Volleyball vs Louisville part 2.
- Thread starter Black Panther
- Start date
I don't know about the physical paper, but they had a story on line last night featured prominently on the sports web page. If you watched the presser linked earlier in this thread, their reporter was one of the people who asked several questions.
'A great memory': Pitt volleyball completes wild comeback vs. Louisville in front of raucous, record-breaking crowd
The Pitt volleyball team knew earlier this month it had a chance to create a magical afternoon on Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Coach Dan Fisher...
www.post-gazette.com
Good to know.....sometimes I wonder why I even bother to look at the print edition for news of any kind....
Texas might be very good this year, but they just don't have the schedule.
Their only top-25 RPI wins are 14 BYUx2 and 16 Kansas x2.
Pitt has 4 Louisville, 9 Kentucky x2, 21 Georgia Tech x2, 22 Marquette, 24 James Madison.
Texas has losses to 66 KSU and 68 LBSU. Pitt's worst loss is 28 FSU.
My best guess is:
1 Nebraska
2 Stanford
3 Wisconsin if they win / Pitt
4 Pitt / Wisconsin if they lose
5 Louisville
6 Texas
I honestly don't see any criteria that Texas deserves to be any higher than 6 unless Pitt or Louisville would lose again.
I honestly don't see any criteria that Texas deserves to be any higher than 6 unless Pitt or Louisville would lose again.
Yes....it is your last point why Texas worries me.....a loss by Wisconsin to Nebraska and either Pitt or Louisville losing one of their remaining games will put Texas into consideration for a top 4 seed.....and as you state Texas has not had a good schedule. Will Pitt and Louisville both be top 4 seeds if they don't lose again and Wisconsin loses to Nebraska.....irrespective of what Texas does to close the season? I hope so.
Here is a mock bracket with Pitt as the #3 overall seed:
That's exactly what the top 4 seeds should be assuming Wisconsin loses to Nebraska.....and Pitt and Louisville are not upset in their final matches this week.
Interesting how this one puts two of the teams that beat Pitt in the same regional. Probably won’t happen but would be a good story line
Three of the teams, BYU, Oregon, and FSU were all in Pitt’s bracket there. But Pitt is a totally different team now than we were against BYU and OU last time, I looked at the BYU stat line today and Pitt ran a 6-2 and Stafford had 5 kills 10 errors so I’d feel much better getting them again at home. Oregon too, though Mimi Collier still scares me with that serve.
Separately, new RPI update came out today and Pitt jumped Louisville to get to #3. So barring catastrophe this week, we should be in pretty good shape for a top 4 seed. Just gotta take care of business vs a good Miami team
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Not sure if anyone looked at the stats from Saturday but they're wild.
Louisville hit .315 for the match.
Pitt only hit .265 and only hit .216 in the fourth set, a set they won.
Overall, there were 152 kills, 144 assists, and 143 digs.
DeBeer and Luper combined for 53 kills. Stafford and Babcock had 44.
DeBeer also had 17 digs and Elena Scott had 24 digs. They're both so good.
Fairbanks had 19 digs.
As that fifth set was unfolding, I thought there was no way either team could be hurt from losing that one. That's about as good as anyone can play and lose. Just some amazing performances on both sides.
Louisville hit .315 for the match.
Pitt only hit .265 and only hit .216 in the fourth set, a set they won.
Overall, there were 152 kills, 144 assists, and 143 digs.
DeBeer and Luper combined for 53 kills. Stafford and Babcock had 44.
DeBeer also had 17 digs and Elena Scott had 24 digs. They're both so good.
Fairbanks had 19 digs.
As that fifth set was unfolding, I thought there was no way either team could be hurt from losing that one. That's about as good as anyone can play and lose. Just some amazing performances on both sides.
Yes, and that guy isn't a Pitt fan, but that is pretty much a dream quadrant for Pitt this year.
BYU has two winnable matches in their season, so they might actually rise a bit too high to match up with us that early.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
That's a huge game, now.
Would be nice if ND could pull an upset over FSU but it seems unlikely. Will still be happy with sharing another conference title.
