Volleyball Portal and Pitt - What's Next?

[vantheman1976]

Each VB scholarship is a full scholarship for that season. Fisher has explained in the past that they would sometimes offer a recruit a "partial" scholarship, in this case meaning maybe only 2 or 3 of the 4 seasons are paid by the school. Of course, this was the situation back around 2019, and our recruiting has taken off since then. I can only imagine the top recruits we are signing now are fully guaranteed for their careers.

It is pretty common for the top programs to have large teams with non-scholarship players. I think pre-COVID, you'd see teams with 18 players. Pitt and others seemed to reduce the roster size for practical (testing, isolation) purposes. Who knows if that will reverse.

It's beginning to make me wonder how much wiggle room Fisher actually has to bring in 2 transfers for Buzzerio and Ennis who were brought in for 1 year and are now gone. With 12 full scholarships to give the math is becoming a bit of a head scratcher. Six have departed. Were all 6 on scholarship? Who knows? Our 4 new recruits are all very highly regarded. I have to believe they are all on scholarship. Our roster of 15 this past year means 3 members of the team were not on a volleyball athletic scholarship.

By the way....some of the blue chip transfers are already gone. Kara McGhee....All American MB from Baylor with 1 year left is going to Oregon. Could have been a nice asset for us. Merritt Beason.....RS from Florida.....heads to Nebraska. She was 1st team all SEC and team captain for Florida. She was barely in the portal for a week. I had been wondering whether she could have been a Buzzerio replacement.

 

[anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr]

I have to believe the players not on athletic scholarship had money from academic or some other source.

 

[pittdan77]

I have to believe the players not on athletic scholarship had money from academic or some other source.

Hard to believe there isn't some help there, at least in most cases. I would imagine that someone who could afford to pay $6k in club fees, plus travel, every year wouldn't give much thought to footing the bill so their kid could be on a top ranked squad.

 

[levance2]

It's beginning to make me wonder how much wiggle room Fisher actually has to bring in 2 transfers for Buzzerio and Ennis who were brought in for 1 year and are now gone. With 12 full scholarships to give the math is becoming a bit of a head scratcher. Six have departed. Were all 6 on scholarship? Who knows? Our 4 new recruits are all very highly regarded. I have to believe they are all on scholarship. Our roster of 15 this past year means 3 members of the team were not on a volleyball athletic scholarship.

Another thing to consider, Fisher heavily used redshirts for his first several years here. A lot of our players might have had 3 funded seasons, but spent 4-5 years on the team.

My guess on this past season: Posada is a walk-on, Griffin might not have had a freshman scholarship, Cat Flood may not have a scholarship every season, Jepsen was a late flip from ND, so it could be possible she paid her way this season if our scholarships were already full. Those seem like the 4 likeliest options for the 3 non-scholarship players.

Others mentioned Lexis Akeo potentially not needing a scholarship, but that seems messy to me. I'd be surprised if that is the case.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

All three of my daughters play soccer. I’m thankful they didn’t get into dance, softball, or field hockey. But if they wanted to play volleyball I would have really been good with that.

What always struck me about club volleyball is that many of the events, maybe all, parents had to buy tickets to attend. Always thought that was weird.

 

[eastender2]

What always struck me about club volleyball is that many of the events, maybe all, parents had to buy tickets to attend. Always thought that was weird.

You are spoiled by soccer. AAU basketball is the same way.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

You are spoiled by soccer. AAU basketball is the same way.

I’ll say something else that shouldn’t be offensive at all but someone might get triggered. Take 3 sports-wrestling, soccer, and basketball. All three attract 3 different demographics. Soccer-suburban, basketball-inner city, and wrestling-rural.

Soccer has soccer moms and dads yelling from the sideline, but it’s outdoors and not as violent and doesn’t sound as violent.

Basketball-tough inner city moms and Dads screaming, and wrestling-tough rural moms and dads yelling. The screaming is twice as angry and because it’s indoors in a gym, sounds 5 times as violent.

