Olivia Babcock, the ACC Player of the Year in volleyball for the past two seasons, had 19 kills to help host Pittsburgh fend off the Gophers volleyball team 25-16, 25-23, 25-22 in the NCAA regional semifinals on Thursday.
Babcock, a 6-foot-4 junior from Los Angeles, had nine kills — three in a row to end the match — in the third set for the Panthers, the No. 4 overall seed.
The Panthers (29-4), who remained unbeaten in 16 home matches, will play either Purdue or Southern Methodist in the regional final. Pitt lost to Louisville in the semifinals of the Final Four last season.
Carly Gilk and Kelly Kinney each had nine kills and Julia Hanson, playing her final match for the Gophers, had eight for the Gophers (24-10). Hanson finished her Gophers career with 1,041 kills.
The Gophers were playing in the Sweet 16 for the ninth time in the past 11 seasons but for the first time since 2022 and the first time under coach Keegan Cook. They also lost to Pitt in the regional semifinals in April 2021, when the NCAA tournament was held in the spring because of COVID-19 and played in Omaha.
After Pitt was in control throughout the first set, the Gophers led 10-9 midway through the second set before the Panthers took a 20-17 lead. The Gophers used a 6-3 run to tie it 23-23, the 13th tie of the set, but the Panthers scored the final two points on a kill from Marina Pezelj and a block of Gilk from Blaire Bayless and Abbey Emch.
The Gophers trailed 17-14 in the third set before taking a 21-19 lead. From there, though, the Gophers committed a service error and an attack error (following a spectacular Pitt save to keep the ball in play), and with the score tied 22-22, Babcock closed out the sweep with the final three points.
