There’s only one team in women’s college volleyball that’s able to boast three semifinalists for the Division I Player of the Year. The No. 1 Pitt Panthers, of course.
Right-side hitter Olivia Babcock, outside hitter Torrey Stafford and setter Rachel Fairbanks have been named to the list of 14 semifinalists for the PoY honor. The trio is a major reason Pitt is sitting at 23-1 (13-1 ACC) and ranked No. 1 in the country for the 10th week in a row.
Stafford has been a standout for Pitt this season, hitting an outstanding .373% with 4.42 points/set and 4.37 kills/set (both top five in the ACC). She also has 152 digs and 40 blocks.
Babcock leads Pitt (and the ACC) with 424.5 points, with 328 kills (4.37 per set) on a .317 hitting percentage. She also has a team-high 50 aces, 129 digs and 77 blocks — forming a wall with Ryla Jones. She’s first in the conference in kills and aces/set.
Fairbanks leads Pitt — and is second in the ACC — with 10.34 assists/set (662 total). She’s a maestro in the middle, setting up the powerful outside hitters. She also has 24 kills, 24 aces and 146 digs.
A group of finalists will be announced in December, before the AVCA Convention. The 2024 AVCA Player of the Year will be named on Friday, Dec. 20, in Louisville, Ky. during the convention.
Pitt is coming off a sweep of Duke on Sunday, the fourth consecutive sweep for the Panthers, and they’ll host No. 22 Florida State at the Fitzgerald Field House on Friday afternoon. It’s the first of six games to end the regular season, featuring No. 3 Louisville and No. 15 Georgia Tech.
Pitt has recorded wins against No. 3 Louisville, No. 4 Penn State, No. 7 Stanford, No. 10 SMU, No. 11 Oregon, No. 15 Georgia Tech and No. 23 USC this season.
They make us so proud!
Torrey and Olivia are only sophomores, so expect them to be on this list the next 2 years (since they aren’t turning pro any time soon) along with 1 or 2 of their teammates (this year’s freshman class looks almost as strong as last year’s). Fisher has so much depth he can rest his starters an entire game and still sweep.