Olivia Babcock Powers No. 6 Pitt Volleyball Over No. 4 Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — No. 6 Pitt Panthers defeated No. 4 Louisville Cardinals in five sets the L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.

Both teams came into this match having played a five-set match in the previous game. Pitt (15-3, 7-1 ACC) pulled off a reverse sweep to defeat Notre Dame 3-2, and Louisville (14-4, 6-2 ACC) fell 3-2 to SMU.

This was the first of two meetings between the ACC rivals. The Cardinals ended Pitt's season in the Final Four last December and advanced to the national championship. But Pitt got some revenge in this one as Olivia Babcock set a program record of 41 kills in the 3-2 win.

The Panthers began hot, scoring the first three points of the match with kills from Babcock and Ryla Jones. Louisville called an early timeout shortly after two more Babcock kills at 6-1.

The Cardinals stormed back on a 5-1 run to make it a 10-9 Pitt lead. But the Panthers pulled away with a 3-0 run from Babcock. The star right side hitter scored on consecutive kills, and her ace forced Louisville to use its final timeout of the first set.

But Louisville didn't roll over. The Cardinals answered with consecutive scores to force Pitt to use a timeout at 17-14. Louisville captured the lead for the first time this match when it went on a 4-0 run after the timeout.

Neither side was able to hold a lead until the Panthers dug in and rallied in the clutch. Pitt were the first set victors at 25-20 after a 6-0 run that consisted of three kills from Babcock and Blaire Bayless.

Louisville started the second half with a vengeance as it grabbed a 3-0 advantage. Jones and Babcock were the first to get Pitt on the board, but the Cardinals wouldn't relinquish the lead. A 3-0 run extended the home team's advantage to 9-4, and the Panthers burned a timeout.

The Panthers then spent their final timeout of the second set after two more Louisville scores. Babcock scored on four-straight kills after the break as she remained the only form of offense for Pitt. The last kill gave Babcock 11 more kills than the next closest Panther.

Jones and Bayless earned kills to cut the lead to 14-10. The Cardinals' offense kicked up a gear with a 3-0 run that made the set 20-13. Pitt attempted a comeback with a 3-0 run, but Louisville answered with a 4-0 run and evened the match with a 25-19 second set win.

Unlike the first two sets, the third started even at 3-3. Louisville started to pull away early with a 5-1 run, and Pitt had to use a timeout. The Panthers got a kill from Brooke Mosher and a service ace from Haiti Tautua'a to make it an 8-7 deficit.

The Cardinals slowly started to pull away without any big runs, until they eventually climbed to an 18-12 lead off a 4-1 run. Babcock recorded her 21st kill, then an error and a Jones and Bayless block forced Louisville to call a timeout, up by three.

Pitt made it a 19-17 game with another Jones and Bayless block, but the Cardinals responded with a 3-0 run to make it a 22-17 advantage. Marina Pezelj and Babcock kept the set alive with kills, but the Cardinals won the third set 25-20.

The Panthers faced a must-win situation, and they rose to the occasion with a 5-1 run in the fourth set to make it a 9-5 lead. Pitt's next run made it a 15-9 game, and Babcock, Pezelj and an error created another run at 18-11.

Pitt used a timeout after consecutive Cardinals scores. Babcock recorded her 32nd and 33rd kills of the match to lead 21-16 and tie her career high in kills. Babcock then broke her career-high with a 34th kill of the match.

A 4-0 run that included Babcock's milestone kill, a Mosher ace, a Bayless kill and yet another Babcock kill gave Pitt a 25-17 win in the fourth set.

Louisville got an ace and a block to start the final set with a 2-0 lead. Babcock scored three more kills to tie the set at 3-3. Two of Babcock's kills spurred a 4-0 run, with two Louisville errors.

The Cardinals used a timeout, but Pitt scored two more times with a kill from Pezelj and a solo block by Babcock. Louisville finally ended the run with a kill, but Bre Kelley answered with a kill.

Louisville came back with a kill and an ace to cut Pitt's lead to 10-8. The Panthers called a timeout, and Louisville scored again, but Babcock recorded her 39th kill to keep it a two-score game. The Cardinals cut the lead to one until Babcock's 40th kill and a Babcock and Kelley block made it 13-10.

Babcock's historic effort was worth it. Her 41st kill made it set point for Pitt at 14-11, and Kelley ended the fifth game with a kill as the Panthers got their long-awaited revenge over Louisville.

Not only did Babcock set a program and personal record of 41 kills, but she scored them at an insane rate. Bacock finished with a team-high .423 hitting percentage and a kill percentage of .526. She also had two service aces, eight digs and accounted for 46 of Pitt's 104 points.

Babcock wasn't the only Panther to set a career-high, though. Mosher recorded a career-high 60 assists and added 13 digs and three kills to her line.

Pitt and Louisville will face off one more time this season on Nov. 26 at the Peterson Events Center.

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