No. 1 Pitt sweeps Morehead State in opening round of NCAA Tournament

Senior libero Emmy Klika and her teammates huddled together in front of the net after the Pitt women’s volleyball team swept Morehead State on Friday night at Petersen Events Center. The Panthers’ tradition of taking a photo after every match is the program’s simple way of documenting the steps along the journey.

No. 1 seed Pitt moved on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the ninth consecutive season with a 25-17, 25-15, 25-15 win over the Eagles.

“It started my freshman year,” Klika said. “We do it all season, too, taking the picture after the game. It’s kind of cool having those. Each one is a great memory. We want to keep making those memories with this group.”

Pitt coach Dan Fisher said the practice was something they borrowed from Pitt men’s soccer coach Jay Vidovich.

“We stole it off Coach Vidovich,” Fisher said. “When you play internationally, you do it after every game. Jay’s team also has a tradition of doing that in practice.”

The Panthers (30-1) didn’t appear like a team carrying the burden of being the tournament’s top overall seed in their first match.

Morehead State of the Ohio Valley Conference only led once during the match. The Eagles (18-15) opened the first set with a kill by Maycie Welborn. The Panthers responded with a 4-0 run capped by a service ace by Valeria Vaquez Gomez.

Morehead State coach Kyrsten Becker-McBride said the Eagles were trying to make Pitt do things they weren’t comfortable doing.

“There were moments we said that this is the shot they are going to go after, and if they hit something different, they hit it,” Becker-McBride said. “For example, (Vazquez Gomez), if she has a cut shot, let her show it. She goes out a couple of points later and hits the cut shot, and we said she did it.”

Morehead State cut the lead back to one point a few times in the first set but could never tie the score or wrestle the lead back. The Eagles only had 12 kill attempts in the first set. Though Pitt made more attack errors in the first set, the Panthers overwhelmed Morehead State with their output.

M.E. Hargan led the Eagles with 10 kills. Fisher said Morehead State defended well against

Pitt.

“There’s a different feeling for sure,” Fisher said. “It’s one thing to say we are treating every game like it’s the last game of the season, but there’s another thing when it actually is. Every team in this tournament is deserving and tough.”

Pitt never let the Eagles have any traction in the second set. The Panthers scored the first three points, including a pair of service aces from Rachel Fairbanks.

Torrey Stafford led Pitt with 14 kills, and Olivia Babcock had 12. Babcock also contributed 11 digs. Fairbanks handed out a match-high 33 assists.

Kilka, who finished with a team-high 12 digs, said the team handled playing at The Pete well.

“I think playing in different gyms throughout the season, you want to get used to the vision and how you are seeing the ball and the depth perception,” Klika said. “We are lucky to play a few games here during the season. I am comfortable at The Pete.”

The Panthers will take on Oklahoma in the second round Saturday night. Pitt will be ready for a new photo.

“Our strength coach says this is the time we peak,” Stafford said. “This is our peak. Our new peak.”