No. 3 Louisville Falls to No. 1 Pitt

Wednesday, November 27

LOUISVILLE, KY

7:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

25-4,17-2ACC

Pittsburgh

28-1,18-1ACC

Pittsburgh

Louisville

November 27, 2024 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Erin Hughes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No.3-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team fell to No. 1 Pittsburgh in four sets Wednesday night in the KFC Yum! Center. Louisville lost 23-25, 25-18, 20-25, 16-25. The Cards now sit a 25-4 overall and 17-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

Outside hitter Anna DeBeer led the Cardinals offense with 14 kills, nine digs, three aces, and a solo block to hit .229 on the night. Middle blocker Reese Robins hit a .533 clip with 10 kills and two blocks. Middle blockers Cara Cresse and Phekran Kong each posted four blocks, with Cresse adding nine kills and Kong tallying seven. Libero Elena Scott served two aces and outside hitter Charitie Luper added one of her own.

Olivia Babcock led the charge for the Panthers with 23 kills, two aces, and five blocks. Torrey Stafford knocked down 17 kills of her own with 13 digs. Pitt recorded 58 kills and 10 total blocks to hit .310 on the night. With this win, Pitt earns at least a share of the ACC title.

Louisville heads to California next to face No. 6 Stanford in the last regular season match on Saturday, Nov. 30. First serve is set for 4 p.m. EST/1 p.m. PST.

Set 1: Pittsburgh 25, Louisville 23
Pitt started the scoring on a quick 3-0 run before Louisville's first point came on a Panther attack error. Cresse nabbed the first kill for the Cards to bring the score to 4-2. Points were traded as Luper, Kong, DeBeer, Sofia Maldonado Diaz, and Robins all added kills until Pitt pulled ahead 14-9 on an ace and kills. UofL added two more on a kill from Luper and another Panther attack error until a kill from Pitt forced the media timeout at 15-11. Out of the timeout, DeBeer recorded another kill, and Cresse added a solo block as the score got out to 18-14 in favor of the Panthers and Louisville took their first timeout. Maldonado Diaz tallied another kill before Pitt added a block to their score, making it 20-15 and forcing another Cards timeout. Following Louisville's second timeout of the set, Robins and Cresse connected for a big block to bring the Cards within three at 20-17. The teams went back and forth in points with Robins recording two more kills. The first set point came for Pitt after a Louisville attack error at 24-19. Maldonado Diaz added a kill and Luper served an ace to make the Panthers take their first timeout of the set. Out of the timeout and at Pitt's fourth and fifth set point, DeBeer and Maldonado Diaz knocked down more kills to bring UofL within one at 24-23 and force another Panther timeout. Pitt won the set 25-23 out of the timeout with a kill. Both teams hit under .300 and recorded an ace in the first set.

Set 2: Louisville 25, Pittsburgh 18
A kill from Cresse marked the first point of the second set for Louisville. Points bounced back and forth with both teams recording kills and errors. Kong's second kill of the match started a 5-0 run for the Cards, during which Cresse recorded another kill and solo block and Pitt added more errors to put UofL up 9-5. A service error from Louisville ended the run, but DeBeer immediately added another kill. The teams continued to trade points, but the Cards stayed in front. Robins, Luper, Kong, and Nayelis Cabello all recorded kills, with Elena Scott serving an ace, and Luper and Kong connecting for a block before the Panthers took a timeout down 20-16. Out of the timeout, Louisville continued on a 5-0 run off of a Pitt error and a solo block from DeBeer. An attack error ended the run, but the Panthers only tallied one more point in the set. Set point came for the Cards after a kill from Cresse put UofL up 24-18. Another block connection between Luper and Kong sealed the Louisville set win 25-18. Pitt was held to just a .171 hitting percentage in the set. The Panthers' 18 points are also the second lowest Pitt has scored in a 25-point set all season.

Set 3: Pittsburgh 25, Louisville 20
Pitt grabbed the first point of the set on a kill, but Robins answered with a kill of her own. Points bounced around until the Panthers went on a quick 3-0 run that was ended on a kill by Luper, putting Pitt up 5-3. The teams continued to trade points until Pitt went on a 5-0 run that put them up 14-6, giving the Panthers their biggest lead of the set. A kill from Robins ended the run, before Cresse added a kill and DeBeer served up an ace to put the score at 14-9 and force a Pitt timeout. Following the timeout, the Panthers added a point on a service error from the Cards before Robins knocked down her eighth kill of the match, bringing the score to 15-10. Louisville took a timeout at 17-11, after which Kong knocked down another kill and a solo block. Points went back and forth as Louisville started to slowly climb back. Kills from Cresse and DeBeer, along with a second solo block from Kong and a second ace from Scott brought Louisville within three at 21-18. The Cards continued to fight as Maldonado Diaz tallied another kill, but Pitt got to set point at 24-20 after a kill and secured the set win 25-20 on a block.

Set 4: Pittsburgh 25, Louisville 16
Cresse recorded the first point on a kill before DeBeer tacked on her second ace of the match to put Louisville up 2-0. The next 12 points saw six ties as Robins, Kong, and DeBeer all added more kills to even the score at seven-all. Pitt went on a 4-0 run to pull ahead 11-7, but the run was ended on a kill from DeBeer. The Panthers went on another 3-0 run that forced Louisville to burn its second timeout of the set at 14-8. Out of the timeout, Pitt continued their scoring, pulling ahead 17-8 and on a 6-0 run. Another kill from DeBeer ended the run, before she served her third ace. The Panthers kept adding to their total, eventually going up 20-14. Louisville attempted to battle back, but ultimately fell short. Match point came for Pitt after an attack error from the Cards, and the Panthers sealed the match 25-16 on a kill.