CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – No. 1 seed Pitt Volleyball will make its third-straight Final Four appearance in the 2023 NCAA Tournament on Thursday, Dec. 14. The Panthers are set to take on overall No. 1 seed Nebraska (32-1) at 7 p.m. on ESPN Thursday night in Tampa, Florida, at the Amalie Arena.
Thursday's match will mark the third-straight year an Atlantic Coast Conference team will be in the NCAA Semifinal match.
Pitt is the only program to advance to the last three National Semifinals and will seek its first-ever win over Nebraska in a rematch of the 2021 National Semifinals, where the Huskers won, 3-1. The Panthers will look to secure a spot in the title match for the first time in program history and just the second title match appearance for an ACC program.
Top-seeded Pitt defeated conference rival and No. 2 seed Louisville, 3-2, in the Regional Finals with a reverse sweep for the second time this season. The Cards took the first two sets before the Panthers were fueled by the home crowd in Fitzgerald Field House to win the final three sets. Freshmen Olivia Babcock and Torrey Stafford led Pitt, combining for 34 kills, 19 digs, seven blocks and three aces. Emma Monks tied Pitt's program record for most block assists in an NCAA Tournament match with eight, while Rachel Fairbanks tallied 48 assists - the second most in Pitt history in an NCAA Tournament match.
Anna DeBeer and Phekran PK Kong led Louisville with 13 kills apiece, while Kong added eight blocks. Elle Glock had 39 assists for the Cards in a rematch of the 2022 National Semifinals.
The Regional All-Tournament team featured Babcock, Fairbanks, Monks and Stafford from Pitt along with Debeer, Kong, Cara Cresse and Elena Scott from Louisville.
NCAA Championship
Thursday, Dec. 14 (National Semifinals)
No. 1 Pitt (29-4) vs. No. 1 Nebraska (32-1) | 7 p.m. | ESPN
Noting ACC Volleyball
- The ACC leads the nation in kills (20,856) and service aces (2,507), and is second in assists (19,237) and block assists (5,812).
- Pitt owns the third-best hitting percentage in the country at .308 and has the third-most block assists (601).
- The Panthers are averaging 2.97 blocks per set, the second-best in the nation behind another No. 1 seed in Wisconsin (3.09). They have limited their opponents to a .138 hitting percentage, also the second-best in the nation - this time behind only Nebraska (.134).
- Pitt has tallied 336.0 total blocks, the sixth-most in the nation, while Emma Monks is averaging 1.57 blocks per set, the fourth-best in the nation.
- Pitt head coach Dan Fisher currently owns the second-best winning percentage in the nation among active head coaches at .842.
- As of the 2023 NCAA Regional Finals, Louisville faced the most difficult schedule in the country, with past opposition going 646-291 (.689) while Pitt has faced the third-most difficult schedule in the country. The Panthers' previous opponents have a combined 629-325 record for a .659 winning percentage.
- The Panthers' Olivia Babcock was named the 2023 AVCA National Freshman of the Year - the first in ACC history. She and Rachel Fairbanks were named 2023 AVCA Division I First Team All-Americans, announced Wednesday. Torrey Stafford was tabbed to the AVCA All-American Third Team while Emmy Klika and Emma Monks earned AVCA All-American Honorable Mention honors.
- Pitt's Chiamaka Nwokolo and Emma Monks were drafted to the Pro Volleyball Federation on Dec. 11. Nwokolo was the No. 6 pick by the Atlanta Vibe, while Monks was the No. 29 pick, chosen by the Columbus Fury.
- Pitt earned two of the ACC Volleyball 2023 Awards - Setter of the Year Rachel Fairbanks and Freshman of the Year Olivia Babcock.
- Seven Panthers earned AVCA East Coast Regional Awards, announced by the organization last week - the most in program history. Fairbanks was named the East Coast Regional Player of the Year and Babcock was tabbed East Coast Freshman of the Year. Emmy Klika, Emma Monks, Chiamaka Nwokolo, Torey Stafford, Valeria Vazquez Gomez joined them on the first team.