The top-ranked Pitt women's volleyball player scores a 3-2 win over No. 4 Louisville

The top-ranked Pitt women's volleyball team earned its second win over a top-five opponent in six days with a five-set win over No. 4 Louisville on Friday night before a crowd of 11,309 at the Petersen Events Center.

The Panthers won the first (25-21) and third sets (25-17) and Louisville won the second (28-26) and fourth (25-22). Pitt won the decisive set 15:12.

Valeria Vazquez Gomez scored the game-winning point off an assist from Nisa Buzlutepe, and the game withstood a Louisville challenge.

The win puts Pitt (18-1, 8-1 ACC) tied for first place in the conference standings with Louisville (16-3, 8-1).

The Panthers had a win over No. 5 Stanford on Sunday, their first win over the Cardinals and their second win over a top-five team this season (they beat No. 3 Penn State on Sept. 18). Pitt's only loss came at then-No. 15 SMU (3-2) on Oct. 12. Louisville lost to then-No. 7 Penn State on September 3 and then No. 5 Nebraska on September 22.

Pitt and Louisville have developed a strong rivalry, with one of the two having won at least a share of the ACC Championship in the last seven seasons. They won the conference title in 2022 and Pitt won the ACC last season.

Pitt twice rallied from straight-set deficits last year to beat Louisville, including in the NCAA quarterfinals, to earn a berth in the Final Four. The Cardinals knocked Pitt out of the 2022 NCAA semifinals.

This time the Panthers won the first set. After taking an early 5-1 lead, they maintained a lead behind big kills from Ryla Jones, Bre Kelley and Olivia Babcock that put the finishing touches on set point.

However, Louisville gained momentum and took a 9-3 lead early in the second set before extending it to 13-5. Louisville had a 19-13 lead when Torrey Stafford made a big kill, then scored on a layup to cut the lead to 19-15 and cause Louisville to call a timeout.

Vazquez Gomez made a kill and Louisville's Anna DeBeer made an error that cut the game to 19-7 and forced another Cardinals timeout.

Pitt came through with some great defensive play and made it 20-20 after a block from Kelley, who in turn made it 21-21 with a kill. The Panthers took their first lead of the set, 24-23, when a decision was reversed. But Louisville scored the next two points and tied the game.

However, the Panthers regained control in the third set. A kill by Vazquez Gomez put Pitt ahead 22-16, Kelley followed a kill with a huge block and Vazquez Gomez hit a service ace to secure the win.

The fourth set was a back and forth affair that ended in a draw ten times. Louisville was leading 20-17 when Kelley's goal was ruled out by the linesman. Pitt coach Dan Fisher objected to the decision and the decision was reversed, making the score 20-18. Louisville scored the next two points on kills from Charitie Luper, but Babock responded with a pair of his own, cutting the game to 22-20. Stafford had two straight kills to cut the score to 23-22, but Louisville scored the next two points and forced a fifth set.