By Morgan Davenport
Louisville defeats the Pittsburgh Panthers in four sets to advance to the national championship match.
This was a thrilling match, showing just how electric and resilient this Louisville team is.
Battle of the new bloods
Set one started off with a Louisville lead, holding the Panthers to a high level of gameplay right off the bat. After a few Pitt kills, the set became point-for-point. Unfortunately, the Cards struggled to find their rhythm after Pitt took their first lead.
The Cards lost set one 21-25.
Set two started off slow for the Cards, allowing the Panthers to gain a 0-4 lead. The Panthers kept the roughly four-point lead for the first half of the set.
Once the Cardinals found their rhythm again, they fought hard to gain a lead off of a 5-0 run. Pitt kept the set tight, again going point-for-point.
Charitie Luper dominated getting three kills in a row to close the set out 25-23.
Set three was a battle.
Pitt started off with the lead once again, but Anna DeBeer would not allow that to slide in the KFC Yum! Center. DeBeer had eight kills for the set, making sure to come through when it was needed most.
After falling behind 7-10, the Cards strung together a 5-0 run to take the lead 12-10.
The two teams went back-and-forth for a while until Pitt took control late. The Panthers took the lead 19-24, with Player of the Year candidate Olivia Babcock leading the charge. Babcock set a career-high with 33 kills.
With the Panthers just two points away from taking the lead 2-1, Louisville orchestrated a 5-1 run to force extra points in the third.
Pitt reached set-point three times in the third, but each time DeBeer or Luper answered with Kills to even it back up.
Off of a kill from Luper, the Cards won set three 29-27.
The fourth and final set was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for the Cardinals.
After taking a 2-0 lead, DeBeer fell to the ground after injuring her ankle on a block landing. She was carried into the locker room, and true freshman Payton Petersen came in for the injured Cardinal.
After Pitt got back into the match, Louisville went on a 4-1 run forcing Dan Fisher to call his first timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Louisville immediately scored two more points to force Fisher into his second and final timeout.
From there on, the Cardinals took an immense lead on the Panthers, being ahead by eight points for most of the set.
The Cards won set four 25-17 on a kill from Petersen.
Team of destiny
This was match that was a must watch.
The Cardinals played with such drive and passion, especially since they were playing one of their biggest rivals.
The motivation to play and to win after DeBeer’s injury showed just how connected and confident this team truly is. Petersen recorded two aces and two kills in DeBeer’s wake, including the match-winning kill.
Sofia Maldonado Diaz also played an impressive match, having 14 kills and only three errors. Cara Cresse led the team in blocks, having six for the match.
Louisville advances to their second ever national championship appearance. They are one win away from their first ever championship in volleyball, and the first ever female head coach to lead a national champion.
The Cardinals will face Penn State in the National Championship match, Sunday at 3 p.m.
Photo Courtesy // Annabelle Merz, Louisville Athletics