A 6-2 Offense, a Flood Warning, and How Pitt Keeps Winning When Things Go Wrong
NCAA Volleyball's #1 team won the weekend even as the head coach had to deviate from the script
There’s a classic saying about hockey’s Stanley Cup: “It only weighs 35 pounds, but it takes an entire team to lift.”
The same can be said for the NCAA’s National Championship trophy, though I can’t find an easy answer for how much that one weighs.
From the longest-tenured Panthers Valeria Vazquez Gomez and Cat Flood to a transfer who arrived mere weeks before the season in Nisa Buzlutepe, nearly every player on Pitt Volleyball’s roster contributed to this weekend’s four-set win over Notre Dame and five-set win over #4 Louisville — exemplifying the depth required of a team to end the season raising a trophy.
This weekend was not Pitt at its most dominant. How could it be after they opened up the season with 36 consecutive set victories? Pitt head coach Dan Fisher was more tired than triumphant in his post-match media availability from the three-hour-plus victory over rival Louisville on Friday.
“Not our best defensive performance. One of the worst, in many ways, in the back row for the first four sets,” Fisher said. “And then we found a way to pick up our scrappiness, and especially Valeria’s defense in the fifth set was incredible. That was one of the big differences, that she kept the ball alive when it got past our block.”
While middle blocker Bre Kelley balled out with 12 kills and 10 blocks for her first career double-double (asked if she now grasped the intensity of Pitt vs. Louisville after her on-court debut in the rivalry, Kelley said “I sure do. Got the juices going tonight, that’s for sure.”) it was not a vintage Pitt War Machine victory.
Switching To The 6-2
When Louisville blasted out to a 12-5 lead in the second set on Friday, Coach Fisher was “just feeling like the energy on the court needed a boost.” He went to an alignment he hadn’t used in a while: the 6-2 — Texas A&M transfer Nisa Buzlutepe came in to spell Rachel Fairbanks at setter, keeping the front row all attackers, showing off more of sophomore Blaire Bayless.
Pitt didn’t win that set, but Fisher “really liked our resilience” in the comeback forcing extra points.
“I thought Nisa and Blaire gave us a lift, and again in the fifth when we went back into it,” Fisher said. “They both came in ready to help and score some big points.”
The message from Fisher was clear: even when he’s looking at the #1 team in the nation, he won’t always stick to the script that got Pitt to that top spot.
“When two or three [rotations] are bad, it’s hard to keep doing the same thing,” Fisher said.
The Cat Flood Match
Pitt fans have known a certain Cat Flood over the past five seasons: the style, the two-toned hair, the cold-blooded attitude at the service line.
But on Saturday, Coach Fisher saw Flood “just hammering balls” in practice. The opportunity arose for her to join the front row on Sunday against Notre Dame.
The third-set loss on Sunday was one of the most frustrating stretches for Pitt this season. Fisher said his team “started getting jumpy, frantic in transition where normally we’re pretty calm.” An attacking unit that can usually terminate with ease saw Notre Dame collect an eye-popping 29 digs.
Then came the Flood Warning. Late in the fourth set she fired off three straight kills from the left pin and put up a major block to put the Panthers up 21-16 and on the road to Win #19.
“I just want to be on the court and help the team wherever I can,” Flood said.
Humble enough, Cat. But it’s more than that. Last December, a few days after Pitt bowed out in the National Semifinals, word came that Flood would enter the transfer portal for her final season. It looked like a master’s degree from a different university, more playing time beyond the service line and a career in broadcasting awaited.
Pitt fans cheered on social media when Flood decided instead to return for one last go-around in Oakland. They cheered even louder at the Fitzgerald Field House when Flood’s swings took over the fourth and final set, ending the match with a career-high eight kills and eight digs.
“Every time she steps on the court she makes a difference,” said teammate Torrey Stafford, who likely didn’t mind that her 17 kills and .438 hitting percentage were not the topic of post-match conversation. “I think today she had the opportunity to come in and give us the spark we needed. I’m so happy for her.”
Sights Set On A National Title
Flood came back to Pitt, Coach Fisher said, for one last shot at a National Championship. Same for sixth-year player Valeria Vazquez Gomez.
“We always talk about having an underdog mentality,” Vazquez Gomez said after the big win over Louisville. “Being #1 doesn’t matter if we don’t win the national championship.”
Pitt’s tournament résumé is now mostly set: top-five wins over Louisville, Penn State and Stanford. They won’t play another Top-10 opponent until the rematch with Louisville the day before Thanksgiving. Barring unforeseen calamities like their nine All-Stars falling victim to nine separate misfortunes, Pitt will host all the way through the Elite Eight. But will you catch Fisher talking about the National Championship in practice?
“I think this is the year that I’ve probably talked about it the least. Having been in three Final Fours, the players know what they want to do,” Fisher said. “I think it’s just the belief that we’re good enough. We don’t talk about it with each other a lot. We just talk about getting better. But I don’t think this year the girls are afraid to say it.”
When you’ve demonstrated the kind of depth that Pitt has this year, who would be afraid?