Louisville volleyball season ends in NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. Cards fall to Pittsburgh

Louisville volleyball went the distance against ACC rival Pittsburgh, but its road to the Final Four ended Saturday night.

The top-seeded Panthers rallied from a 2-0 deficit and eliminated the second-seeded Cardinals, 23-25, 20-25, 25-16, 25-19, 15-7, from the NCAA Tournament.

Pittsburgh (29-4) will play Nebraska in a national semifinal Thursday in Tampa, Florida.

On Nov. 18 at Pittsburgh, the Cards led, 2-0, before the Panthers completed a reverse sweep to win the match, 3-2. The same thing happened Saturday in the regional final.

"Congrats to Pitt for advancing. I thought it was a well hard-fought match. It's always a bummer to be up here after you lose," U of L coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. "From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, this team has transformed. The saddest part is that it's the last game or the last time we are going to be all together as a group. Just really proud of what we've done here tonight and the whole season."

Aiko Jones and Louisville’s middle blockers set the tone early at Fitzgerald Field House.

Jones hit .141 through the tournament's first three matches and was 5 for 5 in the first set Saturday.

Jones and Phekran Kong combined for eight kills, hitting 1.000. Kong also had two blocks in the first set.

Kong said the Louisville coaches and Jones reiterated before the match that they had nothing to lose and should go out there swinging and not play timidly.

"(Jones) had the confidence and she had a team that backed her, so it was just amazing to see a six-year veteran like Aiko go out and just play her game," Kong said.

With the loss, Jones played her last match for Louisville. Busboom Kelly said Jones is a special player who took the program under her wing and the city loves her.

Jones finished the match 9 for 18. Busboom Kelly said she wished the Cardinals could have gotten her more looks later in the match.

The Cards (27-5) kept ACC Freshman of the Year Olivia Babcock in check for most of the first set. She started 0 for 6 with two errors but finished the set 2 for 8.

There were eight ties and six lead changes in the hard-fought second set.

Co-ACC Player of the Year Anna DeBeer hit 5 for 8 in the second set and recorded the last kill to give Louisville a 2-0 lead.

Louisville hit over .300 in the first two sets against a Pitt defense that ranks in the top five nationally in opponent hitting percentage.

Similar to the first two sets, it looked like the Cards were about to pull away in the third set after a kill by Kong put them ahead, 9-7.

The Panthers went on a 10-4 run, giving them a 17-13 lead.

Freshman Torrey Stafford was the primary catalyst of Pitt’s 18-7 run to swing the momentum. She had six kills in the third set.

Charitie Luper was 4 for 28 in the first three sets, but the Cards decided to get her rolling early in the fourth set. She was responsible for three of Louisville’s first four points.

Louisville had a 4-2 lead, and then the Panthers went on a 6-0 run behind Babcock’s incredible serving that included three aces.

The Panthers topped Louisville in the fourth set behind dominant serving.

With the home crowd behind them, the Panthers rolled to victory. They started the fifth set up, 7-1, and never looked back.

Pittsburgh's freshman duo of Babcock and Stafford started the match slowly, but they ended up being the main reason the Panthers advanced to the Final Four.

Stafford had a match-high 18 kills. Babcock finished with 16 kills, three aces and five blocks.

Pitt's defense returned to form in the last three sets. Louisville hit under .200 in the third and fourth sets, and in the fifth set, the Cards hit -.067.

Louisville native Emma Monks, who played at Assumption, had eight kills and led the Panthers with nine blocks.

Pittsburgh totaled 14 blocks to set a program record for an NCAA Tournament match.

Luper finished 8 for 39, and DeBeer went 13 for 37.

Kong and DeBeer each had a team-high 13 kills, and Kong added eight blocks.

Kong said the locker room will be different in the spring without the departing seniors, but they still will have veterans including herself, DeBeer, Elena Scott and Cara Cresse to lead the Cardinals next season.

"Just us uplifting the newcomers that come around," Kong said. "As soon as we get on the same page, the sooner we can start doing what Louisville volleyball does: and that's having fun and hopefully winning some more games."

Reach sports reporter Prince James Story at pstory@gannett.com and follow him on X at @PrinceJStory.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville vs Pitt volleyball: Cards fall in NCAA Tournament Elite 8