No. 7 Cardinals Fall at No. 5 Pitt

Wednesday, November 26

Pittsburgh, PA

7:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

24-5,16-3ACC

Pittsburgh

25-4,17-2ACC

Louisville

Pittsburgh

November 26, 2025 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Nancy Worley

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Cara Cresse had 10 kills, two aces and four blocks but it was not enough as the No. 7 University of Louisville fell 25-23, 25-22, 25-22 at No. 4 Pittsburgh in Atlantic Coast Conference volleyball action Wednesday evening in the Petersen Events Center.

Louisville (24-5, 16-3) hit .173 with four aces and six blocks. Payton Petersen added 13 kills and 12 digs. Chloe Chicoine had 12 kills and eight digs while Kamden Schrand had 15 digs.

Pittsburgh was led by Olivia Babcock's 22 kills, two aces and five blocks. Haiti TauTua'a had three aces and four digs. The Panthers move to 25-4, 17-2 and won at least a share of the ACC title.

In the first set, there were already nine ties and four lead changes by the first media timeout at 15-14 with Louisville holding the slimmest of margins as neither team could gain a foothold of more than a two point spread. The Cardinals finally gained a crack of light in the score as they ran off four straight, including a Cara Cresse ace, to take a 21-17 lead and force a Pitt timeout. The Panthers battled back to tie at 23 on two Louisville errors and Dan Meske called timeout. The break did little to break the Panther momentum as Pitt finished the set on a 6-0 run for the 25-23 win. UofL hit .118 with two aces and a pair of blocks. Pitt hit .114 with three aces and four blocks.

In the second set, Louisville took its first lead at 9-8 as part of a 4-0 run, ignited by a Hannah Kenny ace. Pitt came back and tied at 12 and then went on a 4-0 run to go up 16-12. Louisville scrambled back to pull within one at 17-16 on a Blackshear kill and tied at 18 on a UP service error. A pair of Cresse kills put the Cards up 20-18 before Pitt called timeout. Once again, the break worked for the Panthers as they stuffed the Cards and then a Babcock ace knotted the score at 22 as UofL then called timeout. Pitt ran off a five point run to finish out the set with the 25-22 win. Louisville hit .282 with an ace and a block but Pitt hit .308 with four aces and three blocks.

In the third set, UofL used a 6-1 run to take the lead at 9-8. Pitt tied at 11 and then two straight kills by Payton Petersen put UofL 13-11. The Cardinals kept the lead and led by one at media. UofL took a three point lead at 19-16 on a Payton Petersen kill but Pitt retook the lead at 20-19 on a kill by Blaire Bayless to force the Cardinal timeout. A Pitt service error evened the score at 20 and then a Cresse block enabled UofL to retake the lead at 21-20. After trading points, a kill by Babcock sparked a four-point lead to give the Panthers the 25-22 win and at least a share of the ACC Championship.

UofL is back in action for the season finale against No. 5 Stanford on Saturday at 7 p.m. at L&N Arena.