Pitt
Marquette
Women's Volleyball Falls to Marquette, 3-0
10/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 29, 2011
PITTSBURGH—Despite a career-high six blocks from freshman Lindsey Zitzke, the University of Pittsburgh women’s volleyball team dropped a straight-set decision to Marquette (25-19, 25-19 and 25-16) on Saturday afternoon at Fitzgerald Field House. The Panthers slipped to 14-11 on the season and 4-6 in the Big East, while the Golden Eagles improved to 19-6 overall and 9-0 in the league.
Pitt out-blocked Marquette 7-6 in the contest and hold a 208.5-159.5 edge in blocking on the year. Individually, Zitzke led all with a career and match-high six blocks. Senior Kiesha Leggs added four rejections and paces the squad with 88 on the year.
In addition to the six blocks, Zitzke collected 28 assists and seven digs. Zitzke aided two Panthers to double figures in kills, Leggs (11) and sophomore Monica Wignot (10). Today marks the 17th match this season Leggs and Wignot have tallied double digits in kills.
In the opening set, the teams were tied after the first 20 serves. Marquette began to pull away with a kill and an ace on the next two possessions. Pitt earned a sideout after a long Golden Eagle serve, but committed back-to-back errors of its own.
After Marquette stretched its lead to five, 18-13, Zitzke and junior Jasmine Dittrich rejected an attack. Later, freshman Jessica Wynn added one of her team-high five kills in the set, and a Zitzke ace closed the gap to three. However, that was as close as the Panthers would get as the Golden Eagles ended the rally on a 6-3 run.
In the second set, Wignot tied a game-high with four kills and Zitzke collected 11 assists on Pitt’s 13 kills. The Panthers also out-blocked Marquette 3-1. The Golden Eagles, however, out-hit Pitt. Marquette rallied 17 kills on a .412 hitting clip and limited the Panthers to .179.
Later in the third set, the Golden Eagles jumped ahead 16-8. Pitt called a timeout to regroup, but committed an error on two of the next three serves.
The Panthers went on a short run with kills from Wynn, Zitzke and senior Lauren Hartman and trail 19-12. On the next serve, Marquette earned a sideout and went on a 5-1 tear to hold match point. Pitt held the Golden Eagles for three serves, but a Marquette kill ended the contest at 25-16. Leggs put down a game-high six kills in the third stanza.
Junior libero Margy Acton registered seven digs in the match, while junior Alexa Campbell added six.
The Panthers host Syracuse at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
