Pitt Volleyball Star Earns ESPY Nomination

PITTSBURGH — Pitt Panthers volleyball star Olivia Babcock has earned numerous honors and awards for her play last season, which have kept coming even into the summer.

ESPN released their nominees list for the 2025 ESPYS, the award show the network hosts, honoring the best stars and moments of the season. They placed Babcock in the category for the best women's college athlete, along with Kate Faase of North Carolina soccer, Gretchen Walsh of Virginia swimming and Juju Walsh of USC basketball.

She is the first Pitt women's athlete that earned an ESPY nomination. The ESPYs also take place on July 16 and fans can vote for Babcock and other categories until then.

This is just one of many honors for Babcock, who won AVCA National Player of the Year, AVCA East Coast Region Player of the Year and ACC Player of the Year in 2024. She is also a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the Honda Cup as well, which will take place on June 30.

Babcock finished the regular season ranked second in the country with .69 aces per set, fourth with 5.87 points per set and No. 16 with 4.54 kills per set, while leading the ACC in all three categories. She also ranked tied for ninth in the ACC with a .328 hitting percentage, No. 8 in the conference with 1.19 blocks per set and averaged 1.76 digs per set.

She had 71 service aces on the season, which easily broke the program record in a single season in the 25-point scoring era (2008-Present) and also broke the program record in a single season all-time, of 67.

She was also the only second Pitt player to win ACC Player of the Year Award, as former outside hitter Kayla Lund won in back-to-back seasons in 2019 and 2020.

Babcock earned two AVCA National Player of the Week honors last season for her great play, in the sweeps of then ranked No. 22 Florida State on Nov. 15 and Miami on Nov. 17, both at home.

She averaged 8.08 points per set, 6.50 kills per set, 1.17 blocks per set, 1.17 digs per set, 1.00 ace per set and hit .525 in both matches, helping her earn ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the third time in 2024.

Babcock finished with 19 kills and hit .519, while also making four digs and four blocks in the win over the Seminoles. She also had 20 kills, the most for her in three sets this season, plus five service aces, three digs and three blocks, while also hitting .531 vs. the Hurricanes.

She earned the honor the first time this season for her play in sweeps of Cal and Stanford in October.

She led with 16 kills. hit a season-high .577, while also adding five total blocks, two service aces and two digs against Cal on Oct. 18. She also led with 17 kills, hit .361, along with six total blocks, six digs and a service ace vs. then ranked No. 5 Stanford on Oct. 20, with both matches at home.

Babcock finished that weekend averaging 7.0 points per set, 5.5 kills per set, 1.83 blocks per set, 1.33 digs per set and hitting .452 in both games, also earning ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second time.

One of her best games of the season came against Boston College on the road on Oct. 4, a four-set victory.

Babcock finished with a triple-double, with 14 kills, 12 service aces and 10 digs in the victory. This was the first triple-double for her at Pitt and the first for the program since Rachel Fairbanks had 10 kills, 28 assists and 13 digs in the sweep over BYU In the Second Round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at the Petersen Events Center.

Those 12 service aces set the record for the most in a single match in Pitt history and were the most for a player in single match last season

Babcock also had a triple-double in the last match of the regular season, a five-set thriller over then ranked No. 19 Georgia Tech at home on Nov. 30. She finished with 18 kills, 12 digs and a career-high 10 blocks in the victory.

She had an incredible performance against No. 4 Oregon in the Sweet 16, with 31 kills, setting a new program record in the NCAA Tournament.

Babcock then broke that record with 33 kills in the loss to Louisville in the Final Four at the KFC Yum! Center, which set the program record for both kills in an NCAA Tournament match and in the 25-point scoring era, while also ranking No. 6 in a match all-time in program history.

She just finished up her second week with Team USA at the Volleyball Nations League (VNL), serving as one of just two players from the college ranks, along with Texas A&M opposite side hitter Logan Lednicky.