Stafford leaving for Texas, Fisher staying put, and other Pitt Volleyball news
Pitt's star outside hitter is leaving the Panthers after her sophomore season
First-team All-America outside hitter Torrey Stafford is leaving the University of Pittsburgh and transferring to Texas. Stafford confirmed her transfer to the Longhorns via Instagram on Thursday, about a week and a half after her entry into the NCAA transfer portal was first reported.
Stafford’s departure is the most high-profile transfer loss in Pitt Volleyball history and a crushing blow to the team’s hopes of finally reaching the National Championship in 2025. Stafford showcased her six-rotation strength at Pitt in 2024 and was one of only two pin hitters at a Power 5 school to finish with a hitting percentage above .350 — the other being Florida’s Kennedy Martin, herself the center of many transfer rumors throughout the 2024 season. Stafford’s breakout season came after a tumultuous offseason in which she underwent surgery to remove a benign tumor in her left leg.
Stafford never provided a reason for entering the portal, nor a reason for her departure from Pitt.1 However, in college sports in 2024-almost-2025, attention turned immediately to NIL possibilities (aka money) for one of the most accomplished outside hitters in the nation.
In perhaps her only public comment about NIL, Stafford offered this quote back in November to former Pitt Football receiver Tre Tipton on Oakland Originals (itself a media source created by Pitt’s NIL collective Alliance 412).
“I honestly would say our team is not really big on it. And I think, for me personally too, I don’t really play volleyball for money. Of course it’s a great opportunity, and I’m sure a lot of the older players would be grateful with the fact that it is something now. I just think if I’m playing for the money, then I’m not really doing it my younger… Yes, it’s nice, but at the same time that’s not why I’m playing. I love the sport at the end of the day. I want to win. Yes it’s nice, but [money] is not my end-all, be-all — my driving force.”
Even if NIL is not the main reason for Stafford’s transfer, Texas has some of the deepest pockets of any fanbase in the country. Women’s volleyball players at UT earned a total of $256,000 in NIL money in the 2023-24 school year, according to Axios. You can take Stafford at her word that she doesn’t play for the money while still acknowledging that a lot more money is sure to come her way in the Lone Star State.
The loss of Stafford leaves the Panthers with only two players who have significant NCAA experience at outside hitter2: rising junior Blaire Bayless and incoming senior transfer Brooke Mosher, who made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team as a pin hitter at Illinois before ultimately becoming the team’s starting setter.
Incoming freshman Samara Coleman has been highly touted and is a candidate for playing time regardless of whether or not Pitt brings in another transfer. She was recently named Volleyball Player of the Year in the Houston region, a hotbed for the sport, and will be starting classes at Pitt this week.
Still, losing Stafford from the 2025 and 2026 teams is a major hit to the program. It’s rare to see a Final Four team lose a six-rotation star player — typically championship contenders will see players leave for more playing time. While we’re left with plenty of questions as to Stafford’s move, it’s fair to say Pitt’s attack will not be nearly as dominant as it was in 2024.
Only one other Pitt player has announced she is leaving the university this offseason: middle blocker Bianca Garibaldi from Argentina. Garibaldi shows a lot of promise, but she was already pretty far down the depth chart (she played in just 6 of Pitt's 117 sets) in her freshman season, and there is another middle blocker on the way with incoming freshman Abbey Emch. Best of luck to Bianca in the rest of her college career!
On to better news:
~~~~
Fisher staying at Pitt through 2030 as USA Volleyball hires Texas assistant
The University of Pittsburgh has locked up head coach Dan Fisher through the year 2030, the school announced on Wednesday.
The deal comes a couple days after USA Volleyball finally announced its new Women’s National Team head coach, Texas associate head coach Erik Sullivan. Sullivan will lead Team USA in the years leading up to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Fisher had been one of the top names rumored for the USA Volleyball job. I had previously written about the possibility of Fisher leaving to return to his previous home to sunny Southern California, but Pittsburgh is home now for the Fisher family — and it looks like he will be sticking around through the end of the decade.
We don’t know the salary number, but Fisher’s current deal was paying him somewhere between $520,000-$615,000 per year (the higher end with incentives, most likely), while the USA Volleyball job was listed as just $375,000.
As a Pitt fan, I’m obviously overjoyed that Fisher will remain in charge. As a fan of Team USA, I’m a little confounded. I don’t know much about Sullivan other than what’s in the press release. I do know that Texas has been an incredibly successful program and certainly Sullivan wouldn’t have stayed with the Longhorns for 14 seasons if UT hadn’t paid him well. Still, I can’t say that I’m overly enthused that the best Team USA could do is a man who was essentially a (highly-regarded) defensive coordinator.
Still, this is a Pitt Volleyball newsletter, and this news is fantastic for Pitt. And I certainly must eat some crow for a piece I wrote in October, calling out new Pitt athletic director Allen Greene for his comments that success in Olympic sports "certainly makes people feel good," implying there was little else to the sports than that. But Greene has proven me wrong, as this deal shows his commitment to Pitt Volleyball for the future. Well done, sir.
The future of the program is in good hands, and the coaching staff can go out and recruit with the assurance that Fisher will be around for the high schoolers that are currently on Pitt’s radar. Those players will also be heading in to a brand new Victory Heights arena, likely to be ready around this time next year, certainly in time for the 2026 volleyball season.
Fairbanks heading to Atlanta as U.S. pro leagues begin season
Pitt’s first-team All-America setter Rachel Fairbanks will be starting her pro career this week with LOVB Atlanta, with the contract announced on Sunday.
If you’re just now learning that there are pro volleyball leagues in America, you’re not alone. Long story short: LOVB stands for League One Volleyball, which began its inaugural season on Wednesday with Pitt alum Serena Gray totaling 11 kills and three blocks to help Salt Lake defeat Atlanta.3 Meanwhile, the separate Pro Volleyball Federation begins its second season this week. It has a couple more teams and a greater emphasis on recent college grads, and thus more Pitt alumnae in the league:
Kayla Lund (San Diego Mojo)
Leketor Member-Meneh (Indy Ignite)
Chiamaka Nwokolo (Indy Ignite)
Layne Van Buskirk (Vegas Thrill)
Valeria Vázquez Gomez (Omaha Supernovas)
From what I’ve seen, all of these players — LOVB and PVF — will be making a minimum of $60,000 for a three-to-four-month season. That’s what we’d call a good start. While I hope that salaries, attention and TV ratings will rise, it’s a proper time to celebrate that our country’s best and brightest volleyball stars can play professionally without needing to leave their families and travel overseas. That’s a landmark moment for the game.
And thus, I won’t openly speculate on her reason. Stafford is 19 years old and 19-year-old people, star athletes or not, could have any number of reasons for the decisions they make.
Reigning National Player of the Year Olivia Babcock, who last month affirmed that she will be staying at Pitt, plays right side (aka opposite).
Oh yeah, there are no nicknames for LOVB (pronounced “love,” they insist) just yet. The league collectively owns all six teams. Selling them off and branding them individually could come later.
Nice summary.