No. 2 Pitt Secures Share of ACC Volleyball Championship

Sunday, November 10

Pittsburgh, Pa.

1 PM ET

Pitt

25-1, 14-0

Clemson

10-15, 4-10

Clemson

Pitt

No. 2 Pitt Secures Share of ACC Volleyball Championship

11/10/2019 5:11:00 PM | Volleyball

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Panthers Defeat Clemson on Senior Day

PITTSBURGH – The No. 2 Pitt volleyball team (25-1, 14-0) clinched at least a share of the ACC Championship for the third consecutive season Sunday afternoon on Senior Day at Fitzgerald Field House.

The Panthers topped Clemson in four sets (19-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-22), and with Miami's five-set win over second-place Notre Dame, Pitt secured at least a share of the 2019 title.

It was a special day at Fitzgerald Field House as the Panthers honored seniors Alix Dreier, Hali Hillegas, Nika Markovic, Layne Van Buskirk and Stephanie Williams. The match was Pitt's last at the facility in 2019, as the team will move down to Petersen Events Center for its final two regular season home matches (Nov. 22 and 27).

Junior outside hitter Kayla Lund led the Panthers with a match-high 15 kills against Clemson, rounding out her team-best sixth double-double with 15 digs. Classmate Chinaza Ndee produced 13 kills on the right side, and Williams had eight kills to go along with 10 digs.

Van Buskirk led the blocking effort with a season-best nine. Freshman setter Lexis Akeo had a match-high 32 assists. Redshirt freshman Maddie Soboleski contributed a career-high 12 assists for the Panthers.

Pitt held the Tigers to .115 hitting while the Panthers produced a .215 percentage. They had the advantage in kills (53-42), assists (51-41), service aces (5-3) and digs (56-50). Clemson out-blocked Pitt, 16.5-13.5.

WITH THE WIN…

The Panthers extended their best start to an ACC season in program history, improving to 14-0.
Pitt extended it longest winning streak when playing at Fitzgerald Field House to 34 consecutive matches. Pitt's last loss at the Field House came Oct. 22, 2017, against NC State (3-1).
The Panthers' record improved to 8-1 all-time against Clemson and 4-0 when playing in Pittsburgh.
Pitt's winning streak against the Tigers extended to eight matches. The Panthers' lone loss to Clemson came in the first meeting: Aug. 30, 1997 (3-1).
The Panthers' record improved to 42-2 when ranked inside the AVCA top 10 and 15-1 when ranked inside the top five.

Set One: Clemson 25, No. 2 Pitt 19

The Panthers fell behind early in the frame as Clemson used a 6-0 run to gain a 10-4 advantage. The Tigers extended their lead to 16-8 following a 5-1 run. Pitt found some momentum with a 6-2 run that cut its deficit to 19-15, and followed that with a 4-0 run to make the margin just two (21-19). However, Clemson closed the door with a 4-0 run to gain a 1-0 lead in the match. The Tigers' win marks just the second time this season that Pitt fell behind 1-0, with the last being the Panthers' loss to No. 4 Penn State (3-2, Sept. 22). Lund led Pitt with three kills as the Panthers were held to a .057 hitting percentage.

Set Two: No. 2 Pitt 25, Clemson 16

Pitt found its footing with a 7-0 run to go ahead, 10-4. The Panthers extended their margin to 14-7 following a 3-0 run, and later used a 4-0 surge to make it 21-13. Pitt evened up the match at one set apiece with a 25-16 win, out-hitting the Tigers .321 to .056.

Set Three: No. 2 Pitt 25, Clemson 19

The Panthers used a 4-0 run to gain a 10-8 lead, and later extended the margin to 14-11 following a 4-1 run. The Tigers tied the set at 17, but Pitt was able to hold them off with a 4-1 run to make it 22-19. Pitt finished off the frame with three unanswered points. Pitt held Clemson to .103 hitting while posting a percentage of .243.

Set Four: No. 2 Pitt 25, Clemson 22

Pitt earned a 6-1 start and later fended off the Tigers with 5-0 run to make it 19-12. Clemson fought back with a 6-2 run to cut Pitt's lead to 22-19, but the Panthers held on for a 25-22 win in the set, securing the match, 3-1.

UP NEXT
No. 2 Pitt will vie for a season sweep against Duke when the Panthers visit Durham, N.C., and Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday, Nov. 16, at 1 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.

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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