Pitt women's volleyball knocks off defending champ Wisconsin to reach Final Four

Pitt’s women’s volleyball team earned a trip to the NCAA Final Four for the second straight season with a dramatic, five-set victory over defending national champion Wisconsin on Saturday night.

Pitt will face ACC foe Louisville in the national semifinals Thursday in Omaha, Neb.

Pitt jumped out to a 11-6 lead in the decisive fifth set before Wisconsin rallied to tie the score 11-11.

It was 13-13 when Pitt, the second seed in the region, won consecutive points on kills by Valeria Vazquez Gomez and Courtney Buzzerio to knock off the top-seeded Badgers.

We’ll remember this one for a looooong time ????#H2P x #NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/KjnT3ICthG

— Pitt Volleyball (@Pitt_VB) December 11, 2022

Wisconsin (28-4), which was 16-0 at the UW Field House this season coming into Saturday’s match, won the first set, 25-23. Pitt (31-3) bounced back to win the next two sets 25-21 before the Badgers pulled even with a 25-19 victory.

Buzzerio led the Panthers with 18 kills. Chiamaka Nwokolo had 12 and Vazquez Gomez added 11 kills and 22 digs. Rachel Fairbanks had 37 assists and 16 digs.

Devyn Robinson led Wisconsin with 21 kills. Sarah Franklin had 15 and Anna Smrek added 13.