I expect FSU's success this year will move them into the top tier of ACC scheduling so they play one or two of Pitt/Ville/GT twice per year now. The only reason FSU gets that share of the title is they only had to play each team once, and credit to them for winning all the rest of their games and stealing that win vs Pitt at home but if they played a tougher schedule like Pitt and Ville no way they come out with less than 3 or 4 losses
pittdan77
Athletic Director
I'm glad to see them playing as well as they are even though their schedule is easier. Miami, too. ACC needs some teams to elevate. Adding Stanford will help but the conference won't get any respect until a couple more schools start to be more than a cake walk.
That 5th set in the Final Four exempted, Pitt-Louisville matches have been outrageously entertaining. It's amusing to think back to when the rivalry started in 2017 and 2018 and neither team was really any good.
The match where I fell in love with volleyball was this 2018 home match where Nika Markovic served for 10 straight points against Louisville. The recap says it was "in front of a program-record attendance of 2,152 at Fitzgerald Field House."
No. 6 Pitt Volleyball Tops No. 21 Cards, Breaks Attendance Record - Pitt Panthers #H2P
PITTSBURGH – The No. 6 University of Pittsburgh volleyball team overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth set to defeat No. 21 Louisville, 3-1, in front of a program-record
pittsburghpanthers.com
pittdan77
Athletic Director
You can tell it's turned into a true rivalry. That's really good for both programs. Honestly, they could probably play that game in the Pete every year and draw a big crowd.That 5th set in the Final Four exempted, Pitt-Louisville matches have been outrageously entertaining. It's amusing to think back to when the rivalry started in 2017 and 2018 and neither team was really any good.
The match where I fell in love with volleyball was this 2018 home match where Nika Markovic served for 10 straight points against Louisville. The recap says it was "in front of a program-record attendance of 2,152 at Fitzgerald Field House."
No. 6 Pitt Volleyball Tops No. 21 Cards, Breaks Attendance Record - Pitt Panthers #H2P
PITTSBURGH – The No. 6 University of Pittsburgh volleyball team overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth set to defeat No. 21 Louisville, 3-1, in front of a program-record
Agreed, and SMU just won the AAC this year as well so they will be no slouch (23-6, only 1 loss in conference, OOC wins over FSU and Baylor). Its really going to become 3 power conferences in volleyball: Big 10 (Nebraska, Wisconsin, Oregon, PSU, Purdue, Minnesota), ACC (Stanford, Pitt, Louisville, GT, FSU) and SEC (Texas, Kentucky, Tenn, Arkansas, Florida) then a huge drop off to the Big 12 after that. And poor Washington State left all alone
You guys are sending chills down my spine.....stop it!
pittdan77
Athletic Director
You forgot Miami. I think they're just going to keep getting better.
I remember that - I was there too- similarly made me a big fanThat 5th set in the Final Four exempted, Pitt-Louisville matches have been outrageously entertaining. It's amusing to think back to when the rivalry started in 2017 and 2018 and neither team was really any good.
The match where I fell in love with volleyball was this 2018 home match where Nika Markovic served for 10 straight points against Louisville. The recap says it was "in front of a program-record attendance of 2,152 at Fitzgerald Field House."
No. 6 Pitt Volleyball Tops No. 21 Cards, Breaks Attendance Record - Pitt Panthers #H2P
PITTSBURGH – The No. 6 University of Pittsburgh volleyball team overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth set to defeat No. 21 Louisville, 3-1, in front of a program-record
Agreed, was just going off top 25 teams from this year, but I could see Miami and SMU both becoming perennial top 25 contenders as well going forward
That 5th set in the Final Four exempted, Pitt-Louisville matches have been outrageously entertaining. It's amusing to think back to when the rivalry started in 2017 and 2018 and neither team was really any good.
The match where I fell in love with volleyball was this 2018 home match where Nika Markovic served for 10 straight points against Louisville. The recap says it was "in front of a program-record attendance of 2,152 at Fitzgerald Field House."
