The Oregon Ducks' NCAA tournament run dashed by No. 1 Pitt Panthers

The No. 14 Oregon Ducks were marching through the postseason. After defeating the High Point Panthers and the No. 20 TCU Horned Frogs in the first two rounds of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament, the Ducks faced the No. 1 Pittsburgh Panthers in the Regional Semifinal.

Pitt barely dropped a set all season, sweeping the Oregon Ducks in both teams' first game of the year, and looked nearly unstoppable throughout the tournament.

However, as the Ducks took the Panthers to five sets – one of the very few teams to do so this year – Pitt was able to outlast Oregon and advance to the next round, sending the Ducks flying home.

In the first round, Pitt looked like it would roll past the Ducks, winning the first 25-19 to go up one set to none over Oregon. However, Oregon came marching back in the second set, winning 26-24 to even the overall score.

It was a similar scene during the third and fourth sets as the two teams won one set a piece, bringing the set total to 2-2 overall.

Pitt got off to a hot start in the fifth and final set, which is only played to 15 points instead of the usual 25-point sets, and never looked back. Despite Oregon holding off three set points once the Panthers got up to 14, the Ducks simply couldn't pull off the comeback and lost the final set 15-12.

In the match, Mimi Colyer led the Ducks with an impressive 15 kills, followed by Michelle Ohwobete with 14 and Onye Ofoegbu with 13. The biggest problems for Oregon during the matchup were communication and errors – the Ducks had 30 errors in total and just 58 total kills.

The Panthers advance to the next round of their home-based regional (the Elite Eight) where they will face the Kentucky Wildcats. Oregon will fly home where some of the players will shift their focus to the sand volleyball season.

Read more: