No. 6 Pitt to Visit North Carolina for Weekend Matches

Friday, October 12

Chapel Hill, N.C.

5 PM EST

Pitt

North Carolina

No. 6 Pitt to Visit North Carolina for Weekend Matches

10/11/2018 9:00:00 AM | Volleyball

Match Notes Watch Live Stats

Panthers Set for Road Matches in Chapel Hill, Raleigh

PITTSBURGH – The No. 6 Pitt volleyball team (18-0, 6-0 ACC) will begin a two-match ACC road trip in North Carolina by traveling to Chapel Hill first to face the Tar Heels (5-10, 1-5 ACC) Friday at 7 p.m. at Dean Smith Center.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Pitt's match can be seen live on ACC Network Extra via WatchESPN.
Live stats will be available via Statbroadcast.com.
Fans can follow along with live updates on Twitter @Pitt_VB.

LAST TIME OUT

No. 6 Pitt defeated North Dakota in straight sets Tuesday at Fitzgerald Field House to improve to 18-0.
Following her ACC Player of the Week recognition junior right side Nika Markovic recorded a team-high 11 kills while attacking at a .579 clip and junior middle Layne Van Buskirk contributed eight kills on a .500 percentage. Senior setter Kamalani Akeo set up her teammates with 22 assists.
Registering 10 digs, redshirt senior Angela Seman anchored the Panthers' defense.
Pitt received valuable contributions off the bench, with freshman middle Sabrina Starks recording five kills, junior Alex Drier with two, and junior Zoi Faki having four kills to go along with five digs.
As a team the Panthers out-killed the Fighting Hawks, 46-28, and out-hit North Dakota .364 to .105.

A WIN WOULD…

Extend the Panthers' best start to a season in school history, improving to 19-0.
Extend Pitt's longest win streak since 1987, when the team won 24 consecutive matches.
Give the Panthers a 7-0 start to ACC play for the second consecutive season.
Improve Pitt's 2018 away record to 3-0.
Extend the Panthers' current winning streak against the Tar Heels to three matches. Pitt's last loss against North Carolina came Nov. 13, 2015, in Chapel Hill.
Be Pitt's first win in Chapel Hill since Sept. 18, 1993, 3-0, breaking a three-match losing streak when playing at North Carolina.
Improve Pitt's all-time record against North Carolina to 11-6.

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO

No. 6 Pitt is one of two unbeaten teams in the country (18-0), along with No. 1 BYU (16-0).
The Panthers are one of two remaining teams unbeaten in ACC play, along with 2017 ACC Co-Champion No. 22 Louisville (14-4, 7-0).

RANKING THE PANTHERS

Pitt rose two spots to No. 6 in this week's edition of the AVCA Coaches Poll. This marks the Panthers' highest national ranking in program history.
Pitt's top ranking prior to the 2018 season came in 1990 when the squad was No. 17.
The Panthers moved up to No. 4 in the second release of the NCAA Volleyball Rating Percentage Index (RPI), Monday, Oct 8.

LEADING THE LEAGUE

As of Tuesday, Oct. 9, the Panthers pace the ACC in assists per set (13.78), hitting percentage (.311) and kills per set (14.63).
Sophomore outside hitter Kayla Lund is the league leader in overall service kills (25). She ranks second in the ACC in total kills (254), total points (289.5) and points per set (4.67).

MARKOVIC EARNS ACC WEEKLY HONOR

Junior right side Nika Markovic was named the ACC Player of the Week as announced by the conference Monday afternoon.
The honor is her first of the season and the third of her career after receiving the accolades twice during the 2017 season (Nov. 6, Oct. 9). With her third award, she has earned most ACC weekly honors of any volleyball student-athlete in program history.
The Braslovce, Slovenia, native was a major factor in the Panthers' historic rise a No. 6 ranking, as Pitt topped Syracuse and Boston College in ACC play over the weekend to remain unbeaten. Markovic posted a season-high 18 kills in a 3-1 win for the Panthers against the Orange, hitting at a .469 clip. She followed up that performance with another double-figure kill outing in a 3-0 sweep of Boston College, posting 10 kills on a .350 percentage.
She averaged 4.0 kills per set for the weekend against Pitt's competition, averaging a .423 attacking percentage. She neared a double-double with eight digs against the Orange.

SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS

North Carolina (5-10, 1-5 ACC) is looking to snap a three-match losing streak when it hosts Pittsburgh Friday.
The Tar Heels are returning home from a three-match road trip where they were defeated by Virginia Tech, Miami, and Florida State. The only ACC opponent North Carolina has defeated is NC State, 3-1.
Redshirt sophomore setter Hunter Atherton recorded two kills, 45 assists, and six digs against Florida State. Atheron has recorded 20 or more assists in all but two matches and registered a season-high 22 digs earlier in the season versus Louisville.
The Tar Heels had three different players in double-digit kills against Florida State, including junior outside hitter Skylar Wine with 12 kills, freshman outside hitter Destiny Cox with 12 kills, and Freshman Ava Bell with 11 kills.
As a team, North Carolina ranks last in the ACC for hitting percentage .180 and aces per set 0.91. The Tar Heels are second to last in the conference in assists and kills per set.

THE SERIES – NORTH CAROLINA

Friday will be the 17th meeting between No. 6 Pitt and North Carolina.
The last match was on Oct. 17, 2017, at Fitzgerald Field House, when the Panthers won, 3-0.
The last time Pitt traveled to Chapel Hill, N.C., was November 13, 2015, when Pitt was swept 3-0.
Since Pitt joined the ACC in the 2013-14 season, the series record is tied 3-3.

UP NEXT

No. 6 Pitt will complete its two-match road trip in Raleigh, N.C., against NC State Sunday at 1 p.m. The match will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra, available via the WatchESPN app.

2018 PITT VOLLEYBALL TICKETS

Flex season ticket packages as well as single-match and group tickets for the 2018 volleyball season are now on sale and can be purchased by calling the Panthers' Ticket Office at (800) 643-PITT (7488) or online at PittsburghPanthers.com.

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