When my son wrestled and when I attended a friends daughters AAU hooos game, those were the most profound differences that struck me immediately.

 

[levance2]

Here's another interesting portal applicant, given Fisher's attraction for hitter/setter combos:

Report: Penn State women's volleyball freshman Katie Hurta enters transfer portal

After playing just two matches in her freshman season, former Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year Katie Hurta announced she's taking her talents elsewhere and has entered the transfer portal.

www.collegian.psu.edu

Hurta was one of the top ranked players in the Class of 2022 and as a setter and right side hitter, Hurta's ability to play multiple positions could make her a sought-after player in the portal.

 

[vantheman1976]

Here's another interesting portal applicant, given Fisher's attraction for hitter/setter combos:

View embedded media

Report: Penn State women's volleyball freshman Katie Hurta enters transfer portal

After playing just two matches in her freshman season, former Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year Katie Hurta announced she's taking her talents elsewhere and has entered the transfer portal.

www.collegian.psu.edu

Interesting....but wouldn't she be competing with Fairbanks who is just 1 year ahead of her? Just wondering if she'll seek a landing spot that puts her in the best spot to be the starter.

 

[jctrack]

I’ll say something else that shouldn’t be offensive at all but someone might get triggered. Take 3 sports-wrestling, soccer, and basketball. All three attract 3 different demographics. Soccer-suburban, basketball-inner city, and wrestling-rural.

Soccer has soccer moms and dads yelling from the sideline, but it’s outdoors and not as violent and doesn’t sound as violent.

Basketball-tough inner city moms and Dads screaming, and wrestling-tough rural moms and dads yelling. The screaming is twice as angry and because it’s indoors in a gym, sounds 5 times as violent.

When my son wrestled and when I attended a friends daughters AAU hooos game, those were the most profound differences that struck me immediately.

 

[anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr]

What always struck me about club volleyball is that many of the events, maybe all, parents had to buy tickets to attend. Always thought that was weird.

We go to our own clubs hosted showcase and still have to pay 15 for parking. The parking fee doesn’t go to our club.

 

[levance2]

Interesting....but wouldn't she be competing with Fairbanks who is just 1 year ahead of her? Just wondering if she'll seek a landing spot that puts her in the best spot to be the starter.

I certainly don't have any insider knowledge to say that Pitt has any interest.

Fairbanks will be a JR and Akeo will be a GR. Behind them, we have a new FR Setter/RS from Hawaii. This player from PSU only played two matches, so it looks like she is advertising 4 years remaining. So she would compete for time with the other incoming recruit.

But aside from all that, the rumor from the PSU fans is that she left PSU because she is more interested in being an attacker than a setter. Given what Fisher just did with Buzzerio, you'd think that would be attractive. Just thought she had an interesting resume given our other recent targets (Fairbanks, Buzzerio, Ennis, Tautua'a).

 

[vantheman1976]

I certainly don't have any insider knowledge to say that Pitt has any interest.

Fairbanks will be a JR and Akeo will be a GR. Behind them, we have a new FR Setter/RS from Hawaii. This player from PSU only played two matches, so it looks like she is advertising 4 years remaining. So she would compete for time with the other incoming recruit.

But aside from all that, the rumor from the PSU fans is that she left PSU because she is more interested in being an attacker than a setter. Given what Fisher just did with Buzzerio, you'd think that would be attractive. Just thought she had an interesting resume given our other recent targets (Fairbanks, Buzzerio, Ennis, Tautua'a).

I see your point......good analogy.

 

[FreeportPanther]

When we played Philipsburg-Osceola in the State semi-finals, they had a big hitter who was a junior and already committed to Indiana University in Bloomington. She was really good! About 6'2" and very athletic.

After the game I spoke with her a bit and asked her how PedState let her get away since she lived about 10 miles from campus.

