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44-508: Fitzgerald Field House is the competitive venue for the Pitt varsity sports of volleyball , gymnastics, and wrestling . With an indoor track, the Field House also serves as the primary indoor facility for the university's track and field team, as well as housing the wrestling training facility and the primary training and weight facilities for Pitt's Olympic sports. In addition, it contains

88-528: A comprehensive cardiovascular unit, including treadmills, stationary bikes and the Stairmaster Gauntlet. The renovations and addition of the weight room reduced the seating capacity from its prior 6,798 seats to a capacity of 4,122. Further renovations of the Field House in 2008 totaled $ 1.4 million ($ 2 million today) and included new volleyball courts and installation of seating and electronic equipment to meet NCAA requirements. In November, 2011,

132-847: A fifth-place finish in its first year in the ACC, exceeding pre-season expectations that had Pitt picked to finish 13th in the conference. Pitt improved to 25–6 in Fisher's second year at Pitt. He led the Panthers back to the NCAA tournament in 2016 and 2017, as well as to the program's first ACC conference championship in 2017, for which he received ACC and AVCA East Coast Region Coach of the Year honors. In 2018, he led Pitt to its first top five AVCA coaches poll ranking in program history and its second straight ACC Championship and earned his second straight ACC Coach of

176-566: A home court advantage that allowed the program to achieve a 414-175 (.703) record while utilizing the facility. It also served as the home basketball court of Pitt's intracity rival , the Duquesne University Dukes , from 1956-57 to 1963-64. From 1984 until 2002, the Pitt men's basketball team also played selected Big East Conference and non-conference games at the Civic Arena . Pitt's women's basketball team also used

220-634: A loss in the first round of the Big East Tournament. This was followed by an 18–15 record and a 17–14 record in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Following the 2012 season, Rens accepted the head coaching job at Chicago State University . Dan Fisher arrived as head coach the same year that Pitt entered the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013. Fisher, who led Concordia University-Irvine to the 2012 NAIA national championship with an overall two-year record of 72–2. led Pitt to

264-722: A native of Long Beach, California , and attended college at the University of California, Santa Barbara , where he also played on the indoor volleyball squad. In the mid 1970s, after being in the Peace Corps in Nigeria , he returned to the United States and received his PhD in Philosophy of Education at Indiana University Bloomington . In 1975 he received a call to be the head coach of Women's varsity volleyball at

308-761: A ninth-place finish in the final year of the AIAW national championships. In 1982, the women's volleyball program transitioned both into the NCAA, which took over the sponsorship of intercollegiate athletics from the AIWA, as well as into the Big East Conference . In addition, the program permanently moved their home games from their primary home in Trees Hall to the larger Fitzgerald Field House , which had previously hosted select volleyball tournaments and games. During Collier's tenure, Pitt established itself as

352-515: A result, the ACC scheduled was altered to eight fall matches and the remainder in the spring. After a 4–4 record in the fall schedule, the Panthers won twelve straight matches to finish the regular season 16–4. In the NCAA tournament, the Panthers would make program history by advancing past the second round for the first time after a sweep of #14 overall seed Utah. In the following round, Pitt upset #3 overall seed Minnesota in five sets to advance to its first Regional Final in school history. Pitt finished

396-536: A return trip to the AIWA national championships. During this span he also collected EAIAW Eastern Region Coach of the Year awards at Pitt in 1978 and 1979. Herbert, who also served as an assistant coach for Pitt's men's team for the last two years of his stay in Pittsburgh, then left, citing family reasons, to take the head coaching job at the New Mexico , eventually coaching at Illinois and Minnesota ; along

440-522: A series of assignments with the U.S. National Team. Hebert received his Bachelor's degree in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1966, and his Ph.D. in Philosophy of Education from the University of Indiana in 1974. He is the author of two books, including a 1993 co-written autobiography (with Dave Johnson) titled The Fire Still Burns. Hebert died on October 21, 2019, at

484-1357: The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2013 and won its first ACC championship in 2017 and a subsequent conference championships in 2018 and 2019. The ACC recognizes the regular season champion as the conference champion and has not held a conference championship tournament since Pitt joined the conference.        National champion          Postseason invitational champion          Conference regular season champion          Conference regular season and conference tournament champion        Division regular season champion        Division regular season and conference tournament champion        Conference tournament champion Mike Hebert 1987 1988 1992 2002 2003 2004 NCAA National Championship Big Ten Championship NCAA National Championship Big Ten Championship Big Ten Championship Big Ten Championship NCAA National Championship NCAA National Championship 3rd 1st 3rd 1st 1st 1st 3rd 2nd Michael Robert Hebert (January 7, 1944 – October 21, 2019)

