PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It's a first ever appearance in the NCAA Final Four, but Pitt is not there just to check off a box. Not there to say they crossed a threshold, they want more.
"It's not like we are here and we are trying to take it like we are complacent," said senior Chinaza Ndee. "I think we are trying to take it as there is more work to do. We can get better."
"That's how we are entering this tournament is like we are good. We are good enough to beat these teams. We are good enough to win it all. There is some healthy confidence."
"They are totally clicked in," said Panthers head coach Dan Fisher. "Win or lose, it's not going to be an issue with preparation and focus. This is what they have been dreaming about."
"Jay Vidovich (Pitt men's soccer coach) has talked about this a lot, the thing that is nice about making a tournament run is how engaged and focused the team is on every video session. They are locked in. Although it's the end of the season and we all tired. It's the most fun time to coach because they are all locked in."
They were locked in last season after a rough start, then a COVID break, the Panthers were an inch in April from advancing to the Final Four. Quickly Ndee and two-time ACC Player of the Year Kayla Lund announced they would take advantage of the NCAA rule and come back for another season.
"They have just been the faces of the program the last few years," Fisher said. "The thing about them is that they are great players and better humans. To get them for a fifth year is pretty nice in terms of leadership and experience on the court. They are leading the way in terms of believing they can do it."
"I think we have a special team," Lund said. "I think that stems from having a lot of experience with fifth years coming back, sixth years coming back. We also gained two pretty good players (Missouri transfer Leketor Member-Meneh and Penn State transfer Serena Gray) have upped our level a bunch. We also have freshmen stepping up with leadership staying and growing. It's a big melting pot of growth and togetherness."
That makes practice as challenging or maybe sometimes more so than games. It's created a high-level of detail awareness and sharpness to their game.
"The level in our gym is insane," Ndee said. "We want to make sure our lows are not that low, so having good players across the board at every position, three-deep. That really raises the level. So, our practices are harder than games."
"We practice really hard, we train really hard so when it comes to the game, we can just play because we've seen that level before."
"We obsess about the level in our gym," Fisher said. "We do that because if we are playing at a high level in our own gym, we don't need to find something new when we get in a game. We just do what we do."
That is the plan against a red-hot Nebraska team that beat number two Texas in the previous round. They realize what the Huskers can do, but it's about 'focusing on our side of the net and all of the things we can control'.
"I'm expecting us to play well," Fisher said. "I'm also expecting Nebraska to play well. It's great for volleyball to be seen on live TV with a packed arena."
"We don't know if we are going to win it all. It's a sporting event, but we know we can."
"They have that belief that they can beat anyone."
