Friday, October 18
Pittsburgh, Pa.
7 PM ET
Pitt
vs
North Carolina
No. 3 Pitt Volleyball Back Home for Tilt with Tar Heels
10/17/2019 10:04:00 AM | Volleyball
Panthers Return Home for First Time Since Sept. 29
PITTSBURGH – The No. 3 Pitt volleyball team (17-1, 6-0) will host North Carolina (7-9, 4-2) for its first home match since Sept. 29 at Fitzgerald Field House Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
HOW TO FOLLOW
A WIN WOULD…
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARNENESS MATCH
RANKING THE PANTHERS
GETTING CLOSER
AKEO TIES PITT VOLLEYBALL RECORD
LAST TIME OUT
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA
UP NEXT
PITT VOLLEYBALL TICKETS
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
HOW TO FOLLOW
- Pitt's match be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
- Live stats will be available at PittsburghPanthers.com.
- Fans can follow along with live updates on Twitter and Instagram, both @Pitt_VB.
- Tickets may be purchased by calling the Panthers' Ticket Office at (800) 643-PITT (7488) or online at PittsburghPanthers.com.
A WIN WOULD…
- Be Pitt's 29th consecutive victory when playing at Fitzgerald Field House. The Panthers' 28 wins in a row at the facility are a school record. Pitt's last loss at the Field House came nearly two years ago, on Oct. 22, 2017.
- Give the Panthers a 7-0 record in ACC play for the third consecutive season.
- Improve Pitt's record to 12-6 all-time against North Carolina and 5-1 when playing in Pittsburgh.
- Extend the Panthers' winning streak against the Tar Heels to four matches. Pitt's last loss to the Tar Heels came Nov. 13, 2015, in Chapel Hill (3-0).
- Extend Pitt's winning streak against North Carolina when playing at Fitzgerald Field House to four matches. The Panthers' last home loss against UNC came Oct. 3, 2014 (3-2)
- Improve the Panthers' record to 35-2 when ranked inside the AVCA top 10 and 8-1 when ranked inside the top five.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARNENESS MATCH
- October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the Panthers will wear purple shoelaces at Friday's match in support of the cause.
- Additionally, Pitt will collect toiletry items at the match for donation to the Women's Center and Shelter of Pittsburgh. A list of accepted items can be found at WCSPittsburgh.org.
- Those who donate at the match will receive a gift from Pitt volleyball.
RANKING THE PANTHERS
- The Panthers remain at 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 18th week in program history that Pitt has landed among the top 10 programs in the NCAA, and the fifth week ever in the top five.
- The Panthers are 34-2 all-time when ranked inside the top 10, and 7-1 when ranked in the top five.
- Pitt is No. 7 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 18 digs away from 1,000 with 918. She earned her 1,000th kill in 2018 and currently boasts 1,329 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 3 kills away from 1,000 with 997. She is set to become the third active Panther with 1,000 kills, including senior right side Nika Markovic (1,106) and Williams (1,329).
AKEO TIES PITT VOLLEYBALL RECORD
- Pitt setter Lexis Akeo has been named ACC Co-Freshman of the Week, as announced by the conference Monday afternoon.
- The honor is Akeo's fourth of the season, tying teammate Kayla Lund (2017) for the most earned by a Panther since Pitt joined the league in 2013.
- Akeo shared the honors this week with outside hitter Julia Bergmann of Georgia Tech.
- Akeo led the Panthers with 13.33 assists per set as Pitt swept Syracuse (Oct. 11) and Boston College (Oct. 13) to complete a four-match road trip. Her performances helped the Panthers reach a 6-0 record in ACC play for the third consecutive season. The Kapolei, Hawaii, native added 2.00 digs per frame for the weekend and posted two kills with zero errors against the Orange.
LAST TIME OUT
- Sophomore middle blocker Sabrina Starks posted the third-most blocks in a single match in program history with 13 as No. 3 Pitt closed a four-match road swing with a sweep at Boston College Sunday at Power Gym.
- The Panthers earned a gritty road win with scores of 25-23, 25-22, 25-23, to stay atop the ACC Volleyball standings.
- Junior right side Chinaza Ndee recorded the second double-double of her career with a team-leading 12 kills to go along with a career-high 11 blocks. She was one of three Panthers to earn double figures in the scoring column, alongside senior middle Layne Van Buskirk (10) and junior outside Kayla Lund (10). Van Buskirk's 10 kills on the day put her just three away from 1,000 for her career.
- Starks added seven kills on .357 hitting to go along with her career-high 13 blocks. She tied Jenna Potts (2015 vs. George Washington) and Hannah Swysgood (2008 vs. Georgetown) in the Pitt record book for single matches.
- Redshirt senior libero Hali Hillegas tied a season-best mark with 24 digs, and freshman setter Lexis Akeo contributed 44 assists.
- The Panthers had the upper hand in kills (48-35), assists (45-35), digs (50-48) and blocks (15.0-13.0).
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA
- North Carolina (7-9, 4-2) is riding a four-match win streak into its match against No. 3 Pitt. Most recently, the Tar Heels defeated Miami (3-1) and No. 23 Florida State (3-2) over the weekend.
- UNC is 1-2 against top 25 opponents this season, with the win over the Seminoles (Oct. 13) and losses to then-ranked No. 3 Minnesota (3-0, Aug. 30) and No. 5 Wisconsin (3-0, Aug. 31).
- The Tar Heels are 2-6 when playing away from Chapel Hill this season, with wins against UC Irvine (3-1, Sept. 6) and NC State (3-2, Oct. 2).
- North Carolina leads the ACC with 177.5 total team blocks.
- Lauren Harrison is the Tar Heels' leader with 3.76 kills per set, followed by Parker Austin with 3.00 kills per frame.
UP NEXT
- No. 3 Pitt will host NC State at Fitzgerald Field House Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPNU. Tickets are available by calling the Panthers' Ticket Office at (800) 643-PITT (7488) or online at PittsburghPanthers.com.
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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