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528-626: The NCAA taking on the administration of women's sports and championships in 1981, the AIWA and its regional affiliates conducted regional and national championships in volleyball. In 1981, schools could compete in either the AIWA and NCAA and both organizations held championships, but by 1982, only the NCAA remained. EAIWA Regional Championship appearances (8) AIWA national championship appearances (3) Pitt has participated in 19 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championships and has an overall record of 22–18 in

572-486: The NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship in 1982 , 1984 , 1986 , and 1987 . Sue Woodstra , a silver medalist for the U.S. National Volleyball Team at the 1984 Summer Olympics , took over the Pitt program in 1989. During her tenure, she led her teams to Big East Conference tournament championships in each season as well as three Big East regular season championships, winning the regular season each year from when

616-414: The University of Pittsburgh , but he declined because he felt his only knowledge of the sport of volleyball was limited to men's volleyball. The university called back a month later and asked him to reconsider, when he accepted the job offer for $ 1,500. The position led to a full-time faculty position as the team went on to win division titles upon Hebert's first season. Hebert began his coaching career at

660-579: The University of Pittsburgh , where he compiled a 128–53 mark with the women’s team and a 60–21 record as the men’s coach. He led the women's team to two EAIAW championships and two appearances in the AIAW National Championships. During his tenure, he won the EAIAW Eastern Region Coach of the Year award in 1978 and 1979. Hebert coached the women’s team at New Mexico , notching a 60–57 record and advancing to

704-530: The #3 seed in the NCAA tournament, their best in program history. In the second round of the tournament, the Panthers defeated rival Penn State for the first time in postseason history in a tight 3–1 win at the Petersen Events Center. Upon advancing, the Panthers earned the right to host their first Regional, and held their first ever tournament matches at Fitzgerald Field House. In the Round of 16,

748-512: The AVCA. At Minnesota, Hebert led the Gophers to one Big Ten title (2002), and three NCAA Final Four appearances in 2003, 2004 and 2009. He has coached two Big Ten Players of the Year, Nicole Branagh (2000) and Cassie Busse (2004). In 2004, Hebert led Minnesota to the program's first ever national championship match, finishing as national runners-up. Briefly in 2004, the Gophers were ranked #1 in

792-556: The Big East Tournament MVP award four straight years as well as a record three straight Big East Player of the Year awards, including in her senior year in 1993 under new head coach Cindy Alvear. In total, Woodstra compiled an overall record of 110–39 (.738) over four seasons as head coach. Cindy Alvear took over in 1993 leading Pitt to Big East regular season championships, Big East Tournament championships, and NCAA Tournament appearances in her first two seasons. This

836-597: The Big East instituted round-robin play in 1990. She also led the Panthers to four post-season appearances including one Women's Invitation Volleyball Championship appearance in 1989 in which Pitt finished third, and three NCAA volleyball tournaments, including in 1990 where Pitt reached the regional semifinal and finished ranked 18th in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches poll. Woodstra's teams NCAA tournament teams were led by standout second team All-American outside hitter Ann Marie Lucanie, who won

880-763: The Big East tournament runner-up five times. The Big East Conference began holding conference tournaments to crown a champion in 1982, but did not conduct round-robin play and crown a regular season champion until 1990. Prior to 1990, the Big East schools were organized into divisions and sometimes held regular-season divisional tournaments. Big East tournament champions (11) Big East Tournament Runner-up (5) The Big East did not begin sponsoring regular season conference play and regular season standings until 1990. Since that time, Pitt had won six regular season Big East Championships and finished second four times. Big East regular season champions (6) Big East Regular Season Runner-Up (4) In some years, prior to

924-546: The EAIAW Championship and advancing to the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Large College Volleyball Championships where they finished with a 2–3 record and a 13th place national finish en route to the program's first 40-win season. His part-time position turning full-time in his final season in 1979, which saw the Panthers successfully defend their EAIAW Championship and earn

