OMAHA, Neb. – The LIU volleyball team gave Pitt a scare in the first set, but eventually fell to the No. 18 nationally-ranked Panthers, 3-0 (26-24, 25-11, 25-10).
 
"It's great to be here," head coach Ken Ko said. "It's great to be playing in the NCAA tournament this year. I'm just really proud of our team. The first set was really competitive and I loved the way we responded. I would say it was maybe more than I expected, but it was really fun."
 
Pitt opened the game on a 6-0 run, but after Coach Ken Ko called a timeout, LIU's points began to fall.
 
"I think we just needed a break," Ko said. "Once we got back to the program of what we were supposed to, I think things started to open up for us a little bit. I think it got us in a good position to score and to do some things that were good for us. There weren't a lot of adjustments, just a reminder of what our game plan was, and it worked really well actually."
 
Kills from Miranda Strongman and Karolina Nova were a part of a 3-0 run by LIU that cut the lead to 7-5. LIU would put together another 3-0 run, including kills from Jovana Stekovivc and Kristina Mamic, and the Sharks had cut the lead to 11-10, and Pitt called a timeout.
 
But early momentum favored the Sharks, and LIU kept rolling. LIU would score four straight points, including a kill from Nova, and a block from Strongman and Mamic that would give LIU the lead, 15-13. The Panthers would call another timeout, but the battle wouldn't stop.
 
After Pitt went on a 7-0 run, LIU, down 22-17, began to battle back. A kill by Nova and an ace by freshman Ainsley Malis started what would eventually be a 6-1 run by LIU that tied it up, 23-23. LIU would face set point, but battle back with a kill from Stekovic. Pitt would get another set point, and this time, they took the win, 26-24.
 
The Sharks' hitting percentage would drop in the second set, and Pitt took advantage, winning 25-11. And in set three, while LIU was able to improve its accuracy, they couldn't overcome one of the top teams in the country, and dropped the third set, 25-10.
 
"I think that with eight players that have never played DI volleyball before, and as many freshman and sophomores that were starting out there, it was an invaluable learning experience to be playing a great team like Pitt," Ko said. "They were physical, they run the same system that we were running, and we can really see areas that we need to grow as well. But for a while, we were really hanging in there with them, and it was fantastic. We were playing beyond our years, I think at times, and that was a great feeling."
 
Sophomore Karolina Nova led the Sharks with 10 kills in the match, along with five digs. Senior Jovana Stekovic added seven kills, while sophomore Miranda Strongman had four kills and a block. Freshmen setters Allie Merz and Ainsley Malis split time; Merz finished with seven assists and eight digs, while Malis had eight assists and four digs. Libero Anastasia Scott finished with eight digs and seven assists for the Sharks.
 
"I think for us being such a young team, it's great to get here and see this high level of competition, and I think it's going to be really great to see how we grow from this experience into next season and the seasons after that," Anastasia Scott said. "This is a great starting point, for us to have a look of what it looks like, at this tournament and at this level, so hopefully we can take this experience and only go up from here."
 
With the loss, LIU finishes the 2020-21 season with an 8-6 overall record.