Pitt volleyball wins hard-fought match against Michigan to advance to NCAA regional semifinal

Pitt women’s volleyball coach Dan Fisher would love more preparation between the first and second round of the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament.

All 32 coaches who advanced to the second round felt like that to some degree about the 24-hour or so turnaround they face. The Panthers found ways to stabilize themselves after a hot start from Michigan to win 25-23, 25-23, 25-18 to advance to the regional semifinals for the sixth consecutive season.

“I’ll start by acknowledging how tough Michigan was tonight,” Fisher said. “We tried early in the week to have them look at both Xavier and Michigan and their style of play. It is certainly nice to have a date or two to feel that you’ve had a few times to train against it. But everyone has the same advantage, and they had the same deal against us.”

Pitt right-side hitter Olivia Babcock was happy with how the Panthers adjusted. Babcock finished with a match-high 24 kills.

The Panthers (24-7) will host Minnesota on Thursday.

“I feel like we were struggling to execute what we wanted to do in the beginning of each set,” Babcock said. “I feel like at the end, once we got to those last points, we told each other this is when we need to play our best. I feel like we were able to slow down Michigan and just control our side.”

Michigan didn’t give away many opportunities to the Panthers.

The Wolverines held a 17-13 lead in the first set after a service ace from Allison Jacobs.

Michigan coach Erin Virtue was happy her team wasn’t intimidated by the moment.

“The moment wasn’t too big for this team,” Virtue said. “I think there’s a lot of reasons that you could have or excuses we could have leaned back on. But they were ready. Our team was ready.”

Pitt surged back with a 6-2 run that included two kills from Babcock and one from Marina Pezelj.

The Panthers went ahead for good, 22-21, on a block by Abbey Emch and Babcock on a Jacobs kill attempt.

Pezelj finished second on the team with 12 kills. Pezelj, a freshman outside hitter, has enjoyed her first tournament experience.

“For me, it’s really the first time, so I was kind of stressed a little bit in the beginning,” Pezelj said. “I’m pretty good with this, and I’m just so grateful to be here with this team.”

During the second set, the timing of Michigan’s mistakes hurt them. The Wolverines (22-11) twice committed service errors after cutting the lead to one point, 19-18 and 20-19, respectively.

Cymarah Gordon led Michigan with 11 kills.

Brooke Mosher led Pitt with 34 passists, and Emery Dupes and Babcock tied for a team-high eight digs.

Fisher said he is hoping the Panthers can continue their march.

“We, obviously, have big goals and aspirations as a program,” Fisher said. “But I think the reality of it is that there’s more parity now than ever, and the sport of volleyball is growing and the level gets higher every year. Being one of the last 16 teams left is a good year. We would like to keep winning and make it a great year.”