KANSAS CITY – Dan Fisher sat at the podium Wednesday afternoon inside the T-Mobile Center, fielding questions about roster turnover, the transfer portal and about how his Pitt volleyball program keeps reloading year after year. As the Panthers prepare to make their fifth consecutive appearance in the national semifinal on Thursday night against Texas A&M, Fisher reflected on the program he’s built.

Then came his answer, simple and profound in its honesty.

“I’m lucky to be at a volleyball school.”

Eight words that capture everything about what Fisher has built. Not a school with a volleyball program. A volleyball school.

The distinction matters.

With all the roster turnover experienced from 2024 to 2025, Fisher and his staff didn’t panic.

They pivoted. They recruited. They rebuilt.

And here they are at the Final Four again, with a roster that looks completely different from the one that took the floor a season ago in Louisville.

“We had to pivot pretty quickly,” Fisher said. “I’m just really proud of the work my staff did to get a team in place to be back here.”

But the work goes deeper than Xs and Os, deeper than recruiting rankings or transfer portal additions. Fisher has built something sustainable at Pitt, something that transcends any single player or season. He’s built a culture, and more importantly, a family.

More Than Volleyball

For Fisher, the consistency hasn’t come from chasing perfection, but from setting standards and trusting people to grow into them.

Olivia Babcock and Bre Kelley, both All-Americans and leaders on this Final Four roster, describe a program that demands excellence without suffocating it.

“We have a standard we want to hold ourselves to,” Babcock said. “But it’s not the end of the world if we don’t hit it right away. That takes pressure off and it lets us get better every day.”

Kelley echoed that balance, pointing to Fisher’s ability to coach individuals as much as athletes.

“He builds real relationships with us off the court,” she said. “So when things get hard, when he’s pushing you, you know it’s coming from a place of care. He believes you can reach that level.”

This year’s team has needed that flexibility more than most. With so many new faces, the Panthers had to build chemistry on the fly while maintaining championship-level play. The result? A dominant season that has ended up back at the Final Four.

“This is a very new team, but so many people have been here before,” Babcock said. “We were able to prepare the newer players coming into this experience, what to expect.”

 

Playing for Something Bigger

Standing on the precipice of another Final Four, both Babcock and Kelley emphasized something that matters more than wins and losses: they’re playing for each other.

“Every time I step on the court, it’s just to have fun with my friends,” Kelley said. “Obviously, it’s hard to not give in to the pressure of these moments, but you just kind of look at your six-foot world, which is just the people on the court.”

That “six-foot world” philosophy – focusing on the teammates beside you rather than the noise around you – has become a mantra for this group. It’s how they’ve dominated elite competition. It’s how they’ve stayed locked in through adversity. And it’s how they plan to approach tomorrow’s national semifinal match against Texas A&M.

“We just want to play volleyball,” Babcock said. “This game is supposed to be fun. It’s not supposed to be severely taxing on your mind and body. I just want to play ball with this team and play to the best ability that we can and have a blast on this court.”

The Evolution of a Powerhouse

Fisher ponders a question about when he felt his program had arrived.

The foundation took years to build, player development that used to span five-year arcs rather than single seasons. But somewhere around last year, he admits, the perception shifted.

“Probably last year, with us being ranked number one a lot, it shifted from us being looked at as this new kid to, ‘Oh yeah, Pitt’s number one,'” Fisher said. “That was the new shift.”

Maintaining that standard through roster turnover and the chaotic modern college landscape? That’s the real challenge.

“The hardest part is how much the college landscape has changed,” Fisher acknowledged. “People are going to schools for different reasons, recruiting’s changed. As a collegiate coach, you need to evolve and adapt and embrace it.”

But even with all the changes, one thing remains constant: Fisher’s commitment to his players beyond volleyball.

“The most rewarding part is always the relationships,” he said. “The best thing as a coach is to see somebody maybe become better or to do something they didn’t think they could do. To be part of that journey is the best part.”

A Volleyball School

Back to those eight words: “I’m lucky to be at a volleyball school.”

Fisher wasn’t bragging. He was expressing genuine gratitude for an administration that supports the program, for fans who pack Fitzgerald Field House and for a city that has embraced this team as its own.

“We have a newer athletic director (Allen Greene) that’s been incredibly supportive of us,” Fisher said. “I’m lucky to be at the school I’m at.”

As the Panthers prepare for their fifth straight national semifinal appearance, they carry with them the weight of looking for their first appearance in the national championship match and the lightness of a team that genuinely loves playing together. They carry Fisher’s standards without his expectations. They carry the knowledge that they’re playing for something bigger than themselves.

Most of all, they carry the confidence that comes from knowing their coach sees them, truly, as more than just volleyball players.

That’s what it means to be at a volleyball school. That’s what Dan Fisher has built at Pitt.

Five straight Final Fours. A new roster. The same standard. The same coach who feels lucky to be at a volleyball school that just keeps winning.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – James Madison junior outside hitter Kennedy Louisell was named an Honorable Mention All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) on Wednesday, Dec. 17.
 
Louisell’s selection marks the fourth for a JMU player in program history and first since Sophie Davis was also named an honorable mention selection following the 2023 season.
 
The outside hitter and 2025 Sun Belt Player of the Year joins Davis (2023), M’Kaela White (2018), and Janey Goodman (2016) as players to be honored by the AVCA. Louisell was the only Sun Belt player to be named an All-American.
 
Louisell finished the 2025 season with 605 kills, the most for a JMU player in the Division I era (1986-present). The outside hitter also set a record with her average of 4.80 kills per set, with her kill and kills per set marks both ranking among the nation’s best.
 
