Pitt hangs on to beat Oregon and advance to the Elite Eight

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Published Dec 12, 2024

Pitt hangs on to beat Oregon and advance to the Elite Eight

Chris Peak • Panther-lair

Publisher

@pantherlair

Pitt knew that advancing in the NCAA Tournament would get tougher with each round, and the Panthers found out first-hand in Thursday’s regional semifinal matchup with Oregon, as the Ducks pushed the home team to the brink.

But in the fifth set, the Panthers never trailed and held off a late Oregon surge to claim the match and advance to the regional finals.

Pitt’s win was ultimately sealed by a pair of Oregon miscues. Rachel Fairbanks got the Panthers to match point with an ace that bounced off Ducks opposite hitter Noemie Glover as she ran across the end of the court during the serve.

Then, after Oregon cut Pitt’s lead from 14-9 to 14-12, the Panthers closed things out when a shot from Ducks outside hitter Mimi Colyer went long.

The Oregon errors brought to a close one of Pitt’s most inconsistent performances of the season. The Panthers won the first set 25-19, lost the second 26-24 and then logged a fairly comfortable 25-16 win in the third set. But in the fourth set, Oregon took a 6-2 lead and then, after Pitt battled back to cut the lead to 9-5, the Ducks used an 8-2 run to take an 11-point lead.

The Panthers didn’t go away, though. Led by four kills from Olivia Babcock, three from Torrey Stafford and an ace from Valeria Vazquez Gomez, Pitt chipped away and eventually got Oregon’s lead to three points at 22-19. A kill from Bre Kelley kept the lead to three at 24-21, but Ducks outside hitter Michelle Ohwobete landed a kill to tie the match at two sets apiece.

After struggling in the fourth set, Pitt came out hot with a 5-0 lead. Oregon chipped away to tie the set at 9-9, but a string of three consecutive kills and Fairbanks’ ace set up match point.

Babcock led all hitters with a career-high 31 kills, and she got a double-double out of the match by adding 12 digs. Stafford also had a double-double with 14 kills and 12 digs, while Fairbanks got there with 54 assists and 12 digs. Vazquez Gomez and Mallorie Meyer three aces each.

Pitt will face No. 3 seed Kentucky in the Elite Eight on Saturday night at the Petersen Events Center. The Wildcats reached the regional final with a 3-1 win over Missouri earlier in the afternoon on Thursday. This will be the fifth consecutive season that the Panthers have made the Elite Eight, and they reached the Final Four in each of the last three.