No. 1 Pitt Volleyball Defeats Rival No. 3 Louisville

No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball defeated rival No. 3 Louisville.

Pitt Volleyball Celebrates Scoring Point in Win vs. Louisville / Courtesy of Pitt Athletic

PITTSBURGH -- No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball came into a hostile environment vs. rival No. 3 Louisville, but came out with the win in four sets on the road.

The Panthers (28-1 overall, 18-1 ACC) defeat the Cardinals (25-4 overall, 17-2 ACC) for the second time this season, as they won in five sets back on Oct. 25 at the Petersen Events Center. The victory also clinches a share of the ACC Title for the Panthers.

This win is also the 10th ranked win for Pitt this season, including their third top five victory. They also swept then ranked No. 3 Penn State at the Petersen Events Center on Sept. 18 in front of a program record crowd on Sept. 18 and swept No. 5 Stanford at Fitzgerald Field House on Oct. 20.

Pitt started out with a 4-1 run to open the first set, with sophomore right side hitter Olivia Babcock making two kills and a block.

Louisville would respond by cutting the lead to 9-8, with five different players getting a kill and redshirt junior middle blocker Cara Cresse had two herself.

The Panthers then used a 5-2 run to take a 14-9 lead, with redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley and Babcock combining for two kills each and graduate student outside hitter/serving specialist Cat Flood getting a service ace.

Louisville had a 5-2 run themselves to trim the deficit to 16-14, but Pitt went on a 4-1 run to burn both of Louisville's timeouts. Kelley made two more blocks on the run to lead Pitt.

The Panthers got up to a 24-19 lead, but the Cardinals would push it to 24-23, with senior outside hitter Sofia Maldonado Diaz making two kills.

Sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford came up big, with a shorter swing ending in a kill and a 25-23 set victory for Pitt.

Babcock led the Panthers with seven kills and hit .500, Kelley had five blocks and they had five blocks to the Cardinals' two.

Pitt had a 5-4 lead to start the second set, but Louisville would use a 5-0 run to burn a timeout from Pitt. Cresse led the home team with a kill and a solo blocks.

The Panthers would do their best to cut into the lead, getting it to 11-9, but then the Cardinals went on a 4-1 run, with sophomore middle blocker Reese Robins making a kill and a block.

Pitt then went on a 5-2 run to trim the deficit to 17-16, with Babcock making two kills and a service ace on the run.

Louisville would then go on an 8-2 run to win the second set, 25-18. Graduate student Anna DeBeer had a kill and a solo block on the run, with four different players making kills on the run. They also outhit Pitt, .481 to .171 had four blocks to Pitt's none in the period.

The Panthers built an early lead in the third set and used a 7-1 run to make it 14-6, forcing the Cardinals to take a timeout. Stafford had two kills on the run to get the Panthers going.

Louisville went on a 4-1 run, forcing a Pitt timeout, with Robins making two kills, but Pitt didn't back off, keeping their advantage at 21-15.

The Cardinals would go on a 5-2 run to cut it to 23-20, but Babcock made a kill and sophomore outside hitter Blaire Bayless came off the bench and made a solo block to win the third set for the Panthers, 25-20, and take a 2-1 set lead in the match.

Pitt hit .424 in the third set and got seven kills from Stafford and five kills from Babcock in the period.

The Panthers and Cardinals kept it close to start the fourth set, 7-7, but the Panthers would soon take over.

Pitt went on a 10-1 run to build a 17-8 lead, one that broke it open and gave the road team a big lead over their rival. Babcock had two kills and a solo block, while senior setter Rachel Fairbanks had two service aces on the run.

Louisville tried to cut into the lead, but Pitt would withstand their attempt, keeping a sizable lead, before winning the fourth set, 25-16.

Pitt will look to win the ACC outright, as they host No. 19 Georgia Tech on Nov. 30 at 1:00 p.m. in the regular season finale.

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