Pitt Volleyball Serve Specialist Cat Flood Set to Transfer

Originally posted on Pittsburgh Sports Now
By Dominic Campbell | Last updated Dec 19, 2023 6:23 PM ET

Pitt volleyball fan favorite and serve specialist Cat Flood will transfer from the program, according to Talia Goodman.

Flood played for four seasons for the Panthers from 2020-23, with four consecutive Elite Eight appearances and three straight Final Fours. She is one of only four players in outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez, middle blocker Chiamaka Nwokolo and setter Lexis Akeo to have been a part of every Elite Eight and Final Four team over the past four years.

Despite not featuring much her first two seasons at outside hitter, she started as a serve specialist the past two seasons, growing her popularity with the Pitt volleyball fan base and her importance on the team.

She played in 65 out of 69 games as a junior in 2022 and a senior this past season, with 16 service aces to 11 service errors in 2022 and 17 service aces to 16 service errors in 2023.

Flood excelled in both Elite Eights in 2022 and 2023. She had three service aces against reigning National Champions Wisconsin in Madison, Wis. in 2022, with a long service run to help her team win in five sets, propelling her to Pitt volleyball stardom. She also had two service aces and a dominant service run in the fifth set to help Pitt reverse sweep Louisville this past season.

cat flood meme https://t.co/5yW38lUDxf pic.twitter.com/xPPWTos0af

— Semple Fi Podcast (@semplefipod) December 11, 2022

Her six service aces in the 2023 NCAA Tournament tied her for fifth most in program history. Her three service aces against Washington State in the Sweet 16 also tied her for fifth most in a match in an NCAA Tournament.

She also had her career-high of three service aces against Virginia last season, doing so three times with Wisconsin and Washington State.

Flood is the first transfer to leave the program this season and did choose to walk on Senior Day. She will have one year left of eligibility, with the COVID-19 year given to student-athletes who competed during the 2020-21 academic calendar. She joins middle blockers in Emma Monks and Nwokolo, libero/defensive specialist Logan Mosley and Akeo, who all will graduate from Pitt volleyball with no more eligibility remaining.

Rising junior libero/defensive specialist Dillyn Griffin is the sole remaining serve specialist on Pitt heading into next season, but first-year libero/defensive specialist Mallorie Meyer is prolific on the service line herself.