The Pitt women’s volleyball team (30-4, 18-2 ACC), behind Olivia Babcock’s 23 kills, defeated No. 3 Purdue, 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 25-17), sending the Panthers to their fifth straight Final Four.
Up 23-17 in Set 4, Brooke Mosher buried two straight powerful service aces to send Pitt past Purdue. Mosher tallied three aces for the match.
“That was insane,” Mosher said. “I mean, ending on an ace is something I wouldn’t have expected, but being able to see that ball drop and go to the final four is just insane.”
The Panthers won their 52nd straight match at home and their 15th straight at Peterson Events Center.
Their victory over Purdue was full-circle as their first Final Four appearance in 2021 came after a win over Purdue.
Pitt is the fourth team in NCAA history to make it to the Final Four five straight seasons.
Babcock, the reigning ACC and AVCA East region player of the year, took home the regional MVP by racking up 79 kills in the tournament so far. Babcock posted a .375 hitting percentage in the deciding game.
“I just think the fact that we’re able to just keep doing this just shows how strong of a team we are consistently,” Babcock said. “I just feel like we put in so much work this season, so I feel like this season it means a lot more.”
Pitt’s Marina Pezelj tallied 14 kills and 12 digs to give the Panthers momentum in the second set.
“She was doing a lot well,” coach Dan Fisher said. “I think she came up with some big blocks. Her passing was stable. Offensively, she just she made really good choices. I think she had about five shove kills when she saw those openings, which is kind of Purdue’s game. I think she was really in the moment making good decisions.”
Mosher led the Panthers with four blocks,and Bre Kelley tallied three.
Pezelj and Mosher were nominated for the Pittsburgh All-Regional team along with Babcock.
“It’s just a testament to how much work we put in and how hard we fought these past two games,” Babcock said. “It’s hard to move on, let alone be in the group of people who get honored for this, because it’s so hard to get here. I feel like there’s just so many good players, and the fact that we had players on our team who were able to step up for this occasion and help our team get these two wins just means a lot.”
Purdue found itself down 2-0. The Boilermakers, in their 11th straight tournament, battled back. With a 25-22 win in Set 3, Purdue, which notched three reverse sweeps on the season, looked to do it again.
Purdue was led by Akasha Anderson, who delivered 20 kills, and Kenna Wollard, who tallied 15. Dior Charles delivered nine blocks, and Taylor Anderson notched 51 assists.
Despite Purdue having the personnel, the Panthers were too strong to allow a comeback.
“I’m very proud of this team,” Willard said. “I think we played a pretty clean game. Olivia Babcock is just an amazing player, and we did everything we had to try and stop her. And then they have some players that help her out and can get kills themselves too. You have to be perfect stopping them and you just get to the point where you can’t get enough, but I’m really proud of this team.”
Purdue’s Willard, Akasha Anderson and Ryan McAleer were nominated for the all-regional team. SMU’s Malaya Jones rounded out the squad.
Anderson kept pounding away at the Panthers down 12-10 in the final set. Three straight Panther blocks and a vicious Babcock spike put them up 13-10, which gave Pitt momentum.
The Boilermakers led the first set early with a kill from Wollard that had them up 10-8. Back-to-back kills from Blaire Bayless and Kelley tied it 10-10.
Babcock notched a kill that put the Panthers up 11-10. They led the rest of the first set.
A Babcock kill and a Mallorie Meyer ace extended Pitt’s lead to 22-19 as it pulled away with the first set. Babcock racked up nine kills, including the last one of the set.
The Panthers went up 12-8 in the second set. Purdue, however, went on a 6-1 run led by Anderson to take a 14-13 lead. Babcock continued to step up. A Babcock block and an error on Purdue gave Pitt a 16-15 lead.
The Panthers didn’t look back and at 24-21, Mosher and Kelley blocked Anderson to earn the set.
Babcock tallied five kills, and Marina Pezelj notched three kills in Set 2.
The Boilermakers came out firing in the third set and didn’t trail once.
Down 17-14, Pezelj notched a kill, and a Mosher block cut it to 17-16. The Panthers inched back and tied it 24-24, but the Boilermakers had momentum as they finished with the 25-22 set win.
This led to Pitt owning the final set.
Purdue coach Dave Shondell congratulated Pitt.
“Dan Fisher has just done one of the most amazing jobs of of coaching in the history of the sport, by taking a team at Pittsburgh, that for so many years was just good … they couldn’t get over the hump — the same hump that we haven’t been able to get over at Purdue — and now five years in a row is in the Final Four. That doesn’t happen without somebody in charge that really knows how to build a program.”
As for Pitt, it faces undefeated Nebraska in the Final Four.
“It’s just surreal,” Mosher said. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was little, and to be able to do it with this team is just incredible.”