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968-479: The Field House as their primary home court. Both the men's and women's Pitt basketball teams moved to the Petersen Events Center in 2002. In 1999, Fitzgerald Field House underwent $ 3.8 million ($ 7 million today) in renovations of existing facilities and a major addition to the west side of the building for locker rooms, team dressing rooms, and training and equipment rooms. In the summer of 2005,

1012-610: The NCAA regionals in 1981 with a 26–17 record. At University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign , Hebert led the Fighting Illini to two NCAA Final Four appearances (1987 & 1988) and four Big Ten titles. During the 1988 season, Illinois became the first volleyball team east of the Mississippi River to be rated No. 1 in the nation. Hebert coached Mary Eggers from 1985–1988, who was the Big Ten Player of

1056-767: The Nathan Hershey Athletic Training Facility was dedicated in the Field House. Pittsburgh Panthers volleyball Pittsburgh Panthers women's volleyball is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate volleyball program of the University of Pittsburgh , often referred to as " Pitt ", located in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . The Pitt volleyball team competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and plays their home games in Fitzgerald Field House . Since

1100-701: The Panthers easily swept Kansas before meeting #6 Purdue in the Regional Final. After Purdue won a lengthy second set, 30–28, the Panthers powered from there winning the next two sets on its home floor to earn its first National semifinal appearance in program history. Since the founding of its volleyball program in 1974, Pitt has participated in post-season volleyball tournaments in 26 different seasons. Post-season play include 17 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship tournament appearances, 3 AIAW National Championship appearances, 8 EAIAW Regional championship appearances, and two NIVC tournament appearances. Prior to

1144-559: The Year for three consecutive years, as well as Nancy Brookhart, who shared the honor with Eggers in 1987. It remains the only time that a co-Big Ten Player of the Year was shared with two players on the same team. In 1985, Hebert received the American Volleyball Coaches Association highest honor, as he was named the National Coach of the Year. From 1985 to 1988, Hebert was the president of

1188-476: The Year honors. In 2019, the program reached the highest national ranking ever achieved by an ACC team when it was voted #2 in the AVCA coaches poll, won its third straight ACC conference championship with an 18-0 conference record, and received a program best sixth seed in the NCAA tournament. In the 2020 season, the NCAA postponed the volleyball tournament to April due to the COVID-19 Pandemic . As

1232-512: The coaches poll, the first time in program history that Minnesota claimed the top spot. In Hebert’s 15 years at Minnesota, the Gophers are 381–137, 211–89 in the Big Ten and have participated in 11 NCAA Tournaments. Hebert has produced two Olympians , Lindsey Berg , who made Olympic appearances in 2004 and 2008 for the indoor team, and Nicole Branagh , who appeared in the 2008 Olympics with Elaine Youngs for beach volleyball. In 2006, Hebert

1276-468: The dominant volleyball team in the Big East from the start, winning the regular season Big East Southern Division tournament, without losing a game and losing only one set, in every year in which it competed: 1982, 1983, and 1984. Pitt also won the first ever Big East Tournament in 1982 without losing a game en route to the program's second 41-win season. Collier guided Pitt to capture additional Big East Tournament crowns in 1984, 1986, and 1988 and appeared in

1320-498: The establishment of round-robin conference play and standings in 1990, the Big East held regular season division tournaments. In the three years that Pitt participated in the Big East Southern Division Tournament, it did not lose a match and lost only one set to claim three Big East Southern Division Tournament titles. Big East Southern Division tournament champions (3) Pitt became a member of

1364-402: The founding of the volleyball program in 1974, the Panthers have had a winning season all but four years, have one of the nation's top all-time winning percentages, have appearances in 23 national championship tournaments, and have won conference championships in 17 different seasons including eleven as a member of the Big East Conference and six since joining the ACC. Pitt women's volleyball

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1408-418: The longest NCAA records for consecutive winning seasons. However, the Panthers rebounded in a big way in 2003 by winning the Big East regular season and tournament championship and advancing into the second round of the NCAA tournament . A second-place finish Big East finish and at-large bid to the NCAA tournament followed in 2004, before the program experienced only its third losing season in 2007. Toby Rens

1452-483: The offices and locker rooms for baseball , cross country, soccer, softball , swimming and diving, and tennis. The facility also has squash courts. The Field House is connected by a tunnel to Trees Pool and the Gymnastics Training Center, both located in Trees Hall . Built in 1951, Fitzgerald Field House was, for five decades, the home of Pitt's basketball program . The Field House provided

