No. 13 Penn State women’s volleyball (4-4, 0-0 Big Ten) fell in four sets to No. 5 Pitt (8-2, 0-0 ACC) at Rec Hall on Wednesday night. The Nittany Lions have not beaten the Panthers since 2019.

In front of a packed Rec Hall, both teams went back and forth in the first set, and Penn State got within two points of winning the first set. However, Pitt claimed the first set 25-23 thanks to a 3-0 run in the end. This gave the Panthers momentum as they won the second set convincingly by eight points and put the Nittany Lions in a two-set deficit.

However, Penn State, with the help of Rec Hall, avoided the sweep with a 25-23 third-set win. Pitt refused to let Penn State wager a comeback and won the fourth set by eight points to cap off a four-set win.

How It Happened

Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley went with a starting lineup that consisted of Gillian Grimes, Jordan Hopp, Addie Lyon, Emmi Sellman, Caroline Jurevicius, Kennedy Martin, and Maggie Mendelson. Pitt got off to a quick start as it won the first three points of the first set before Mendelson’s kill got the Nittany Lions on the board.

However, the Panthers responded with back-to-back points to take an early 5-1 lead. Both teams exchanged the next eight points as Pitt’s four-point lead stayed intact. Four consecutive errors occurred as both teams won two points each. After Ryla Jones’s kill increased the Panthers’ lead to five, the Nittany Lions, fueled by their home environment, won five of the next six points to get within one of tying the set at 13.

Pitt refused to relinquish its lead and won the next point on an attack error by Sellman to give it some breathing room. However, Penn State continued to seize its momentum and went on a 3-0 run to take its first lead of the set at 15-14. This led the Panthers to take their first timeout in hopes of cooling off the Nittany Lions’ momentum.

A nice rally to put the Nittany Lions in the lead #WeAre pic.twitter.com/eAdj2r7eyH

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) September 17, 2025

Out of the timeout, Pitt tied the set at 15 with a kill from Bre Kelley. Both teams traded points before a service ace by Sophia Gregoire and attack error by Hopp allowed the Panthers to take a two-point lead. This forced Schumacher-Cawley to use her first timeout of the match.

This timeout paid huge dividends for Penn State as it won back-to-back points to tie the set at 18. However, the deadlock was short-lived as Pitt won consecutive points to regain its two-point lead. After that, Jurevicius recorded back-to-back kills to tie the set once again, but the Panthers responded with kills by Jones and Blaire Bayless to give them a 22-20 lead, forcing the Nittany Lions to take another timeout.

After the timeout, Penn State, with the help of a loud Rec Hall, showed its perseverance as it went on a 3-0 run to retake the lead and get within two points of winning the first set as Pitt took another timeout. This run was highlighted with kills by Jurevicius and Martin, along with a block assist by Mendelson and Martin.

Pitt’s timeout paid off as it responded with back-to-back kills to reach set point. On its first opportunity, it capitalized on a block assist by Dagmar Mourits and Jones as the Panthers came back to win the first set 25-23.

The Nittany Lions won the first point of the second set on a net violation by Jones, but Olivia Babcock’s kill put the Panthers on the board. Both teams traded kills for the next six points before a service ace by Mourits ended this kill streak to give Pitt a 5-4 lead. This ace gave the Panthers momentum as they went on to win consecutive points to extend their lead to three.

Penn State refused to go away and responded by winning three of the next four points to get within one of Pitt’s lead. After the Panthers won the next point, the Nittany Lions seized their momentum as they went on a 4-0 run to take an 11-9 lead. However, Pitt responded once again with a 4-0 run of its own to reclaim its two-point lead. The Panthers won two of the next three points before a media timeout occurred.

Out of the media timeout, both teams exchanged points before Pitt put its foot on the gas and went on a 6-0 run to take a commanding 22-13 lead. This forced the Nittany Lions to take a timeout in hopes of finding a way to get back into the set. Penn State started to show signs of life as it won three of the next four points to decrease its deficit to seven after the timeout.

