By Morgan Devenport

No. 3 Louisville fell to the No. 1 Pitt Panthers in four thrilling sets.

Set one started out rough for the Cardinals, as Pitt took an immediate 3-0 lead. The Cards simply could not keep up with the energy level and aggression that the Panthers were playing with.

While the Cardinals had more kills in this set, the Panthers had more blocks. There was never a lead change in this set, despite how hard the Cardinals tried. They tried their hardest to fight back, bringing it up to 23-24 after a 4-0 run from the Cards.

They ultimately lost the set 23-25 after an error from Louisville.

Set two was the Cards we know and love. Cara Cresse came to play at the net, getting an amazing solo block. Louisville played extremely well, putting the work in to have 14 kills and four blocks.

Sofia Maldonado Diaz and Anna DeBeer were swinging to win, having five kills combined and a solo block from DeBeer on the Panthers shining star Olivia Babcock.

The Cards took set two 25-18.

It was looking hopeful for the Cardinals, until the Panthers decided to re-light their fire from set one. Pitt had 16 kills for the third set. The Panthers held their ground, only allowing two ties and no lead changes for the whole set.

Pitt took set three 20-25.

The fourth and final set did not go well for the Cardinals either, only having nine kills and one block. The wheels had officially fallen off for the Cards, but they still kept fighting.

This set had the most changes, having six ties and three lead changes.

The Cards couldn’t keep up in the end and fell to Pitt 16-25, losing the match 1-3.

The Cardinals played hard but it simply could not compare to the fire that Pitt had.

Throughout this whole match, the Cardinals struggled with serving. Having nine service errors on the match, the Cardinals gave up several points with avoidable errors. They did attempt to cancel those out with six aces for the match, but it was ultimately a negative ratio.

This game, while disappointing for the Cardinals, was still an amazing match up to watch.

The Cardinals are now 25-4 on the season and 17-2 in conference play. They will travel to Stanford for their final match of the regular season.

Photo by Morgan Davenport