Louisville Volleyball Defeats Pitt in Final Four

The Cardinals avenge their two regular season losses to the Panthers to clinch a spot in the national championship.

Louisville's Reese Robins (25) spiked the ball for a kill as the No. 3 Louisville Cardinals women's volleyball team faced off against the No. 1 Pitt Panthers on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. / Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal & USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville volleyball program is heading back to the national championship.

Squaring off against conference rival Pitt in the national semifinal, the Cardinals were able to avenge their regular season losses to the Panthers, winning in four sets (21-25, 25-23, 29-27, 25-17) on Thursday at the KFC Yum! Center.

In the midst of their third trip to the Final Four in four years, the top-seeded Cardinals (30-5, 17-3 ACC) are making their second ever trip to the national title game, and first since 2022 when they were swept by Texas.

Louisville got sweet revenge against Pitt (33-2, 19-1 ACC), who were the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, en route to the championship game. The Panthers downed the Cardinals in five sets in the Steel City back on Oct. 25, then won 3-1 in the Derby City on Nov. 27.

The Cards will face the winner of Nebraska/Penn State in the national championship on Sunday, Dec. 22 at 3:00 p.m. EST. They'll be playing for not only their first national title, but the university's first NCAA team championship outside of men's basketball.

Louisville posted a .320 hitting percentage to Pitt's .316, blocked 12 hits, and committed five less errors (28-to-23).

Charite Luper and Anna DeBeer both finished with 14 kills and nine digs, with the latter having the exit the game early in the fourth set with a right leg injury. Sofi Maldonado Diaz also had 14 kills on a .355 hitting percentage, with Cara Cresse adding nine kills plus a game-high six blocks.

These efforts were enough to overcome a Herculean effort from Pitt's Olivia Babcock. An AVCA National Player of the Year finalist, Babcock tallied a whopping 33 kills. Torrey Stafford also has 18 kills and 15 digs for the Panthers.

Set one got off to an extremely competitive start, with neither team being able to gain much separation over the other in the first few minutes of the match. Following a 14-14 tie, Babcock and the Panthers took over in the middle section with a 9-2 run to put the Cardinals on the brink. While Louisville made a late run and scored five of the set's final seven points, Pitt staved off the push to win.

The second set didn't exactly start Louisville's way. They committed four errors in the first nine services, having to call a timeout after going down 7-2. However, the Cardinals fought back with authority, firing off an 11-4/5-0 run to take the lead and force Pitt to burn a timeout as well. The Panthers briefly jumped back in front at the tail end of the period, but Louisville ended the set on a 4-1 run to tie the game.

In the critical third set, Louisville got off to a similarly slow start, falling behind 5-1 in the opening minutes. The Cardinals were much quicker to respond this time around, putting together an 11-6 run to jump back in front, including a 5-0 stretch that forced Pitt to call a timeout. The Panthers themselves bounced back with a 13-6 run after the timeout, putting the Cardinals on the ropes.

However, Louisville would not be denied. Trailing 23-19, they strung together a 5-1 run to force the set to go long. Down 27-26, a kill by Charite Luper, an ace from Kamden Schrand and a block from Phekran Kong gave them a 3-0 run to clinch the set.

With a trip to the national title game one set away, Louisville went on the offensive out of the gates of the fourth set. They scored nine of the set's first 12 points, including a 6-1 run where Pitt called two separate timeouts and seemed to be getting rattled. The Panthers were able to get within three points and make it 10-7, but the Cardinals out-scored them 15-10 down the stretch, leading by as much as eight points, to put the game to bed.

(Photo of Reese Robins: Jeff Faughender - Courier Journal & USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

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