She said they were very interested, but didn't have the scholarship money for her, so she got the full ride at IU and took it.
That surprised me, but I guess even the blue bloods have to pinch pennies in the non revenue sports.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

That surprised me, but I guess even the blue bloods have to pinch pennies in the non revenue sports.

It's not so much that they are pinching pennies as they only have 12 scholarships to give. When you have used all 12 there isn't any more to give.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

It's not so much that they are pinching pennies as they only have 12 scholarships to give. When you have used all 12 there isn't any more to give.

It’s often a race. I’m guessing PSU was on her early because she was local. But as we know with girls, they commit earlier and PSU likely had their class all lined up and no money left.

 

[FreeportPanther]

It's not so much that they are pinching pennies as they only have 12 scholarships to give. When you have used all 12 there isn't any more to give.

Maybe, but she was already committed as a HS Junior. Funny that they'd be filled up 2 years ahead of time??

 

[HOF Coach]

Maybe, but she was already committed as a HS Junior. Funny that they'd be filled up 2 years ahead of time??

Russ Rose retired and a new head coach began in the 2022 season. Perhaps that played a factor in her recruitment also.

 

[FreeportPanther]

Russ Rose retired and a new head coach began in the 2022 season. Perhaps that played a factor in her recruitment also.

Reese Hazleton is her name.
We saw a lot of great players in the past 2 years including Emmy Schrom from Hampton and the 2 girls from Shenango in the WPIAL finals, but this girl was head and shoulders better than any of them.
Even North Allegheny who had a couple of D1 recruits didn't have anyone like her.
That team returns everyone, no seniors on the team, so I'd expect them to be in the state finals next year barring injury or the like.

https://tribhssn.triblive.com/freep...asts-philipsburg-osceola-reaches-state-final/

 

[vantheman1976]

Reese Hazleton is her name.
We saw a lot of great players in the past 2 years including Emmy Schrom from Hampton and the 2 girls from Shenango in the WPIAL finals, but this girl was head and shoulders better than any of them.
Even North Allegheny who had a couple of D1 recruits didn't have anyone like her.
That team returns everyone, no seniors on the team, so I'd expect them to be in the state finals next year barring injury or the like.

https://tribhssn.triblive.com/freep...asts-philipsburg-osceola-reaches-state-final/

Really appreciate your perspective on WPIAL volleyball talent. Your post reminded me of Anastasia Russ from Hampton who Fisher recruited in 2019 out of Hampton. She was a much heralded recruit then and stayed at Pitt 3 years buried on the depth chart behind the likes of Starks, Gray, and Nwokolo. Having now transferred to the University of Maryland....in her 1st season there this year she played in every set, led the entire country in blocks with something like 182 I recall, and was top five in the country with blocks/set. She was named as second team All Big Ten recently. I am so pleased for her and the success she now has.....speaks volumes about the talent Fisher is recruiting and how competitive it's become to carve out playing time at Pitt.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Really appreciate your perspective on WPIAL volleyball talent. Your post reminded me of Anastasia Russ from Hampton who Fisher recruited in 2019 out of Hampton. She was a much heralded recruit then and stayed at Pitt 3 years buried on the depth chart behind the likes of Starks, Gray, and Nwokolo. Having now transferred to the University of Maryland....in her 1st season there this year she played in every set, led the entire country in blocks with something like 182 I recall, and was top five in the country with blocks/set. She was named as second team All Big Ten recently. I am so pleased for her and the success she now has.....speaks volumes about the talent Fisher is recruiting and how competitive it's become to carve out playing time at Pitt.

Speaks to what we might have on the bench right now.

