No. 10 Pitt Set for Pivotal Match at (RV) Florida State

Friday, November 16

Tallahassee, Fla.

6:30 PM EST

Pitt

Florida State

Photo by: Jeffrey Gamza/Pitt Athletics

No. 10 Pitt Set for Pivotal Match at (RV) Florida State

11/15/2018 8:12:00 PM | Volleyball

Match Notes Watch Live Stats

Panthers Hold One-Match Lead in ACC Standings

PITTSBURGH – Holding a one-match lead over (RV) Florida State (17-8, 13-2 ACC) with just three matches remaining in conference play, the No. 10 Pitt volleyball team (26-1, 14-1 ACC) will compete for an ACC Championship Friday against the Seminoles at 6:30 p.m. at Tully Gym in Tallahassee, Fla.

HOW TO FOLLOW

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

A WIN WOULD…

Clinch at least a share of the ACC Volleyball Championship for the Panthers, marking Pitt's second consecutive title. Pitt was named Co-Champion with Louisville in 2017.
Mark Pitt's most wins in a season (27) since the Panthers went 28-9 (7-0) in 1991, winning both the Big East Regular Season and Big East Tournament Championships.
Mark the Panthers' most wins in a season under sixth-year head coach Dan Fisher.
Extend the Panthers' best start to a season in school history, improving to 27-1.
Extend Pitt's best start to ACC play in program history, improving to 15-1.
Improve the Panthers' 2018 away record to 8-1, and 7-1 against ACC opponents.
Extend the Panthers' win streak against the Seminoles to four matches. The Panthers won the team's previous meeting this season, 3-1, at Fitzgerald Field House in Pittsburgh (Sept. 30).
Improve the Panthers' all-time record against the Seminoles to 8-5 overall and 4-2 when playing in Tallahassee.
Be Pitt's second consecutive win at Tully Gym. The Panthers' last loss in Tallahassee came Oct. 16, 2016 (3-1).

LAST TIME OUT

No. 10 Pitt exacted revenge on Duke with a sweep in front of a record crowd of 3,179 at Fitzgerald Field House Sunday afternoon.
Earlier this season, the Blue Devils handed Pitt its lone loss, 3-1, in Durham, N.C. (Oct. 28). Despite its loss, Pitt remains atop the ACC standings at 14-1.
The crowd number marked the second time Pitt bested its single-match attendance record this season, topping the 2,152 who watched the Panthers beat No. 21 Louisville (Oct. 21).
Pitt earned the sweep (25-20, 25-17, 25-17) on Senior Day, honoring defensive specialist Hanna Markewycz, setter Kamalani Akeo, right side Emily Horner and libero Angela Seman following the match. The victory marked the 100th win for the class over the last four years.
Sophomore outside hitter Kayla Lund paced Pitt on offense as one of three Panthers to record double figures in the kill column (13). She hit .440 on the day, with two errors on 25 attempts. Redshirt junior outside Stephanie Williams had 11 kills, as did junior right side Nika Markovic.
Akeo led the Panthers with 18 assists, while Seman and Markovic each posted a match-high eight digs. Sophomore middle Chinaza Ndee contributed four kills and six blocks.
As a team, Pitt held Duke to just .065 attacking while the Panthers hit .223. Pitt held the advantage in nearly every stat, including kills (42-26), assists (38-26), digs (34-24) and service aces (4-1). Duke out-blocked Pitt, 13.0-10.0.

