Saturday, November 16
Durham, N.C.
1 PM ET
Pitt
at
Duke
No. 2 Pitt to Play for Outright ACC Title Saturday
11/15/2019 9:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Panthers Clinched at Least a Share of Championship Sunday
PITTSBURGH – The No. 2 Pitt volleyball team (25-1, 14-0) will look to claim the outright 2019 ACC Championship Saturday against Duke (12-15, 5-9) at 1 p.m. ET at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.
HOW TO FOLLOW
A WIN WOULD…
ALL-TIME HIGHS
DID YOU KNOW?
LAST TIME OUT
ANOTHER ONE FOR AKEO
CAT'S A PANTHER
SCOUTING DUKE
UP NEXT
PITT VOLLEYBALL TICKETS
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
HOW TO FOLLOW
- Pitt's match will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
- Live stats will be available at Duke.SIDEARMSPORTS.com.
- Fans can follow along with live updates on Twitter and Instagram, both @Pitt_VB.
A WIN WOULD…
- Secure the outright 2019 ACC Championship for Pitt, marking the Panthers' second consecutive outright title and third consecutive ACC Championship.
- Extend the Panthers' best start to an ACC season in program history, improving to 15-0.
- Extend Pitt's road winning streak to 14 matches. The Panthers' last road loss came Oct. 28, 2018, at Duke (3-1).
- Sweep the season series against Duke. The Panthers hosted the Blue Devils thirteen days prior at Fitzgerald Field House, winning 3-0 (Sunday, Nov. 3).
- Improve Pitt's record to 11-8 all-time against Duke and 3-3 when playing in Durham.
- Extend the Panthers' win streak against the Blue Devils to three matches, with Pitt's last loss against Duke coming Oct. 28, 2018, at Cameron Indoor Stadium (3-1).
- Snap a three-match losing streak for Pitt when playing in Durham. The Panthers' last win at Cameron Indoor Stadium came Nov. 7, 2014 (3-2).
- Improve the Panthers' record to 43-2 when ranked inside the AVCA top 10 and 16-1 when ranked inside the top five.
ALL-TIME HIGHS
- For the third consecutive week, Pitt is No. 2 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, matching its highest ranking in program history.
- The ranking is the highest ever for an ACC volleyball team. The previous high was No. 3, earned by Pitt in 2019 and by Florida State in 2014.
- The ranking marks the 22nd week in program history that Pitt has landed among the top 10 programs in the NCAA, and the ninth week ever in the top five.
- The Panthers are 42-2 all-time when ranked inside the top 10, and 15-1 when ranked in the top five.
- Pitt moved up one spot to No. 3 in the NCAA Volleyball RPI, marking its highest ranking in program history.
DID YOU KNOW?
- The Panthers (25-1, 14-0) are the lone Division I volleyball team to outscore each of their 2019 opponents.
- Despite its lone loss to then-ranked No. 4 Penn State (Sept. 22), the Panthers outscored the Nittany Lions in five sets (26-28, 25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 14-16), 111-110.
LAST TIME OUT
- No. 2 Pitt 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.
ANOTHER ONE FOR AKEO
- For the third consecutive week and for the seventh time this season, setter Lexis Akeo has been named the ACC Freshman of the Week, as announced Monday afternoon.
- Her seven ACC Freshman of the Week accolades are a Pitt volleyball record.
- The Kapolei, Hawaii, native led Pitt with 8.33 assists per set and added 1.67 digs, 0.33 service aces and 0.33 blocks per frame over nine sets played. Against Georgia Tech (Nov. 8), she produced 43 assists and followed that performance with 32 assists against Clemson (Nov. 10). With the two wins, Pitt closed 2019 play at Fitzgerald Field House with its 33rd and 34th consecutive victories at the facility, marking a program record.
CAT'S A PANTHER
- Cat Flood has committed to join the Pitt volleyball program in 2020, head coach Dan Fisher announced Wednesday.
- A 6-foot-2 outside hitter, Flood was recently named one of PrepVolleyball's Top 150 Senior Aces for the Class of 2020. The Wilmette, Ill., native is a three-time conference champion out of New Trier High School.
- Flood previously competed with the Wildcat Juniors club out of Evanston, Ill., from her freshman to junior years, where she was team captain of her 16s and 17s teams. She will play with Adversity Volleyball Club out of Vernon Hills, Ill., for her senior season.
- Flood is a three-time Honorable Mention for academic achievement at New Trier High School.
SCOUTING DUKE
- The Blue Devils (12-15, 5-9) have gone 1-1 at home since their last meeting against the Panthers on Nov. 3. Duke fell against North Carolina, 3-1 (Nov. 7), and picked up a five-set win against NC State at Cameron Indoor Stadium (Nov. 10).
- Ade Owokoniran is Duke's leader with 3.40 kills per frame.
- The Blue Devils are 7-8 when playing at home this season.
- Duke is 1-4 against AVCA Top 25 opponents this year, with its lone win coming against then-ranked No. 14 Oregon Sept. 20 (3-2).
UP NEXT
- The first of the Panthers' final two regular season home matches at Petersen Events Center will be Friday, Nov. 22, at 6 p.m. ET against Florida State. Tickets are available online at PittsburghPanthers.com or by calling the Panthers' Ticket Office at (800) 643-PITT (7488).
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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