The native of Grand Rapids, Mich., had double-digit kills in all 31 matches, including 12 with 20 or more kills and two with 30 or more.
 
Against Georgia State on Oct. 4, Louisell finished with 37 kills, breaking the program single-match record which had stood for over 40 years. Three weeks later against Georgia Southern, she broke her own record, finishing with 38 kills and 20 digs in a five-set win over the Eagles.
 
She remains the only player in the sport with at least 35 kills and 20 digs in the same match this season.
 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The No. 3 seed Texas A&M volleyball team faces No. 1 seed Pittsburgh in the NCAA Tournament Final Four Thursday evening at the T-Mobile Center with first serve set for 5:30 p.m.
 

The Aggies punched their first ticket to the national semifinals following a pair of five set victories at the Lincoln Regional. They faced No. 2 seed Louisville in the Sweet 16, reverse sweeping the Cardinals to secure the program’s third Elite Eight berth. They followed that up the next day handing the undefeated No. 1 overall seed Nebraska Cornhuskers their first loss of the season and first home loss since 2022 to go further than any team in Texas A&M history had gone.
 
In the opening contest of the regional the Aggies embodied their team saying, ‘grit’, as they came back from a two-set deficit to defeat Louisville. Ifenna Cos-Okpalla set the tone for the weekend, blocking a program postseason record 12 swings in the match. Offensively, three Aggies hit double-digit kills paced by Logan Lednicky’s 20 and followed by Kyndal Stowers and Emily Hellmuth who added 17 and 12, respectively.
 

Following that up two days later, the Maroon & White took down the top-ranked Cornhuskers marking the second time in program history they had defeated the nation’s best and first time in 30 years. In what was an instant classic, Texas A&M secured the victory thanks to a complete team performance which included team postseason records in kills (75), blocks (17) and aces (9).
 
The Matchup
Thursday’s matchup versus Pittsburgh will be the seventh all-time meeting between the programs. The Panthers hold an advantage in the series at 4-2, but that margin shrink by one when they face off on a neutral court to 3-2. Pittsburgh claimed the most recent matchup between the teams, winning in three sets in 2022.
 

Texas A&M holds the slight advantage in games played on a neutral court this year at 4-1 compared to the Panthers’ 3-1. When playing away from in totality the Aggies boast a 16-3 record, while Pittsburgh is 13-4.
 

Looking at the stat sheet, the Maroon & White lead Pittsburgh in three of the seven team statistical categories including kills per set, assists per set and digs per set, while the Panthers leads in hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, aces per set and blocks per set.
 
Tracks and Trends
Logan Lednicky has recorded double-digit kills in her last 21 matches and passed Hollann Hans for the rally-scoring kills record and ranks third overall in career kills at Texas A&M.
 
Ifenna Cos-Okpalla has logged five or more blocks in her last five games and is six blocks away from tying the program record for career blocks of 562. She is also one block from the single season record.
 
The Aggies have recorded 10 or more blocks as a team in five-consecutive games.
 
Streaming & Stats
Fans can watch the match on the ESPN and follow stats on 12thman.com.
 
Follow the Aggies
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook, Instagram and on Twitter by following @AggieVolleyball.

AUSTIN, Texas – No. 3 Texas Volleyball saw three athletes earn All-America honors on Wednesday, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced.

Junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford was named a First Team All-American for the second-straight season, first with Texas. Stafford led the Longhorns this season in kills (516), service aces (33) and points (580.5). After 30 matches, Stafford averaged 4.69 kills per set and hit for .360. On top of her offense, the AVCA National Player of the Year semifinalist added 52 blocks and a team-leading 11 solo blocks.

Her 516 kills in her first year as a Longhorn is the sixth-most in a single season in UT history, while her 4.69 kills per set ranks eighth. Stafford later climbed to No. 5 on the Individual Match Records list with 32 kills.

Freshman Cari Spears was named a Third Team All-American after starting all 30 matches as a rightside. The Frisco, Texas native was named the SEC Freshman of the Week five times, was a two-time SEC player of the Week and AVCA Player of the Week once. It was the first time in two years a freshman earned the weekly honor. Spears ended the year with the second-most kills on the team (358) and combined for 3.25 kills per set and hit .295.

Senior libero Emma Halter earned Honorable Mention in her final year as a Longhorn. Halter ended the season with 396 digs, 167 assists and 24 service aces. In four years, Halter totaled 1,307 digs – the eighth-most in Texas history for an individual’s career. She also broke the Texas record in digs in a three-set match against Florida A&M with 25.

Wednesday’s honors gave the Longhorns their 62^nd All-American and 115^th honor.

GREENWOOD, Ind. – Four members of the NC State volleyball team earned Academic All-District Honors as announced by College Sport Communicators (formerly known as CoSIDA) Tuesday afternoon.
 
The award recognizes student-athletes for their performance in the classroom in addition to on the court. To qualify, one must have a grade point average of 3.5 and be at least a sophomore both academically and athletically.
 
Lily Cropper, Sydney Daniels, and Elaisa Villar earn the honor for the first time in their career while Courtney Bryant earns it for the second year in a row.
 
Bryant is the first student-athlete to earn the honor consecutively since Brie Merriweather did so in 2012 and 2013.
 
Cropper, Villar and Byrant appeared in all al 30 matches for the Wolfpack this season, while stuffing the stat sheet for their respective positions.
 
Daniels also appeared in all 30 matches for the Pack as a defensive specialist and wore the libero jersey for eight of those matches.