No. 6 Pittsburgh edged No. 4 Louisville, 3-2, in a fiery top 10 rivalry matchup on Sunday, October 19. The two ACC foes duked it in a rematch of the 2024 national semifinals, feeding off the energy in a bouncing L&N Federal Credit Arena. 

In a tightly contested five-setter that showcased the best of what each defenses had to offer, the Panthers found the edge with 10 blocks while hitting .313 despite the Cardinals efforts. 

Pitt stuck first, taking a 25-20 win in set one. But Louisville flipped the script in set two and three, earning commanding wins and a 2-1 edge entering the fourth. In a do or die situation, the Panthers owned set four, 25-17 and forced the rivalry match to five. 

With the Cardinal crowd on their feet, Louisville punched first but a 6-0 Pitt scoring run put the Panthers ahead 7-3. Louisville fought back within one point of striking distance before Pitt took total control and clinched the victory, 15-11. 

Outside Olivia Babcock had a historic day, powering a program-record 41 kills on .423 hitting. Babcock’s elite performance marks her as only the fourth NCAA player since 2019 to record 40 kills in a single match. She passed her previous career-high of 33 kills in set four which she earned in 2024 against Louisville in their Final Four loss. 

The 2024 National Player of the Year shared five blocks on the day with middle Ryla Jones, forcing the Louisville offense to a .167 and .000 hitting percentage in the fourth and fifth sets. 

With the win, Pitt earned its seventh ranked victory of the season and avenged its 2024 national semifinal heartbreak while handing Louisville only its fourth loss at home since 2020. The two rivals will meet again Wednesday, Nov. 26 at the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA. 

See final stats here. 

SAN JOSE – After dismal performances in their previous two outings, the San Jose Sharks needed a response Saturday night in their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

They got it, but their first win of the season remains elusive.

Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic made 24 saves, including 18 in the first period, but Sidney Crosby’s second-period goal proved to be the winner as the Penguins handed the Sharks a 3-0 loss at SAP Center.

Penguins forward Anthony Mantha added an insurance goal at the 7:02 mark of the third period, and Evgeni Malkin scored an empty-netter with 21 seconds to go, as the Sharks (0-3-2) remained the NHL’s last winless team.

The Sharks open a four-game road trip on Tuesday against the New York Islanders.

Ugly starts are nothing new for San Jose as the team started 0-5-0 in 2022, 0-10-1 in 2023, and 0-7-2 last season. They finished with the NHL’s fourth-worst record in 2022-23 and have ended the previous two years at the bottom of the league standings.

The Sharks began this season with overtime losses to both the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks, but were completely outclassed in their last two games before Saturday. The Sharks lost 5-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, in which they didn’t manage a shot on net in the third period, and 6-3 to the Utah Mammoth on Friday, in which they were badly outchanced in the first period.

“The victory will come with the way we work and the way we compete,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said before Saturday’s game. “The game is a humbling game. We can’t beat ourselves. We have to be disciplined in certain situations.

“Right now, we just want to win the game. You’ve got to put the work in to the get the result. So we’ve got to worry about the process and the way we have to work and the way we have to play, and the victory will come with that.”

The Sharks created a handful of scoring chances in an up-tempo first two periods but were unable to beat Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry, who finished with 30 saves.

On the Penguins’ goal, Rickard Rakell took the puck around the Sharks’ net and found defenseman Kris Letang at the blue line. His shot toward the net was then redirected past Nedeljkovic for his third goal of the season.

The Penguins later took a 2-0 lead as Justin Brazeau danced around Macklin Celebrini and fed Mantha for his second goal this season.

Celebrini scored his first goal of the season on Friday, and stil leads the Sharks with five points in five games. His childhood idol, Crosby, has seven points in six games.

It’s a college football Saturday in western Pennsylvania as the Geneva Golden Tornadoes are set to face the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets this week in the Presidents Athletic Conference. 

Tune into today’s game by watching the video player above, on KDKA+, and through Paramount Plus, and Pluto TV. 

Waynesburg hosts today’s game and heads into the contest with a 2-4 record, having lost its last two games against Allegheny and Grove City.

Geneva is 3-3 on the season and bounced back with a high-scoring win over Thiel last week after losing to Grove City two weeks ago.

Both teams in today’s game were picked to be middle of the pack teams this year in the PAC preseason poll with Geneva picked to finish 5th and Waynesburg picked to finish 6th out of the 11 teams in the conference.

Kickoff from Wiley Stadium in Waynesburg is set for 1 p.m.

PAC Football on KDKA+ and CBS News Pittsburgh

KDKA+ is your home for football in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference this year.

All season long, we’re bringing you live action from all across our area.

• 10/25 – Westminster at Grove City – 1 p.m.
• 11/1 – Case Western Reserve at Washington & Jefferson – 6 p.m.
• 11/15 – Bethany at Allegheny – 1 p.m.