No. 6 Pitt Defeats North Dakota, Improves to 18-0

Tuesday, October 9

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7 PM EST

Pitt

18-0, 6-0

North Dakota

12-11, 4-3

North Dakota

Pitt

Photo by: Jeffrey Gamza/Pitt Athletics

No. 6 Pitt Defeats North Dakota, Improves to 18-0

10/9/2018 10:24:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Season Stats

Panthers Sweep Fighting Hawks

PITTSBURGH – Junior right side Nika Markovic hit a season-high .579 with 11 kills on 19 attempts and zero errors as the No. 6 Pitt volleyball team defeated North Dakota Tuesday night at Fitzgerald Field House.

The Panthers remain one of two unbeaten teams in the country, improving to 18-0, 6-0 in the ACC with the win. The Fighting Hawks fell to 12-11, 4-3 in the Summit. Pitt completed the sweep with wins of 25-15, 25-21 and 25-10.

The reigning ACC Player of the Week, Markovic led the way for Pitt on offense, while picking up three digs and two blocks. Classmate Layne Van Buskirk hit .500, with eight kills on 12 attempts with two errors. Redshirt junior outside hitter Stephanie Williams contributed seven kills and five digs for the Panthers.

Redshirt senior Angela Seman had a match-high 10 digs, as Pitt handily out-dug North Dakota, 37-23. Senior setter Kamalani Akeo had 22 assists with eight digs.

Off the bench, freshman middle Sabrina Starks contributed five kills, junior Alix Dreier had two and junior Zoi Faki had four to go along with five digs.

WITH THE WIN…

The Panthers extended their best start to a season in school history, improving to 18-0.
Pitt extended its longest win streak since 1987, when the team won 24 consecutive matches.
The Panthers improved their home record to 14-0.
Pitt earned a 1-0 advantage in the series with the Fighting Hawks.

Set One: No. 6 Pitt 25, North Dakota 15

The Panthers got off to a quick start, leading 3-0, and used a 7-1 run to make it 15-8. Pitt stayed ahead, using another 3-0 run to bring the score to 19-11, capped by a Kayla Lund block. The Panthers claimed the set by a double-figure margin, 25-15.

Pitt limited North Dakota to a negative percentage in the attacking percentage column at -.032, with seven kills and eight errors on 31 attempts. Chinaza Ndee and Lund paced the Panthers with three kills apiece in the frame.

Set Two: No. 6 Pitt 25, North Dakota 21

North Dakota kept it close in the second set, as the frame saw seven ties and four lead changes. The latest tie was 12-12. The Panthers finally started to pull away with a 3-0 run to lead 19-14, and earned set point, 24-19, after another 3-0 run. Faki entered the match and provided a spark in the front row, contributing a kill. Pitt ultimately won 25-21 to go up 2-0 in the match.

The Fighting Hawks out-hit the Panthers in the set, .333 to .324. Markovic recorded six of her 11 total kills in the frame at a .545 clip.

Set Three: No. 6 Pitt 25, North Dakota 10

The Panthers made quick work of the Fighting Hawks in the final set, jumping out to a 5-1 start, and then using a 7-1 run to reach a 16-5 lead to ultimately swing the momentum. An 8-0 run provided match point to Pitt. Although UND fought back with a 3-0 run to reach double figures in the scoring column, the Panthers finished the task at hand and won the set, 25-10.

Pitt hit a blistering .619 percentage in the set, with 14 kills on 21 attempts with just one error. Van Buskirk hit a perfect 1.000 in the frame, killing all three of her attempts.

UP NEXT

No. 6 Pitt will hit the road for ACC matches against North Carolina Friday at 5 p.m. and NC State Sunday at 1 p.m. Both matches 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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