Pitt volleyball swept by Nebraska for 3rd straight Final Four exit

Under coach Dan Fisher, Pitt’s women’s volleyball team has emerged as a national powerhouse capable of not only making but advancing deep into the NCAA Tournament every year.

But after Thursday’s semifinals loss to Nebraska, the Panthers’ season ended in heartbreaking fashion for the third consecutive year.

Taking on the No. 1 overall seed, Pitt was swept 3-0 on scores of 25-20, 25-23 and 25-17.

“It’s really hard to keep getting better every year, especially when you’ve already been to two Final Fours,” Fisher said. “But I think we’re as good as we’ve ever been. We have the best fan support we’ve ever had, so I think it was another step forward as a program.”

Nebraska (33-1) also eliminated Pitt (29-5) in the Final Four in 2021.

The Huskers will face No. 2 Texas in Sunday’s national championship.

Olivia Babcock led Pitt with 12 kills, followed by Torrey Stafford with 10.

Rachel Fairbanks recorded 29 assists, eclipsed only by Nebraska’s Reilly Bergen, who had 31.

However, Babcock and Stafford were plagued by attack errors, recording a combined 15.

The same could be said of the Panthers as a team, who suffered from 22 such errors, 13 of which came during the opening set, contributing significantly to the Huskers’ five-point win.

Nebraska also was strong at the net, posting 15 blocks compared to Pitt’s eight.

“Most of those (blocks) — at least eight of them — were in the first set,” Fisher said. “I think we were frantic in transition and not setting as good as we could have initially. I thought we had some tentative swings, truthfully. They weren’t our best swings, and (Nebraska) was blocking a lot of them.”

Bekka Allick in particular made her presence known, leading all players with 10 blocks.

For Nebraska, Harper Murray led the team with 13 kills, and Merritt Beason and Ally Batenhorst had eight apiece.

The Huskers also held Pitt to a .137 hitting percentage, far south of the Panthers’ .303 average on the year.

After taking a 4-2 lead in the first set, the Panthers did not get ahead of Nebraska for the remainder of the night.

Pitt fought a desperate but losing battle in the second set, clawing back into things late after trailing by as much as six.

Kills by Babcock and Fairbanks plus an attack error from Harper got the Panthers within two, with Nebraska coach John Cook calling timeout up 21-19.

After the Huskers took a 23-19 lead, the Panthers rallied for three straight points, courtesy of kills by Babcock and Stafford in addition to a Beason attack error.

That made the score 24-23 Nebraska, but on the ensuing serve, an error by Valeria Vazquez Gomez handed Nebraska the set.

In the Elite Eight, the Panthers proved that facing a sweep in the NCAA Tournament was not something that phased them, as evidenced by their reverse sweep rally to take down Louisville on Saturday.

But that same magic was not to be found Thursday, as Nebraska turned in its most dominant set of the night to knock out the Panthers.

The Huskers and Panthers stayed within two points of each other to begin the third set, but with a 10-9 lead, Nebraska took control with five straight points.

From there, despite Pitt’s best efforts, Nebraska’s momentum could not be stopped.

After taking leads of 20-12 and 23-13, the Huskers put things away on a kill from Allick to win the set 25-17.

For Pitt, several players, including team leader Chiamaka Nwokolo, have played their final game in a Panthers uniform.

But with several promising players poised to return, including Babcock, Stafford and Fairbanks, Fisher can begin looking ahead to an immediate future that looks bright.

“Next year, I really do believe we’re going to come back,” Babcock said. “I think next year we’re just going to be able to handle it better emotionally … (We’re) going to be a lot stronger emotionally.”

Cook concurred, offering high praise.

“They just went to three straight Final Fours,” Cook said. “Tell me how many programs are doing that? They’re an elite program now, and that’s going to continue with them. Coach Fisher has done a heck of a job. Pittsburgh should be really proud of what they’re doing.”