LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- One year after seeing an unbeaten run to the Final Four end in the national semifinals, the University of Louisville women's volleyball team will make the program's first appearance in the NCAA championship game after beating Pitt 3-2 in a national semifinal in Omaha, Neb., on Thursday night.
The Cardinals (31-2) had to beat the Panthers for a second time this season, after the programs shared the ACC championship, and they become the first ACC team to compete for the national championship
They scored the first 6 points of Thursday night's match behind the serving of Anna DeBeer, and went on to take the first set. Pitt took advantage of Louisville errors to pull out the second set 25-23, and had a 3-point advantage late before Louisville scored the final 5 points of the set, spurred by a pair of Elena Scott service aces, to go up a set.
The Cardinals opened a 16-10 lead in the fourth set and looked as if they might cruise to the victory, but Pittsburgh stormed back to tie the game at 17, and turned the tables with its own come-from-behind set victory.
The fifth set began with DeBeer serving at 12:20 a.m. Eastern time. It opened with an off-speed kill by Claire Chaussee, her 22nd of the game. Louisville sprinted to a 3-0 lead, forcing a Pitt timeout, then Chaussee scored when she pushed a kill to the corner to make it 4-0. An Aiko Jones block made it 5-0, and P.K. Kong added another, her 10th of the game, to make it 6-0. And Pitt used its final timeout.
Another Kong block made it 7-0. A long attack by Pitt made it 9-0, DeBeer still serving.
Pitt's first point didn't come until after the teams changed sides. A Chaussee kill in the middle put Louisville up 9-1, and Tillman followed with a block to make it 10-1. A Jones kill from the right side following Elena Scott's 27th dig brought the Cards within four points of the win, and her career-high 8th ace made it 12-1.
A Chaussee kill, and a Tillman block brought match point, then Tillman slammed home the game winner.
Saturday night's championship game will begin at 8 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN.
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