Leveling Up and Loving It: Izzy Starck Is Helping Pitt Thrive

The rally against Xavier should have ended 15 seconds before it did.

Olivia Babcock and Abbey Emch had already gotten a piece of the ball at the net, sending it caroming off at a strange angle.

Players on both sides started to relax, assuming the point was over. Then Izzy Starck hit the floor, got a hand underneath it, and somehow sent it back over the net clean enough for Pitt to win the exchange.

It's not the first crazy save she's had. It probably won't be the last.

"There's a couple of them that I don't know how I get in the position I do," Starck said. "It just happened, and it's kind of funny. My body just sometimes takes over and does its own thing."

It has become something of a signature for the junior setter, not because it happens every match, but because when it does, it tends to leave everyone else on the court a little stunned.

After taking a year off following a AVCA National Freshman of the Year season and a national championship, Izzy Starck hasn't missed a beat. She's spent this season quietly making the case that she belongs in the conversation with the best setters in the country. What's made that case louder is how much fun she's clearly having while she builds it.

The numbers back up what Pitt's staff already sees on tape. Starck ranks 10th nationally in assists per set, running an offense hitting .330 as a team, fifth best in the country and the highest mark among any top-25 program.

Pitt is putting up 14.09 kills per set, 18th nationally, while a defense Starck anchors from the back row is holding opponents to a .154 hitting percentage. She leads the Panthers in digs per set at 2.55.

Then there's the number that turns heads inside the gym.

Starck is averaging .70 blocks per set, an eye-popping figure for a setter. For context, two of the best setters in the history of the college game, Illinois' Jordyn Poulter and Wisconsin's Lauren Carlini, put up .85 and .82 blocks per set in their senior seasons.

Starck put up five blocks against Kentucky and four against Kansas this season alone.

Setters coach Kamalani Akeo has watched that defensive growth up close.

"She's worked on it a lot, and so she's gotten a lot better in the short amount of time that she's been with us in terms of her back row defense," Akeo said. "Physically she's a great blocker. Her defense is incredible now. It's pretty rare that a ball around her falls."

None of that defensive identity is separate from what makes her dangerous running the offense. She's done a great job spreading the ball around to the entire team helping Blaire Bayless, Ayanna Watson, Maaike Heilig, Abbey Emch and Jordyn Dailey all set career-highs on kills this season.

Those are the moments that get her most excited.

"I know all my hitters put in so much time trying to build a connection with me, and seeing that translate in the game is just so much fun," Starck said. "A big part of my setting game is wanting to get everyone involved and have a nice balanced offense, but having the middles involved is really huge for me. So having games like that, and people getting career highs this early in the season, is really cool to see."

It helps that she is someone who can turn a set that should only have one option into something a hitter can attack from multiple angles.

"She can get to a lot more balls," Akeo said. "She makes what we call one passes, or passes where you're supposed to have only one option, look like twos or threes. Our hitters have to always be ready because she's a gunslinger."

Head coach Dan Fisher has noticed the shift in presence as much as production.

"I wouldn't call it a quiet confidence, but she exudes like we've got this," Fisher said. "When you have a setter that rarely puts up unhittable balls, it gives the players the feeling that hey, we're always going to be able to score."

Starck's connection with Babcock, the back-to-back AVCA National Player of the Year, has become one of the more compelling storylines on this Pitt team.

The two played together on USA volleyball before either arrived in Oakland, which gave Starck an immediate sense of familiarity when she transferred in last January. Starck has helped Babcock continue her impressive play, as she's averaging 4.97 kills per set with a .363 hitting percentage this season.

That chemistry has shown up in some of Starck's favorite plays.

"It's the weird plays, when I get in a scramble and set Liv on the right side," Starck said. "Just the crazy sharp angle she hits, it shocks me every time. It's really fun to see what she can do in a weird situation to make it better. It's almost like we're progressively making each other better."

Babcock sees it the same way from the other side.

"She just has that work ethic that you want everyone to have in the gym," Babcock said. "It's not just on the court but also off the court. She's just a great friend and a great person, and having someone like her in our culture just makes it better naturally."

Pitt has national championship aspirations again this season, and having Starck and Babcock run the offense together gives that pursuit even more weight.

Starck has already lived the moment once, though she's quick to point out that experience doesn't come with a blueprint.

That perspective starts with something simple: relaxing and having fun.

"This season for me, it's just being able to relax and really enjoy the moment with the people around me," she said. "That's what we talked a lot about in the spring and summer. The culture I'm learning through Pitt is to enjoy the moment and enjoy the people around you. I've been bringing that into my game more, and I definitely think that's made me play better, but also made me enjoy playing more."

Pitt opens ACC play against Cal on Friday, ten matches into a season that's already given Starck moments she couldn't have scripted.

If the Xavier dig proved anything, it's that she's not particularly interested in scripting them anyway. She'd rather just go get the ball, laugh about it after and let the rest sort itself out.