University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
Delaware
Acton And Wignot Earn All-Tournament Honors
9/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 18, 2011
PITTSBURGH—Junior Margy Acton and sophomore Monica Wignot were named to Pitt’s Blue and Gold All-Tournament team Saturday evening, after the University of Pittsburgh women’s volleyball team suffered a 3-2 loss to Delaware at Fitzgerald Field House. The Panthers dropped the match with scores of 26-24, 25-23, 21-25, 21-25 and 13-15.
Acton posted a 5.85 dig per set average in the three matches this weekend. She collected an impressive 37 this evening, 27 against New Mexico and 12 against Temple.
Wignot led the Panthers with 64 points this weekend. She averaged 4.23 kills per set, tallied seven aces and 2.85 digs per set. Tonight, Wignot earned her third consecutive double-double of the weekend with 17 kills and 15 digs against Delaware.
Senior Kiesha Leggs turned in 23 kills and a match-high six blocks, while freshman Mechael Guess and junior Jasmine Dittrich put down 12 and 10 digs, respectively. Additionally, freshman Lindsey Zitzke recorded her first-career double-double with 65 assists and 18 digs.
Pitt and Delaware were even in kills as both teams put down 73 in the contest. The story was the same in digs as the Panthers posted 92 and the Blue Hens 91. However, Pitt did accumulate six aces to the Blue Hens three.
The first set included 12 ties and three lead changes. It wasn’t until Guess soared in the air to smack a set from Zitzke that the Panthers took the eventual lead in the contest. Guess’ kill gave the Panthers a 15-14 advantage. A few serves later, Pitt began to pull away with an ace from freshman Delaney Clesen.
Next, the Panthers led by one, 22-21, when Leggs put down a kill to push the lead to two. Soon thereafter, Leggs’ cross-court strike gave Pitt set point.
Delaware answered with back-to-back points to tie the game at 24-24. However, Guess bounced a kill of the court to push Pitt ahead again. On the next serve, the Blue Hens served the ball out of bounds. Pitt was led by Leggs with six kills in the frame. Zitzke also assisted on 14 of Pitt’s 17 kills.
The second set opened similar to the first game as the Panthers and Delaware see-sawed back and forth between points. The score was tied 6-6 before the Blue Hens strung together a 4-1 run to force a Pitt timeout.
As play continued, Delaware was holding on to its three-point lead, 13-10, when a solo block from Leggs and a kill from sophomore Brenea White cut the gap to one.
Later, back-to-back blocks scored Pitt’s 16th and 17th points of the frame. After trading points, Leggs and Dittrich rejected another Delaware attack. The Panthers out-blocked the Blue Hens 6-1 in the frame and 10-8 in the match.
A Dittrich kill would highlight a 5-2 Pitt rally to lift the Panthers to a 22-17 edge in the stanza. Delaware called a timeout and answered with a run of its own to knot the score at 22-22.
After a block from Dittrich and Wignot gave the Panthers a sideout, sophomore Maria Nicholas entered the set and served the final points for Pitt. The first point was the seventh block of the match for Pitt. The winning tally was Nicholas’ first ace of the season.
In the third set, Pitt trailed Delaware through much of the game. The Panthers would knot the score six times but were unable to take the lead. Acton dominated the set defensively, collecting a game-high 10 digs. Leggs tallied six kills to lead all players in the stanza.
Later in the fourth frame, Pitt jumped out to a 9-5 advantage with a kill from White. Momentum soon shifted in Delaware’s favor as it led 17-15. Pitt called a timeout to regroup, but the Blue Hens rallied an 8-6 run to close the game out and even the match at two sets, apiece. Leggs and Wignot posted six kills each for the Panthers.
In the decider, Leggs recorded her 21st kill of the match to give Pitt the first point of the game. As play continued, Pitt led 8-5 at the switch. However, the Blue Hens pushed with a short run to knot the contest at 10 a few serves later.
Pitt called a timeout to regroup, but traded points over the next six volleys. With the score tied at 13, Delaware recorded a kill to take the advantage in the match. A Pitt error on the next serve ended the rally.
Clesen recorded 12 digs in the contest.
The Panthers open Big East play against Seton Hall on Friday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m.
Pitt Blue and Gold All-Tournament Team
Gabriella Matautia (Temple)
Katie Hank (Delaware)
Alissa Aiker (Delaware)
Margy Acton (Pitt)
Monica Wignot (Pitt)
Ashley Rhoades (New Mexico)
Allison Buck (New Mexico)
