Olivia Babcock earned National Freshman of the Year last season, so naturally, she’s followed it up the only logical way.
Babcock has been named the AVCA National Player of the Year, the first player in program history to earn the honor. And it’s very well-deserved for the most impactful player in women’s college volleyball this season.
“I know that I couldn’t have done any of this without the people I’m surrounded by every day, so I’m taking it as more of a group award than an individual award,” Babcock told Michella Chester of NCAA Digital. “I’m just so happy that I was able to perform well enough for my team to earn something like this, and I feel like every single day we get in the gym and we just play together, so I’m just really glad that I could do this.”
Pitt had its season cut short against rival Louisville, falling in the Final Four for the fourth straight season, but it certainly wasn’t for a lack of effort. Babcock put in one of the best performances of her career in the 3-1 loss.
Babcock was a hammer at the point of attack, attempting a match-high 65 attacks. She racked up a career-high 33 kills (hitting .385%) and added five digs, two assists and two blocks.
She raked in first-team All-America, first-team All-ACC, ACC Player of the Year, AVCA East Coast Regional Player of the Year honors this season, to go along with two AVCA National Player of the Week and three AVCA National Offensive Player of the Week awards.
Babcock led Pitt, hitting .323 with 5.94 points per set (fourth in the NCAA), 4.72 kills per set (12th), 1.82 digs per set and .62 aces per set (third) this season — with a program-record 71 aces and the fifth-most kills in a single season (538), which are the most in the rally scoring era.
Babcock, along with fellow All-Americans Torrey Stafford and Bre Kelley, are returning next season. There will be some key losses, but the Panthers are bringing in a star-studded recruiting class and promised to be back.
