Pitt is headed back to the Final Four

The match followed Pitt’s grinder on Thursday, when the Panthers needed five sets to dispatch with No. 4 seed Oregon. But while Saturday’s win was a sweep, it wasn’t easy. In the first set, Pitt could never extend its lead beyond two points until a 5-0 run pout the Panthers ahead 19-13; Pitt held on to win the set, but the Wildcats outscored the Panthers 9-6 and the final score was 25-22.

The second set was competitive as well. Kentucky took a 5-0 lead to start the set, and while Pitt used a 4-0 run to make things closer, the Wildcats stayed in control. Kentucky’s lead eventually got to 22-16, making a fourth set seem all but inevitable.

With freshman Mallorie Meyer on the service line, though, the Panthers went on a run. Two kills by Valeria Vazquez Gomez, one by Torrey Stafford and a series of attack errors by Kentucky led to a 7-0 run that put Pitt ahead 23-22.

Kentucky tied the score at 23-23, but Pitt took the next point and then closed the set with an ace by Rachel Fairbanks.

It would be a discredit to the Wildcats to call the third set “easy” for the Panthers, but after a tie at 8-8, Pitt more or less ran away with it. A 4-0 run with Olivia Babcock serving created separation and gave the Panthers a 17-12 lead; they never let Kentucky get closer than three points after that, and Torrey Stafford closed things out with a kill for match point.

Kentucky’s Brooklyn DeLeye had a match-best 22 kills and the Wildcats had 42 kills as a team to Pitt’s 37. But Kentucky offset that success with 23 attack errors; the Panthers had nine.

Babcock led Pitt with 13 kills, giving her 69 total kills in the four NCAA Tournament matches so far. She also recorded five aces, 34 digs and 12 blocks in the wins over Morehead State, Oklahoma, Oregon and Kentucky; for her performance, she was named the 2024 Pittsburgh Regional Tournament Most Valuable Player.

It was the second year in a row that Babcock has earned regional MVP honors.

Babcock, Fairbanks and libero Emmy Klika were also named to the Regional All-Tournament Team. Fairbanks produced an astonishing 154 assists - highlighted by 54 in the win over Oregon - as well as seven aces, 29 digs and five blocks, while Klika had 42 digs in the four matches.

Now Pitt is headed back to the Final Four, where the Panthers will face a familiar foe after No. 1 seed Louisville beat No. 2 seed Stanford on Saturday. Pitt beat the Cardinals twice in the regular season, surviving a 3-2 win at the Petersen Events Center in late October and then winning in Louisville 3-1 in the penultimate game of the regular season.

But the Panthers and Cardinals aren’t just conference mates; they’ve also met on the biggest stage multiple times. Two years ago, Louisville eliminated Pitt in the Final Four. Last year, the Panthers advanced to the Final Four after beating the Cardinals in the regional finals.

That Elite Eight match was held at the Fitzgerald Field House, but Pitt’s days of playing in Pittsburgh this year are done, and if they are able to reach the national championship game, they’ll have to do so in hostile territory, as the Final Four matches are being held at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville.

So the Panthers will be faced with the tall task of beating a team for the third time in a season - Pitt beat Louisville in both regular-season matches - and they’ll have to do it in what amounts to a road game.

But if any Pitt team can do it, it might be this year’s squad, which has lost just 12 total sets in 34 matches this season and wrapped up its run through the region with three sweeps in four wins.

The Panthers and Cardinals will face off on Thursday night at 6:30 pm. The match will be televised on ESPN.

The other half of the Final Four will be decided today when No. 1 seed Penn State faces No. 2 Creighton and No. 1 Nebraska faces No. 2 Wisconsin.

Postseason stat leaders after four matches

Olivia Babcock - 69 kills, 5 aces, 34 digs, 12 blocks

Rachel Fairbanks - 154 assists, 7 aces, 29 digs, 5 blocks

Emmy Klika - 42 digs

Torrey Stafford - 44 kills, 35 digs, 6 blocks

Bre Kelley - 41 kills, 27 blocks

Valeria Vazquez Gomez - 25 kills, 25 digs

Mallorie Meyer - 4 aces