Watching the Cincinnati Bearcats mascot wave the school’s red flag near the script Pitt logo at the end of the court was tough for the Panthers’ women’s volleyball program.

For the second season, what appeared to be an ideal scenario for marching through the NCAA Tournament evaporated in front of their eyes. Pitt, ranked No. 2 in the polls and seeded sixth overall, fell to the Bearcats, 3-2, Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Game scores were 24-26, 25-21, 16-25, 25-21, 15-13.

“I don’t know if I’m the best one to ask about perspective right now,” Panthers coach Dan Fisher said. “There was a lot of talk about the Final Four in Pittsburgh this year. I don’t think the average fan understands how good the Round of 32 is, how good every team is. The margins are small.”

The Panthers, who had their 20-game winning streak snapped, fell to 0-7 all-time in the second round. Pitt swept Cincinnati (26-5) earlier in the season.

But what the Panthers saw was a different version of the Bearcats. Jordan Thompson, who had a match-high 26 kills, was moved to outside hitter since that first meeting and tortured Pitt (30-2).

“They’ve been sticking with this lineup for half the year,” Fisher said. “We knew what was coming our way, but stopping it is another thing.”

Pitt showed balance on its attack, with four players finishing with double-digit kills. Kayla Lund, who hit 1,000 for her career, led the Panthers with 20.

Chinaza Ndee had 16, Stephanie Williams added 14 and Layne Van Buskirk finished with 13.

The Panthers did have lulls on offense, finishing with 27 errors and a .268 hitting percentage.

Pitt’s problems came when it started slow.

“Serve-receive and some defensive plays,” Lund said. “Serve-receive, definitely, we were struggling there. We didn’t do a great job bettering the ball. Even if we had a so-so pass, I don’t think our setter-hitter connection was as strong out of system as it usually is.”

When the Panthers were trying to close the match in the fourth set, Cincinnati opened with a 7-2 run and stretched the lead to 12-6 before holding on to force a fifth set.

Early in the fifth set, the Panthers found themselves needing to regroup against the Bearcats, whom they swept with little difficulty early in the season.

After Pitt opened with a 4-0 run, Cincinnati responded with five unanswered points.

It was the start of a wild fifth set, which saw both teams with short spurts to take control.

“I think, yes, in the fact that we followed up with a couple mistakes and were able to fight back,” Lund said. “However, we made a few too many critical mistakes.”

Cincinnati gained control of the fifth set by capitalizing on an attack error by Lexis Akeo to take a 14-13 edge. The Bearcats then closed the match with a kill by Maria Mallon.

“We compartmentalize the sets,” Bearcats coach Molly Alvey said. “We play little mini games, so that’s our game, regardless of the score. We focus on what we need to do. We regrouped, and the score doesn’t matter. The match isn’t over until the match is over.”

Pitt’s Ndee, a junior, was disappointed her team fell short of making program history with their three seniors.

“This was a group that really built the program up where it is,” Ndee said. “They are all good people and good teammates. They have a lot to be proud of.”

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