It could have been a game for ages where two ACC rivals locked horns to claim a seat. A victory in the game would settle the score and earn the ticket for the NCAA Volleyball Championship final! At the end of the day, the Louisville Cardinals found themselves on the better side. Pittsburgh volleyball, on the other side, had to miss another final. The Panthers have been eliminated in the NCAA volleyball semifinals for the fourth time in a row. This time, Louisville, their archrival, kept them at bay. Naturally, the Panthers’ camp would go silent in the aftermath of the setback. However, that was not the case.

Something different happened on Thursday (December 19). The star player of the game and of the Pittsburgh volleyball team raised fingers at the squad, blaming it as the prime reason for losing the game. That was one of a kind, as the lines came out unexpectedly. But what were those? 

Pittsburgh volleyball star blames the team for losing the key encounter 

On December 19, the Louisville Cardinals overpowered the No. 1 overall seed, the Pittsburgh volleyball team. The 3-1 victory over the Panthers earned the Cardinals an entry to the final. However, a volleyball fan might find it hard to digest that in the same game, the Panthers’ key player sealed her career-high score. Yes, on Thursday, Olivia Babcock, the right-side hitter of the Panthers, claimed 33 kills with a hitting percentage of 0.391. A mammoth achievement! Still, her achievement fell short of saving her squad from missing the final. Why? In the post-game press conference, Babcock had to counter almost a similar question.

The Panthers star didn’t stop herself from criticizing her team. In the presser, she said, “I mean, I think we were just in the four sets. We were being a bit passive with those plays.” In those four sets, three sets went to the Cardinals’ side by small margins. Was Babcock speaking about those? 

Apart from the last set (which was won by the Pittsburgh volleyball team), three sets had numbers like 25-21, 23-25, and 27-29. So a better approach might have saved the day for them. Isn’t it? According to Babcock, several factors went against the Panthers. A few of those were surely connected with them. “I mean, normally we would have been more aggressive and I feel like you know their momentum was slowing us down,” she said. But those factors were not in her hand. She, in the meantime, named something else that could have been maintained. In the press conference, Olivia claimed, “I don’t think we stopped fighting, but I think those plays it was just kind of we were trying to rely on other people to do it for us.” Surprisingly, everything came in the presence of Pitt’s coach, Dan Fisher, and Torrey Stafford.

Did they agree with Olivia Babcock’s words? Nobody knows. But on the same day, Pittsburgh volleyball’s opponent displayed a coherent message of unity on the court. How? Through their playing. 

Louisville Cardinals own the day riding on the team play 

On Thursday, the Louisville Cardinals stamped several records while winning their way to the NCAA volleyball final. First, the victory over the Pittsburgh volleyball earned them an entry to their second appearance in the NCAA volleyball final in the last three years. Moreover, with the 3-1 result against the nemesis, they settled the score after the Panthers knocked them out last year, defeating them in the NCAA Regionals final. Another? The victory put a stop to the four-match losing streak against the Pittsburgh volleyball. So lots of bull’s eyes on the same day! Nonetheless, the Cardinals had to put their best effort into defeating the top seed overall. 

An incident might clear the picture. In the third set of the game, the Cardinals faced a massive blow. They had to lose Anna DeBeer because of her right ankle injury. It was a desperate attempt to block the opponent’s serve. But the effort didn’t go as expected. Soon DeBeer left the court after scoring 24 kills. Losing such a player in a critical time might have sent shivers down the spine of any squad. The Cardinals, however, held on. Payton Petersen took up the place left by Anna. Meanwhile, she inflicted back-to-back aces to put the death knell on the Panthers’ dream of making a comeback. Was that the epitome of team play on a day when the opponent faced a crisis of it? What do you think?