Where They Come From – Pitt and Louisville (FREE)

The volleyball world will have all eyes on Louisville this upcoming weekend with the Final Four and AVCA Convention set to kickoff. For the volleynerds, we've been following these teams all year long and for some since these athletes were in their club days. There is no better time to introduce a friend who is new to volleyball than final four weekend.

I took a deep dive on the rosters and took a look at their home state and where these athletes played their club volleyball. Some schools do not list the club these athletes played for and sometimes the club volleyball scene can be territorial as to who they claim as their own. If an athlete plays their whole career at one club and then plays 18s for another? I did the best I could with the club team with the athlete.

Pittsburgh

Five years ago Pitt wasn't on the national radar like they are now. They are in their fourth straight final four and are pulling in some of the top recruits in the country and have had an international flare as well.

Olivia Babcock and Torrey Stafford have been two huge names Pitt has brought in from Southern California. This has been the perfect storm where these two committed right as Pitt was rising. Watching them play for Sunshine in their club days was pretty special. Their athleticism and energy they brought to the court was just different. The success of these two have opened the floodgates for other athletes from the West. In the Class of 2026, they will be bringing one of the top outsides in the country in Ayanna Watson. She will come to campus when Babcock and Stafford are seniors.

Louisville

This Louisville roster is one I am very familiar with after seeing many of these athletes during their club volleyball days. Louisville has found their niche of recruiting local, picking up just the right fit out of the transfer portal, and developing athletes into elite volleyball players. Dani Busboom-Kelly has also leveraged her Nebraska roots bringing in Elle Glock and Alanna Bankston.

Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio have been really good to the Cards where they have Circle City athletes in Ava Utterback and Molly Urban as well as middle blocker Cara Creese out of the Fort Wayne area. Anna DeBeer is the unofficial mayor of Louisville having attended Assumption High School and playing for KiVA in town. Elena Scott the setter turned libero is right there with DeBeer as the Louisville native who attended Mercy Academy.

I have covered Payton Petersen since her 15s year where she won three state titles in volleyball and four state titles in basketball prepping at Dike-New Hartford High School near the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area. The Northern Iowa match was quite the collision for the Petersen family with Payton playing for Louisville, twin sister Jadyn Petersen playing for UNI, and mom Bobbi Petersen playing for UNI. Next year, the top player in Iowa, Chloe Meester will be joining Petersen on the Cardinal roster from the Class of 2025.