Pitt volleyball falls short in national semifinals, losing 3-1 to Nebraska

When asked about his plan of attack for the national semifinals, Pitt volleyball coach Dan Fisher kept it simple: Hit it as hard as we can as many times as we can.

That’s how Fisher has built the Panthers into a prominent program. There isn’t much finesse about the way they play.

Hit it as hard as we can as many times as we can.

Nebraska, however, hit it a little harder and into the floor a little more often.

After advancing to the final four of the NCAA Tournament, a step further than last season, the Panthers (30-4) lost to the perennially powerful Huskers, 3-1, in front of a partisan Nebraska crowd Thursday night at Nationwide Center in Columbus, Ohio.

“We weren’t quite good enough tonight in a couple of areas,” said Fisher, who has led Pitt to a record of 135-20 over the past five seasons. “It stings because we felt like we could have played a little bit better. But what hasn’t stung at all is having spent time with this team all year. I’m proud to be associated with this team and our city.”

Nebraska’s victory means an all-Big Ten final. Nebraska (26-7) will face Wisconsin (30-3), which ended Louisville’s bid for an undefeated season, in the final Saturday. The Badgers edged the Cardinals, 3-2, in Thursday’s first semifinal that, because of its length, pushed the start of the Panthers’ match back to 10:30.

One of the areas Fisher said hurt his team was serving. Pitt committed 12 service errors in the match.

But, he said, the service-line issue wasn’t the only culprit in the loss.

“Well, the service errors were a factor. But mostly I just thought that we didn’t have a great night offensively,” he said. “Not one of our pins (outside hitters) hit over .200. That’s the first time ever. I think the last couple of years, I don’t remember a game like that. It’s hard to beat a team without at least one of your pins having a pretty good night.”

As was the case in most of its matches, Pitt was giving up size across the front row. Fifth-year senior outside hitter Kayla Lund, however, attributed the loss less to what the Huskers did and more to what she and her teammates didn’t do.

“I think their defense didn’t affect us as much as it shows,” Lund said. “I think it was our offense that struggled a lot. Whether it was setting, whether it was out-of-system setting or anybody else setting and our hitters not being in rhythm and getting to the ball. And then when we get a good set, not taking advantage of it.”

Lund finished her stellar career with a nine-kill, 14-dig performance. But, to Fisher’s point, she hit only .129. Still, Lund gave a brave effort, playing, as she had throughout the late stages of the season, with an upper-body injury.

Leketor Member-Meneh led Pitt with 13 kills, and Serena Gray added 11. Chinaza Ndee had eight kills and four block assists.

For Lund and Ndee, it was the end of a memorable run together. They came to Pitt at the same time and, after last season, announced together that they would be returning for a fifth season.

The two — who played no small role in those 135 wins — shared a brief, quiet moment on the court together after the dust settled.

“All we can really say is, ‘I love you,’ ” Ndee said. “There’s not a lot of words you can put together to sum up so many years of time spent together, memories created together. There’s not really a sentence that covers it.”

Third-seeded Pitt opened with a 25-16 victory, showing no fear of the vaunted Huskers. Ndee and Member-Meneh had four kills each, and Chiamaka Nwokolo, playing in front of her hometown fans in Columbus, had three kills and a block to spearhead the surge.

“I thought Pittsburgh came out and just was unbelievable the first game,” said veteran Nebraska coach John Cook, who will try for his fifth national title Saturday. “Their tempo … everything they were doing, it was perfect volleyball for several points. So I was a little worried that it could be a fast night.”

The Huskers, entering the final four as the lowest seed among the teams (10th), began to assert their pedigree in the second set, building an 18-11 lead on their way to a 25-17 victory.

Nwokolo continued her solid play into the third set. Through the middle stages of the set, she had made good on all five of her attacks and amassed four blocks. The set was tightly contested throughout, tied 17-17 at one point, before the Huskers took control late for a 25-20 victory.

In the fourth set, the Panthers made a valiant bid to send the match to a deciding fifth set, tying the score at 20-20. But a Huskers double block on an attack by Member-Meneh and an ensuing attack error by Pitt gave Nebraska all the daylight it needed. Nebraska won 25-22.

Now the challenge for the Panthers is to continue building. They will have big shoes to fill with the departures of Lund, Ndee and the other seniors. But new stars emerged: Nwokolo, who finished with seven kills and six total blocks, and freshman Rachel Fairbanks, who had three kills, 27 assists, two aces and six digs.

It was not the way Lund and Ndee wanted to go out. But they did so as Fisher wanted: They went out swinging as hard as they could and as many times as they could.

“I think they’re two of the greatest Pitt players ever for any sport,” he said. “They’re both on the Varsity Walk already, which is unique. But they’ve set the tone for how we do business for the last five years. And I don’t know if I can put it into words. I love them both a lot, and we would not be here without them.”