A remarkable season fell short of a shot at a national championship again, as the Pitt women’s volleyball team lost to Louisville 3-1 in the NCAA semifinals in Louisville last night. The Panthers have reached the Final Four the past four years, but have been unable to move past. Pitt was 33-1 entering the match, and were ranked first in the nation. Instead, Louisville will meet Penn State in the national championship match Sunday afternoon in an historic final. The Cardinals swept the final three sets last night after Pitt won the opening set.
The Nittany Lions came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Nebraska 3-2 in their semifinal match late last night. It will guarantee that a female coach will win a national championship for the first time since the NCAA tournament began in 1981. Penn State is also the only volleyball program to complete a reverse sweep twice in the tournament. The Nittany Lions pulled it off to win the championship match over Texas in 2009.
Prior to the Final Four matches last night, Pitt head coach Dan Fisher was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coach of the Year. He led the Panthers to their first-ever #1 ranking in mid-September, and Pitt held that spot for the remainder of the season. The Panthers have won more matches than any other Division I program over the last five years.