University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Babcock, Starck Recognized By ACC Again
8/31/2026 4:13:00 PM | Volleyball
PITTSBURGH – For the second straight week, Olivia Babcock was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week and Izzy Starck was named the ACC Setter of the Week. Babcock and Starck have led Pitt, ranked No. 2 in the country as of Monday afternoon, to a 4-0 start with three wins over ranked teams.
Babcock earned her 11th career ACC Offensive Player of the Week award and 17th weekly honor (six ACC Freshman of the Week awards in 2023) after posting 36 kills, 14 digs, six blocks and four service aces in Pitt's wins over then-No. 15 Kansas and then-No. 6 Wisconsin.
She had 19 kills and hit .333 in the victory over Kansas, coming up just shy of a double-double with nine digs to go with three blocks and two aces. She followed up that performance with 17 kills and a .361 attack percentage in a sweep of Wisconsin, recording five digs, three blocks and two aces.
Starck continued to make her mark on the ACC in her first two weeks in a Pitt uniform, recording 73 assists, 21 digs and six blocks over two matches for the Panthers. She has recorded a double-double in all four of the team's matches to start 2026.
Against Kansas, she handed out 45 assists and had 11 digs and four blocks. She then added 28 assists in the sweep of Wisconsin with 10 digs and two blocks. She added two kills and an ace in the win over the Badgers.
No. 2 Pitt returns to action Friday at No. 24 BYU at 8 p.m. The Panthers will then play at Utah Sunday at 3 p.m.