 

[HOF Coach]

Really appreciate your perspective on WPIAL volleyball talent. Your post reminded me of Anastasia Russ from Hampton who Fisher recruited in 2019 out of Hampton. She was a much heralded recruit then and stayed at Pitt 3 years buried on the depth chart behind the likes of Starks, Gray, and Nwokolo. Having now transferred to the University of Maryland....in her 1st season there this year she played in every set, led the entire country in blocks with something like 182 I recall, and was top five in the country with blocks/set. She was named as second team All Big Ten recently. I am so pleased for her and the success she now has.....speaks volumes about the talent Fisher is recruiting and how competitive it's become to carve out playing time at Pitt.

I watched Russ play several matches this past season. She played a significant role in Maryland's 16-16 overall record.

Maryland Terrapins
Volleyball 12/6/2022 11:39:00 AM

RUSS NAMED AVCA ALL-AMERICAN HONORABLE MENTION​

STORY LINKS​

COLLEGE PARK, MD - Redshirt junior Anastasia Russ has been named to the North Region AVCA All American team as an honorable mention honoree, the AVCA announced Tuesday morning.

Russ picks up another accolade after a stellar first season with the Terps. Russ became the second Terp in program history to lead the nation in an NCAA statistical category as she completed the 2022 campaign with 182 total blocks. The Pittsburgh, Pa.native also finished top-five in blocks per set with 1.54. Russ will go down in the record books for block assists in a season, totaling 160.

The redshirt junior also picked up a pair of Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors this season.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Maybe, but she was already committed as a HS Junior. Funny that they'd be filled up 2 years ahead of time??

I don't know how it works in volleyball, but in women's soccer most of the best players in the country make verbal commitments by the end of their sophomore year of high school.

 

[anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr]

I don't know how it works in volleyball, but in women's soccer most of the best players in the country make verbal commitments by the end of their sophomore year of high school.

Dates on recruiting have changed. It’s not as fast as it used to be. The allowable conversations were summer between sophomore and junior year. That’s when they can first have real communication.

 

[levance2]

Speaks to what we might have on the bench right now.

It is an interesting case study in what sort of prioritizations coaches need to make. Fisher basically picked a developed Gray over a raw Russ, and that resulted in back to back Final Fours. Sure, we have no MB with any experience for 2023, but clearly that trade was worth it.

Akeo is another example, where she had 1160 assists setting in a 5-1 in 2019 as a 17 year old freshman. In the three seasons since, she has totaled only 1436 more, including only 277 this season (while injured). I'm really hoping she can get healthy and have a strong 2023. I guess it is possible that if we don't land a stud RS transfer, Fish could name Akeo the starting setter and Fairbanks starting RS and she rotates back to setter in the 6-2. (I kind of hope that doesn't happen.)

 

[vantheman1976]

It is an interesting case study in what sort of prioritizations coaches need to make. Fisher basically picked a developed Gray over a raw Russ, and that resulted in back to back Final Fours. Sure, we have no MB with any experience for 2023, but clearly that trade was worth it.

Akeo is another example, where she had 1160 assists setting in a 5-1 in 2019 as a 17 year old freshman. In the three seasons since, she has totaled only 1436 more, including only 277 this season (while injured). I'm really hoping she can get healthy and have a strong 2023. I guess it is possible that if we don't land a stud RS transfer, Fish could name Akeo the starting setter and Fairbanks starting RS and she rotates back to setter in the 6-2. (I kind of hope that doesn't happen.)

Completely agree....no Serena Gray....more than likely no final fours the last 2 years. What is so nice about this is how cool it was to have worked out for both Russ and Gray....a win win for both athletes! Finally....imagine how valuable it was for Russ to hone her skills in practice and learn from Gray, Starks, and Nwokolo.

 

[pittdan77]

It’s often a race. I’m guessing PSU was on her early because she was local. But as we know with girls, they commit earlier and PSU likely had their class all lined up and no money left.

Could also be that it's a chance to start sooner. It's different now with the transfer portal.

 

[vantheman1976]

Right now coach Fisher and staff will be replacing 40% of the team as it currently stands with 4 freshman and presumably 2 transfers. I suppose we could predict that either Posada....a redshirt freshman or Flood.....a junior might consider transferring but no evidence of that so far.

