PITTSBURGH -- A former Pitt Panthers volleyball player entered the transfer portal and landed at a new school within the ACC.
Georgia Tech announced the signing of freshman middle blocker Bianca Garibaldi, who played her first season of college volleyball for Pitt.
Garibaldi hails from Villa Carlos Paz, Argentina, in the central part of the country, and went to Bernardo D’Elia. She played for River Plate Club, one of the biggest sports clubs in the country, in Buenos Aires, the capital city,
She has also starred for the Argentina at different youth levels, playing in the U19 South American Cup, U19 World Championships and U21 South American Cup.
Garibaldi led Argentina at the U19 World Championships in 2023 in Croatia-Hungary with 88 kills and 22 blocks, as they finished ninth out of 24 teams. She also earned Best Middle Blocker honors at the U19 South America Cup.
She enrolled midyear, along with fellow freshman middle blocker Ryla Jones. She participated in spring practices and competed in the spring games as well.
Pitt head coach Dan Fisher would chose to bring in a new freshman middle blocker in the summer, as Rachel Jepsen departed the team for an 18-month missionary tip with the Church of Latter-Day Saints in Paris starting in April 2024.
He brought in Dalia Vîrlan, who hails from Romania, and that would complete the middle blocker group of four, along with Bre Kelley.
Kelley started for the Panthers and Jones won the second starting spot at middle blocker. Vîrlan would come in next and that left Garibaldi as the fourth option at the position.
Garibaldi played in just six sets in six matches all season, with one ACC appearance in the sweep of Syracuse on Oct. 6 and making two kills against Morehead State in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
Pitt will bring back Kelley, who earned AVCA Second Team All-American honors, Jones, who earned ACC All-Freshman Team honors, and Vîrlan at middle blocker next season. They also add incoming freshman Abbey Emch, who played for Crestview High School in Columbiana, Ohio.
Garibaldi is one of two Panthers who left for the transfer portal this offseason, joining sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford, who went to Texas.
She is also one of seven players that departed the program following the end of the season, with outside hitters in sixth year Valeria Vazquez Gomez and graduate student Cat Flood, plus seniors in AVCA First Team All-American setter Rachel Fairbanks, All-ACC libero/defensive specialist Emmy Klika and setter Nisa Buzletepe, who all graduated.
Yellow Jackets head coach Michelle Collier hails from Brazil and normally has a roster with many players from South America. This included six players from the continent last season, with two from Argetnina, one from Colombia and three from Brazil.
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