No. 6 Pitt Set for Battle of ACC Unbeatens

Sunday, October 21

Pittsburgh, Pa.

1 PM EST

Pitt

Louisville

Tickets

No. 6 Pitt Set for Battle of ACC Unbeatens

10/20/2018 12:49:00 PM | Volleyball

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Panthers Ready for Third Top 25 Matchup of Season

PITTSBURGH – The two remaining unbeaten teams in ACC volleyball play, No. 6 Pitt (21-0, 9-0 ACC) and No. 21 Louisville (16-4, 9-0 ACC), will meet as ranked opponents for the first time Sunday at 1 p.m. at Fitzgerald Field House.

HOW TO FOLLOW

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

LAST TIME OUT

No. 6 Pitt swept Notre Dame, 25-23, 25-17, 25-18, in front of a crowd of 2,011 fans at Fitzgerald Field House Friday night.
The crowd marked the second largest Pitt volleyball attendance at the Field House in program history, second only to 2,138 that watched a match between the Panthers and Penn State in 2011.
With eight kills on the night, redshirt junior outside Stephanie Williams gained sole possession of 10th place in the Pitt record book with 1,072 career kills.
Led by 16 kills from junior right side Nika Markovic, three Panthers reached double figures in the kill column, including junior middle Layne Van Buskirk (14) and sophomore outside Kayla Lund (10). Lund rounded out her team-leading ninth double-double with 10 digs.
Redshirt sophomore setter Kylee Levers had a team-high 27 assists, while senior Kamalani Akeo contributed 21. Redshirt senior libero Angela Seman produced a match-high 18 digs.
While Pitt led Notre Dame in kills (51-30) and digs (58-51), the Panthers were out-blocked, 10.0 to 9.0 for the match. Pitt hit .274 on the day in comparison to Notre Dame's percentage of .140.

A WIN WOULD…

Extend the Panthers' best start to a season in school history, improving to 22-0.
Extend Pitt's longest win streak since 1987, when the team won 24 consecutive matches.
Mark the Panthers' best start to ACC play in program history, improving to 10-0.
Be Pitt's third win against a ranked opponent this season (No. 24 Cal Poly: 3-1, Aug. 24; No. 12 Washington: 3-0, Sept. 8).
Improve Pitt's 2018 home record to 16-0, and 7-0 against ACC opponents.
Be the Panthers' first win against Louisville since a sweep at Fitzgerald Field House on Oct. 23, 2016.
Extend the Panthers' win streak against the Cardinals when playing in Pittsburgh to three matches. Pitt's last loss to Louisville at Fitzgerald Field House came Sept. 30, 2012 (3-0)
Improve the Panthers' all-time record against Louisville to 10-14 overall and 7-5 when playing in Pittsburgh.
Be Pitt's first against a ranked Louisville team (0-4 all-time).

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO

No. 6 Pitt is one of two unbeaten teams in the country (21-0, 9-0 ACC), along with No. 1 BYU (19-0, 9-0 WCC).
The Panthers are one of two remaining teams unbeaten in ACC play, along with 2017 ACC Co-Champion No. 21 Louisville (16-4, 9-0).

WE MEET AGAIN

Sunday marks a rematch between the 2017 ACC Co-Champions, Pitt and Louisville.
Each team finished the 2017 season at 18-2 in ACC play.
The Cardinals claimed the last meeting between the teams, 3-2, in Louisville (Oct. 27, 2017).

RANKING THE PANTHERS

Pitt holds stead at 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 are No. 5 in the third release of the NCAA Volleyball Rating Percentage Index (RPI), Monday, Oct 15.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS

Virginia took No. 21 Louisville (16-4, 9-0) to five sets Friday night in Charlottesville, Va., but the Cardinals were able to pull away with a 3-2 victory: 18-25, 25-22, 25-19, 18-25, 15-2. Louisville hit .204 with 12 blocks and survived 15 service errors. Freshman middle Emily Scott had 12 kills and six blocks to pace the Cardinals against the Hoos.
Junior outside hitter Melanie McHenry leads Louisville with 4.03 kills per set on a .229 hitting percentage. As a team, the Cards hit .274 while limiting opponents to .171.
Louisville is 0-4 against teams ranked in the Top 25 this season, dropping contests to No. 4 Florida (Sept. 1, 3-1), No. 7 USC (Sept. 2, 3-0), No. 19 Purdue (Sept. 8, 3-2) and No. 20 Kentucky (Sept. 14, 3-0).

THE SERIES – LOUISVILLE

Sunday will be the 24th meeting between No. 6 Pitt and Louisville, with the Cardinals leading the all-time series, 14-9. Louisville claimed the last meeting, 3-2, on Oct. 27, 2017, at home.
The Panthers' last win against Louisville came Oct. 23, 2016, 3-0, at Fitzgerald Field House.
Pitt holds a 6-5 record when hosting the Cardinals in Pittsburgh.
The Panthers have never beaten a ranked Louisville team, at 0-4 all-time.
Sunday will be the first meeting between Pitt and Louisville when both teams are ranked in the Top 25.

UP NEXT

No. 6 Pitt will head back to North Carolina for matches at Wake Forest (Oct. 26) and Duke (Oct. 28). Each 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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