Pitt volleyball recovers from slow start, advances past Coppin State in NCAA Tournament
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Rachel Fairbanks doesn’t know what changed. Or even when the momentum shifted.
But Fairbanks, the junior setter for the Pitt women’s volleyball team, doesn’t want to see the Panthers start another match slowly.
Pitt fell behind first-time NCAA Tournament participant Coppin State by four points in the first set before rallying to sweep their first-round match 25-18, 25-14, 25-9 on Friday at Petersen Events Center. But Fairbanks believes the Panthers will need to be more focused moving forward.
“It all starts in the preparation throughout the day,” said Fairbanks, who finished with 36 assists and four blocks. “We need to do a better job of starting fast. I think it kind of translated to the game. We flipped the switch somewhere. It took longer than we wanted.”
Pitt’s new position on the national stage dictates a different set of expectations. The Panthers (26-4) have won their first-round match in the NCAA Tournament in the past eight seasons. Six of those victories have been sweeps.
Pitt is 19-18 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
“It feels new every year in a way,” Panthers coach Dan Fisher said. “We have some players, and this is their first time. Going through today and being at home will help us tomorrow. That will help us energy-wise.”
Pitt will take on Southern Cal on Saturday night in the second round. The Trojans advanced with a 3-0 sweep of UMBC. Pitt is 0-3 all-time against USC.
Coppin State, which won the MEAC, proved to be a challenge in the first round.
The stage didn’t seem too big for the Eagles, who started strong and led Pitt 6-2 following a kill by Ammaarah Williams in the first set. Coppin State outside hitter TaKenya Stafford, who is the sister of Pitt’s Torrey Stafford, finished with two blocks and three kills.
She said the Eagles were ready to start fast.
“I think it was the energy we had coming in,” TaKenya Stafford said. “It was something we told ourselves we were going to push for, having more energy. If we could come in with a lot of energy on their home court, it would push us over the edge.”
But Pitt’s size and pressure quickly neutralized Coppin State’s attack. The Panthers went ahead for good in the first set 10-9 on a kill by Valerie Vazquez Gomez. That kicked off a 4-0 run that saw Olivia Babcock and Torrey Stafford also contribute kills.
Babcock finished the set with another kill to hand the Panthers a 25-18 first-set victory.
Coppin State (27-5) found no place to hide in the second set. Pitt jumped to a 10-2 lead, a run that culminated in an attack error by Laila Ibrahim.
The Eagles struggled to hit overall and finished with a -.099 hitting percentage.
“We got better throughout the match offensively and defensively,” Fisher said. “I think by the third set we looked a little bit more like us.”
Pitt hit .289 as a team. Olivia Babcock led the Panthers with 12 kills, and Torrey Stafford finished with 11 kills. Vazquez Gomez had 10 kills for Pitt.
“I think we needed to treat it like a national championship,” Fairbanks said. “We could have done a better job of that.”