TAMPA, Fla. — Pitt volleyball took on a great Nebraska team Thursday night in the Final Four and it showed, as they lost in a sweep at Amalie Arena.
The loss makes it three straight seasons that the Panthers (29-5) lost in the Final Four, losing in five sets to rival Louisville in 2022 and then four sets to the Cornhuskers (33-1) in 2021. It drops the Panthers to 0-15 all-time to the Cornhuskers, 0-3 under the 11 seasons of head coach Dan Fisher with their first loss on the road in a sweep in 2015.
This is also the first sweep that Pitt volleyball has suffered in the NCAA Tournament under Fisher and the first since a loss to Ohio in three sets in the First Round in 2004.
Pitt volleyball began with a 4-2 lead in the first set, with a service ace from senior outside hitter/serve specialist Cat Flood and two kills from first-year right side hitter Olivia Babcock.
Nebraska would respond with three blocks on a 5-2 run to take a 7-6 lead, with two solo from first-year middle blocker Andi Jackson and junior outside hitter Ally Batenhorst.
The Panthers tied it back up 9-9, but junior right side hitter Merritt Beason made a block and a kill, helping the Cornhuskers build a 13-10 advantage.
Pitt kept it close, cutting it within one at both 13-12 and 15-14, with three kills from first-year outside hitter Torrey Stafford. Batenhorst kept up the good play for Nebraska, with a block and a kill to put them up 19-15. Nebraska would keep their lead and win the first set 25-20.
The Cornhuskers dominated the Panthers blocking in the first set, up 8-2 in the category. Sophomore middle blocker Bekka Allick led with four blocks, while Batenhorst and Jackson had three each. Their block also had the Panthers hitting .000 with 13 kills to 13 attack errors.
Nebraska began the second set up 4-1, with two kills from Allick, but Pitt tied it back up at 4-4, with a kill and and a block from graduate student middle blocker Chiamaka Nwokolo.
The Cornhuskers then pulled off a 6-1 run to take a 10-5 lead, with Beason making a service ace and a kill. Down 15-9, the Panthers had to cut it back and did so with a 6-2 run to make it a 17-15 Cornhuskers lead. Babcock led on the run with two blocks, a kill and a service ace.
Nebraska put the lead back up to 21-16 with a 4-1 scoring run, with two kills from Batenhorst, but Pitt trimmed the deficit back down to 21-19. Nebraska then got two kills from first-year outside hitter Harper Murray to make it match point, 24-20, but Pitt kept it close with three straight points, including a block and kill from Babcock. A service error from redshirt senior outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez gave the second set to Nebraska, 25-23.
Both teams battled it out early on in the third set, with the Cornhuskers leading 10-9. Batenhorst kept up her great play with two kills and a block, while Beason had a kill and three straight service aces to put the Cornhuskers up 19-10.
Harper kept it up with a block and two kills to make it 23-13 to Nebraska. Babcock and graduate student middle blocker Emma Monks made kills, with another block from Babcock to make it 24-17, but a net violation gave Nebraska the set victory, 25-17, and the sweep.
Nebraska will play the winner of No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 2 Texas Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.
