Going into its match against ACC nemesis Louisville, Pitt volleyball had a five-match winning streak, a No. 3 national ranking, and a sold-out crowd in support. But the Panthers didn’t have something: Two-time ACC Player of the Year Kayla Lund.
The shorthanded Panthers proved outmatched by a stacked Louisville roster on Wednesday, losing 3-1 to the nation’s top-ranked team in Pitt’s season finale.
Pitt head coach Dan Fisher wouldn’t comment on the status of Lund’s injury. The fifth-year senior played sparingly in Pitt’s match last week Georgia Tech, and didn’t see the court against Clemson or Louisville afterwards.
“We have a few girls on our team that were managing some load,” he said. “We want to be as fresh as we can going into the tournament.”
Valeria Vazquez Gomez received the start in Lund’s absence, who stood on the sidelines cheering on her teammates. The 6-foot-1 outside hitter struggled in the first set, posting a .111 hitting percentage on nine attempts.
Lund’s co-captain Chinaza Ndee stepped up instead, racking up five kills on her first eight swings. Two consecutive kills from the Houston native, followed by a block assist, gave the Panthers an early 12-10 lead.
The Cardinals leaned on Anna DeBeer, 2020’s ACC Freshman of the Year, to navigate them out of the troubled waters. Louisville went on a 5-0 run on DeBeer’s serve, including two consecutive aces, that gave them her team the cushion it needed to win the opening set 25-19.
“Our serve-receive wasn’t as good as it normally is,” Fisher said. “But I thought we did a lot well. There’s a reason they are the number one team.”
A similar script followed in the second game: The two teams traded blows early, before the Cardinals went on a late run to pull away 25-19. The Panthers couldn’t stifle the potent Louisville offense, who posted a .406 hitting clip in the first two sets.
For the first time this season, Pitt faced a 2-0 match deficit. Desperately needing some energy from his squad, Fisher gave two first-years significant play in the third set —and it worked. Rachel Fairbanks and Emmy Klika helped light a spark that gave Pitt a 25-17 win, and for the first time of the match, some serious momentum.
Fairbanks finished the night with career-best eight kills on just 11 attempts, adding 12 assists to her team that Fisher said struggled with passing all night. Klika made seven digs, including multiple stretched-out saves on Louisville All-American Anna Stevenson’s blistering attack attempts.
“Rachel Fairbanks hit almost .800, she’s been coming on really strong recently,” Fisher said. “We also put in another freshman, Emmy [Klika] who’s been coming on strong in the back row as well. I think we’ve got some girls like them who are playing their best volleyball ever.”
As the Panthers began to mount a comeback, the 3,052 fans in attendance became louder and louder. Ndee, who moved up to No. 8 on Pitt’s all-time kill list on Wednesday, said her younger self never could have picture an audience of that caliber for her final match at the Fitzgerald Field House.
“It was awesome,” she said. “It’s just so cool that so many people are supporting us and the city of Pittsburgh is buying in. I think that’s really cool. It feels like the city has our back.”
The Panthers fed off of the crowd in the fourth set, gaining an early edge on a 9-0 run through Lexis Akeo’s serving prowess. But the Cardinals responded with vengeance, quickly getting back to even at 14, aided by multiple Pitt “shanks” as Fisher pointed out.
With the Panthers trailing 20-18 in the final game, Louiville’s Aiko Jones sent a rapid spike toward the back end-line for a crucial kill. Fisher’s ensuing challenge of the ball’s landing spot was unsuccessful, but the head coach insisted after the match it was out.
“Unfortunately, the line judge was in front of the camera,” he said. “We have a different camera angle than the feed that people see on TV, so the only way we’re going to get is if the ref overrules it if they don’t have clear video evidence. It was a bad break.”
Ndee added a couple of kills in a late comeback attempt, but Stevenson blocked Gray on match point for her seventh rejection of the night. The Cardinals stormed the floor to celebrate their clinching of the conference title.
Although he acknowledged the impact of a player like Lund, Fisher said his team has the depth to win big matches without her. The Panthers (26-3, 15-3 ACC) find out their NCAA tournament seeding on Sunday, and will receive a much-needed week of rest before postseason play. Fisher wouldn’t mind a third bout with the unbeaten Cardinals in the Big Dance.
“I would love to play them in the tournament, no question” he said. “There was a lot of hype around this game. Of course, we wanted to win, but I’d rather beat them in the tournament. I’ll put it that way."
