Pitt volleyball has held the No. 1 ranking in the country for most of the season, so it only makes sense that the Panthers have earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The NCAA announced the seeding for the 2024 NCAA Tournament Sunday night, and Pitt is one of the four No. 1 seeds — alongside Penn State, Louisville and Nebraska. The Panthers are in a pool with No. 2 SMU, No. 3 Kentucky and No. 4 Oregon.
Pitt will host Morehead State at the Petersen Events Center on Friday, and if the Panthers handle MSU, they’ll play the winner of UTEP and No. 8 Oklahoma on Saturday.
Pitt secured its third straight ACC title Saturday afternoon with a five-set win against No. 19 Georgia Tech, finishing the regular season with a 29-1 (19-1 ACC).
Pitt is led by its three national Player of the Year candidates in Babcock, Stafford and Fairbanks, all of whom have shined throughout a dominant season in which the Panthers have been the best team in the country.
Pitt has played in just 99 sets this season thanks to 24 sweeps, and the Panthers have been thoroughly dominant on both sides of the net — leading all of college volleyball with a .341 hitting percentage and an opponent hitting percentage of .122.
Head coach Dan Fisher and the Panthers have been ranked No. 1 in the country for almost three months, and it’s come as the Panthers have staved off top-ranked opponents the entire way.
Pitt has recorded wins against No. 3 Louisville (twice), No. 4 Penn State, No. 6 Stanford, No. 10 SMU, No. 13 Oregon, No. 19 Georgia Tech, No. 20 USC — and tournament teams in North Carolina, North Carolina State, Florida State and Miami.
Pitt is scheduled to play Morehead State at 7 p.m. on Saturday, the first of what could be a long stretch of playoff volleyball at the Pete.
