No. 6 Pitt Ready to Face Wolfpack in Televised Match

PITTSBURGH – The No. 6 Pitt volleyball team (19-0, 7-0 ACC) will complete a two-match ACC road trip by visiting NC State to take on the Wolfpack (3-4, 9-8 ACC) Sunday at 1 p.m. at Reynolds Coliseum.

HOW TO FOLLOW

RSN will televise the match in Pittsburgh on AT&T Sportsnet Pittsburgh. For a complete list of affiliates, visit TheACC.com.
Pitt's match can be seen live on ACC Network Extra via WatchESPN.
Live stats will be available via GoPack.com.
Fans can follow along with live updates on Twitter @Pitt_VB.

LAST TIME OUT

No. 6 Pitt improved to 19-0, 7-0 in the ACC, with a sweep of North Carolina in front of 6,043 fans at the Dean E. Smith Center Friday evening.
Sophomore middle Chinaza Ndee was nearly unstoppable at the net, notching 12 kills on 15 attempts with just one error for a blistering hitting percentage of .733 – a career best. Two more Panthers earned double figures in the kill column, with junior right side Nika Markovic and redshirt junior outside Stephanie Williams each recording 10. Sophomore outside Kayla Lund contributed five, and junior middle Layne Van Buskirk had four.
The Panthers handily out-killed the Tar Heels, 41-30, and hit .376 on the day while holding UNC to .103.
Lund led the way with a season-high 13 digs, and redshirt senior libero Angela Seman recorded 12. Pitt out-dug UNC, 46-28. Setters Kamalani Akeo and Kylee Levers posted 16 assists apiece..

A WIN WOULD…

Extend the Panthers' best start to a season in school history, improving to 20-0.
Extend Pitt's longest win streak since 1987, when the team won 24 consecutive matches.
Give the Panthers an 8-0 start to ACC play for the second consecutive season.
Improve Pitt's 2018 away record to 4-0.
Be the Panthers' first win against NC State since Oct. 28, 2016, at Fitzgerald Field House. The Wolfpack claimed the last meeting between the teams (3-1) last season in Pittsburgh.
Extend Pitt's winning streak when playing in Raleigh to two matches. The Panthers have not lost to NC State when playing in Raleigh since Oct. 25, 2013 (3-2).
Improve Pitt's all-time record against NC State to 9-2.

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO

No. 6 Pitt is one of two unbeaten teams in the country (19-0), along with No. 1 BYU (17-0).
The Panthers are one of two remaining teams unbeaten in ACC play, along with 2017 ACC Co-Champion No. 22 Louisville (15-4, 8-0).

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 Thursday, Oct. 11, 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 WOLFPACK

NC State (9-8, 3-4 ACC) snapped a two-match losing streak with a 3-1 win over Virginia at home Friday night.
Senior middle Teni Sopitan led the Wolfpack with 15 kills against the Cavaliers, and sophomore right side Melissa Evans followed with 14 kills. Sopitan and Evans pace the team with a combined 6.95 kills per set this season.
As a team, the Wolfpack hits .198 with 13.0 kills per set while limiting opponents to a clip of .183 and 12.0 kills per set.
The Wolfpack is 5-3 when playing at Reynolds Coliseum this season, with losses to Washington State (Aug. 26), Utah Valley (Sept. 7) and Louisville (Sept. 21).

THE SERIES – NC STATE

Sunday will be the 11th all-time meeting between No. 6 Pitt and NC State, with the Panthers leading, 8-2.
NC State claimed the last meeting between the teams, 3-1, at Fitzgerald Field House on Oct. 22, 2017.
Pitt last loss to the Wolfpack when playing in Raleigh came Oct. 25, 2013 (3-2).

UP NEXT

No. 6 Pitt will return home to face North Carolina Friday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. at Fitzgerald Field House. 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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