Preview: Pitt Volleyball Battles Louisville in Final Four

Pitt Panthers volleyball will battle rival Louisville in the Final Four.

Dominic Campbell | 5 Hours Ago

Pitt Volleyball Celebrates Point in Win vs. No. 3 Louisville / Courtesy of Pitt Athletic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Pitt Panthers volleyball will battle rival Louisville for the third time this season in the Final Four for their a spot in their first ever National Title match.

Pitt Volleyball vs. Louisville Rivalry History

The rivalry between the two schools is one of the best in volleyball, with some of the most important matches in the sport happening in recent history.

Pitt and Louisville have met twice in the regular season for six consecutive seasons and will meet for the ninth time in the past three seasons.

The rivalry is also bolstered by two of the best coaches in the country in the Panthers' Dan Fisher and the Cardinals' Dani Busboom Kelly, who have helped their respective program serve as one of the best in the country.

Pitt holds an 12-8 lead in the series since Louisville joined the ACC in 2014, but the series is 9-8 since Busboom Kelly took over in 2017.

The Panthers have six ACC titles, 2017-19 and 2022-24, and the Cardinals have four ACC titles, 2017 and 2020-22, during that time as well.

Both teams come out victorious at home more often than not in this matchup, with Pitt 13-7 and Louisville 9-5 in the rivalry.

Pitt faced off against Louisville at the Petersen Events Center last season on Nov. 18, 2023 and pulled off a dramatic reverse sweep in front of a then program record 8,865 fans.

The rivalry also extends further past the regular season into the NCAA Tournament, as Pitt and Louisville played each other the past two postseasons and will do so again in 2024.

They faced off in the 2022 Final Four in Omaha, Neb., with a back-and-forth match that went to five sets. Great serving from the Cardinals saw them dominate in that final set, 15-2, to make the Championship game.

Louisville looked like they would defeat Pitt again this past season in the Elite Eight, going up 2-0. Pitt would have the benefit of a great Fitzgerald Field House crowd and controlled the final three sets, reverse sweeping Louisville again, to make their third straight Final Four.

Pitt and Louisville battled back at the Petersen Events Center on Oct. 25, with the home team taking the five set victory in front of a crowd of 11,309 fans.

The Panthers then defeated the Cardinals again on Nov. 27 at the KFC Yum! Center in four sets, their first win in Louisville since 2019.

Pitt will have face Louisville again at the same arena, with Louisville hosting the Final Four, making this a de facto road match.

Pitt Volleyball 2024 Season

Pitt is 33-1 on the season, finishing 19-1 in conference play, earning their sixth ACC Title and third consecutive. They spent the final 13 weeks of the regular season ranked No. 1 in the AVCA Coaches Poll and had 11 ranked wins on the season.

This allowed the Panthers to earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, allowing them to host through to the Final Four.

Pitt would sweep both Morehead State and No. 8 Oklahoma in the first two rounds, but would have to go five sets with No. 4 Oregon, holding off on the upset attempt to make the Elite Eight. Pitt used a great comeback in the second set vs. No. 3 Kentucky, as they would sweep them to make another Final Four trip.

All seven starters for the Panthers earned All-ACC honors, with four of them earning AVCA All-American honors.

Sophomore right side Olivia Babcock earned First Team All-American honors for a second time, won ACC Player of the Year and is a finalist for AVCA National Player of the Year.

She finished the regular season ranked second in the country with .69 aces per set, fourth with 5.87 points per set and No. 16 with 4.54 kills per set, while leading the ACC in all three categories. She also ranked tied for ninth in the ACC with a .328 hitting percentage, No. 8 in the conference with 1.19 blocks per set and is averaging 1.76 digs per set.

Babcock has 71 service aces on the season, which easily broke the program record in a single season the 25-point scoring era (2008-Present) and also broke the program record in a single season all-time, of 67.

