Pitt Volleyball Could Have the National Player of the Year... But Who?
The nation's #1 team features multiple players who could make a case for volleyball's Heisman Trophy
This week will mark the unofficial halfway point of college volleyball’s regular season. Unanimous #1 Pitt will play the 15th and 16th matches of its 30-match season in a home-and-home battle this week against upstart SMU.
Pitt is one of only two still-undefeated teams in the nation (kudos, South Dakota State), and it took the Panthers until their 13th match for a backup-laden lineup to drop the team’s first set of 2024 — by two points. As the old saying goes, you can’t sweep ‘em all.
The focus for Dan Fisher’s Panthers is on winning the program’s first national championship, and the school’s first fully-claimed team national title in any sport since football’s 1976 championship.
As it happens, 1976 was also the year of Pitt’s only Heisman win — thanks to Tony Dorsett’s 1,948 rushing yards and 21 rushing touchdowns. Pitt Volleyball’s continued dominance this season would bring with it the potential for the program’s first win of volleyball’s Heisman — AVCA Division I Player of the Year.
And it’s not just one Pitt player who could make a case for the biggest individual award in college volleyball.
Torrey Stafford
Any discussion must begin with outside hitter Torrey Stafford, who has launched herself from talented rookie in 2023 to one of the nation's most complete six-rotation players in 2024.
Stafford has been far and away the best pin hitter in the country for one simple reason: she puts away kills. Her 149 kills on 294 attacks (with only 24 errors) gives Stafford a gargantuan .425 hitting percentage.
Imagine if the Pirates had a .425 hitter at the All-Star Break.
That .425 number is not just the best mark among all pin hitters, it would be the best for any pin hitter in the last decade.
While we shouldn’t expect Stafford to maintain a .425 hitting percentage over a full season — especially when Pitt matches up against stout defenses like Louisville, SMU and North Carolina — her ability to light up the scoreboard will keep her as a top contender for Player of the Year.
Stafford has done all of this after undergoing leg surgery, limiting her reps in the offseason. She has come back a more complete player: a better passer, a sharper server, and so far the nation’s most efficient hitter.
Olivia Babcock
Last year's National Freshman of the Year, Babcock has made her own case for National Player of the Year. Few other players are putting points on the scoreboard like Babcock, who ranks 3rd in the country with 5.73 points per set.
Start from the service line. Last year, Babcock's jump serve quickly became one of the most feared in the country. This year? It’s just as feared — and even more effective, raising her ace rate from 13% to 22.4% (2nd in the country), dropping her error rate from 23.2% to 19%, and putting opposing teams on their heels whenever she rises and fires a serve. (h/t Evollve)
Just as scary as Babcock in serve mode is Babcock in attack mode. Whether she's in the front row or the back, blockers are forced to focus on her powerful swing. The extra attention from defenses hasn't slowed Babcock down, as she has kept her hitting percentage above .300 once again.
Friday's match vs. Boston College showcased Babcock’s all-around excellence. Her 12 service aces smashed the Pitt all-time record, and the addition of 14 kills and 10 digs gave Babcock her first career triple-double. In fact, it was the nation’s first triple-double of aces, kills and digs since Sept. 17, 2021. (h/t Evollve)
If you were to hold an NCAA-wide expansion draft of current players, Olivia Babcock's game-changing ability over the next three years could make her the #1 overall pick.
Rachel Fairbanks
Now, if that draft of players were solely for the 2024 season, I would be tempted to use my #1 pick on Rachel Fairbanks. The reigning ACC Setter of the Year was one of only three setters to be named to last year’s All-America team.
While Stafford's high-efficiency swings have been the biggest contributor to Pitt's #1 hitting percentage — .351 — the offense runs through Fairbanks’ hands. Head coach Dan Fisher has given his senior setter the weapons, and she has been better than ever at turning those weapons into a War Machine.
It’s hard to separate the work of the setter from the work of her hitters, but Fairbanks deserves huge credit for the incredible 61.4% of points that Pitt has won this season. No team in the past five years has exceeded 59%. (h/t Evollve)
Does all of that give her the opportunity to win Player of the Year? Harder to say. While the Heisman Trophy usually goes to quarterbacks — 20 times since the turn of the millennium — it’s tougher for setters (the “quarterbacks” of volleyball) to win the top honor.
Bre Kelley
While Stafford, Babcock and Fairbanks are all on the AVCA Player of the Year watchlist, a fourth Pitt player deserves to be added: middle blocker Bre Kelley.
Pitt has been perhaps the nation’s strongest defensive team, holding opponents to a nation-low .099 hitting percentage. Credit libero Emmy Klika for stepping up in her senior season, but also credit Pitt’s blocks per set leader Bre Kelley. Her return after being injured in 4th match of the 2023 season has been invaluable.
Offensively, Kelley is nearly unstoppable. Her .500 hitting percentage would be 2nd in the nation if she had a few more attacks. Problem is (and it’s a good problem!), Pitt has so many players who can terminate, that setter Rachel Fairbanks has not needed to turn to Kelley down the middle very often.
Kelley would be a dark horse for AVCA Player of the Year, especially as a player who does not play all six rotations. But she deserves her flowers, and a second half with more swings should give Kelley a case for the All-America team.
Who’s the Top Contender?
If college volleyball had a midseason All-Star Game, Pitt would command more than a few positions.
In the past week, volleyball data analyst Chad Gordon has run the numbers to rank Torrey Stafford as the nation’s most effective outside hitter, Olivia Babcock as the nation’s most effective right side, and Bre Kelley as the nation’s most effective middle blocker. While Gordon doesn’t rank setters, Rachel Fairbanks had strong numbers in his analysis.
ESPN announcers Paul Sunderland and Jenn Hoffman discussed their Player of the Year candidates on the Sunday broadcast. Their picks included:
Stafford and Fairbanks
Reigning National Player of the Year winner Sarah Franklin of Wisconsin
Point-scoring machine Melanie Parra of TCU
Super-setter Bergen Reilly of Nebraska
Louisville's Charitie Luper and Elena Scott (as chosen by Hoffman, the Louisville alum)
Ultimately, Torrey Stafford would be my choice here at the midpoint of the season.
Her ability to end points has ranged from dominant to historic. So far, more than half of Stafford’s swings have resulted in a kill, while a mere 2.7% of her swings have gone out of bounds or into the net (h/t Evollve). Now THAT’s terminating.
But Stafford is not the only player doing it all. Olivia Babcock leads the team in attacks, kills, points, blocks, aces and a partridge in a pear tree. Part of Stafford’s offensive success comes from opposing defenses needing to worry about Babcock, and vice versa.
Pitt has 16 regular season matches left, and hopefully a long tournament run. A Player of the Year trophy for Babcock or Stafford — both still in their sophomore seasons — would be an important milestone for the young athletes who have their eyes on championships, pro contracts, and perhaps an Olympic spot in their home city of Los Angeles in 2028.