The ACC is arguably one of the toughest conferences for collegiate women’s volleyball, and with the recent realignment, success seems increasingly more difficult to achieve.
In the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Championships, the ACC tied the SEC and the Big 10 for the most number of teams in the tournament. Nine teams in the ACC qualified for the tournament, with Pittsburgh in the final four and Louisville falling short in the national championship game. While Louisville had a dominant program for a few years, a few teams in the ACC recently joined the spotlight.
The Pittsburgh Panthers put redshirt sophomore right side Olivia Babcock to work last year. They showed a lot of success for a program that was rarely in the conversation as a national championship contender. At the end of the 2024 season, Babcock was named AVCA Player of the Year, the most prestigious award a collegiate volleyball player can receive.
Babcock is expected to return better than ever as she enters her junior year with the Panthers, who are looking to make a run at the championship again.
As for this year, four ACC teams are currently ranked in the top 25. Two of those teams come from the conference realignment that went into effect last year, ranking Stanford and SMU at five and 10, respectively, as the season kicks off.
Stanford’s volleyball team is among the school’s most consistent programs, leading the entire NCAA with nine championships. In the offseason, Stanford welcomed six new freshmen ranked in the top five of their respective positions. The Cardinal are currently 3-1 on the season, with their only loss to No. 1 Nebraska.
SMU had a big off-season, where they secured setter Averi Carlson, who previously played at Baylor and Texas. The Mustangs are currently 2-0, having already beaten a ranked Baylor team.
The other two currently ranked teams from the ACC include Pittsburgh at No. 3 and Louisville at No. 4.
Despite losing Elena Scott, the 2024 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and an AVCA All-American Libero, the Louisville Cardinals are still in good shape with setter Nayelis Cabello returning for her sophomore season. Cabello was named ACC Freshman of the Year and is a dual threat in both offense and defense.
Georgia Tech entered as one of the top teams in the ACC after much success with the transfer portal. In 2023, the Yellow Jackets landed DeAndra Pierce, a middle blocker from Texas, and added Bianca Garibaldi, another top middle blocker from Pittsburgh, for the upcoming season.
With such strong performances coming out of the ACC, the question begs: where does that leave Clemson?
Clemson suffered when it was time for conference play last season, resulting in the Tigers missing the NCAA tournament entirely. In fact, the team went 0-14 in ACC play before defeating Syracuse in mid-November. What separates Clemson and its top opponents is recruiting these top players and using the transfer portal to its full potential.
However, with only one true freshman, Clemson will compete with a veteran team in the hopes of finding more success than last year. The Tigers will have to face Pittsburgh and SMU at their home courts, but they will host Louisville and Stanford during ACC play. The team will also face Georgia Tech both home and away this season.
Clemson began their season 3-0, most recently defeating rival South Carolina 3-2 in Columbia, South Carolina, on Sunday. The Gamecocks received an at-large bid last year and were among the nine teams representing the SEC in the tournament.
If Clemson can manage to secure a few more wins this season against their ACC opponents, there’s a chance for the team to make the 64-team tournament, which would be its first appearance since 2021.
