No. 7 Pitt traveled to take on No. 4 Louisville Friday night and ended up losing the match in a sweep for their first ACC loss of the season.
The Panthers (25-3 overall, 15-1 ACC) lose their first game since Towson on Sept. 10, breaking an 18-game winning streak, the fourth longest in program, history. It is also their first conference loss since the Cardinals (25-2 overall, 16-1 ACC) the last game of the regular season in November 2021.
Pitt still controls their own destiny the rest of the way. If they defeat No. 13 Georgia Tech and Boston College next week, they win a share of the ACC title.
Louisville started out the first set with sizable leads of 5-1 and 9-4. Pitt managed to cut the lead back to two at 11-9, but Louisville went on a 10-1 run and then won the set, 25-15.
The Cardinals took leads throughout the second set, but the Panthers kept cutting into them and both teams found themselves tied at 21. The Cardinals scored the final four points off the set, with graduate outside hitter Claire Chaussee making two kills.
Pitt kept it close initially in the third set, down just two points at 9-7. Louisville once again increased their lead on the back of a 9-2 scoring run and took the final set, 25-18, and the match as well.
The Panthers drop their first game against a top 10 team this season, winning the first four matches, which included the win against the Cardinals in October.
This is the first time Pitt lost in a sweep since September 2020 against Syracuse, breaking a streak of 85 matches with no sweep losses.
The Panthers had their worst hitting percentage in a match this season at .088, while the Cardinals hit a solid .309.
Graduate right side hitter Courtney Buzzerio led Pitt with 10 kills, her 22nd game this season with 10 or more kills. Sophomore setter Rachel Fairbanks led the team with 16 assists.
Pitt looks to bounce back against No. 13 Georgia Tech next Wednesday, Nov. 23 at the Petersen Events Center.
