No. 10 Pitt Seeks Revenge Sunday Versus Duke

Sunday, November 11

Pittsburgh, Pa.

1 PM EST

Pitt

Duke

Tickets

No. 10 Pitt Seeks Revenge Sunday Versus Duke

11/10/2018 9:16:00 AM | Volleyball

Match Notes Watch Live Stats

Panthers to Celebrate Senior Day Following 1 p.m. Match

PITTSBURGH – The No. 10 Pitt volleyball team (25-1, 13-1 ACC) will seek revenge against Duke (14-9, 8-6 ACC) with a rematch Sunday at 1 p.m. at Fitzgerald Field House. The Blue Devils handed the Panthers their only loss of the season (3-1) Oct. 28 in Durham, N.C.

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

Pitt completed a four-match road swing with a 3-1 victory at Clemson Sunday at Jervey Gym. With the win (26-24, 25-22, 19-25, 25-16), the Panthers remain atop the ACC standings with just one loss.
Junior right side Nika Markovic led the way for the Pitt offense with 16 kills, followed by junior middle Layne Van Buskirk with 13 kills. Van Buskirk made just one error on 23 attempts for a .522 attack percentage. Markovic added nine digs and six blocks for the Panthers.
Sophomore middle Chinaza Ndee had seven kills with just one error on 11 attempts to hit .545, and classmate Kayla Lund had a near double-double with nine kills and eight digs.
Senior setter Kamalani Akeo had a team-high 27 assists and contributed eight digs.
As a team, the Panthers had a slight edge in hitting percentage (.258-.256), kills (55-53), assists (51-49), and digs (48-37). The Tigers had the advantage in blocking (13.0-10.0).

A WIN WOULD…

Tie Pitt's win total from 2017 (26).
Extend the Panthers' best start to a season in school history, improving to 26-1.
Extend Pitt's best start to ACC play in program history, improving to 14-1.
Improve the Panthers' 2018 home record to 17-0, and 8-0 against ACC opponents.
Be Pitt's 22nd consecutive win at Fitzgerald Field House dating back to 2017, marking its longest home win streak since winning 27 consecutive matches at home from 1987-89. The Panthers' last loss at Fitzgerald Field House came Oct. 22, 2017, against NC State (3-1).
Give Pitt a 9-8 advantage in the all-time series against Duke. The Panthers' last win against the Blue Devils came Nov. 12, 2017, at Fitzgerald Field House (3-1).
Improve Pitt's record against Duke when playing in Pittsburgh to 2-4. The Panthers' last loss to the Blue Devils at Fitzgerald Field House came Nov. 13, 2016 (3-0).

RANKING THE PANTHERS

Pitt held steady at No. 10 in this week's edition of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches Poll, following a 2-0 road weekend at Georgia Tech and Clemson.
This marks the Panthers' ninth consecutive week ranked in the top 10.
Pitt's top ranking prior to the 2018 season came in 1990 when the squad was No. 17.
The Panthers are down one spot, to No. 9, in the sixth release of the NCAA Volleyball Rating Percentage Index (RPI), released Monday, Nov. 5.

STILL ON TOP

Despite suffering their first loss of the season at Duke, the Panthers still hold the lead in the ACC with a 13-1 record. Florida State is second at 12-2, followed by Louisville at 12-3.

LEADING THE LEAGUE

Pitt paces the ACC in four categories: assists per set (13.84, fifth nationally), hitting percentage (.302, third nationally), kills per set (14.62, seventh nationally) and total service aces (134).
Sophomore outside hitter Kayla Lund leads the league in aces per set (0.40) and total service aces (36). Junior middle hitter Layne Van Buskirk is the league leader in hitting percentage (.421), ranked fourth nationally.

SEEKING REVENGE

Duke handed the Panthers their only loss of the season, snapping a 23-match win streak for Pitt, 3-1, Oct. 28 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils earned the win with scores of 18-25, 26-24, 25-23, 25-22. After Pitt claimed the first set, the Panthers fell in the second and third, finding themselves in their first 2-1 deficit of the season. Duke closed the match with a win in the fourth.
Two Panthers posted season-high numbers in the kill column, with junior middle hitter Layne Van Buskirk recording a career-best 18 kills on a .567 hitting percentage. Junior right side Nika Markovic tied her season high with 18 kills and rounded out her fourth double-double of the year with 11 digs. Sophomore outside Kayla Lund had her team-leading 11th double-double of the year with 14 kills and a match-high 16 digs. Senior libero Angela Seman followed with 15 digs.
Duke had a .316 to .250 advantage in hitting percentage and out-killed the Panthers, 64-60. Pitt had the edge in digs, 65-60, and assists, 59-58.

SENIOR DAY

The Panthers will honor seniors Kamalani Akeo, Emily Horner, Hanna Markewycz and Angela Seman following Sunday's match at Fitzgerald Field House.
The four have combined for 99 wins over the last four years, which means that a win Sunday would be the 100th for the class.
In addition to guiding the program to its first ACC Championship (2017), the seniors have also been a part of back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances (2016, 2017), which are the first for Pitt since 2004.
A native of Kapolei, Hawaii, Akeo ranks fourth all-time at Pitt with 3,809 career assists. She was named the 2016 ACC Setter of the Year and earned nods to the All-ACC First Team (2017) and All-ACC Second Team (2016) over her four years of competition. She is also a two-time member of the AVCA All-East Coast Region First Team (2016, 2017).
All the way from Mission Viejo, Calif., Horner has competed in 50 matches at Pitt since transferring from Providence following her freshman season in 2015. Best known for her long-bomb top-spin serve, Horner has produced 11 aces for the Panthers.
Markewycz, a defensive specialist out of Oak Brook, Ill., has competed in 83 matches over her four years as a Panther. Her tough serving has been key for Pitt, leading to 17 aces, including a career-high six at Iowa State in 2017.
After redshirting her freshman season, Seman has become the anchor of the Pitt defense over the last four years, recording the second-most digs of any Panther in program history at 1,775. The Pittsburgh native's 33 digs against Duke in 2015 rank sixth all-time in a single match for Pitt.

SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS

Duke (14-9, 8-6 ACC) saw its five-match win streak snapped Sunday at the hands of NC State, 3-2.
Setter/hitter Andie Shelton recorded her fourth triple-double of the season, totaling a team-high 16 kills to go along with 23 assists and 14 digs. Shelton hit .353 with just four attack errors over 34 attempts while also notching three service aces and three blocks against the Wolfpack.
Shelton leads the ACC with four triple-doubles this season.
The Blue Devils are 5-4 when playing on the road this season, and 4-4 in ACC play.

THE SERIES – DUKE

Sunday will be the 17th meeting between Duke and Pitt, with the series tied, 8-8.
Pitt is 1-4 all-time when hosting the Blue Devils, with its lone win at Fitzgerald Field House coming last season, 3-1 (Nov. 12, 2017).

UP NEXT

No. 10 Pitt will make its final ACC road trip of the season, visiting Florida State (Nov. 16) and Miami (Nov. 18). 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.

#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook