Pitt Volleyball swept No. 4 Washington State Thursday afternoon in the Sweet 16 and will now face rival No. 2 Louisville in the Elite Eight Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. at Fitzgerald Field House.
Road to the Elite Eight for Pitt Volleyball and Louisville
No. 1 Pitt hosted their first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament at the Petersen Events Center last weekend. They swept Coppin State last Friday and after losing the first set against No. 8 USC in the Second Round last Saturday, they took the next three to win in four to make it to the Sweet 16.
The Panthers dominated the Cougars Thursday, hitting a program high .425 in an NCAA Tournament match, while also holding the Cougars to .141, making it five straight matches holding an opponent below .200 hitting.
No. 2 Louisville hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament as well. They defeated Wright State in the First Round in four sets, after losing the first one, and then swept Western Michigan in the Second Round.
Louisville battled No. 3 Creighton Thursday afternoon to a victory in five sets in the Sweet 16. Despite losing leads in the second and fourth sets that they lost, Louisville dominated in the fifth set, hitting .462 compared to Creighton’s -.048 hitting percentage, to make it to their third straight Elite Eight.
Pitt Volleyball vs. Louisville History
The Panthers and Cardinals will play in their sixth matchup over the past two seasons, making it the second straight year they will face each other in the NCAA Tournament. Both teams won their matches at home, but the Cardinals defeated the Panthers in five sets in the Final Four in 2022, giving them a 3-2 edge so far.
Pitt won the most recent matchup, reverse sweeping Louisville in five sets after losing the first two on Nov. 18. The win in front of a program record crowd of 8,856 fans at the Petersen Events Center didn’t just give Pitt a win over their rival, but also led to a share of the ACC Title for the second straight season and gave Pitt a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which allows them to host this Elite Eight matchup on Saturday.
A win for the Panthers would give them their third straight Final Four and their first back-to-back wins over the Cardinals since they won four-straight from 2018-20.
The Cardinals are looking to make their third straight Final Four as well and a chance to win their first National Title too. A win at Fitzgerald Field House over the Panthers would give them bragging rights and their seventh win in the past nine matches in the rivalry over the past four seasons.
Louisville Star Outside Hitters
So much of the offensive attack for Louisville goes through their two outside hitters in ACC Co-Player of the Year and senior Anna DeBeer, as well as junior Charitie Luper.
DeBeer is one of the best players in the country, with a great jump and a powerful swing that makes it difficult for opposing players to stop.
She has played fantastic against Pitt in her two games this season. She had a 15 kills and a .429 hitting percentage in the sweep at at the KFC Yum! Center on Oct. 13 and then set a career-high with 29 kills, while also hitting .404 in the loss on the road in November.
Luper transferred in from UCLA over the last season and has provided great attacking prowess for the Cardinals this season. She had 10 kills and hit .364 against Pitt in October at home and had a season-high 24 kills, while hitting .327 in the loss at the Petersen Events Center in most recent matchup.
6-2 vs. 5-1 Rotation
Louisville has changed to a 6-2 rotation in recent weeks from their usual 5-1. The 6-2 rotation has two players as setters, in the both the front and back rows, and it allows for more players to take chances on offense that will lead to more points.
This system benefits players like DeBeer and Luper, but also gives Louisville more chances for other players to create chances. This includes graduate student setter Brigitta Petrenko, who originally had a role of just a serve specialist but is now playing more as setter.
It also gives a player like first-year middle blocker Reese Robins, who stands at 6-foot-5, to see more time on the court. She had five kills, hit .571 and two blocks in the win over No. 3 Creighton in the Sweet 16 on Thursday.
Pitt plays a 5-1 rotation this season, thanks to ACC Freshman of the year in right side Olivia Babcock and ACC Setter of the Year in junior Rachel Fairbanks.
Fairbanks is the leader of the offensive attack and has the responsibility for creating most of the attacks for the Panthers. She set a career high with both 58 assists and 19 digs in the win over the Cardinals in November.
Babcock, with her athleticism, is a right side who can play in the back row. This allows Pitt to play her for most of the match, instead of placing another libero/defensive specialist to play there.
Why is this Game in the Fitzgerald Field House and not the Petersen Events Center?
Pitt volleyball will play their biggest home game of the season in a venue far too small to take on the demand for the match. The tickets sold out within 15 minutes on both Tuesday, when Pitt first released them, and then again on Friday, with Pitt put the last of the tickets online for sale.
Fitzgerald Field House holds around a little more than four thousand fans. That is half of the program record against Louisville in November, and with the Elite Eight holding even more significance, the number of fans that would’ve attended a potential matchup at the Petersen Events Center is something that Pitt should consider for the future.
Pitt men’s basketball has a game at 6:00 p.m. against Canisius at the Petersen Events Center on Saturday, making it impossible for the volleyball team to play there. They also played the second weekend of December in 2021, which had the volleyball team play their Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matches at Fitzgerald Field Houses.
Despite many fans not having the opportunity with the sellout, the Pitt Volleyball players love Fitzgerald Field House. It is their home court, and they have more experience playing there than the Petersen Events Center.
A raucous environment is something that the Pitt players have come to expect at a sold-out Fitzgerald Field House and it will serve as a benefit for them.
“A lot of people talk about why we’re not in the Pete right now, but this is our home, and we’d rather play in further rounds in the Fitz because it’s where we feel comfortable,” senior outside hitter and serve specialist Cat Flood said Friday afternoon at media availability. “I think that applied pretty well last night.”
How to Watch
ESPNU is the channel for the Pitt-Louisville match at 4 p.m. on Saturday. ESPN+ will also provide streaming for those that don’t have cable but do have an ESPN+ subscription.
Pitt Volleyball Press Conferences
Previous Louisville Previews
Pitt Volleyball Faces Rematch with Rival Louisville at the Pete
Pitt Volleyball Faces Rival Louisville on Road in Final Four Rematch
