University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
22-1,12-1ACC
Duke
16-7,8-5ACC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 18 | 12 | 20 | 0 |
| Pittsburgh | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
11/6/2026 9:44:00 PM | Volleyball
PITTSBURGH – No. 2 Pitt flexed its offensive power Friday night, dialing up 48 kills and a .369 attack percentage, as the Panthers won their eighth straight match with a 25-18, 25-12, 25-20 sweep of Duke. Pitt improved to 8-0 inside Victory Heights and has not dropped a set in the first-year building.
Olivia Babcock led the way with 14 kills, while Abbey Emch had eight kills and four blocks from the middle. Izzy Starck directed the buzzsaw offense with 34 assists. Pitt also served up seven aces and held Duke to a .185 hitting percentage to improve to 22-1 overall and 12-1 in the ACC standings. The Blue Devils (16-7, 8-5 ACC) entered the match ranked in the top 25 in the country in hitting percentage at .267 and No. 26 in kills at 13.80 per set. But Pitt held Duke to just 29 kills over the three sets.
FIRST SET
Pitt recorded kills on seven of its first eight points as the Panthers built an 8-4 lead, forcing Duke to call a timeout. While the Blue Devils looked to regroup, Pitt continued to play from ahead, taking a 13-7 lead as Duke burned another timeout.
The Panthers appeared to be pulling away anyway, up 21-13, but Duke answered with four straight points to cut the gap in half. After a Pitt timeout, Blaire Bayless recorded a powerful kill and the Panthers followed with their first block of the match. Another Bayless kill made it 24-17 and Pitt went on to the 25-18 victory.
SECOND SET
The Panthers cruised to a 4-1 lead in the early going. The lead grew to five at 7-2 as Duke used another timeout. The lead continued to grow as Trinity Thompson served up back-to-back aces for an 11-3 advantage. Duke had no answers as Pitt rolled, 25-12.
THIRD SET
Duke played well early, taking a 6-5 lead on a service ace. The Blue Devils continued to stay a step ahead until Abbey Emch had a pair of kills for a 10-9 Pitt lead. The Panthers extended the lead at 13-10 as Duke used a timeout to attempt to hang in the set. Pitt used another 4-0 run to go ahead 17-11 and the Panthers closed out the sweep, 25-20.
NOTABLE
- Along with her 14 kills, Olivia Babcock posted six digs, four blocks and two service aces for the Panthers.
- Trinity Thompson had a career-best three aces and added eight digs and three assists in the libero jersey.
- Blaire Bayless was one kill shy of a double-double with nine kills and 11 digs.
- Pitt had four more digs than Duke and 5.5 more blocks. The Panthers entered the match leading the country with 3.21 blocks per set but were "limited" to 7.5 blocks in the victory.
- Pitt beat Duke for the 10th consecutive time and improved to 18-8 in the all-time series.
- Pitt continues a perfect run inside Victory Heights Arena. The Panthers are now 8-0 and have won all 24 sets played inside the first-year facility. Pitt is hitting .379 in those eight matches inside Victory Heights.
- Pitt has now hit .336 or better in eight straight matches and the Panthers rank second in the country in attack percentage at .334 across all 23 matches.
THE ACC PICTURE
Louisville continues to lead the ACC standings with an unblemished 13-0 record. Pitt moves into sole possession of second place at 12-1 after North Carolina's loss to SMU earlier in the day made both of those teams 11-2.
Sunday's match with North Carolina looms large for Pitt, as does a home match against Louisville on Nov. 15. Pitt can not look past a trip to California to face a prideful Stanford program on Nov. 24.
The Cardinals, though, still have four matches against ranked ACC foes with three of those on the road. Louisville has home-and-home matches with SMU and a pair of road contests at Pitt and at North Carolina.
UP NEXT
- Pitt hosts No. 20 North Carolina Sunday at 1 p.m.
- The Panthers will then host Notre Dame Wednesday night at 7 p.m. before the showdown with Louisville inside Victory Heights on Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.