Just by way of a quick update....the 2023 roster as it currently stands has just been posted on the Pitt volleyball website. Eliana Posada is no longer listed.....so she is apparently transferring. The roster shows 8 returning players and the 4 new freshman....for a total of 12 athletes. In the 10 years that Dan Fisher has been head coach I believe he has always had at least 15 athletes. Lots of activity now of players actually transferring to various programs.....but nothing yet from Pitt. I think we should expect the roster to increase back to 15 athletes.

 

[levance2]

Just by way of a quick update....the 2023 roster as it currently stands has just been posted on the Pitt volleyball website. Eliana Posada is no longer listed.....so she is apparently transferring. The roster shows 8 returning players and the 4 new freshman....for a total of 12 athletes. In the 10 years that Dan Fisher has been head coach I believe he has always had at least 15 athletes. Lots of activity now of players actually transferring to various programs.....but nothing yet from Pitt. I think we should expect the roster to increase back to 15 athletes.

One of the interesting things about volleyball is that they can compete in offseason spring matches against other schools, so I think who appears on the official roster is actually important. Good find.

 

[Chaos]

Just by way of a quick update....the 2023 roster as it currently stands has just been posted on the Pitt volleyball website. Eliana Posada is no longer listed.....so she is apparently transferring. The roster shows 8 returning players and the 4 new freshman....for a total of 12 athletes. In the 10 years that Dan Fisher has been head coach I believe he has always had at least 15 athletes. Lots of activity now of players actually transferring to various programs.....but nothing yet from Pitt. I think we should expect the roster to increase back to 15 athletes.

Wonder why she left. She seemed to be a pretty highly regarded recruit, and still had 2 or 3 years of eligibility. I see that she's from Houston, so maybe wants to go closer to home.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Just by way of a quick update....the 2023 roster as it currently stands has just been posted on the Pitt volleyball website. Eliana Posada is no longer listed.....so she is apparently transferring. The roster shows 8 returning players and the 4 new freshman....for a total of 12 athletes. In the 10 years that Dan Fisher has been head coach I believe he has always had at least 15 athletes. Lots of activity now of players actually transferring to various programs.....but nothing yet from Pitt. I think we should expect the roster to increase back to 15 athletes.

Thanks for this. My daughter was a portal entry and was a January enrollee last year at her current school. And yesterday her team had a meeting where their spring schedule was laid out for them and 2 transfers were introduced to the team. My guess is someone was added at Pitt, but we just haven’t heard yet?

 

[levance2]

I accidentally stumbled on a couple items related to the class of 2024.

I'm guessing we haven't circulated these here before since Pitt doesn't comment on verbals.

 

[levance2]

Thanks for this. My daughter was a portal entry and was a January enrollee last year at her current school. And yesterday her team had a meeting where their spring schedule was laid out for them and 2 transfers were introduced to the team. My guess is someone was added at Pitt, but we just haven’t heard yet?

I am guessing this would be the process for anyone transferring into Pitt for this semester. It is possible that students could complete their spring semester at their (former) institution, and potential grad students may be required to do so.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I'm guessing we haven't circulated these here before since Pitt doesn't comment on verbals.

Schools don't comment on verbals because that is an NCAA violation. You are not allowed to talk about potential recruits until after they have signed an LOI.

 

[levance2]

Schools don't comment on verbals because that is an NCAA violation. You are not allowed to talk about potential recruits until after they have signed an LOI.

Right. I am saying I am not sure how fans would know any of these posts exist since Pitt can't tell us. I stumbled upon them by viewing the list of accounts that Pitt and the staff follow.

 

[vantheman1976]

Wonder why she left. She seemed to be a pretty highly regarded recruit, and still had 2 or 3 years of eligibility. I see that she's from Houston, so maybe wants to go closer to home.

