Sunday, October 13
Chestnut Hill, Mass.
2:30 PM ET
Pitt
at
Boston College
No. 3 Pitt, Boston College Set for Battle of ACC Unbeatens
10/12/2019 1:48:00 PM | Volleyball
Panthers, Eagles to Face Off Sunday Afternoon
PITTSBURGH – The No. 3 Pitt volleyball team (16-1, 5-0) will take on fellow ACC unbeaten Boston College (14-4, 5-0) at 2:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon at Power Gym in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
HOW TO FOLLOW
SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE
A WIN WOULD…
RANKING THE PANTHERS
GETTING CLOSER
LAST TIME OUT
SCOUTING BOSTON COLLEGE
UP NEXT
PITT VOLLEYBALL TICKETS
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
HOW TO FOLLOW
- Pitt's match will be televised on AT&T Sportsnet Pittsburgh in addition to other RSN affiliates.
- The match will also be streamed on ACC Network Extra, subject to blackout.
- Live stats will be available at BCEagles.com.
- Fans can follow along with live updates on Twitter and Instagram, both @Pitt_VB.
SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE
- No. 3 Pitt (16-1, 5-0) and Boston College (14-4, 5-0) are two of four remaining teams unbeaten in ACC play.
- No. 25 Louisville (12-3, 5-0) and (RV) Notre Dame (12-3, 5-0) are the other two teams with zero losses in conference play. On Sunday, the Cardinals will visit Wake Forest (11-5, 1-4) while the Irish will travel to Duke (8-10, 1-4).
A WIN WOULD…
- Give the Panthers a 6-0 record in ACC play for the third consecutive season.
- Improve Pitt's record to 32-1 all-time against Boston College and 10-1 when playing in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
- Extend the Panthers' winning streak against Boston College to 14 matches. Pitt's last (and only) loss to the Eagles came Oct. 1, 2000 (3-1), in Chestnut Hill. The Panthers have won the last five meetings when playing at Boston College.
- Improve the Panthers' record to 34-2 when ranked inside the AVCA top 10 and 7-1 when ranked inside the top five.
RANKING THE PANTHERS
- The Panthers rose to No. 3 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Poll, as announced Monday afternoon. The ranking is Pitt's highest in program history.
- Pitt's No. 3 AVCA ranking ties the highest for an ACC team in conference history. Florida State earned a No. 3 ranking in 2014.
- The ranking marks the 17th week in program history that Pitt has landed among the top 10 programs in the NCAA, and the fourth week ever in the top five.
- The Panthers are 33-2 all-time when ranked inside the top 10, and 6-1 when ranked in the top five.
- Pitt debuted at No. 5 in the NCAA Volleyball RPI, as released Monday afternoon.
GETTING CLOSER
- Two Panthers are nearing career milestones as Pitt enters the second half of the regular season.
- Redshirt senior Stephanie Williams is 24 digs away from 1,000 with 976. She earned her 1,000th kill in 2018 and currently boasts 1,319 for her career, ranking sixth in program history.
- Williams is set to join elite company as one of just three Panthers ever to record 1,300+ kills and 1,000+ digs, including Ann Marie Lucanie (1990-93) and Diana Andreyko (2004-07). Lucanie had 1,815 kills and 1,480 digs, while Andreyko had a program-record 1,852 kills and 1,089 digs.
- Senior middle blocker Layne Van Buskirk is 13 kills away from 1,000 with 987. She is set to become the third active Panther with 1,000 kills, including senior right side Nika Markovic (1,106) and Williams (1,319).
LAST TIME OUT
- Five Panthers contributed five or more kills as No. 3 Pitt defeated ACC foe Syracuse in straight sets (26-24, 25-15, 25-17) at the Women's Building Friday night.
- The Panthers have won 15 of 16 sets to begin ACC play, with the lone loss at No. 23 Florida State Sunday.
- Junior outside hitter Kayla Lund had a team-high eight kills while freshman middle Chiamaka Nwokolo had a career outing with seven on nine attempts for a scorching .778 hitting percentage. The rookie also posted three blocks.
- Middles Sabrina Starks and Layne Van Buskirk produced six kills apiece, and redshirt junior outside hitter Zoi Faki had five while hitting .500.
- Redshirt senior libero Hali Hillegas had a team-best nine digs, and freshman setter Lexis Akeo led the Panthers with 36 assists. Junior right side hitter Chinaza Ndee paced Pitt with four blocks.
- Pitt handily out-hit the Orange, posting a team percentage of .313 while holding Syracuse to .067. The Panthers had more kills (43-34), assists (38-33), digs (39-37) and blocks (9.0-7.0).
SCOUTING BOSTON COLLEGE
- Boston College (14-4, 5-0) matched its program record for ACC season wins Friday, earning their fifth with a sweep of Virginia (25-23, 28-26, 25-21).
- The sweep was BC's sixth of the season as the Eagles have now won nine of their last 10 matches. The 3-0 decision was the Eagles' first sweep of an ACC opponent this season.
- The Eagles' last loss came against Albany at the Rhode Island Challenge, 3-2, on Sept. 21.
- BC is 3-0 when playing at home this season, with wins over Duke (3-1), Wake Forest (3-1) and Virginia (3-0).
- Jewel Strawberry is the team leader with 3.20 kills per frame. She had 10 in her last outing against Virginia.
UP NEXT
- The No. 3 Panthers will return to Pittsburgh for the first time since Sept. 29 for a home weekend against North Carolina (Oct. 18) and NC State (Oct. 20).
PITT VOLLEYBALL TICKETS
- Flex season ticket packages as well as single-match and group tickets for the 2019 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
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