Coral Gables, Fla. – The No. 4 Pitt volleyball team (12-3, 4-1 ACC) dropped a tightly contested five-set match (26-24, 25-14, 22-25, 19-25, 13-15) to No. 18 Miami (15-1, 5-0 ACC) on Friday night in Coral Gables despite a season-high 30 kills from Olivia Babcock. This marks Pitt’s first conference loss since Oct. 12, 2024, against SMU.
Pitt and Miami traded points back and forth in set one until a 4-0 run behind the serve of Babcock forced Miami to call a timeout, down 10-6. Babcock scored the next point on ace to extend the lead, but the Hurricanes narrowed the gap to 13-12, causing Pitt to take a timeout. Miami picked up some momentum, propelling the Hurricanes to a 19-17 lead, and the Panthers called their final timeout. Both teams remained tied multiple times throughout the remainder of the set, but Pitt’s Babcock and Ryla Jones delivered back-to-back blocks at 24-24 to secure the set one victory, 26-24.
The Panthers continued to roll in set two as Miami had no choice but to call an early timeout, down 7-3. Miami gave its best effort to narrow the gap but was unable to as the Hurricanes called their last timeout down 20-11. A pair of Miami errors and three combined kills from Babcock, Bre Kelley and Blaire Bayless gave Pitt the decisive second set, 25-14.
Miami used a 7-1 run early in set three to force the Panthers to take a timeout, trailing 9-6. The Hurricanes held narrow leads in the following stretch, but Pitt didn’t go away and tied things up at 20-20 at the Miami timeout. Outside hitter Flormarie Heredia Colon scored four of the following five points for Miami to extend the match with a 25-22 set three win.
Set four was tied 4-4 until another 7-1 run from the Hurricanes led Pitt to talk things over. The Panthers continued to battle back, but Miami never relinquished the lead and claimed set four, 25-19.
The Hurricanes carried over the momentum from set four into the fifth as the Panthers took a timeout, down 6-3. Babcock and Bayless powered Pitt back into the match and helped tie the score at 11-11, but a 4-2 run in favor of Miami led to the five-set defeat for the Panthers.
NOTES
• Olivia Babcock recorded a season-high 30 kills, marking her third 30+ kill match of her career
• Brooke Mosher registered a match-high 48 assists, her fourth 45+ assist match in five outings
• Bre Kelley added a match-best seven blocks