PITTSBURGH – The No. 1 seeded Pitt volleyball team defeated Morehead State (25-17, 25-15, 25-15) 3-0 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament Friday night at the Petersen Events Center. Torrey Stafford had a match-high 14 kills and hit .312 to go with six digs, two blocks and an ace.
Pitt (30-1, 19-1 ACC) only trailed for one point the entire match, when Morehead State (18-14, 12-6 OVC) scored the first point of the contest. Pitt responded with a four-point spurt to take a 4-1 lead, but Morehead State responded by forcing two Panther errors. As a team, the Eagles hit .296 in the first set, and trailed the Panthers by one point, 15-14, nearly midway through the set. The Panthers, spurred by an emphatic Valeria Vazquez Gomez kill, went on a 10-3 run to close out the set and take a 1-0 lead. Olivia Babcock led the Panthers in the set with seven kills on .600 hitting and four digs.
The Panthers raced out to an early 3-0 lead in the second set before allowing their first point on a service error. Both the Eagles and the Panthers traded kills before Pitt capitalized on a 7-2 run to force a Morehead State timeout at 18-11. Following the timeout, a Stafford block and Vazquez Gomez kill forced another Eagle timeout. The Panthers closed the set on a Babcock and Ryla Jones block to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Stafford paced Pitt in the set with six kills on .286 hitting with three digs.
Pitt and Morehead State were knotted at 2-2 in the third set before the Panthers ripped off a blistering 7-3 run to take a 9-5 lead. The Eagles responded with a 6-3 run, causing a Pitt timeout. Out of the break, Pitt erupted on a 4-1 run, and Morehead State needed a timeout at 17-12. The Panthers closed the match outscoring Morehead State 8-2 to take the third set 25-15. Babcock notched five kills on .167 hitting while Bianca Garibaldi added two kills on 1.000 hitting in the frame.
Pitt will face No. 8-seeded Oklahoma, who won its Round of 64 match 3-2 against the UTEP, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday night at the Petersen Events Center. The match is set for 7 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
NOTES
• The Panthers tied a program record with 11 aces in an NCAA Tournament match
• Bianca Garibaldi tied her career-high blocks total with three
• Garibaldi also tied her career-high in kills with two on 1.000 hitting
• Rachel Fairbanks tied her season-high in aces with five
• Mallorie Meyer tied her career-high in digs with three
The No. 1 overall seed Panthers conclude the first weekend of NCAA Tournament play against Oklahoma on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. The winner will advance to the Regional Semifinals next weekend. The match can be streamed via ESPN+.