No. 3 Penn State women’s volleyball (8-1) suffered its first loss of the season to No. 1 Pitt (9-0) on Tuesday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Peterson Events Center.

In a highly anticipated top-three matchup between the in-state rivals, the Nittany Lions were outclassed by a highly talented Pitt team. The crowd played a huge factor in determining the outcome of this match, and Penn State didn’t win more than 19 points in any of the three sets.

How It Happened

The match started with Pitt winning the first point on a kill by Olivia Babcock. This allowed the Panthers to get off to a fast start as they went on to win the next three points to take a four-point advantage over Penn State. The Nittany Lions finally got on the board in the set with a kill by Caroline Jurevicius to trim Pitt’s lead to three. However, the Panthers kept their foot on the gas and went on to win the next two points on an attack error by Maggie Mendelson and a kill by Torrey Stafford to take a 6-1 lead. This led Penn State to take its timeout of the game hoping to end Pitt’s momentum.

Out of the timeout, the Nittany Lions responded with a kill by Jess Mzurik to decrease their deficit to four. Both teams went blow-for-blow for the next eight points as Pitt’s lead stayed intact. Its lead increased to five when Bre Kelley recorded a kill for the Panthers. This kill gave a lot of momentum to the Panthers as they went on to win the next three points to increase their lead to eight. The Nittany Lions refused to let Pitt run away with the set and won the next two points to trim Pitt’s lead to six. However, Penn State’s momentum was short-lived, and Pitt responded by winning the next two points to restore its eight-point lead. This forced the Nittany Lions to take their second timeout of the game.

After the timeout, both teams exchanged kills before a service error by Babcock and a kill by Taylor Trammell trimmed Pitt’s lead to six. However, the energy from Peterson Events Center continued to play a huge factor in this game for the Panthers as they used that energy to their advantage by going on a 4-0 run to take a 21-11 lead. Pitt’s double-digit lead didn’t last long as Penn State responded to win the next two points on an attack error by Babcock and a service ace by Izzy Starck to trim its deficit to eight. Both teams exchanged kills for the next four points before an attack error by Jurevicius gave the Panthers their first set-point opportunity. Pitt took advantage of this with an attack error by Mzurik to take the first set at 25-15.

The second set got underway and just like the first set, Pitt won the first point on a kill by Babcock. On the next point, Penn State tied the set at one. The Panthers responded by winning the next two points to take a 3-1 lead in the set. Both teams went blow-for-blow for the next six points before the Nittany Lions got within one point of tying the set. After a service error by Penn State increased Pitt’s lead to two, the Nittany Lions showed their resilience and went on a 3-0 run to take their first lead of the set at 8-7.

However, Penn State’s lead was short-lived as Pitt used the energy of its home crowd to its advantage and regained the lead at 10-9. This advantage allowed the Panthers to keep their momentum as they went on to win three of the next four points to take a 13-10 lead. The lead increased to four as Pitt won two of the next three points, which led to a media timeout.

Out of the timeout, the Nittany Lions responded by winning two straight points to trim their deficit to two. However, Stafford remained the catalyst for Pitt and recorded a huge kill for the Panthers to increase their lead to three. After Pitt increased its lead to four, Penn State refused to go away and responded by winning three straight points to decrease Pitt’s lead to one and force the Panthers to take a timeout.

After Pitt’s timeout, both teams exchanged points before a kill by Stafford increased the Panthers’ lead to two. This kill gave a lot of momentum to the Panthers as they went on to win the next two points to increase their lead to four. This forced Penn State to take a timeout hoping to regain their momentum.

Out of the timeout, the Nittany Lions ended Pitt’s 3-0 run with a kill by Mendelson to decrease the deficit to three. However, Pitt recorded back-to-back kills to take a 23-18 and get within two points of taking a two-set lead. After Mzurik recorded a kill for the Nittany Lions on the next point, Stafford recorded a huge kill for the Panthers to give themselves their first set-point opportunity. Just like the first set, Pitt took advantage with a kill by Ryla Jones to take the set at 25-19 and a two-set lead.

The third set began with Pitt winning the first point before Penn State tied the set up at one. However, the Panthers refused to let the Nittany Lions as they went on to win the next two points to take a 3-1 lead in the set. After Penn State won the next point, Jones recorded a huge kill for the Panthers to increase Pitt’s lead to two. Penn State responded by winning the next point to decrease Pitt’s lead to one again. However, with the home crowd on their side, the Panthers continued to maximize their home-field advantage as they went on a 3-0 run to take a four-point lead in the set. This forced the Nittany Lions to take a timeout with the hope of finding answers on how to get back in the set.

After the timeout, Pitt’s momentum kept riding its momentum as it increased its run to four to take an 8-3 lead. Both teams exchanged points before the Panthers pulled away by winning five of the next eight points to increase their lead to seven. Pitt kept putting its foot on the gas and went on another 3-0 run to take a 10-point lead in the set. Both teams went blow-for-blow for the next four points as Pitt’s double-digit lead stayed intact. However, Penn State refused to go away and showed a lot of resilience by going on a 4-0 run to trim the deficit to six and forced the Panthers to take a timeout.

Out of the timeout, the Nittany Lions kept riding their momentum and increased their run to six to get within four points of Pitt’s lead. This forced Pitt to take another timeout to Penn State’s momentum. After the timeout, Pitt ended the run with a kill by Stafforfd, which was a wake-up call for the Panthers as they went on to win the next two points to take a 21-14 lead. Both teams went blow-for-blow for the next five points before Pitt took a 24-17 lead and earn their first match-point opportunity. Unlike the first two sets, Penn State did not let Pitt take advantage of their first opportunity and saved a match point to decrease their deficit to six. On their second opportunity, the Panthers ended the match thanks to a recorded kill as it finished off the set 25-18 and the sweep.

Takeaways

• The Nittany Lions struggled to keep up with Pitt. They were outclassed in many categories of the match like kills and hitting percentage.
• Pitt demonstrated why it’s the No. 1 team in the country. The Panthers dominated Penn State from start to finish and refused to let it win a set. With this sweep, the Panthers still haven’t lost a set this entire season.
• Pitt’s Torrey Stafford was the huge catalyst in the sweep. She recorded the most kills for the team and came up big for the Panthers whenever momentum was swinging in favor of Penn State.

What’s Next?

Penn State will look to bounce back from its first defeat as it head back to Rec Hall to take on James Madison at 6 p.m. on Friday, September 20, in the Penn State Classic.