Pitt
at Delaware
Volleyball Opens With 3-0 Victory at Delaware
8/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 26, 2005
NEWARK, Del. - After a hard-fought, come-from-behind win in game one, the Pitt volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 victory against host Delaware in the 2005 season opener at Barbara Viera Court in Newark, Del.
The Panthers (1-0) scored a 37-35 victory in game one over the Fightin' Blue Hens (0-1), and then went on to post 30-16 and 30-24 wins in the final two games for the sweep. It was Pitt's fifth season-opening win in six years under head coach Chris Beerman.
The first game was a back-and-forth affair to begin with and the Panthers picked up their first lead at 12-11 after back-to-back kills by senior Gini Ullery (Tracy, Calif./Tracy). The Panthers led by as many as three at 17-14 before Delaware scored six of the next eight points to regain the advantage. Although Pitt came back to take a 24-22 lead, another run by the Blue Hens gave them three game points at 29-26.
Pitt fought off all three, however, and ended up winning the marathon first set on an ace by junior setter Azadeh Boroumand (Red Deer, Alberta/Thurber). The second game started out close again but Pitt went on an 8-2 run to take a 14-7 lead and ended the set by scoring nine of the final 10 points for a 30-16 win.
The Blue Hens took an early 6-3 lead in game three but a 5-0 run by the Panthers, including two kills by sophomore Diana Andreyko (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin), pushed the Panthers in front. Delaware came right back with a run of its own to regain a 14-11 advantage and were up 19-17 at one point but Pitt went on a 9-1 clip for a 26-20 lead and ended up with a six-point win.
Andreyko put away nine kills in game three alone and ended up with a match-high 17 in 46 attempts. She also added 10 digs for a double-double from the outside. Ullery, the Panthers' other outside hitter, joined Andreyko with a double-double by posting 13 kills and 10 digs, hitting .312 for the match. Sophomore Ashley Creighton (Brandon, Manitoba/Crocus Plains), fresh off a silver-medal-winning performance in the Canada Summer Games, had a career-best 10 kills and 23 attempts.
The Panthers had a total of 51 assists for their 56 kills, including a match-high 46 by Boroumand, who added four kills and eight digs. Senior libero Megan McGrane (Muncie, Ind./Delta) had a match-best 18 digs to lead the way defensively. Freshman Stephanie Ross (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne), in her first match as a Panther, hit .357 with eight kills, two assists and 14 digs.
Colleen Walsh led the Blue Hens with 14 kills, while Megan Welch posted 33 assists and 10 digs for a double-double. Pitt will take on San Francisco (1-0) at 11 a.m. and New Hampshire (0-1) at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow in the second and final day of the Delaware Invitational.
NOTES: Pitt improved to 11-1 against Delaware but this was the first match in the series in 25 years (1980)...the Panthers (.262) outhit the Blue Hens (.142)...Ullery moved into sixth place on Pitt's all-time attempts list with 3,149 swings, passing Sarah Mikla (1992-95, 3,131 attempts).