On the next point, Mourits recorded a kill to give the Panthers eight set points. Penn State saved the first set point on a solo block by Mendelson before Pitt converted its second opportunity on a kill by Bayless to win the second set 25-17 and put the Nittany Lions in a two-set deficit.

Both teams exchanged kills to get the third set underway before the Panthers won consecutive points to take an early 3-1 lead. However, Penn State refused to go down without a fight and Sellman’s kill, along with Martin’s service ace, allowed it to tie the set up at three.

The back-and-forth affair waged on for the next 10 points as the deadlock stayed intact. On the next point, Babcock recorded an attack error, which allowed the Nittany Lions to take a 9-8 lead. However, this lead was short-lived as the Panthers went on a 3-0 run to take a two-point lead. This run came to an end on the next point due to a service error by Babcock.

Both teams traded blows for the next four points before back-to-back points by Pitt increased its lead to three heading into the media timeout. After the media timeout, Penn State, fueled by its Rec Hall environment, started to claw its way back into the set as it won four of the next five points to tie the set at 16.

On the next point, Ava Falduto recorded a service ace that gave the Nittany Lions the lead. The Panthers responded by winning consecutive points before Mendelson’s kill tied the set at 18. Both teams exchanged the next four points before Alexis Ewing’s kill gave Penn State a 21-20 lead, which forced Pitt to take a timeout.

Out of the timeout, the Panthers tied the set at 21 on a kill by Babcock. The Nittany Lions continued to fight and won two of the next three points to get within two points of winning the third set. This led Pitt’s head coach, Dan Fisher, to use a timeout. Lyon recorded a service ace after the timeout to give Penn State two set points.

Pitt saved the first set point on a kill by Babcock. This forced Schumacher-Cawley to take a timeout in hopes of her team to regain its focus ahead of the next set point opportunity. This timeout paid dividends as Martin recorded a huge kill for Penn State to win the third set 25-23 and send this match into a fourth set.

MARTIN. SET 3. OURS.#WeAre pic.twitter.com/O7gcjd7Ux8

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) September 18, 2025

Penn State took advantage of its momentum from the third set and got off to a fast start in the fourth set by winning the first three points. However, Pitt refused to be deterred and responded with a 5-0 run to take the lead. The run ended on the next point due to a service error by Mallorie Meyer before a kill by Mendelson tied the set at five.

The deadlock was short-lived as the Panthers won back-to-back points to take a 7-5 lead. The Nittany Lions responded with a 3-0 run before Pitt tied the set once again at eight on a kill by Brooke Mosher. The back-and-forth affair waged on for the next four points before three consecutive kills by the Panthers gave them a three-point lead.

Pitt extended its run to five on a service ace by Mosher and attack error by Ewing to extend its lead to five heading into the media timeout. Out of the media timeout, both teams exchanged the next six points before a block assist by Mourits and Kelley, along with a kill by Babcock, gave the Panthers a 19-13 lead. This forced Penn State to take a timeout in hopes of clawing its way back into the set.

After the timeout, the Nittany Lions won back-to-back points to get within four of the Panthers’ lead, which caused a Pitt timeout. This timeout paid off as Pitt won five of the next six points to give it eight set points. It could not capitalize on its first chance, but on its second opportunity, Jones recorded a kill to give the Panthers the 25-17 fourth set victory.

Takeaways

• The struggles against Pitt continue for Penn State. Despite having home-court advantage this time, Penn State could not take advantage of it as Pitt refused to be deterred, extending its win streak over Penn State. The last time the Nittany Lions beat the Panthers was in 2019.
• While Olivia Babock led the Panthers to this win with 16 kills, the contribution of Dagmar Mourits cannot go unnoticed as she recorded 13 kills, nine digs, five blocks, and a hitting percentage of .333.
• Hitting percentage proved to be the difference in the outcome of this match as Pitt had a hitting percentage of .299 compared to Penn State’s .169. This led Pitt to have more kills and fewer attack errors than Penn State.

What’s Next?

Penn State will be back in action for the Penn State Classic when it takes on Princeton on Friday, September 19, at 7 p.m., at Rec Hall. The match will be streamed on BTN+.