No. 6 Pitt Volleyball Tops No. 21 Cards, Breaks Attendance Record - Pitt Panthers #H2P
PITTSBURGH – The No. 6 University of Pittsburgh volleyball team overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth set to defeat No. 21 Louisville, 3-1, in front of a program-record
2017 & 2018 had Stephanie Williams (3x 1st Team ACC), Nika Markovic, (2x), Kayla Lund (4x), Chinaza Ndee (3x), and Layne Van Buskirk (2x), and Kamalani Akeo (1x) as the core.
Five repeat 1st teamers & six 1st teamers on the same roster? There are only six players on the floor at a time! They were BEYOND good.
Ranked victories over Cal Poly, Washington, and Louisville with 23 straight victories in 2018. You're probably not seeing that again, ever.
Yes but keep in mind the ACC was BAD back then. Pitt ended the regular season 29-1 and was the only ACC team ranked at #11 in the country and ended up the twelfth overall seed in the tournament. Louisville had a stint in the rankings mid-season but that was it. We also got bounced by Michigan in the second round of the tournament because we werent used to playing at the Big 10 level of competition like they were. The ACC has come so far since then
We didn't get bounced because of the Big 10 level competition.
We got bounced because our best player had an ankle injury that kept her completely out of the game and Zoe Faki (a player who eventually transferred out) started in her place. I was there. I lived it.
I didn't say anything about the ACC back then. I said WE were good back then. That 2018 team did some things we'll likely never see again.
Faki actually played pretty well, stepping up in that match.
My point was just that Pitt and Louisville were fighting for ACC titles, but the rest of the country didn't much care. It wasn't until we surprised people in the 2020-21 (spring) tournament that things really changed for us at a national level.
I think it says plenty that Lexis Akeo should've been the 2019 ACC rookie of the year after going 18-0 and now four years later she barely gets off our bench.
Markovic and Levers were actually two of my favorite players during their time.
We were good back then for sure, but that 2018 team would get smoked by this year's Pitt team, even though we won't have as many all-ACC nominees. Which is due to the conference improving so much.
Even the 2020-21 team (who was a couple plays away from beating UW to make the F4) was a mess until late in the season. We got swept by Syracuse. That team even with POY Lund might get smoked by Babcock & Co. today. JUCO transfer Jordan Lockwood was our starting RS and Browske only took over at libero in the spring semester.
All that said, I still feel like Pitt was robbed of an ACC title that season. Louisville only won because they kept canceling matches.
That thread now is 7 pages, and it is interesting that not one post questions Pitt as the #3 overall seed. They mostly believe that if Wisconsin beats Nebraska in Madison they will get the #4 seed; if they lose it will be Texas or Louisville.
Of course, we still have to beat Miami and Syracuse. A loss to either and we don’t host a regional.
Personally, I hope Wisconsin wins and gets the #4 and Louisville gets the #5 overall seed. I would rather play Texas in the round of 8 than play Louisville for the third time.
There was a lot of skepticism on that board, which is mostly made up of very knowledgeable volleyball people, that they would put us in a regional with Oregon and BYU both in it.
It amuses me that DBK is always professional and complimentary of Pitt, but you can tell she doesn't enjoy saying it. I think that is the best kind of rivalry.
Also each team scored the same amount of total points for the match, 111.
DBK is a terrific coach.
Having said that, my daughter sends me a text every time she sees DBK on TV that reads, "I hate that b*tch!!"
🤣 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Here is a complete replay of Saturday's "instant classic" volleyball match from The Pete.
I watched it again last night. Much respect to both teams and coaching staff.
Kelsey Bonk is the color analyst. Her insights were spot on and added to my enjoyment of watching Pitt vs Louisville.
I watched it again last night. Much respect to both teams and coaching staff.
Kelsey Bonk is the color analyst. Her insights were spot on and added to my enjoyment of watching Pitt vs Louisville.
This made me laugh. You have to respect DBK’s record but I agree with your daughter 100%. Something about DBK I find incredibly annoying.
On another matter, this is a four page thread of great stuff on a great Pitt VB team. I love it.
My wife said it best as we were watching the match, "she looks like she really knows what shes doing but has such a resting b*tch face!"
