No. 11 Pitt Sweeps Iona, Advances to NCAA Second Round

Friday, November 30

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7 PM EST

Pitt

30-1

Iona

20-8

Iona

Pitt

Photo by: Jeffrey Gamza/Pitt Athletics

No. 11 Pitt Sweeps Iona, Advances to NCAA Second Round

11/30/2018 10:29:00 PM | Volleyball

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Panthers Reach Second Round for Third Consecutive Season

PITTSBURGH – For the third consecutive season, the ACC champion No. 11 Pitt volleyball team (30-1) reached the NCAA Tournament Second Round, this time with a sweep of MAAC champion Iona (20-8) in the First Round Friday at Petersen Events Center.

The Panthers will face Michigan (23-9) in the Second Round Saturday at 7 p.m. at Petersen Events Center. The winner of the match will advance to the Sweet 16. The Wolverines swept Navy (25-23, 25-20, 25-10) earlier in the day to reach the Second Round. Pitt has never advanced past the Second round, at 0-5 all-time.

Pitt dismantled Iona by scores of 26-24, 25-18, 25-15.

Junior right side Nika Markovic had the hot hand for the Panthers with a match-high 16 kills on .423 hitting. She added six digs and two blocks. Outsides Stephanie Williams and Kayla Lund had nine kills apiece with a combined 17 digs between the two. Junior middle Layne Van Buskirk added eight kills to go along with three blocks. Sophomore middle Chinaza Ndee had a match-high six blocks for Pitt.

Redshirt sophomore setter Kylee Levers had 21 assists, and senior setter Kamalani Akeo followed with 20. Redshirt senior libero Angela Seman posted a team-high 11 digs for the Panthers.

After a slow start offensively, hitting just .167 in the first frame, the Panthers picked up the momentum and hit .306 for the match. Pitt held Iona to just .098 attacking and had the advantage in kills (46-34), assists (45-33), digs (45-32) and blocks (10.0-7.0).

WITH THE WIN…

Pitt earned its most wins in a season (30) since the Panthers went 32-6 (7-0) in 1990, winning both the Big East Regular Season and Big East Tournament Championships.
The Panthers earned their most wins in a season under sixth-year head coach Dan Fisher (30).
Pit reached its third consecutive postseason with an NCAA Tournament First Round victory. Pitt defeated VCU in the opening round in 2017 (3-1), and topped No. 23 Dayton in 2016 (3-1).
Pitt advanced to the NCAA Tournament Second Round for the sixth time in program history, and for the third consecutive season. Pitt holds a 6-13 all-time record when playing in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
The Panthers improved their 2018 home record to 19-0, and 2-0 at Petersen Events Center.
Pitt earned a 1-0 advantage in the all-time series against Iona.

AGENT DOUBLE-O-1-7

With her fifth kill of the match, junior right side Nika Markovic reached 1,000 for her career.
She became the second Panther to reach the 1,000-kill mark this season, joining redshirt junior outside Stephanie Williams.

Set One: No. 11 Pitt 26, Iona 24

It was a slow start for Pitt, as the set saw 14 ties and five lead changes early, until a 5-2 run put Iona ahead, 22-19. The Panthers tied it up for the 15th time, 22-22. The Gaels pushed the set into extra points, but the Panthers used a 3-0 run to end the set with a 26-24 win. A block by Ndee and Williams completed the frame.

Pitt hit just .167 for the set, with 12 kills and six errors on 36 attempts. Markovic led the way with four kills for the Panthers.

Set Two: No. 11 Pitt 25, Iona 18

Despite a 2-0 start for Iona, the Panthers answered with a 5-0 run and never looked back. A 3-0 run, capped by a Van Buskirk kill, put Pitt ahead, 9-4. Later, a 4-1 run extended the margin to 17-11 for the Panthers, and furthermore a 4-0 run made it 21-13. The Gaels made some noise late in the set with a 5-0 run, closing the gap to 21-18, but Pitt finished them off with a 4-0 run to win, 25-18.

The Panthers found their stride offensively, hitting .462 for the set with 17 kills on 26 attempts with five errors.

Set Three: No. 11 Pitt 25, Iona 15

The set saw six ties and three lead changes until Pitt caught its footing and went on a 9-2 run to reach a 14-8 lead. The Panthers decisively ended the match with a 6-1 run to win 25-15.

Markovic had seven of her 16 total kills in the third set.

UP NEXT

No. 11 Pitt and Michigan will face off in the NCAA Tournament Second Round Saturday at 7 p.m. at Petersen Events Center. The match will be streamed live on ESPN3, available via the WatchESPN app.

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