Match Stats
- Pitt def. Virginia Tech 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-19)
- Pitt moves to 23-8 (14-5 ACC); Virginia Tech falls to 12-18 (7-12 ACC)
- Fitzgerald Field House, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Attendance: 432
It was senior night in the Fitzgerald Field House in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the Pitt Panthers, one of the ‘last 8 in’ in our initial projections for the NCAA Tournament field released earlier this week, improved their status on Wednesday with a 3-0 sweep of the Virginia Tech Hokies.
The Panthers,hit .308 on the game, led by 15 kills (3 errors, 27 attacks, .444 percentage) from redshirt freshman Stephanie Williams.
Jenna Potts, one of the home team’s two honored seniors, also had a good night both offensively and defensively: she registered 7 kills on 13 attempts and also led the team with 4 blocks.
Virginia Tech was led, as they have been most of the year, by their senior outside hitter Lindsey Owens, she racked up 16 kills (2 errors, 34 attacks, .412) on the day, which is well above her season average per-set.
Videos
Press Releases
Courtesy Pitt Athletics
PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh volleyball team earned its third straight win after sweeping Virginia Tech, Friday evening at the Fitzgerald Field House, marking its second victory over the Hokies this season.
Following a pregame celebration of the Panthers’ two seniors, Maria Genitsaridi and Jenna Potts, Pitt [23-8, 14-5 ACC] defeated the Hokies [12-18, 7-12 ACC] in three sets 25-23, 25-18 and 25-19.
As a team, the Panthers posted better numbers than Virginia Tech in kills (47/38), assists (43/35), aces (7/1), digs (40/38) and total team blocks (8/6). Pitt also hit .308 on the night, while holding the Hokies to a .227 clip.
Offensively, the Panthers were led by redshirt freshman Stephanie Williams, who recorded her 23rd match with double-digit kills with 15 tonight. The Eastlake, Ohio, native concluded the match with a .444 hitting percentage and just three errors.
Potts was Pitt’s most consistent hitter of the evening, registering a .462 average after putting away seven of her 13 attempts. She committed just a single error. Potts also led the home team with four blocks.
Sophomore setter Kamalani Akeo set up the Panthers’ offensive success, tallying 35 assists on the evening. She also led Pitt in digs, in addition to freshman Nika Markovic, who both earned 11 digs on the evening. Akeo was the lone Panther to record a double-double.
Pitt served up seven aces against the Hokies, three of which were tallied by Markovic.
Set One: Pitt 25, Virginia Tech 23
In the opening set, a late offensive push by the Panthers led the home team to a 25-23 win over the Hokies.
Pitt and Virginia Tech battled for a lead in the opening points but it was the Hokies got out in front first 5-2. However, the Panthers answered and moved ahead 7-5 thanks to five straight points.
A four-point run by Virginia Tech put the Hokies back in control 10-8 and the opposing team remained ahead, 20-17, in the set.
A late offensive power surge by Pitt, including three straight kills, tied the set at 20 all. The Panthers attack continued to work and gave the home team a 23-22 lead.
Genitsaridi aced for the next point, setting up Pitt with set point. The Panthers sealed the win with a final kill by Markovic.
Set Two: Pitt 25, Virginia Tech 18
Pitt went up 2-0 in the match following a 25-18 victory against Virginia Tech in the second set.
The Panthers opened with a dominating performance, using a five-point run to take a 10-3 lead. During that run, Pitt put together two kills, two block assists and an ace.
The Panthers remained out in front, holding at slight lead over the Hokies through the midpoint of the set, though Pitt called a late timeout as Virginia Tech scored two straight to pull within three, 20-17.
The Panthers returned to the court and outscored the Hokies 5-1 to end the set.
Set Three: Pitt 25, Virginia Tech 19
Pitt earned its 14th sweep of the season after defeating Virginia Tech 25-19 in set three.
The Panthers jumped out in front right away, 12-8, forcing the Hokies to take their first timeout. Just points later, Virginia Tech called a second one, trying to slow Pitt who led by five, 16-11.
The Hokies were able to cut the Panthers’ lead to three, though that was the closest they would come to catching Pitt in the final set.
Up Next
In its final match of the regular season, Pitt will take on Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Nov. 26 at 5 p.m.
Courtesy Virginia Tech Athletics
PITTSBURGH – Going up against a likely NCAA Tournament team in Pitt, a 16 kill and performance from senior Lindsey Owens was not enough in the Virginia Tech volleyball team’s 3-0 loss (25-23, 25-18, 25-19) to the Panthers (23-8, 14-5 ACC) on Wednesday evening.
The Hokies (12-18, 7-12 ACC) hit .227 as a team but couldn’t stop the Pitt offense who hit at a .307 clip for the match. Senior Amanda McKinzie had 11 kills for Tech and now sits at 994 kills for her career.
The Hokies trailed 8-6 early in the first set but they quickly rattled off four straight points that reversed a deficit to a 10-8 lead, forcing Pitt to call a timeout. Tech was able to get a lot of touches at the net and kept the lead for most of the set because of defense and a balanced offensive attack. Sophomore Jaila Tolbert finished the set with three kills while junior Cara Cunningham tallied two of her four blocks.
It wasn’t until 21-20 that Pitt took its second lead of the game but they did not lose it as they took they narrowly first, 25-23.
After Tech dropped the second set, Owens took over with Tech trailing 7-3 in the third. She posted three kills in a 4-2 run that got the Hokies to within two, 9-7. Pitt still held onto the lead though, the Hokies cut the deficit to three later on in the game at 20-17 after consecutive kills from Owens and Rhegan Mitchell, but the Panthers would go on to pull out the win.
The Hokies will wrap up the season on Friday at 7 p.m. at Virginia. The match will be streamed live on WatchESPN.
Leave a Reply