1496-469: The part-time job to coach the up-start program for $ 1,500. Without many collegiate women's team sports in existence in the mid-1970s, Hebert and his team were pioneers who "invented things as [they] went along". Despite this, Herbert guided the Panthers to a fourth-place finish in the EAIAW championships during his first two seasons. Under his guidance, Pitt broke through to national prominence in 1978 winning

1540-402: The season ranked #8 on the final AVCA Coaches’ Poll, their highest final ranking in program history. In the 2021 season, the Panthers came back from their tournament run by starting the season 15–0, and finishing 26–3. Their regular season included big wins over then No. 23 Rice, No. 18 Washington State, No.9 Baylor, No. 12 BYU, and No. 13 Georgia Tech. For their quality RPI, they Panthers earned

1584-497: The team advanced to the quarterfinals. Kromer continued as coach for the programs second season, in which the team posted an 18–2 record and again appeared in the EAIAW regional championships. Prior to the 1976 season, Mike Hebert , a former player at the UC-Santa Barbara who was teaching at Pitt, was asked by the university to coach the women's team although he'd never seen women play volleyball. He eventually accepted

1628-600: The tournament. The National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) was founded in 1989 as the Women's Invitational Volleyball Championship (WIVC). The post-season tournament existed for seven seasons from 1989 to 1995. Pitt participated in the post-season tournament in two seasons, finishing in third place in 1989. While a member of the Big East Conference between 1982 and 2012, Pitt won more Big East tournament championships (11) than any other school, winning seven straight from 1988 to 1994. Additionally, Pitt has been

1672-564: The way winning multiple national championships , the national coach of the year award, and earning induction into the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The program next turned to Ohio State assistant Shelton Collier, who in his initial season as head coach in 1980 guided the Panthers to a school record with 41 wins, and followed up in 1981 with a season that included a win at eighth-ranked Pepperdine , an EAIWA Championship, and

1716-537: The wrestling training facility built in 1951 was reconstructed to be twice the size of the previous training facility and also received new floor and wall mats, a new ventilation system, new lighting, a video and recruitment room, and a balcony suspended above the mats featuring cardio equipment. In addition, an Olympic sports weight room was added to serve as a primary training facility for over 300 Pitt student-athletes and includes Hammer Strength and Nautilus Next Generation machines, nearly 8,600 pounds of free weights, and

1760-401: Was an American volleyball coach. He is considered to be one of the "architects" of modern high-competitive professional volleyball. Hebert coached the Pittsburgh (1976–1979) men and women teams, New Mexico (1980–1982) women's team, Illinois (1983–1995) women's team, and Minnesota (1996–2010) women's team before announcing his retirement at the conclusion of the 2010 season. Hebert was

1804-439: Was followed by second-place finishes in both the Big East regular season and tournaments in 1995 and 1996 with a National Invitational Volleyball tournament appearance in 1995. Pitt program slipped in the late 1990s, experiencing its first losing Big East record in 1999. Chris Beerman took over the program in 2000 and helped lead the team back to a winning conference record. A losing record in 2001, Pitt's first ever, snapped one of

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1848-598: Was founded in 1974 and was led during its first season by coach Mary Kromer who guided the team, originally nicknamed the Pantherettes, to a 14–3 record in their first year of existence. Perhaps more impressively, in the first year of the program, and despite the fact that two of the starters never played volleyball before, the team was invited to participate in the Eastern Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (EAIAW) regional championship, where

1892-489: Was hired to take over the program in 2008, immediately restoring the program to a winning season and his first year. In 2009, despite being picked to finish eighth in the Big East, Rens guided the Panthers to a school record twelve Big East wins and a second-place finish behind Big East Player of the Year and third team All-American middle hitter Meagan Dooley. Heading into the 2010 season, the Panthers faced ten 2009 NCAA Tournament participants, but faltered to 13–18 record and

1936-663: Was inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame. In the summer of 2003, Hebert coached the U.S. National Team to a bronze medal at the Pan American Games. Hebert served as head coach of the U.S. women’s team competing at the 1991 World University Games in Sheffield, England . The USA women’s team also competed in the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba . Hebert traveled to the 1989 Canada Cup and 1990 Cuba Cup as part of

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