No. 3 Pitt Volleyball to Visit Fighting Irish Friday

PITTSBURGH – No. 3 Pitt volleyball (19-1, 8-0) will battle to stay in command of the Atlantic Coast Conference with a road match at (RV) Notre Dame (14-4, 7-1) Friday at Purcell Pavilion.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Pitt's match can be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
Live stats will be available at Statbroadcast.com.
Fans can follow along with live updates on Twitter and Instagram, both @Pitt_VB.

A WIN WOULD…

Give the Panthers a 9-0 record in ACC play for the third consecutive season.
Improve Pitt's record to 15-24 all-time against Notre Dame and 7-10 when playing in South Bend.
Extend the Panthers' winning streak against the Fighting Irish to three matches. Pitt's last loss to Notre Dame came Oct. 21, 2016, in Pittsburgh (3-0).
Extend the Panthers' winning streak when playing at Notre Dame to four matches. Pitt's last road loss in South Bend was Nov 3, 2013 (3-2).
Improve the Panthers' record to 37-2 when ranked inside the AVCA top 10 and 10-1 when ranked inside the top five.

RANKING THE PANTHERS

For the third consecutive week, 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 19th week in program history that Pitt has landed among the top 10 programs in the NCAA, and the sixth week ever in the top five.
The Panthers are 36-2 all-time when ranked inside the top 10, and 9-1 when ranked in the top five.
Pitt is No. 7 in the NCAA Volleyball RPI for the second consecutive week, as released Monday afternoon.

GETTING CLOSER

Redshirt senior Stephanie Williams is 10 digs away from 1,000 with 990. She earned her 1,000th kill in 2018 and currently boasts 1,338 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.

LAST TIME OUT

Pitt earned its 30th consecutive victory when playing at Fitzgerald Field House Sunday afternoon, sweeping NC State. The 30 wins in a row at the facility are a school record, with the Panthers' last loss coming nearly two years prior, on Oct. 22, 2017, to the Wolfpack.
The sweep (25-9, 25-16, 25-12) was Pitt's 14th of the year and seventh of ACC play. The Panthers have dropped just one set out of 25 against league opponents.
Pitt had a well-balanced attack with four Panthers posting seven or more kills. Redshirt senior outside hitter Stephanie Williams led the effort with eight kills on .300 (8k-2e-20a), adding eight digs, two service aces and two blocks.
Senior middle Layne Van Buskirk had seven kills on .700 (7k-0e-10a) with five blocks, with fellow middle Sabrina Starks close behind, posting seven kills and three blocks. Junior outside Kayla Lund had seven kills to go along with seven digs.
Freshman setter Lexis Akeo had 29 assists and redshirt senior libero Hali Hillegas led the battle on defense with 13 digs.
The Panthers' .407 hitting percentage was their third-highest of the season, while holding NC State to -.010, the lowest for a Pitt opponent this season. Pitt dominated nearly every statistic: kills (40-20), assists (35-20), digs (46-31) and blocks (8.5-3.0).

SCOUTING (RV) NOTRE DAME

The Fighting Irish (14-4, 7-1) received three votes in this week's AVCA poll.
They have won seven of their last eight matches, with the lone loss coming against Louisville (Oct. 16, 3-2) at home.
Notre Dame is 9-2 when playing in South Bend this season, with losses to Wright State (Aug. 31, 3-2) and Louisville (Oct. 16, 3-2).
The Fighting Irish lead the ACC with 15.82 digs per set, and rank third in opponent hitting percentage (.165).
Madison Cruzado paces the league with 4.65 digs per frame.

UP NEXT

No. 3 Pitt will stay on the road to visit (RV) Louisville for a 3 p.m. contest on ACC Network.

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.

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No. 3 Pitt Volleyball to Visit Fighting Irish Friday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Lexis Akeo

Hali Hillegas

Kayla Lund

Sabrina Starks

Layne Van Buskirk

Stephanie Williams

No. 3 Pitt Volleyball to Visit Fighting Irish Friday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Lexis Akeo

Hali Hillegas

Kayla Lund

Sabrina Starks

Layne Van Buskirk

Stephanie Williams

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