#7 Louisville @ #4 Pittsburg 11-26-2025 WVB
Dear Readers~
This week's game of the 2025 NCAA Women's Indoor Volleyball season has #4 Pittsburg hosting #7 Louisville in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. This is the second time I've covered Pittsburg but the first time I've covered Louisville, so if you'd like to hear more about either of them during the national championships, let me know. Today's game took place at Pittsburg's Petersen Events Center on November 26th at 7pm Eastern Time. Going into this game, Louisville sits at 24-4 after coming off of 10 straight wins and only losing 6 of the 36 sets they've played in those 10 games. The last time Louisville lost a game was when they last played Pittsburg on October 19th in Louisville, losing 2-3. As for Pittsburg, they are sitting at a record of 24-4 as well after coming off of a 3-game winning streak by taking down teams like Berkeley, Syracuse, and Boston College. Their last loss was to Stanford on November 14th in Stanford as they lost 2-3. With Pittsburg winning the last matchup, who do you think will win this one? Will Pittsburg prove why they're one of the best in the nation or will Louisville get revenge after losing the last matchup? Let's get into today's game to find out.
For those who haven't seen my coverage of some of the earlier games in the season, NCAA indoor games are played anywhere from 3 to 5 sets. If you win 3 sets, you've won the game but if you lose 3 sets, you've lost the game. The first four sets are played first to 25 (which happens very often unless you're Nebraska or Kentucky for example) while the fifth set (if needed) is played first to 15. The thing is each set requires a lead of 2 points or more for the set to conclude. Back in 2018 during a game between Oregon and Minnesota, a set ended at 41-39 (meaning 80 points were scored in a single set) and shows just how important that two-point lead can be. With most sets playing to 25, each team is given two timeouts for each set, similar to basketball. Just like in basketball, the NCAA lets players switch out up to 15 times each set but with 6 players on the court for each team, the changes need to be smart and strategic. With our explanation over, let's get into today's game from Pittsburg as we see if Louisville can redeem themselves after losing to Pittsburg earlier this season or if Pittsburg can continue to prove why they're one of the best teams in the nation.
The score was close the entire game, showing just how close the two teams are in terms of skill. The first set ended at 25-23, the closest at the conclusion of any set. This first set ended in favor of Pittsburg and giving them a lead of 1-0. The second set ended close, but not as close as the first, at 25-22 and in favor of Pittsburg yet again. This now gives Pittsburg the 2-0 lead over Louisville and makes them only one set away from winning the game. The third set ended at 25-22 as well, just like the second, and in favor of Pittsburg, giving them the 3-0 victory over Louisville to win the game.
Now let's see who some of the top players from each of the 5 stats are. The five stats we'll be covering include kills, aces, blocks, assists, and digs. The leader in kills goes to Pittsburg's Olivia Babcock, with 22, while Louisville's Payton Petersen (yes, it's spelled just like the venue) and Chloe Chicoine were the next closest at 13 and 12 respectively. The next stat is aces. The leader goes to Pittsburg's Haiti Tautua'a (like Haiti the country), with 3, while Pittsburg's Olivia Babcock and Louisville's Cara Cresse each have 2. Pittsburg's Mallorie Meyer and Louisville's Chloe Chicoine and Hannah Kennedy all have 1 ace each as well. The leader in blocks goes to Pittsburg's Bre Kelley and Olivia Babcock, each with 5, while Pittsburg's Abbey Emch and Louisville's Cara Cresse each have 4 of their own. The next stat is assists. The athlete with the most is Louisville's Nayelis Cabello, with 32, while Pittsburg's Brooke Mosher isn't far behind with 30 of her own. The leader in digs goes to Louisville's Kamden Schrand, with 15, while Pittsburg's Marina Pezelj and Louisville's Payton Petersen follow shortly after, each with 12 of their own. Now let's see which athlete showed up the most for each team. Out of the 5 listed stats, the athlete that showed up the most is Pittsburg's Right-Side Olivia Babcock, who showed up in 4 of the 5 stats we've talked about. She ended the game with 22 kills, 2 aces, 5 blocks, and 8 digs. Louisville's most mentioned athlete is Middle Blocker Cara Cresse, who showed up in 3 of the 5 stats we've talked about. She ended the game with 10 kills, 2 aces, and 4 blocks.
Now that we've covered how each team did and who the top athlete of each team was, let's see who each team will play next. For Louisville, their next game will be against Texas A&M for round 3 of the national championships while Pittsburg will play their next game against Purdue in the regional final.
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