Match Info
- Pittsburgh at Syracuse (Atlantic Coast Conference Match)
- Syracuse, N.Y.
- Pittsburgh improves to 14-4 (7-0 ACC); Syracuse drops to 14-7 (6-2 ACC)
- Attendance: 156
- Match Stats
Riding a 10 match win streak into their road match at Syracuse, the Pittsburgh women’s volleyball team swept away the hosts in straight sets, further cementing their status as one of the teams to beat in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Set scores were 26-24, 26-24, and 25-19. Stephanie Williams and Nika Markovic lead the offense with 14 kills apiece, while Chinaza Ndee added 10 kills on a .643 hitting percentage. Kamalani Akeo dished out 42 assists for Pittsburgh who improved to 14-4 (7-0 ACC). Pittsburgh will return to action on Sunday, October 15th when they travel to face Boston College.
Pittsburgh lead the match in hitting percentage .388 – .304, kills 54-42, assists 51-41 and digs 42-41. Syracuse led the match in aces 4-3, and blocks 6-3.
Anastasiya Gorelina led the Syracuse offense with 16 kills while Santita Ebangwese added 10 kills. Jalissa Trotter and Dana Velelly shared the setting duties, dishing out 25 and 13 assists respectively. With the loss, Syracuse suffers their second conference loss of the season, dropping out of a tie for second place in the ACC, and drops their overall record to 14-7 (6-2 ACC). Syracuse will return to action on Friday, October 20th when they travel to face Georgia Tech.
Press Release:
Courtesy of Pittsburgh Athletics
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The University of Pittsburgh volleyball team remains perfect in conference play after defeating Syracuse for the second time this season. The squad swept the Orange Friday afternoon at the Women’s Building in Syracuse, N.Y. to mark its 11th-straight victory.
The Panthers, who are now 14-4 on the season and 7-0 in conference play, downed the Orange (14-7, 6-2 ACC) in straight sets 26-24, 26-24, 25-19.
“We did a really nice job in tough moments, just staying in it and playing as a team,” said head coach Dan Fisher. “Our offense continues to do a good job and I believe we are a pretty tough team to stop right now. I didn’t think we played our best defensively the whole afternoon, so we have some work to do there.”
Pitt’s offense was on point as the Panthers hit .388 with 54 kills. Three players hit in double-digits including sophomore Nika Markovic and redshirt sophomore Stephanie Williams who both had 14 apiece and freshman Chinaza Ndee who finished with 10. Ndee hit for a .643 clip after committing just one error in 14 attempts, while Williams hit .429 on the match.
This marks 11 straight-matches for Williams hitting in double-digits and 14 total on the season, while Markovic extended her streak to nine-straight and 12 overall.
Junior Kamalani Akeo aided the Panthers attack with 42 assists, while Markovic finished with two aces.
Set One: Pitt 26, Syracuse 24
Battling from behind, Pitt took the first set, 26-24.
Pitt struggled to find a rhythm at the start of the first set, falling behind 11-6. The Panthers were forced to take a timeout to regroup and returned from the break to outscore the Orange 4-1 to pull back within two, 12-10.
Syracuse called its own timeout to slow Pitt, but back-to-back kills by Williams and senior Alex Rosignol, in addition to an ace by Markovic tied the set at 13 all. The Panthers found a one-point lead late in the set, 17-16, but a 6-2 run by the Orange would give them a 22-19 lead.
Following a Pitt timeout, kills by Markovic and sophomore Layne Van Buskirk in addition to multiple Syracuse errors gave the Panthers set point, 24-23. The Orange fought off the initial set point but two straight kills by Williams would end the set in Pitt’s favor.
Set Two: Pitt 26, Syracuse 24
Pitt extended its lead to 2-0 after defeating Syracuse 26-24 in the second set.
In another tight frame, the two teams battled back-and forth and remained neck and neck until the late points of the set.
Trailing 19-18, Pitt used a four-point run to make it 22-19 behind two kills by Williams, one by Van Buskirk and an Orange error.
Syracuse used the first of two timeouts, with the second coming just points later as the Panthers earned set point 24-22. The Orange battled until the end but straight kills by Van Buskirk and Markovic concluded the set.
Set Three: Pitt 25, Syracuse 19
Pitt earned its 11th-straight victory following a 25-19 third-set win.
The Panthers got off to a great start in the third frame, moving ahead 6-2 but the Orange battled back to tie 10-10.
Pitt used a 7-3 run over the next 10 points to led 17-13 and force a Syracuse timeout, but the Orange were unable to regroup and stop the Panthers.
Pitt went on to earn set point 24-17 and take the frame 25-19.
Up Next
The Panthers will continue their road trip at Boston College with a 12:30 p.m. match-up Sunday, Oct. 15.
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