Milestone match, perennial power Nebraska awaits Pitt volleyball in Final Four

Another season, another watershed moment for the Pitt women’s volleyball team.

After reaching the Elite Eight for the first time last season, the third-seeded Panthers (30-3) are in the final four for the first time. They will take on perennial power Nebraska at 9:30 p.m. in Thursday’s second semifinal at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

The first semifinal features unbeaten ACC champion Louisville (32-0) against Wisconsin (29-3). That means the final four is made up exclusively of Big Ten and ACC teams.

“I think both teams are strong in serve-pass,” Pitt coach Dan Fisher said about the matchup with the Huskers. “That will be an interesting battle. And in transition, we’re a little more aggressive than they are. They play it a little safe, so it should be fun to watch.”

Nebraska (25-7) enters as the lowest-seeded team (10th) of the group and is the first double-digit seed to reach the Final Four since 2014. But the Huskers have the richest pedigree. Coach John Cook, in his 22nd season, has coached four national championship teams in Lincoln, the most recent in 2017. Nebraska also was a finalist in 2018.

This is the Huskers’ 10th appearance in the Final Four under Cook, and they knocked off second-seeded Texas to get here.

“I’m very impressed with Pitt,” Cook said. “That team has been building. They’ve got a lot of older players and have been building this for a while. They were right on the verge of making the final four in the spring.”

Added Nebraska junior outside hitter Madi Kubik: “We know that they have a fast offense, and they have a lot of weapons we’re going to have to pay attention to.”

The Panthers were led to this point by a group of veterans fronted by fifth-year players Kayla Lund and Chinaza Ndee. Both were named first-team All-ACC earlier this month, and for Lund, it was her fourth such honor.

She has been battling an upper-body injury during the tournament but has been an important cog in Pitt’s machine.

Lund was at her best against Penn State in the second round – 21 kills on .421 hitting, three aces, four block assists and 10 digs – after making only a cameo appearance in the opening win over UMBC.

She wasn’t nearly as dominant in the Panthers’ other tournament matches, but Pitt had plenty of players pick up the slack, including a couple who don’t normally make headlines: junior Chiamaka Nwokolo and freshman Rachel Fairbanks.

Nwokolo will be playing in front of hometown fans this weekend. She starred at Columbus’ Bishop Hartley High School.

“Sometimes she needs some encouragement in practice to bring it all,” Fisher said of Nwokolo, who had eight kills and hit .375 in the regional final win over Purdue. “She does not need encouragement at all when the stage gets bigger. She loves to compete.”

In Fairbanks, the Panthers might have found a future star. Used sparingly through most of the season, over the past month, she has increased her production.

Listed as a setter, she has shown surprising aplomb on the attack. During the tournament, she has accumulated 21 kills to go with 99 assists.

“She has a pretty good arm, and she (is) getting stronger,” Fisher said. “She is physically more mature than when she showed up this summer. And she (is) becoming a more technical setter. Combine that with some injuries to (fifth-year setter) Kylee (Levers), and she was thrust in a role and has really done great.”

The Panthers will need all of their weapons if they want to reach yet another milestone: a national championship match. With a lineup that features a cadre of powerful hitters, Fisher isn’t planning on changing the strategy that has led his program to 135 wins over the past five years.

“We plan on doing what we always do,” Fisher said. “We’ll try to hit the ball as hard as we can as many times as we possibly can.”