#21 Volleyball Drops Heartbreaker To #4 Pitt In Five

Sunday, November 2

Chapel Hill, N.C.

1:30 PM

North Carolina

#4 Pitt

University of North Carolina Volleyball v Pitt
Carmichael Arena
Chapel Hill, NC
Sunday, November 2, 2025

Photo by: AINSLEY E. FAUTH

November 2, 2025 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 21 Carolina Volleyball battled with No. 4 Pitt but ultimately fell in five (18-25, 25-22, 23-25, 26-24, 17-15).

The UNC block was relentless the entire match as the Tar Heels finished with 22.5 blocks, obliterating the previous match high of 16. A massive part of that was Lauren Schutter who shattered her career-best with 13 blocks on the day.

After setting her career high on Friday with 28 assists, Sienna Cozza came out and had 30 two days later to set a new career record.

The match felt like a heavyweight bout between two prized fighters. Blow after the blow, the Tar Heels kept punching back. After dropping the first set, and going down 6-3 in the first, they scratched and clawed their way back into it. After cutting it to 7-6, the two teams alternated points until UNC tied it up at 18-18 to finally break the back and forth. Pitt took a 19-18 lead and then the run UNC was looking for finally came. A Safi Hampton kill and then three straight aces from Jackie Taylor gave the Tar Heels a 22-19 lead. The teams would alternate until Safi Hampton ended the set to tie things up at 1-1.

In the third, UNC was unable to hold on to an early lead and came up just short to put its back against the wall in the fourth. Trailing 6-5, the Tar Heels went on a 4-0 run to take a 9-6 lead and force a Pitt timeout. The Panthers would rally and take a 16-14 lead, forcing a UNC timeout. UNC knotted things back up at 19-19 but then Pitt went on a 4-1 run to take a 23-20 lead. That's when two Chelsea Thorpe kills and two Pitt errors gave UNC a 24-23 lead. Pitt managed to tie things up but then a Hampton and Schutter block and a Hampton kill gave the Tar Heels with fourth set to force a fifth.

In the fifth, Pitt came out fast, taking an 8-3 lead into the switch. Pitt maintained a 10-5 lead and UNC called a timeout. A 4-1 run cut the Pitt lead to just 11-10. Then facing match point, UNC rattled off the next three points to tie things up at 14-14. They then tied it again at 15-15. Pitt scored the next two points to take the set and the match.

This marks UNC's fourth loss of the year, two of which have been to top 10 teams who made the Final Four last season and three have been in five sets.

Carolina now heads west for its first ACC trip to California to take on No. 5 Stanford on Friday and California on Sunday.