Pitt players huddle during their semifinal match against Texas A&M in Kansas City on Thursday. Photo courtesy University of Pittsburgh Athletics

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kyndal Stowers and Logan Lednicky combined for 34 points to lead Texas A&M to a 29-27, 25-21, 25-20 sweep of Pittsburgh on Thursday, punching their ticket to the national championship game.

It was the fifth consecutive season Pitt lost in the national semifinals.

Stowers led with 18 points and 16 kills on a 53% kill rate, while Lednicky had 16 points and 14 kills on a 45% kill rate. It was Lednicky’s 22nd consecutive match with double-digit kills. Maddie Waak had 47 assists.

The No. 3 seed Aggies (28-4) advanced to the final for the first time in program history after never advancing past the Elite Eight. En route to the final, the Aggies knocked off two No. 1 seeds in a previously undefeated Nebraska team, and Pitt, along with No. 2 seed Louisville.

Pitt had not been swept a single time this season before Thursday.

“The main story from a coaching standpoint is, we hit for a high enough percentage, that’s for sure,” Pitt coach Dan Fisher said. “If you would have told me we would hit .350, I would have been pretty pleased with that. We were nowhere near as good as we needed to be defensively, especially when they were in system. We trained it all week. I thought we were ready. It’s on me and on us as coaches. We just weren’t good enough defensively tonight.”

Olivia Babcock, a finalist for American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Year, led the Panthers (30-5) with 25 points, finishing with 22 kills and a 54% kill rate. No other Panthers player had double-digit points. Brooke Mosher had 31 assists and 10 digs.

“Making it to a Final Four is hard,” Babcock said. “Obviously, losing (stinks), but I don’t think there’s anything shameful or bad about losing in a Final Four. I mean only four teams got to play today. We were grateful enough to be one of them.”

The back-and-forth first set went to the Aggies. The set featured 17 ties and eight lead changes, with neither team leading by more than three points the entire set. Texas A&M hit .410 to Pitt’s .366. Babcock had seven first-set kills and Blaire Bayless added six for the Panthers.

The second set was a set of runs, as Texas A&M jumped out to an 11-7 lead before Pitt rattled off eight straight to take a 15-11 lead off the serve of Izzy Masten. The Aggies responded with a 4-0 run and 7-1 run. For the second straight set, the score evened at 21 apiece before Texas A&M scored the last four to take a 2-0 lead.

Pitt led 10-7 in the third set and looked poised to force a fourth set, but Texas A&M responded with a run of 5-0 and 10-3 to jump ahead 17-13. The Panthers scored three straight and evened the score at 18-18, but Texas A&M ended the match on a 7-2 run to earn the sweep.

Texas A&M hit .382 for the match and added six services aces to Pitt’s two.

Pitt finished the 2025 season with 30 victories. The Panthers are one of just four teams — and the first since Texas (2012-16) — in NCAA volleyball history to make at least five straight national demifinals.

Texas A&M will play Kentucky, a 3-2 winner over Wisconsin, on Sunday afternoon in the final.