PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers faced off against rival Penn State at the Fitzgerald Field House in a spring game and came out with an exciting victory in four sets.
This match served as the first Keystone Classic since the Second Round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, which the Panthers won in four sets, en route to their first Final Four in program history. It also served as the first match between head coaches Dan Fisher of the Panthers and Katie Schumacher-Cawley of the Nittany Lions.
Both teams went back-and-forth in the first set, with neither team gaining an edge and level at 14-14.
Penn State then went on a 7-2 run, thanks to freshman setter Izzy Starck making a block, two assists, and a service ace during the run. Penn State would finish off the set soon after, taking it 25-18.
The Nittany Lions then started off the second set, scoring seven straight points, with a graduate student outside hitter/right side hitter, Camryn Hitter, going on a long service run, forcing three attack errors from the Panthers.
Pitt eventually scored to end the run, but Penn State still held a 12-5 lead and looked on their way to taking a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Senior setter Rachel Fairbanks then had a great service run, getting a service ace and helping Pitt secure a 7-0 run to tie the set at 12-12. Sophom*ore right side hitter Olivia Babco*ck had two kills and combined with junior middle blocker Rachel Jepsen for two blocks. Jepsen had another kill on the run herself.
The Nittany Lions regained their lead, pushing it back up to 22-18, as graduate student outside hitter Jess Mruzik, who earned Second Team All-American honors last season, made five kills.
Sixth-year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez stopped the Penn State run for Pitt and put the ball back into Fairbanks' hands on the service line.
Once again, she forced Penn State to make mistakes, with two bad sets, helping her team make a 7-0 run to come back and win the second set.
The Nittany Lions started off the third period with leads, at 6-2, 10-4 and 13-6, but the Panthers would respond, tying it back up at 17. Graduate student outside hitter Cat Flood, freshman middle blocker Ryla Jones and Fairbanks each had two kills during the comeback.
Both teams traded points and ended up tied at both 24-24 and then 26-26. Pitt would finish off the set with back-to-back kills from Flood and sophom*ore outside hitter Blaire Bayless to win it 28-26 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Pitt gained an early lead in the third set, 5-0, but Penn State battled back to get the lead before both teams traded points at 10-10.
The Panthers then scored four straight points and would hold a 20-18 lead, looking to take that final set for match victory.
Their rival had other plans, as the Nittany Lions scored six of the next seven points to earn a 24-21 advantage and set point.
Flood made a crucial kill to keep Pitt in the set, which allowed Fairbanks to get back to the service line. She would then serve four straight times, getting a service ace and forcing two attack errors, to give her team the 26-24 set victory and the match too.
Fairbanks starred for the Panthers throughout the victory, leading with 35 assists and four service aces. She also finished second on the team with 12 digs and made three kills working as a right-side hitter in the 6-2 rotation.
She credits her hard work this spring for her serving performance in the win and hopes to see her teammates come along with more consistency in their service game going forward.
"So, our team as a whole, we’ve been focused on streaking, just getting a couple good in a row and it all starts with the serve," Fairbanks said. "So just consistently keeping it on them, hard. We’ve been working on it and I’m glad I was able to execute today. It’s just consistency and if we can consistently all do that, I think we’ll have an advantage."
Babco*ck led Pitt with 20 kills and tied Jepsen with six blocks as well. She wanted to have a better performance from the service line, with four service errors but enjoyed coming back to get the victory.
What made an impression on Babco*ck the most throughout the game was noticing how many people attended the match, despite it serving as just an exhibition, giving her the first glimpse into an historic rivalry.
"I think I'm starting to feel it, only because so many people are coming up to us and asking, 'Who runs Pennsylvania?' or 'Who's going to win?', Babco*ck said. "I didn't think it was a rivalry before because I had never played them, but after today, I'd say it's building, if we continue to play them."
Jones enrolled mid-year to the program and instead of spending her final semester with her childhood friends, is playing for one of the best teams in the country against a rival that made the Sweet 16 last year.
She finished with six kills, a .750 hitting percentage, two blocks and a dig in the victory, getting some important playing time in big moments throughout.
"It was honestly exhilarating the entire time," Jones said on the match. "We're always giving each other support and I just love that we can come out here and can compete. My setters, they do a very good job, all around and our defense, we were just going after it. A big thing is that we were always just giving each other love and we when we were down, we just brought ourselves up."
Pitt volleybal will finish their spring season with a match against Penn State on Friday on the road.
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