The No. 1-ranked Pitt women’s volleyball team faced a top-five opponent for the second consecutive match and had a nearly capacity home crowd on the edge of its seats when it was forced into a fifth set.

That’s become commonplace for the Panthers against No. 4 Louisville as their rivalry has expanded beyond the ACC and into the NCAA Final Four.

Pitt knew it would have to dig deep for a win, and Valeria Vazquez Gomez did just that in the final set to help the Panthers earn a riveting 3-2 win on Friday night before 11,309 at the Petersen Events Center.

Vazquez Gomez scored a kill for the decisive point on an assist from Nisa Buzlutepe to take the final set 15-12, despite a call that withstood a Louisville challenge before being decided in the Panthers’ favor. Pitt won the first (25-21) and third sets (25-17), while Louisville won the second (28-26) and fourth (25-22).

“Louisville always seems to push us to our limits, and tonight was no different. I think we got three five-setters in a row, which is pretty rare in volleyball,” Pitt coach Dan Fisher said. “This is the kind of game we needed. We haven’t had much trouble with these nail biters this season. We’ll make some adjustments and be better for it. I thought it was a great fight. We know they will be there for us at their homes.”

Pitt (18-1, 8-1 ACC) moved into a tie for first place with Louisville (16-3, 8-1) in the conference standings. They meet again on Nov. 27 in Louisville.

The Panthers were coming off a sweep of No. 5 Stanford on Sunday, their first win over the Cardinal and second victory over a top-five team this season (they defeated No. 3 Penn State on September 18). Pitt’s lone loss came at then-No. 15 SMU (3-2) on Oct. 12. Louisville lost to then No. 7 Penn State on September 3 and then No. 5 Nebraska on September 22.

Pitt and Louisville have built an intense rivalry, as one of the two has won at least a share of the ACC Championship each of the past seven seasons. They tied for the conference title in 2022 and Pitt won the ACC last season. Pitt twice rallied from a two-set deficit to beat Louisville last year, including in the NCAA quarterfinals, to earn a trip to the Final Four.

Louisville knocked Pitt out of the 2022 NCAA semifinals.

“We always talk about having an underdog mentality,” said Vazquez Gomez, who finished with 10 kills and 11 digs. “Being No. 1 doesn’t matter if we don’t win the national championship.”

This time the Panthers won the first set. After taking an early 5-1 lead, they maintained a cushion behind big kills by Ryla Jones, Bre Kelley and Olivia Babcock, who put the finishing touches on the set point.

However, Louisville gained momentum and took a 9-3 lead to start the second set before extending it to 13-5. Louisville had a 19-13 lead when Torrey Stafford came up with a big kill, then scored on a serve to cut the score to 19-15 and prompted Louisville to call a timeout.

Vazquez Gomez scored a kill and Louisville’s Anna DeBeer made an error that cut the score to 19-7, forcing the Cardinals to force another timeout. Pitt came through with big defensive plays, tying the score at 20-20 on a block from Kelley, who tied the score again with a kill to make it 21-21. The Panthers took their first lead of the set, 24-23, when a call was overturned. But Louisville scored the next two points to tie the game.

However, the Panthers regained control in the third set. A kill from Vazquez Gomez gave Pitt a 22-16 lead, Kelley followed a kill with a huge block and Vazquez Gomez scored a service ace to clinch the win.

Kelley, a junior middle blocker, set a career high in kills (12) and matched her career best in blocks (10).

“We were able to get Bre more involved and see what a dominant forward she is,” Fisher said. “I thought Bre had a great offensive night.”

The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair that was tied ten times. Louisville led 20-17 when Kelley’s goal was disallowed by the line judge. Fisher challenged the call and it was overturned, making it 20-18. Louisville scored the next two points on kills from Charitie Luper, but Babcock answered with a pair of his own to cut the score to 22-20. Stafford had back-to-back kills to cut the score to 23-22, but Louisville scored the next two points to force a fifth set.

“It wasn’t our best defensive performance. It’s one of the worst in the back row in many ways – for the first four sets – and then we found a way to pick up on our sloppiness,” Fisher said. “I thought Valeria’s defense in the fifth set was incredible. That was one of the big differences, that she kept the ball alive when it went past her block.”

Despite their relative youth compared to an experienced Louisville team, the Panthers pointed to their preparation and camaraderie as the differences in determining the outcome.

“We’re at a point where we really love each other and love playing for each other,” Kelley said. “I think that’s the most important thing when it comes to team sports, just playing for each other. If you love each other and we all have the same goal, you will gain a lot.”