In a city fully devoted to its professional sports teams, the most remarkable success story in local sports in 2024 might not be the Steelers, Penguins, Pirates, or Riverhounds, but instead the recent domination of the Pitt Panthers women’s volleyball program, whose success and growth — both on the court and off of it — is a trend approaching a different level of craze.
With the Panthers soaring on and off the court, could it be time for a professional volleyball team in the Steel City?
Since head coach Dan Fisher took over as the program migrated to the Atlantic Coast Conference from the now-defunct Big East in 2013, the volleyball program has reached unimaginable highs. During Fisher’s tenure, the Panthers have won six ACC championships, made a program-record eight straight NCAA tournament appearances, including first-time trips to the Elite Eight; and three consecutive trips to the Final Four.
This year, the Panthers have been otherworldly. With a 29-1 record as of Nov. 30, the No. 1 seed Panthers aim to make another deep tournament run — but the program’s growth hasn’t been limited to on-court dominance.
The ever-growing fanbase of the team has generated crowds in historic numbers. Earlier this season, the team set a new attendance record with 11,800 turning up to see a heated rivalry match with Penn State at the Petersen Events Center. Another contest there against ACC contender Louisville drew 11,309 — and most matches at Fitzgerald Field House have hovered around the 2,000-3,000 mark all season.
“The support has been amazing; sometimes it feels even better than winning the game,” Pitt volleyball associate head coach Kellen Petrone tells Pittsburgh City Paper. “We used to have these crowds of 100 people. Now, to have sellouts at the Petersen Events Center, it’s great. We always want to be entertaining, to put on a show. I think people really are blown away when they see volleyball in person, how explosive and athletic it is compared to TV.”
With growing crowds and teams full of nation-leading talent, it’s natural to wonder: What’s next for these players after their collegiate career comes to a close? And what’s out there for volleyball fans in Pittsburgh beyond the Panthers program?
The question is one being asked all across the U.S. as volleyball soars in popularity — and several organizations have stepped up with answers. In 2025, there will be three separate professional options for volleyball players domestically: Athletes Unlimited, a unique five-week league with no set teams; League One Volleyball, set to begin play in 2025 with an underlying club system; and the Pro Volleyball Federation, which concluded its inaugural 2024 season back in May.
“I think that’s one of the main reasons why we started this,” says PVF Vice President of Public and Media Relations Rob Carolla. “It was a sport our founders saw that didn’t give players a place to play here in the United States. They had to go to Asia or Europe, and we wanted to give these great volleyball athletes a chance to play near family and friends close to home. It was a big selling point for us.”
While any professional sports expansion is an involved process with many deciding factors, on the surface the case for Pittsburgh looks obvious.
While some PVF teams are oriented around market-size and geography, the league has a clear focus on cities with large collegiate programs, even in smaller media markets. These include Omaha (Nebraska), Columbus (Ohio State), Orlando (UCF), and Indianapolis (Indiana/Purdue).
“I would say [support] is definitely a part of it, for sure,” Carolla says of the expansion process. “You want to have cities and markets where there’s an interest in the sport. That obviously exists very well in Pittsburgh, and with what’s going on at Pitt — that factors into the interest. Pretty good support for the sport itself, that doesn’t hurt.”
With Pitt’s strong and growing athletics foundation, and a sports-hungry city underlying it all, Pittsburgh would seem to be an obvious fit among these, particularly with several nearby Midwestern trips among the league’s existing clubs.
Another meaningful factor? Talent development. With an increasingly talented program, Pitt has produced several professional players already in the PVF. These include Leketor Member-Meneh (Indy Ignite/Atlanta Vibe), Courtney Buzzerio (Atlanta), Chiamaka Nwokolo (Indy), Kayla Lund (San Diego Mojo), and Layne Van Buskirk (Vegas Thrill). All players excelled during Fisher’s tenure with a long list of accolades and accomplishments between them.
“We talk to [our pro alumni] all the time,” says Petrone. “They come back here in the summers and help coach our camps. One great thing about the PVF is they can coach at collegiate programs, keep fresh and keep training. We get a lot of them coming back here, we had a bunch at alumni weekend, we talk to them all the time. I think, hopefully, in the upcoming year you’ll see some more Pitt players joining them at the pro level.”
All things considered locally, it’s easy to see Pittsburgh as an appealing expansion prospect. But as mentioned, any expansion is a complicated process, and the key remaining factor in volleyball coming to the city remains a dedicated ownership group who wants it here.
“We’ve had a ton of interest,” says Carolla. “Of course, first and foremost, you want a good ownership group in place in the market of their interest, and then in conjunction with that whether the market can support it. It’s been exciting because the interest in the league is absolutely there.”
So while Pittsburgh awaits the leaders to make pro volleyball a reality, fans can continue to follow the elite Panthers players at the next level with the hope that, maybe one day soon, those players can stay home and represent the Steel City directly.
—
NCAA tournament beginning today (Dec. 4).
This article appears in Dec 4-10, 2024.
