PITTSBURGH – No. 1 Pitt Panthers volleyball outlasted rival No. 4 Louisville in five sets in front of a raucous crowd at the Petersen Events Center.

The Panthers (18-1 overall, 8-1 ACC) beat the Cardinals (16-3 overall, 8-1 ACC) for the third straight time, beating them twice at home in 2023, in the regular season and in the Elite Eight. This is the first time they have won three games in a row against the Cardinals since they won four between October 2018 and October 2020.

This also gives the Panthers the tiebreaker at the top of the ACC, with both teams on the same record.

Pitt would take leads of 9-3 and 15-8 in the first set, forcing Louisville to take both timeouts. Louisville would try to come back, but Pitt would hold on and take the first set, 25-21.

Sophomore right side hitter Olivia Babcock led the Panthers with seven kills and a .455 hitting percentage, while fellow sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford led with eight digs.

Louisville took control of the second set early, leading 9-3 and 12-5, forcing Pitt head coach Dan Fisher to burn both of his timeouts. Graduate student outside hitter Anna DeBeer had four kills early to lead Louisville, while fellow outside hitter Charitie Luper went on a 5-0 service run.

Fisher opted to incorporate a 6-2 rotation, with senior Nisa Buzlutepe taking the place of senior Rachel Fairbanks as setter and sophomore outside hitter Blaire Bayless replacing Babcock.

The substitution gave the two starters a break and allowed Buzlutepe and Bayless to give the Panthers some momentum.

Pitt pulled ahead to just four points, but Louisville used back-to-back kills to take a 19-13 lead.

The Panthers would then go on an incredible 7-1 run to make it 20-20. Sixth-year outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez had two kills and a block on the run.

Louisville took a 23-21 lead, but Pitt redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley would make a kill and two Louisville attack errors gave them a set point at 24-23.

The Cardinals broke that set point and would have three set points before finally fending off Pitt for the 28-26 set win, tying the match at 1-1.

Pitt opened the third set with a 5-2 lead, but Louisville kept it close at 14-13. Pitt would use a 5-1 run to burn both of Louisville’s timeouts 19-14.

Fisher himself would call a timeout after the Cardinals had two kills to cut the lead to three, giving his Panthers a chance to win the set with a 6-1, 25-17 run.

DeBeer had two attack errors, then Kelley had a kill and a solo block and Vazquez Gomez added a kill and a service ace to clinch the set. Pitt defeated Louisville .433 to .182 in the third set.

Pitt led 8–6 early in the fourth set, but Louisville fought back to take a 13–11 lead, forcing a timeout.

The Cardinals extended their lead to 16-13, but the Panthers fought back to tie the score at 16, forcing a Cardinals timeout.

Louisville would quickly regain the lead, 19-16, and then extend it to 22-18, forcing Fisher to take Pitt’s final timeout. DeBeer made a kill and a solo block, while Luper added two kills.

The Panthers went on a 4-1 run to cut the lead to 23-22, with two kills each from Babcock and Stafford. The Cardinals would still win the fourth set, thanks to a kill from Luper and DeBeer.

Pitt emerged with a 5-2 lead in the fifth set as they took advantage of two attack errors and a service error by Louisville, with the road team taking a timeout.

The Cardinals played better after the timeout, with DeBeer making two kills, but the Panthers kept the lead at 8-6 and switched sides of the court.

Louisville redshirt junior middle blocker Cara Cresse made a kill, but Babcock responded with one of her own and an attack foul on Louisville led to another timeout, with Pitt leading 10-7.

Luper had a kill, but a service error by senior libero/defensive specialist Elena Scott kept Pitt at 11-8.

Babcock made a kill to increase the Panthers’ lead to 12-8, but graduate student middle blocker Phekran Kong made a kill of his own to cut the lead to 12-9.

Louisville committed another service error but would win a long rally and DeBeer made a kill and a block to make it 13-12.

Bayless made a kill and then a netball foul on the Cardinals’ end gave the Panthers the win.

Pitt will host Notre Dame on Oct. 27 with a 1 p.m. start at Fitzgerald Field House.

Be sure to bookmark it Inside the Panthers for breaking news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage and more!

Follow Inside the Panthers on Twitter: @InsidePitt