No. 3 Pitt Volleyball Defeats No. 25 TCU

PITTSBURGH — No. 3 Pitt Panthers volleyball earned their first win of the 2025 season by taking down No. 25 TCU In four sets at PPG Paints Arena in the State Farm Volleyball Showcase.

The Panthers (1-2) had lost their first two matchups of 2025, as they fell in four sets in the season opener to the No. 1 Nebraska Cornhuskers on Aug. 22 and fell in five sets to the No. 16 Florida Gators on Aug. 24, both in the AVCA First Serve Showcase at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb.

Pitt also improves to 2-1 over TCU, losing in four sets in 2011 and sweeping in 2003.

Both teams battled back-and-forth in the first set with the score 11-11, as neither team could get a large lead.

Pitt eventually broke through, with a 6-0 scoring run to go up 17-11, thanks to three kills from junior outside hitter Blaire Bayless.

The Horned Frogs kept themselves in the match, embarking on a 9-3 run that tied it up at 20-20, as sophomore outside hitter Evan Hendrix had three kills and a block to lead the rally.

Hendrix then committed a service error, setter Brooke Mosher got a service ace and freshman middle blocker Abbey Emch made a kill to give Pitt a 23-20 lead and forced TCU to take their second timeout.

TCU battled back to make it 24-23, as junior outside hitter Lauren Murphy got a kill and an ace, but junior right side hitter Olivia Babcock got her fifth kill to win the first set, 25-23.

Pitt and TCU battled early on in the second set, but TCU would take a 12-9 lead, thanks to three kills from Murphy, and then a 15-13 lead at the media timeout.

The Panthers got within one point at 15-14 and 18-17, but never took back the lead from the Horned Frogs, who kept their lead and built it up 20-17, 23-29, 24-20 and then 25-22 to tie the match up at one set a piece.

Babcock only had one kill in that second set and Pitt hit .206 as a team, while TCU got five kills from outside hitter Jaylyn Gibson.

Pitt dominated in the third set, starting with a 5-1 lead, then building it up to 10-5, 15-10 and then 20-13, before winning it 25-15 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.