NCAA Women
August 21, 2024
Most coaches are loath to reflect on their accomplishments while still in the prime of their careers.
So when asked if this was what he envisioned for the program when he took over 12 years ago, Pitt’s Dan Fisher, normally thoughtful and erudite in his answers to the media, responded in simpler terms.
“It’s probably more than I envisioned,” he said. “I was just trying to make playoffs and not get fired.”
There’s little chance of that happening in the foreseeable future. Not for a coach who has taken his team to the last three NCAA national semifinals.
Since taking over in 2013, Fisher has built his own national power on top of so-called Cardiac Hill in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood.
And as Pitt embarks on the 2024 season, expectations are perhaps higher than they ever have been. While the final four teams of 2021 and 2022 featured a largely rotating cast of characters – particularly at the pins – this team will look a lot like the 2023 group that won 29 matches and a second straight ACC title (the Panthers’ fifth since 2017).
There’s sixth-year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez, the 6-foot-1 Puerto Rican…
