Volleyball: Pitt falls early, Cards capture crown in conference tournament

The Pitt women’s volleyball team looked forward to hosting the Big East tournament at home…. The Pitt women’s volleyball team looked forward to hosting the Big East tournament at home. But sometimes, home-court advantage only goes so far.

Even at home the Panthers couldn’t push Pitt through to the second round of play as the No. 6 Panthers fell to No. 3 Marquette 3-0 in their first match of the tournament.

In what senior Pitt setter Alyssa King deemed a “crazy conference,” the Big East title seemed to be a possibility for each of the eight teams invited to the three-day tournament.

“I believe the championship can go to any of the teams this year,” King said, prior to the start of the tournament.

“We know our court well and we also know that we need to defend it,” senior middle hitter Imani Harper said. “It becomes a serious matter of pride.”

It was the second victory for Marquette this season against Pitt. The Panthers were shutout 3-0 on Oct. 31.

Despite the tournament loss, Pitt’s two All-Big East honorees Harper and senior outside hitter Amy Town recorded nine and five kills, respectively, whereas the Panthers as a team lost the kill battle to the Golden Eagles, 45-32.

A major key to Marquette’s success was keeping the ball away from Pitt’s middle offensive attack while also fighting a home crowd atmosphere.

Golden Eagles head coach Bond Shymansky indicated that his team’s victory was a result of “a brutal outside offensive attack.”

“We knew that Pitt has incredibly athletic and long middles,” Shymansky said. “We did not want to be up against that block all night, and our outside hitters performed well.”

Ciara Jones was a large part of that attack, as she earned a match-high 12 kills.

“We prepared for Pitt all week,” Jones said. “We knew it would be tough coming into their home court and that we would have to fight hard and I think we did that.”

Whereas the Golden Eagles went on to face Louisville in the semi-finals, the Panthers ended their season with the loss.

The loss to Marquette was also the last match for seven senior Pitt players, including setter Allison Hodnik and liberos Brittany Fallis, Melanie Feldman and Tara Rohall, in addition to King, Harper and Town.

After the early exit of the Panthers, play continued at the Fitzgerald Field House as the four remaining teams took part in semi-final matches.

No. 2 Louisville defeated No. 7  Seton Hall 3-1 to earn a spot in the second round against Marquette, whereas No. 1 Cincinnati and No. 5 Notre Dame recorded victories over No. 8 USF and No. 4 Villanova, respectively.

Quarterfinal matches were all played on Friday, and the semi-final rounds took place on Saturday.

In those rounds, the two top-seeded teams, Cincinnati and Louisville, prevailed over the competition to meet in the championship match on Sunday, where Louisville outplayed the Bearcats en route to a 3-0 victory and the Big East tournament title.

The Cardinals defeated the Bearcats with set scores of 25-20, 25-20 and 25-15. With the three set victories, Louisville extended its winning streak over Cincinnati to five straight sets, dating back to its Oct. 31 come-from-behind regular season win.

In the championship match, the Cardinals posted an overall hitting clip of .401 whereas the Bearcats managed only a .211 figure.

Louisville’s superiority was also evident at the net, where it recorded 11 blocks to Cincinnati’s three.

With the championship victory, the Cardinals have won four of the last five Big East tournaments, including last year’s title match against the Bearcats.

For Cardinal senior middle blocker Amanda Simmons, the victory was a culmination of Louisville’s season-long efforts.

“For our team, it is a game of heart,” Simmons said. “It is about how well-prepared we are and how confident we are and that shows in the win.”

In addition to the conference crown, Louisville also earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Championship tournament that will begin on Dec. 16 in Kansas City, Mo.