How Pitt Volleyball Defeats Louisville in Final Four

The Pitt Panthers face off against the Louisville Cardinals in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament for a spot in the finals.

Dominic Campbell | Dec 19, 2024

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

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Pitt Panthers will play their most important volleyball match of the season, as they take on Louisville in the Final Four at the KFC Yum! Center, and will need their best performances to take down their biggest rival.

Handle The Home Crowd

Pitt will face Louisville in Louisville, in front of a sold out crowd of more than 20,000 fans cheering for the home team.

This isn't technically a "home" match for Louisville, but they will host the matchup at their biggest arena, as the NCAA chose them as the host city for the Final Four this year.

Thankfully for Pitt, they have the experience of playing at the KFC Yum! Center prior, and not only that, they have won there too.

The No. 1 Panthers took on the No. 3 Cardinals on Nov. 27 in front of a crowd of over 12,000 fans at the venue and needed a win in order to win the ACC Title and have a chance at earning the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

They would split the first two sets, but would get two great service runs from sixth year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez in the third set and senior setter Rachel Fairbanks in the fourth set, led to a 3-1 victory.

Pitt has historically struggled in Louisville, with just five wins in 14 matches there, but that win, which occurred just three weeks ago at the venue of the Final Four, gives the team great confidence they can do it again, especially for sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford.

"I would also say it's nice that we're here and we played against them three weeks ago in this arena and we have the opportunity to play them again on this big stage," Stafford said. "But we've been here before. It's our second home."

Feed Bre Kelley

Redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley came back in 2024 after a devastating, season-ending injury four games into 2023.

She has had a stellar season, hitting .506 and making 1.53 blocks per set, ranking fifth in the nation. She also makes 1.88 kills per set, and is third on the team with 2.71 points per set.

Kelley has excelled against Louisville, playing an important role in both victories. She made 12 kills, hit .500 and tied a career-high with 10 blocks in the five set win back on Oct. 25 at the Petersen Events Center. She then made eight kills, seven blocks and hit .467 in their most recent battle on the road.

Fairbanks mostly sets both Olivia Babcock, ACC Player of the Year and AVCA National Player of the Year Finalist, and Stafford, also an AVCA First Team All-American, but she knows when to find Kelley for opportune moment for a quick kill.

Kelley, who earned First Team All-ACC and AVCA Second Team All-American honors, is ready for her first Final Four after sitting last year and a big performance from her will give Pitt a great chance to win this match.

Dominate at the Net

Pitt is one of the best blocking teams in the nation, tied for No. 6 with 2.87 blocks per set, but they'll face the best blocking team in Louisville, who averages 3.10 blocks per set.

The Cardinals have redshirt junior middle blocker Cara Cresse, who earned All-ACC Second Team honors and an AVCA All-American Honorable Mention. She ranks eighth in the nation with 1.48 blocks per set.

Graduate student middle blocker Phekran Kong, averaging 1.12 blocks per set, and sophomore right side Reese Robins, averaging 0.81 blocks per set, who both play important roles at the net too for the Cardinals.

Pitt has outblocked Louisville in both contests, 16-13 in the first match and 10-9 in the second.

Kelley is the one leading the way, but Stafford and Babcock also serve as great blocking partnerships for her too. Babcock is second on the team with 1.14 blocks per set and has nine blocks in both matches.

Freshman middle blocker Ryla Jones, who also starts, will need to put in a big performance at the net as well, with five blocks in the first match and averaging 1.06 blocks per set.

A strong performance at the net with both kills and blocks puts Pitt in a great position to move on to the National Championship match.

Win the Battle of the Pin-Hitters

Babcock and Stafford are two of the best pin-hitters in the nation and are the main focal point for Pitt on the attack. Along with Vazquez Gomez, the three will take on the majority of the attacks, creating the points for the Panthers to win matches.

Louisville also has two great pin-hitters in the outside hitter duo of graduate student Anna DeBeer and senior Charitie Luper. Both have great verticals and ferocious swings and make the Cardinals one of the best teams in the nation.

DeBeer has had excellent performances against Pitt, normally making over 20 kills in a match, and Luper, who transferred in from UCLA in 2023, has done well herself, with 19 kills in the first match this season.

The Panthers held both players to poor performances just three weeks ago, as Debeer had 13 kills, but hit .135 and Luper made just six kills and hit .091.

Babcock had 22 kills in the first match and hit .326 and then 23 kills and hit .311 in the second match. Stafford made 15 kills in the first match and then added 17 kills and hit. 407 in the second match. Vazquez Gomez also had a good performance in the first match with 10 kills herself,

Pitt has great respect for DeBeer and Luper and will have to defend against two of the better pin-hitters in the nation. Babcock herself said that each matchup between them makes each team much better.

"I mean, they're just great players at a great program," Babcock said. "It's very clear that they're people that their team relies on, and naturally they're practicing every single day, they're getting better every single day.

"It's just very clear that especially playing us just brings out the best in them. They're definitely tough to defend and definitely a focus of ours, but I also feel like playing them brings out the best in us. We know whatever they're coming at us with, we're coming right back at them."

Control Serve-Receive

Pitt struggled in serve-receive in their five-set win vs. No. 4 Oregon in the Sweet 16, but they also did so in the first match vs. Louisville

The Cardinals used a strategy of short-serving the Panthers, which is a slower, floated serve that is closer to the net instead of towards the back end with power. It worked early on and helped Louisville, especially in the second set, as Pitt struggled in reception and allowed Luper to go on a longer service run.

Pitt also struggled against Oregon, who took a more direct approach that head coach Dan Fisher described as "BB Balls," as they earned 11 service aces, the most Pitt has allowed this season.

They would correct mistakes in serve-receive in the Elite Eight win vs. No. 3 Kentucky, but they'll need the same performance against Louisville in the Final Four.

Pitt has gotten great performances on the service line in recent matchups vs. Louisville. Babcock and serving specialist Cat Flood did so in the fourth set and the fifth set, respectively, in the reverse sweep in the Elite Eight in 2023, and both Vazquez Gomez and Fairbanks also performed well in the most recent win

Freshman libero/defensive specialist Mallorie Meyer had a career-high three service aces for the Panthers vs. the Ducks and then a long service run in the second set comeback vs. the Wildcats.

Junior libero/defensive specialist Dillyn Griffin is also a threat for Pitt, with her left-handed serve one that defenses struggle to handle and pass well.

Pitt winning serve-receive is crucial for almost every match, but even more so against your rival, who is an incredibly aggressive serving team and will take chances that require the back row to play their best.

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Published Dec 19, 2024