No. 2 Pitt to Host Georgia Tech in Pivotal ACC Matchup

PITTSBURGH – The two ACC teams with the longest active win streaks will face off Friday at 7 p.m. at Fitzgerald Field House as No. 2 Pitt volleyball (23-1, 12-0) hosts Georgia Tech (16-7, 9-3).

HOW TO FOLLOW

Pitt's match will be streamed live 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 the Panther's 100th ACC win as a member of the conference. The Panthers joined the league prior to the 2013 season.
Extend the Panthers' best start to an ACC season in program history, improving to 13-0.
Extend Pitt's longest winning streak when playing at Fitzgerald Field House to 33 consecutive matches. Pitt's last loss at the Field House came Oct. 22, 2017, against NC State (3-1).
Improve the Panthers' record to 9-1 all-time against Georgia Tech and 5-0 when playing in Pittsburgh.
Extend Pitt's winning streak against the Yellow Jackets to nine matches. The Panthers' lone loss to Georgia Tech came in the first meeting: Aug. 24, 2007 (3-1).
Improve the Panthers' record to 41-2 when ranked inside the AVCA top 10 and 14-1 when ranked inside the top five.

SWEEP CITY

Dating back to an Oct. 11 win at Syracuse, Pitt has swept its last eight ACC opponents, marking the longest ACC sweep streak in program history.
Pitt's current streak of eight consecutive sweeps are the most for the program since earning a program-record 11 consecutive in 1988.
The Panthers have won 25 consecutive sets dating back to a 3-1 victory at then-ranked No. 23 Florida State (Oct. 6).
At 12-0 in ACC play, the Panthers have won 36 out of 37 sets played.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Panthers (23-1, 12-0) 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.

ALL-TIME HIGHS

For the second 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 21st week in program history that Pitt has landed among the top 10 programs in the NCAA, and the eighth week ever in the top five.
The Panthers are 40-2 all-time when ranked inside the top 10, and 13-1 when ranked in the top five.
Pitt moved up one spots to No. 4 in the NCAA Volleyball RPI, matching its highest ranking in program history. The Panthers were No. 4 for the week of Oct. 8, 2018.

AKEO DOES IT AGAIN

Setter Lexis Akeo extended her own program record with her sixth ACC Freshman of the Week honor, as announced Monday afternoon.
The Kapolei, Hawaii, native helped No. 2 Pitt earn its best start to ACC play in program history as the Panthers improved to 12-0 in the league with home sweeps over Wake Forest (Nov. 1) and Duke (Nov. 3). She led the Panthers with 10.50 assists per set over the two matches. The rookie produced 25 assists against the Demon Deacons and had 38 assists against the Blue Devils. She added 2.00 digs per frame.
Akeo ranks third in the ACC with 10.66 assists per set this season.

LAST TIME OUT

No. 2 Pitt volleyball earned its best start to ACC play in program history with a sweep of Duke Sunday at Fitzgerald Field House.
The sweep (25-18, 31-29, 25-10) was Pitt's eighth in a row, marking an all-time best for the program in ACC play. Pitt has won 25 consecutive sets dating back to a 3-1 victory at then-ranked No. 23 Florida State (Oct. 11.).
Three Panthers had double-figure kills, led by senior middle blocker Layne Van Buskirk (13) on .476 hitting. Junior right side Chinaza Ndee followed with 10 kills on .533 and added three blocks. Redshirt senior outside hitter Stephanie Williams posted 10 kills with five digs.
Sophomore middle Sabrina Starks led the blocking effort with five. She posted an efficient seven kills on nine attempts with no errors for a scorching .778 hitting percentage.
Freshman setter Lexis Akeo had 38 assists, while redshirt senior libero Hali Hillegas had a match-high 16 digs to go along with three assists.
As a unit, Pitt held Duke to .158 hitting while the Panthers posted a .337 percentage. Pitt bested the Blue Devils in kills (52-35), assists (50-34), service aces (3-1) and digs (47-28). Duke had the upper hand in blocks, 14.0-6.0.

SCOUTING GEORGIA TECH

The Yellow Jackets (16-7, 9-3) are in a tie for second place in the ACC. They own the second-longest active win streak in the league behind the Panthers, winning their last eight matches.
Tech's eight-match ACC winning streak is its longest since it won 10 in a row in 2016.
The Yellow Jackets are 4-5 when playing on the road this season, winning their last four away matches after starting the season at 0-5.
Last time out, Georgia Tech picked up a five-set win at NC State (Nov. 3). Sophomore Mariana Brambilla recorded her sixth double-double with a season-high 21 kills and 12 digs.
The Yellow Jackets rank second in the ACC behind Pitt with a team hitting percentage of .267. They are also second behind the Panthers in assists per set (13.05) and kills per set (14.10).
Kodie Comby leads the ACC with a .440 season hitting percentage. Matti McKissock is the league leader with 11.23 assists per frame.

UP NEXT

The Panthers will play their final match at Fitzgerald Field House of the 2019 season against Clemson Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. Pitt will celebrate its five seniors in a special ceremony following the match.

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. 2 Pitt to Host Georgia Tech in Pivotal ACC Matchup

Players Mentioned

Lexis Akeo

Hali Hillegas

Chinaza Ndee

Sabrina Starks

Layne Van Buskirk

Stephanie Williams

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