NCAA volleyball notebook: Morehead State coach can boast of beating Pitt at home

Kyrsten Becker-McBride has served on the volleyball staff at Morehead State in one capacity or another for 14 years. Friday, she will lead the Eagles (18-14) into Petersen Events Center to challenge top-ranked and No. 1 overall seed Pitt at 7 p.m.

On paper, it would appear to be a colossal mismatch. But in her office at the school — located 65 miles east of Lexington, Ky. — Becker-McBride has a little reminder that the underdog sometimes wins. It’s a trophy from the 2013 Pitt Panther Invitational.

A first-place trophy.

Becker-McBride was an assistant coach at the time, and the Eagles defeated Pitt in a five-set championship match at Fitzgerald Field House. Morehead State edged the Panthers, 15-13, in the fifth set, so Becker-McBride is 1-0 against Pitt in Pittsburgh.

That, of course, was Pitt coach Dan Fisher’s first season at the helm when the volleyball team remained an afterthought even on its own campus. A lot has changed since, and Pitt is the favorite to capture its first NCAA title.

Of more recent vintage, Pitt played in a tournament at Morehead State in 2021, returning the favor by sweeping the Eagles on their home floor. Becker-McBride said playing more formidable opponents is nothing new for her team.

“Definitely it’s nice that some of our team remembers them coming here,” said Becker-McBride, in her second year as the Eagles’ head coach. “I feel like one of the big pieces is, it’s not our first time playing a big name that everybody knows. In all honestly, we have to explain where Morehead State is, so we are used to kind of being in that situation.

“My biggest takeaway from when they came here was, honestly, even when they were beating people by 10, how hard Fish was coaching people. There’s no easy out against them. … There’s not going to be any let-up from them.”

To prepare for Pitt, Becker-McBride has resorted to a few tricks. She raised the net for practices and had 6-foot-5 assistant coach Jason McCown providing resistance for her hitters.

“He has been a six-rotation right-side this week,” she said with a laugh.

Mostly, however, she said the Eagles will focus on the things they already are good at.

“We’re not magically going to get good at something in four days that hasn’t been a strength all season,” she said. “We have some ideas and ways that make sense to us to get out there and score and be effective.

“I think it’s a balance of, what can we do to prepare for them but also if all we do is focus on the other team, that means we’ve lost total control of the thing we actually have control over.”

Nittany Lions roar

Penn State earned the No. 3 seed overall seed in the 2024 NCAA volleyball tournament and will host matches — as long as it remains alive — up through the elite eight.

Penn State faces Delaware State in the opening round of the tournament Friday at 7:30 p.m. Yale and North Carolina also will visit Penn State for the first two rounds. Yale is coached by Erin Appleman, who was a Penn State assistant under previous coach Russ Rose for eight years.

The Nittany Lions are led by freshman setter Izzy Starck, who ranks 11th nationally with 11.05 assists per set; senior middle Taylor Trammell, who is eighth in the nation with a .435 hitting percentage; grad outside/right side Camryn Hannah, who averages 3.59 kills per set; and senior outside hitter Jess Mruzik, who averages 4.18 kills per set. Mruzik was the Big Ten Player of the Week three times in four weeks spanning late September and mid-October.

On Wednesday, Starck was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and first-teamer. Mruzik, Hannah and Trammell were named to the first team, and coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley was named coach of the year. Junior libero Gillian Grimes was named to the second team, and Carolina Jurevicius was named to the all-freshman team.

With the teams on opposite sides of the bracket, Penn State and Pitt could meet in the national championship match. Pitt routed Penn State in straight sets Sept. 18 at Petersen Events Center, but the Nittany Lions (29-2) have lost only one match since and punctuated their regular season with a 3-1 win over Nebraska.

Pitt and Penn State were 1-2 in the Dec. 2 American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.

The Nittany Lions have a tough road to the final, with sixth-ranked Creighton and No. 13 Texas, the reigning national champion, in their region. In the other region on Penn State’s side of the bracket are Big Ten rivals Wisconsin and Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are the tournament’s No. 2 overall seed.

WPIAL connections

Four players with ties to the WPIAL are participating in the NCAA Tournament.

The most experienced among them is Taylor Cigna, an Oakland Catholic grad who is in her fifth and final season at Colgate. This will be the fourth consecutive trip to the tournament for Cigna and the Raiders.

Cigna, a defensive specialist, posted a personal best of 3.79 digs per set and has accumulated more than 1,200 in her career. She was named to the Patriot League’s all-tournament team this fall after earning tournament MVP in 2023.

Colgate, winner of seven in a row, opens NCAA play Friday at No. 11 Kansas.

Other WPIAL players in the tournament are:

• Ava Carney, a native of Butler who graduated from Commonwealth Charter Academy, is a sophomore outside hitter for Miami. She averaged 2.20 kills in 56 sets played this season. The Hurricanes face South Dakota State on Friday at Nebraska.

• Chloe List (Beaver) is a freshman outside hitter for Cleveland State. She appeared in 51 sets this season and averaged 1.31 kills per set. The Vikings drew Kentucky for their first-round opponent. The match is Thursday in Lexington.

• Sarah White (Seneca Valley), a senior setter at Missouri, appeared in five matches for the Tigers this season. The Tigers face Texas State on Thursday in Dallas.

ACC stands tall

Besides Pitt, eight other ACC teams were selected for the tournament. Louisville, Pitt’s chief ACC rival, received the No. 4 overall seed — top seed in its region — and was placed on the Panthers’ side of the bracket, setting up a potential final four clash between the two.

The final four will be held at Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center. Pitt defeated the Cardinals twice in the regular season.

The other ACC teams in the field are Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, N.C. State, SMU and Standford. SMU handed Pitt its only loss this season and was placed in the Panthers’ region, and the teams could meet in the regional final.

Sister act

Two Pitt players have siblings playing in the NCAA Tournament.

Senior libero/defensive specialist Emmy Klika’s younger sister, Laney, is a sophomore libero at Wofford. In 2023, Laney Klika averaged 2.05 digs over 100 sets (31 matches) as Wofford won the Southern Conference title and made the NCAA Tournament, both program firsts. This season, she is averaging 5.22 digs per set, ranking in the top 10 nationally.

Laney Klika was named to the SoCon second-team, and Emmy was an all-ACC second-teamer.

Wofford faces opening-round host Baylor today in Waco, Texas.

“We both work super hard. We are all-out effort players,” Emmy Klika said. “But in terms of demeanor on the court, I’d say she’s a little feistier than I am. She’s more of a fireball.

“She has had, honestly, more college experience playing at her age than I did. She played the second half of her freshman year, then she has been a starter all of this year. … At that time, I was just kind of getting my feet in the starting role. In terms of experience on the college court, she has me beat there.”

With Wofford playing today, Emmy said she might have a chance to watch some of the match between her own NCAA prep, not to mention prep for finals.

“We definitely like to chat even more during times like these,” Emmy said. “I’ve been through three tournaments now. … I called her (Wednesday) night and we kind of talked about how she’s prepped at this point and how she’s feeling and I told her to call me today if she needs to talk about anything.

“I just want to pour into her and fill her with confidence before going out for a game.”

Panthers middle Bre Kelley’s younger sister, Becca, is a redshirt freshman outside hitter at TCU. In 28 matches this season, Becca Kelley averaged 2.23 kills per set and earned a spot on the Big 12 All-Rookie team.

The Horned Frogs, who are in Pitt’s region, are ranked No. 20 and will meet Hawaii on Thursday in Eugene, Ore.