Hard to say what the actual reason was. I know Fisher commented when she came that her playing time would depend on how well she developed her out of system game skills. Clearly....her playing time was very limited this year and now with the incoming stellar freshman class maybe she decided to move on.

 

[vantheman1976]

Right. I am saying I am not sure how fans would know any of these posts exist since Pitt can't tell us. I stumbled upon them by viewing the list of accounts that Pitt and the staff follow.

Excellent information...thanks.

 

[mike412]

I spent some time going through the 37 pages of posts on the Volleytalk.proboards thread on the transfer portal hoping to find some info on players who Pitt might be looking at — and vice-versa.

First, the defensive player we got from VT has gotten zero posts. That is surprising because most times when a top teams lands a transfer portal there is some comment about it.

Second, the strong consensus is that Pitt really needs a MB and three really good ones are reported to have taken visits. Alas, none have chosen Pitt.

The first one was a MB from Baylor. She apparently narrowed her list of schools to Pitt and two others but chose one of the other two.

The second was from UC Irvine. This one was really interesting because she apparently made her decision pretty much on the academics side of things. She was down to Pitt and Oregon, both of which offer a two-year Master’s program in her chosen field. Because it is such a difficult curriculum, she wants to redshirt this coming season to focus in academics and then play the following year. That was okay with Oregon but not Pitt, where Fisher needs someone for 2023. So she committed to Oregon.

I don’t know where the third one is transferring from, but I do know that she narrowed her many offers down to Wisconsin and Pitt — and chose Wisconsin.

So, we were finalists for 3 MBs, all of whom are supposed to be excellent players, but got none of them.

The portal closed on January 11 and reopens on May 1. Right now, there don’t seem to be many if any uncommitted top players left. Fisher might have to go to Europe or rely on Jepsen and Babcock at that MB position.

 

[mike412]

A little in our two 2024 early verbals:

Mallorie Meyer is a defensive specialist/liberó from, of all places, Nebraska. I haven’t seen any national rankings of 2024 recruits yet, but she averages 3.1 digs per set.

The second recruit appears to be a MB from the DMV area. I say appears to be because the highlight clip she posted is nothing but a series of kills, but she made all of them from the central spot in the front row. Not sure how good the competition is.

You have to give a lot of credit — and frequent flyer miles — to Fisher. In the last 3 years he has gotten recruits ftom Utah, Los Angeles (2), Hawaii, Texas, Nebraska and the DMV.

 

[Chaos]

I spent some time going through the 37 pages of posts on the Volleytalk.proboards thread on the transfer portal hoping to find some info on players who Pitt might be looking at — and vice-versa.

First, the defensive player we got from VT has gotten zero posts. That is surprising because most times when a top teams lands a transfer portal there is some comment about it.

Second, the strong consensus is that Pitt really needs a MB and three really good ones are reported to have taken visits. Alas, none have chosen Pitt.

The first one was a MB from Baylor. She apparently narrowed her list of schools to Pitt and two others but chose one of the other two.

The second was from UC Irvine. This one was really interesting because she apparently made her decision pretty much on the academics side of things. She was down to Pitt and Oregon, both of which offer a two-year Master’s program in her chosen field. Because it is such a difficult curriculum, she wants to redshirt this coming season to focus in academics and then play the following year. That was okay with Oregon but not Pitt, where Fisher needs someone for 2023. So she committed to Oregon.

I don’t know where the third one is transferring from, but I do know that she narrowed her many offers down to Wisconsin and Pitt — and chose Wisconsin.

So, we were finalists for 3 MBs, all of whom are supposed to be excellent players, but got none of them.

The portal closed on January 11 and reopens on May 1. Right now, there don’t seem to be many if any uncommitted top players left. Fisher might have to go to Europe or rely on Jepsen and Babcock at that MB position.

Maybe after the spring semester/season more decent transfer possibilities will emerge. Who was the defensive transfer that we got? Thanks for your info.