LAST TIME AGAINST FLORIDA STATE (SEPT. 30, 2018)

Four Panthers recorded double-doubles as Pitt earned a 3-1 win over Florida State to remain unbeaten at Fitzgerald Field House.
The Panthers conceded their first set of ACC play, dropping the first frame, 25-21, to the Seminoles, before claiming the final three, 25-20, 25-13, 25-17. With the win, Pitt handed Florida State its first conference loss of the season.
Junior middle hitter Layne Van Buskirk led Pitt with 16 kills while putting up seven blocks and hitting .462 for the match. Sophomore outside hitter Kayla Lund, junior right side Nika Markovic, redshirt junior outside Stephanie Williams and senior setter Kamalani Akeo each recorded double-doubles. Lund produced 14 kills and 13 digs, Markovic had 11 kills and 10 digs, Williams posted 11 kills and 11 digs, and Akeo put forth 24 assists and 10 digs.
Redshirt sophomore setter Kylee Levers contributed 27 assists and redshirt senior libero Angela Seman had 11 digs.
Pitt out-hit hits opponent for the 11th consecutive match, with a tally of .242 compared to the Seminoles' .088. The Panthers nearly doubled FSU's kill output, 60-35, as well as its dig output, 60-33. Florida State had the advantage in blocks, 15.0-9.0.

RANKING THE PANTHERS

Pitt held steady at No. 10 for the third consecutive week in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches Poll, following a sweep of Duke, Sunday.
This marks the Panthers' 10th 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 held at No. 9 in the seventh release of the NCAA Volleyball Rating Percentage Index (RPI), released Monday, Nov. 12.

LUND EARNS THIRD ACC WEEKLY HONOR

Sophomore outside hitter Kayla Lund of was named ACC Player of the Week for the third time this season, as announced by the conference Monday afternoon.
The honor is the third of her career, as well as her third of the season (Aug. 27, Sept. 10). She and Payton Caffrey of Florida State lead the ACC with three awards apiece.
As a team, the Panthers have racked up the most ACC weekly honors this season of any team in the league with five. Three different Panthers, including Lund, Nika Markovic (Oct. 8) and Stephanie Williams (Oct. 22) have earned the accolades this year.
Lund led No. 10 Pitt with 4.33 kills per set in a sweep of Duke (25-20, 25-17, 25-17) Sunday at Fitzgerald Field House in front of a program-record crowd of 3,179. The Pasadena, Calif., native hit .440 on the day with 13 kills, while adding three digs and two blocks. With the win Sunday, the Panthers remain atop the ACC standings at 14-1.

LEADING THE LEAGUE

Pitt paces the ACC in three categories: assists per set (13.80, seventh nationally), hitting percentage (.299, fourth nationally) and kills per set (14.60, seventh nationally).

SCOUTING THE SEMINOLES

Florida State (17-8, 13-2 ACC) is riding a four-match win streak into Friday's contest against Pitt. The Seminoles are second in the conference behind the Panthers, dropping ACC matches at Pitt (Sept. 30) and at Miami (Oct. 24).
Florida State is 10-1 when playing at Tully Gym this season, falling only to No. 11 Florida (Sept., 3-1). The Seminoles are 1-5 when playing against ranked opponents this season, with their lone win coming at No. 24 Louisville (Nov. 4, 3-1).
Junior outside hitter Payton Caffrey leads the ACC in kills per set (4.35), total points (467.0), points per set (4.92)and total kills (413).

THE SERIES – FLORIDA STATE

Friday will be the 13th meeting between Florida State and Pitt, with the Panthers leading the series, 7-5. Pitt won the previous three contests between the teams, including a Sept. 30 meeting at Fitzgerald Field House (3-1).

The Panthers are 3-2 all-time when playing in Tallahassee, winning the last meeting at Tully Gym (Oct. 6, 2017 – 3-1). The Panthers' last loss in Tallahassee came Oct. 16, 2016 (3-1).

UP NEXT

No. 10 Pitt will play its final regular season road match at Miami Sunday at 1 p.m. The match will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra, available via the WatchESPN app.

PARTY AT THE PETE

Tickets are available for No. 10 Pitt volleyball's regular season finale, "Party at The Pete," set for Wednesday, Nov. 21, against Georgia Tech at 7 p.m. at Petersen Events Center. Fans may purchase tickets by calling the Panthers' Ticket Office at (800) 643-PITT (7488) or by ordering online at PittsburghPanthers.com.

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