Williams Earns ACC Volleyball Co-Player of the Week Honor

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Redshirt junior outside hitter Stephanie Williams of the No. 5 University of Pittsburgh volleyball team (22-0, 10-0 ACC) was named the ACC Co-Player of the Week as announced by the conference Monday afternoon.

"This is a well-deserved honor for Stephanie," Panthers head coach Dan Fisher said. "She had a very complete weekend, excelling in all areas of the game against tough competition. I'm happy for her."

The honor is the first of her career. She is the third Panther to earn an ACC weekly award this season, joining Kayla Lund (Aug. 27, Sept. 10) and Nika Markovic (Oct. 8). The Panthers have earned the most ACC weekly honors (four) this season of any team in the league.

The Eastlake, Ohio, native helped Pitt reach a program-best No. 5 ranking as the Panthers defeated Notre Dame (Oct. 19), 3-0, and No. 21 Louisville (Oct. 21), 3-1, in front of a combined 4,163 fans at Fitzgerald Field House over the weekend. Pitt set a program record with 2,152 fans in attendance to watch the Panthers and Cardinals Sunday.

Williams led Pitt with 3.57 kills per set on a team-best .317 percentage while moving into the program's top 10 for career kills with her eighth against Notre Dame (Oct. 19). She now sits at No. 10 all-time at Pitt with 1,089 kills. She followed that performance with a season-high 17 kills in a 3-1 win against No. 21 Louisville (Oct. 21). She contributed 3.00 digs per set over the two matches, while notching her second double-double of the season against the Cardinals (17 kills, 10 digs).

By defeating No. 21 Louisville, Pitt claimed the outright lead in the ACC volleyball standings at 10-0. The win against the Cards marked the Panthers' third win against a ranked opponent this season.

A HISTORIC RISE

Pitt continues to rise in the AVCA Weekly Coaches Poll, moving up one spot to No. 5 in week nine of the season. This marks the program's highest national ranking in program history.
The Panthers held steady at No. 5 in the NCAA RPI rankings, released Monday.
With its two wins over the weekend, No. 5 Pitt extended its historic 2018 season streak, improving to 22-0, 10-0 in the ACC.
The Panthers are one of two remaining unbeaten teams in the country, along with No. 1 BYU (20-0, 6-0), and are the lone unbeaten team in ACC play (10-0). Pitt's 10-0 start to ACC play is an all-time best.
The Panthers are on their longest win streak since 1987, when Pitt won 24 consecutive matches.

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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Williams Earns ACC Volleyball Co-Player of the Week Honor

Players Mentioned

Kayla Lund

Nika Markovic

Stephanie Williams

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