 2023.
Senior outside hitter Skylar Fields is one of the best attackers in the country. Her 5.14 kills per set ranks top five in Division I and she led the Pac-12 with 586 kills in 2023. She led the Women of Troy with 10 kills in the win over the Retrievers, even with a minor injury she suffered during the match.
Junior setter Mia Tuaniga is the distributor for USC, leading the team with 1,195 assists, 10.13 per set. She led USC with 38 in their win over UMBC and both her and Fields made the All-Pac 12 Team. Tuaniga is also a solid defensive player, as she is second on the team with 265 digs, and she leads the team with 31 service aces.
USC Middle blockers in redshirt sophomore middle blocker Tyrah Ariali and senior Lindsey Miller have a commanding presence at the net. Ariali leads the team in total blocks with 111.0, 0.92 per set, second in kills with 216, 1.79 per set, and third with 24 service aces, while Miller is second in total blocks with 102.0, 0.89 per set, and is fourth in kills with 185, 1.62 per set.
First-year outside hitter London Wijay is third on the Trojans with 189 kills and she is fifth with 162 digs. She led her team with 13 digs in the win over the Retrievers, the second most for her in a game this season. Wijay also received All-Pac 12 Freshman Team honors for her play this season.
Sophomore libero/defensive specialist Gala Trubint leads the Women of Troy with 404 digs, 3.34 per set, and had 11 in the win over the Retrievers Friday night. She is also second on the team with 28 service aces.
Graduate students in opposite side hitter Kalyah Williams and libero/defensive specialist Ellie Snook will also provide experience for USC. Williams is fourth with 54.0 total blocks and fifth with 160 kills.
Pitt volleyball has a great cast of their own, with ACC Freshman of the Year in right side hitter Olivia Babcock and ACC Setter of the Year Rachel Fairbanks. This also includes all seven staters on the All-ACC teams, with Stafford and Babcock on both the First Team and Freshman Team, along with graduate student middle blockers in Chiamaka Nwokolo and Emma Monks, redshirt senior outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez and junior libero/defensive specialist Emmy Klika on the Second Team.
Panthers head coach Dan Fisher watched part of the USC victory over UMBC and will have his team prepared to face USC and deal with Fields’ attacking prowess.
“Obviously we’ve done some advanced scouting,” Fisher said following the win over Coppin State. “A big part of it will be making sure that we can slow down Skylar Fields. She’s one of the best attackers in the country. It’s not just her, they have a lot of weapons. We have a plan, but we still got to review tape from tonight.”
Pitt volleyball has faced USC three times in their history, losing all three matches, with last one coming in 2002.
Trojans head coach Brad Keller is also confident in his team, especially after their performance Friday night and gives his team a great chance to pull off the upset.
“I like that we can match up physically,” Keller said postgame UMBC. “I think Pitt, I’ve only seen them on video, but they’re pretty big and physical. They walked by and that’s a big team. We match up with those situations because we have a blend of those types of playing team. We also match up well because you have to be able to bail yourselves out with a left side swing and we got that.”
Still, he gave credit to Pitt volleyball, for their talent and how impressive their play has been this season, particularly in the past few matches.
“They’re pretty elite,” Keller said. “That’s a pretty good team over there. They do all the little things great. They play unbelievable defense. They’re really well coached. They have a lot of fire power, and they have holes just like everyone else does, like us and every other team.”
