Pitt volleyball falls in Final Four for fourth straight season

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Pitt volleyball’s season comes to an end in the Final Four for a fourth straight season, as it fell to Louisville in four sets. 

The Panthers had an excellent start to the match as it won the first set 25-21. But the Panthers couldn’t close out the second and third set as it led 23-22 in the second set and 23-19 ln the third set. Louisville dominated the Panthers in the fourth set, losing 25-17.

Graduate student outside hitter Anna DeBeer overpowered the Panthers on Thursday night, tallying 14 kills for Louisville before leaving the game with an injury at the beginning of the fourth set. Senior outside hitter Charitie Luper tacked on 14 kills to her name and senior outside hitter Sofia Maldonado Diaz added 14 kills. 

Sophomore opposite hitter Olivia Babcock was the Panthers’ star on Thursday night, as she racked up a career-high 33 kills for the Panthers. Sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford also tallied 18 kills to her name in the match. 

First set: Pitt 25 Louisville 21

Pitt and Louisville exchanged blows back and forth to start the Final Four match off, with both teams hitting well into the .300s. Pitt was hitting .364 at the 15-14 set point, and Louisville was hitting .379. 

Stafford tabbed six early kills on her first 10 swings, and Babcock tacked on five kills in her first 13 swings. Louisville’s senior outside hitter Charitie Luper led the way for Louisville with four kills on her first 12 attacks.

Pitt went on a 4-2 run, forcing a timeout from Louisville, as Pitt took its largest lead of the game, four points. Redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley — not used to returning serves — switched the entire momentum of the set. Kelley had a diving save off an Anna DeBeer serve, taking an ace away from the Cardinals and helping the Panthers earn a kill. 

Louisville’s timeout only gave Pitt momentum, as it went on a 2-0 run, with pin hitters Valeria Vazquez Gomez and Babcock both tacking on a kill, forcing another timeout from the Cardinals.

Off the timeout, Pitt brought the set to set point, leading 24-20, but slowed down, allowing a 3-0 run from Louisville and making Pitt call its first timeout of the set. Pitt allowed an ace right after the timeout, scaring Pitt fans for a second, but the Panthers closed out the set with a kill from Babcock after she earned her ninth kill of the set.

Second set: Pitt 23 Louisville 25

Despite the late momentum from Louisville in the first set, Pitt started far stronger in the second set, taking a commanding 7-2 lead and forcing Louisville head coach Dani Busboom Kelly to take a timeout.

This timeout rejuvenated the Cardinals, as they went an 11-4 run and took a 13-11 lead over the Panthers. Fisher called his first timeout of the set. DeBeer led the way for Louisville by scoring four straight points for the Cardinals from the service line.

Pitt, like Louisville earlier in the set, responded after the timeout, taking a brief lead at 17-15, but then trailed 21-20 as Babcock and Stafford continued to tally kills for Pitt.

First-year serving specialist Mallorie Meyer led a 2-0 run for Pitt, as it took a late 22-21 lead in the set and forced Louisville to call its second timeout of the set. 

Luper came out of the timeout firing, earning three of the final four points for Louisville in the set, helping the Cardinals win the set 25-23. The UCLA transfer’s three kills brought her total kills in the match to eight.

Third set: Pitt 27 Louisville 29

Pitt took an early 10-7 lead in the third set, but like in the second set, Louisville started to catch up to the Panthers. The Cardinals went on a 5-0 run and forced Fisher to take an early timeout, as his team trailed 12-10.

Momentum switched after Fisher’s timeout, as Pitt went on a 10-5 run against the Cardinals. During the 10-5 run, Babcock tallied her 25th kill of the match, and Fairbanks got herself up to 36 assists in the match. 

Busboom Kelly called a timeout, as her team was down 20-17. But the Panthers kept dominating, taking a 23-19 lead as Babcock collected her 26th kill of the match and Busboom Kelly called her second timeout of the set. 

Louisville went on a 2-0 run after its second timeout of the set, forcing Fisher to call a timeout himself. Louisville used the home crowd to its advantage and went on another 2-0 run to tie the game at 23 apiece. 

Babcock struck first, giving Pitt a 24-23 lead, but DeBeer responded tallying her 12th kill of the match. Stafford gave Pitt another set point with a kill, but DeBeer responded again. Babcock then blocked DeBeer on the next point, giving Pitt another set point. DeBeer then tacked on her third kill in four attempts. 

Tied up at 26, Stafford tacked on a kill for the Panthers, but the other Louisville outside, Luper, tied it up at 27. Then an ace by Louisville sophomore serving specialist Kamden Schrand gave the Cardinals its first set point and they made due as Louisville blocked Vazquez Gomez to win the third set 29-27.

Fourth set: Pitt

Pitt took a 7-3 advantage early in the fourth set, forcing Fisher to call a timeout. The majority of the run came without Louisville’s star outside hitter DeBeer as she exited with an injury early into the set. 

Fisher’s timeout did nothing to stop Louisville’s momentum as first-year outside hitter Payton Petersen, who subbed into the game for DeBeer, tabbed back-to-back aces, and Fisher called his second and final timeout of the set. 

Pitt needed a historic comeback to win the fourth set as it was doubled up at 14-7, and the Panthers simply weren’t doing that on the road in the Final Four, even with DeBeer on the bench. Louisville, eventually closed out the fourth set, winning 25-17.

Four years, four straight losses in the Final Four for Pitt. It doesn’t get more frustrating than that for a program that is trying to get over the hump of the Final Four.