No. 8 Pitt women’s volleyball outlasts No. 2 Louisville in ACC upset

No. 8 Pitt volleyball took down No. 2 Louisville in five sets in a massive ACC upset, handing the Cardinals their first conference loss in two years. 

In a back-and-forth fifth set, Pitt pulled away from Louisville to take the fifth and final set, 15-12, and win the match, 3-2.

For Louisville (18-2, 9-1 ACC), their last ACC loss was 37 straight matches ago, going back to Oct. 23, 2020. 

Courtney Buzzerio came up with the decisive kill to win the match for the Panthers (20-2, 10-0 ACC). It’s Pitt’s fourth top-10 win of the season. 

HOW IT HAPPENED: Click or tap here to see full coverage from the match

Pitt dominated in the early going to win the first two sets, 25-15 and 25-13, before the Cardinals clawed back to force a fifth set, taking the third and fourth sets, 27-25 and 25-20.

The Panthers were strong all throughout the match, outhitting Louisville .225 to .131 and out-digging them 56-49. Buzzerio was a force for Pitt this afternoon with 22 kills, 53 total attacks and a .302 hit percentage. Serena Gray had 15 kills and a .480 hit percentage. 

The Cardinals had a strong push to fight back in the back half of the match after the disastrous start. Claire Chausee led the way with 17 kills, while Nena Mbonu had 14.