Fairbanks earned her third All-American honor and second First Team All-American honor, with First Team honors in 2023 and Third Team honors in 2022. She also earned First Team All-ACC honors this season too.

She is averaging a career-best 10.56 assists per set and helped Pitt to a team hitting percentage of .332, the best in the nation. She also has had a great season on the service line, with 0.39 aces per set and has done well in the back row, with 2.20 digs per set.

Sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford also joined Babcock and Fairbanks in earning First Team All-American honors, her second after earning Third Team All-American honors in 2023.

She is fifth in the ACC and leads all pin-hitters in the Power 4 with a .359 hitting percentage, and is top 50 in the nation overall. She ranks sixth in the ACC with 3.67 kills per set and seventh in the ACC with 4.22 points per set.

Pitt also has two excellent middle blockers, redshirt junior Bre Kelley and freshman Ryla Jones who have played a role in Pitt holding the lowest opponent hitting percentage at .127.

Kelley, who earned Second Team All-American honors, leads Pitt with a .514 hitting percentage and ranks fifth in the nation with 1.53 blocks per set. Jones has averaged 1.12 kills per set and 1.06 blocks per set, while also hitting .396.

Sixth year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez has served an important role in serve-receive, in attack and on the service line, ranking third on the team with 0.37 aces per set.

Joining her is senior libero/defensive specialist Emmy Klika, who leads Pitt with 2.81 digs per set. Both players earned Second Team All-ACC honors.

The Panthers have three serving specialists in graduate student outside hitter Cat Flood, junior libero/defensive specialist Dillyn Griffin and freshman libero/defensive specialist Mallorie Meyer, with the team No. 10 in the nation with 1.96 aces per set.

Louisville 2024 Season So Far/Players to Watch Out For

Louisville come into this matchup 29-5 and finished 17-3 in the ACC, also earning a top four seed in the NCAA Tournament, allowing them hosting cababilities through to the Final Four.

They swept Chicago State in the First Round, but had to comeback down from two sets to one and fight off match points vs. No. 8 UNI in the Second Round at home, winning in five sets.

Louisville then swept No. 4 Purdue in the Sweet 16 and after losing the first set to No. 2 Stanford in the Elite Eight, won the next three sets to make it back to the Final Four for the third time in the past four seasons.

They don't boast all the statistical feats that Pitt has this season, but Louisville leads the nation with their 3.10 blocks per set as a team, the best in the country.

Redshirt junior middle blocker Cara Cresse, All-ACC Second Team and AVCA All-American Honorable Mention, ranks eighth in the country with 1.48 blocks per set. Fellow middle blockers in graduate student Phekran Kong and sophomore Reese Robins both play important roles in their blocking as well.

The Cardinals also have one of, if not the best, liberos/defensive specialists in the nation in senior Elena Scott.

Scott, who earned AVCA First Team All-American honors and is a two-time reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year Award, leads the ACC with 4.37 digs per set. She is also incredibly impressive in reception, not just on swings, but in serve-receive too.

Their two most popular players are their outside hitters in graduate student Anna DeBeer and senior Charitie Luper.

DeBeer, All-ACC First Team and Second Team All-American honoree, leads the Cardinals with 3.37 kills per set and 3.90 points per set, while Luper is second with 3.01 kills per set and 3.44 points per set.

Both players possess great verticality and power behind their swings, giving the Panthers much to deal with defensively.

Louisville also added senior outside hitter Sofia Maldonado Diaz from Arizona and she is third on the team with both 2.12 kills per set and 2.58 points per set.

The Cardinals are also running a 6-2 rotation this season with two setters. Senior Elle Glock is still the starter and freshman Nayelis Cabello is the backup.

How to Watch: Pitt vs. Louisville (Final Four) (NCAA Tournament)

Pitt will face off against Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center on Dec. 19 with first serve at 6:30 p.m. ESPN will broadcast the match and ESPN+ will also stream it.

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Published 5 Hours Ago