Pitt
#3 Louisville
No. 1 Pitt Defeats No. 3 Louisville, Wins Sixth ACC Championship
11/27/2024 10:19:00 PM | Volleyball
LOUISVILLE – Behind 23 kills from sophomore right side Olivia Babcock, the top-ranked Pitt volleyball team defeated No. 3 Louisville, 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 25-20, 25-16), Wednesday evening at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
With the victory, the Panthers (28-1, 18-1) secured at least a share of the 2024 ACC Championship with an opportunity to win the league outright in the regular-season finale against Georgia Tech.
Wednesday's victory also marked Pitt's fourth-straight against the Cardinals (25-4, 17-2), dating back to last season.
Pitt jumped out to a 3-0 lead in set one behind two kills from Babcock. After back-and-forth action, the Panthers held a 7-4 advantage, but Louisville immediately responded with a 4-2 spurt to pull within one (9-8). The Panthers' block then came alive as they owned a 14-9 lead minutes later. Pitt took a 15-11 advantage into the media timeout as both sides were hitting .300 at the break. Louisville rallied to pull with two once again, but Kelley's fourth block of the set forced a Cardinal timeout at 18-14.
Despite a late 4-0 push from Louisville, a Stafford kill secured the opening set for Pitt, 25-23. Of note, Babcock recorded a game-high seven kills in the first frame.
After neither side could pull away to open the second set, Louisville went on a 4-0 spurt to take a 9-5 lead. Pitt climbed back into the contest, narrowing its deficit to one at 17-16. The Cardinals then reeled off five straight points, forcing the Panthers to talk things over. Sparked by its home crowd, Louisville's momentum was too much to handle as the Cardinals went on to win the second set, 25-18.
Pitt regrouped and got off to a blistering 11-6 lead to open set three behind three early kills from Babcock. After timeouts from both teams, Pitt maintained its five point advantage, leading 14-9. Stafford then took over as the Panthers refused to let the Cardinals close the deficit and went on to win the set, 25-20.
Individually, Stafford tallied a game-high seven kills in the third frame, hitting .538.
Set four started tightly-contested as the two sides were squared at seven early. After kills from Babcock and Kelley, along with a service error from Louisville, Pitt took a 10-7 lead, forcing a Louisville timeout. The Panthers then put together a 4-1 burst to force another Cardinal timeout at 14-8.
Pitt's balanced attack proved to be too much for Louisville down the stretch, as the Panthers took set four (25-16) and the match, 3-1.
Notes
- Pitt's 3-1 win snapped the streak of four-straight matches between the Panthers and Cardinals going to five sets.
- The Panthers were paced by Babcock – who tied her career-high with 23 kills, while hitting .311.
- Torrey Stafford also had a standout performance, logging 17 kills and hitting .405.
- Bre Kelley recorded a game-high seven blocks to go along with eight kills.\
- Rachel Fairbanks tied her season-high with 47 assists, setting the team to a .310 hitting percentage.
Up Next
The No. 1 Panthers host No. 19 Georgia Tech on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 1p.m. The match can be streamed via ACCNX.
