PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It was the words that Dan Fisher used at his national semifinal news conference Wednesday ‘I’m lucky to be at a volleyball school’. Fisher has built Pitt into a national power and they play in a fifth straight Final Four Thursday at 6:30p against Texas A&M in Kansas City.
After the Panthers beat Purdue in the regional final, 22-year Boilermakers head coach Dave Shondell said Fisher has done one of the best coaching jobs in the history of the sport making the Panthers a power.
That win over Purdue was the 350th in Fisher’s 423 games at Pitt. The California native took a program that had been in the NCAA Tournament twice since 1994 to 10 straight appearances and half of those in the national semifinals.
“People are in the gym because they want to be, not because we signed up or not because we have to be,” said reigning national player of the year and Panthers junior Olivia Babcock. “We genuinely want to be. We want to be better. We want to play for this program. We want to play with these people. We have so much grit.”
“We are friends. We are family.”
Now it’s about taking that next step.
Fisher said simply everyone is good at this point, you don’t really look at the jersey you are playing, but stay focused on playing your best in the moment. Pitt figured they might be playing Nebraska and a home-court advantage for the Cornhuskers in Kansas, but now it’s more of a neutral court.
“This is going to be a new challenge being at a neutral site,” Fisher said. “It’s going to be a big arena, but we’ve been working all year prepping the team for that. I don’t think it will feel like their first time. It certainly won’t be their first time playing to big crowds on big stages. I think we are ready.”
Fisher said with the third-toughest non-conference schedule, they couldn’t have scheduled tougher. This Pitt team, that is 30-4 overall, started the season 0-2 with losses to Nebraska and Florida. Now they face SEC power Texas A&M, who before beating the Cornhuskers, beat defending national champion Louisville.
“They are playing really well right now,” Fisher said after the Aggies had a five-set win in Lincoln, Nebraska. “They are scrappy. There’s going to be a lot of long rallies. We are going to have to stay in it emotionally.”
Purdue was a good prep, they play similarly to Texas A&M in the speed of their offense and that they also have a left-hand hitting outside hitter.
Pitt has lost only one set in the NCAA Tournament, the third set Saturday against the Boilermakers, but Babcock believes there is another level.
“I feel like we are making it through these tournament games, and obviously it’s taking a lot out of us,” Babcock said. “We are still not playing our best volleyball, but we are still finding ways to win. That’s what excites me most, because I feel like this team has so much potential.”
“I feel in the next game we are going to reach that potential, especially because A&M is such a good team. We know it’s going to take a lot of us. We know its going to be a really hard battle. I feel like that potential is going to start to shine through when we play that match.”
Pitt volleyball has done almost everything, that could change this weekend in Kansas City.