Pitt volleyball | No. 2 Panthers sweep No. 6 Southern Methodist
· Yahoo Sports
DALLAS, Texas – Four days after Southern Methodist snapped Pitt's 58-match home win streak, the Panthers returned the favor Sunday.
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No. 2 Pitt handed the No. 6-ranked Mustangs a 25-12, 25-21, 26-24 defeat Sunday in a match televised nationally on ABC.
With the eyes of the volleyball world watching how Pitt would respond after its first loss of the season, the Panthers hit .367, recorded 13 blocks (eight in the match-defining first set) and outdug Southern Methodist 34-22 after badly losing that statistical battle four days ago.
College volleyball's biggest star stepped up in front of the national television audience. Olivia Babcock had 20 kills, hit .567, and added five blocks, three digs, three assists and an ace. Pitt emphatically slammed the door on any Southern Methodist comeback hopes with a 6-0 run to win the third set at 26-24.
Pitt improves to 15-1 on the season and 5-1 in ACC play, while Southern Methodist falls to 13-3 and has an equal 5-1 mark in the ACC.
Three of Pitt's first five points came via the block and the Panthers used a 4-0 run to build a 12-8 advantage. Pitt continued to build on it, rolling to a 15-9 lead at the technical timeout. A couple more blocks out of the timeout gave Pitt a 17-9 advantage and forced a Southern Methodist timeout. The Panthers continued to pull away and picked up a 25-12 victory in the first set. Pitt continued to dominate the early stages of the second set and Southern Methodist used a timeout, trailing 11-7.
The Panthers still led 21-16, but errors, a service error and two attack errors, let Southern Methodist close to within two before a Pitt timeout. Jordyn Dailey had an emphatic kill out of the break and Southern Methodist burned a timeout with Pitt ahead 23-20. Izzy Starck put down an overpass on a tough Mallorie Meyer serve and the Panthers posted a 25-21 victory.
Ayanna Watson had a pair of aces as Pitt jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the third set. Pitt built a six-point lead at 11-5, but Southern Methodist began to chip away, closing to within two on a kill at 17-15. Babcock weathered the storm momentarily with a kill before Southern Methodist struck back with two consecutive points to make it 18-17.
Babcock was again up to the task with a kill, but the Mustangs eventually tied the score at 20-all. Southern Methodist followed with a kill and a block to take the 22-20 advantage before a Pitt timeout.
After a Pitt attack error and a service ace, Southern Methodist sat on the precipice of forcing a fourth set with a 24-20 lead. Babcock had a kill and Blaire Bayless and Abbey Emch combined on a block that forced a Southern Methodist timeout. Pitt tied the score with a Bayless kill and a Marina Pezelj ace that culminated in another Mustang timeout. Babcock had a kill that put Pitt ahead 25-24 and Emch closed out the match with a solo block for the 26-24 win.
Babcock had her second consecutive match with at least 20 kills, but she was much more efficient Sunday. After hitting just .232 Wednesday, her second-worst attack percentage of the season, she posted her second-best attack percentage of the year at .567 with only three attack errors on 30 swings.
Despite a slow start, Blaire Bayless finished with 11 kills, four blocks and three digs. Izzy Starck handed out 29 assists and added eight digs and five kills (on just six attacks). Emch finished with nine blocks, tying her season high. Trinity Thompson led Pitt with 11 digs.
Pitt won almost every statistical category, including attack percentage (.367-.200), aces (6-2), digs (34-22) and blocks (13-6).
Southern Methodist entered the day on a 15-match home win streak, the third-longest in the country. The Mustangs' last home loss came a year ago to Pitt.
Pitt improves to 4-2 all-time against Southern Methodist, including a 2-1 record on the road. Pitt has hit at least .300 in 10 of 16 matches, entering the match ranked third in the country with a .318 attack percentage.
Pitt is now 23-3 as the No. 2 ranked team in the country.
Pitt returns home to host Florida State Friday and Miami Sunday. Pitt will play both matches in Victory Heights, where the Panthers are 5-0 this season and has yet to drop a set.