Panthers Sweep Howard to Advance in NCAA Tournament

Friday, December 6

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7 PM ET

Pitt

30-1

Howard

20-13

Howard

Pitt

Panthers Sweep Howard to Advance in NCAA Tournament

12/6/2019 10:11:00 PM | Volleyball

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Pitt Opens Postseason Play with Sweep

PITTSBURGH – The sixth-seeded Pitt volleyball team (30-1, 18-0 ACC) advanced to the NCAA Tournament Second Round for the fourth consecutive season with a sweep of Howard (20-13, 14-1 MEAC) Friday night at Petersen Events Center.

The Panthers topped the Bison by scores of 25-9, 25-21, 25-14.

Redshirt senior outside hitter Stephanie Williams had a match-high 10 kills on .412 hitting. Sophomore middle blocker Sabrina Starks anchored the Panthers' blocking effort with 10, adding five kills on .400 hitting.

ACC Player of the Year Kayla Lund contributed seven kills and nine digs, while redshirt senior libero Hali Hillegas had a match-high 11 digs.

Pitt out-played Howard in all areas, including kills (35-25), assists (33-24), service aces (6-1), digs (34-25) blocks (12.0-4.0) and hitting percentage (.329 to .033).

WITH THE WIN…

Pitt reached 30 wins for the second consecutive season (30-1), marking the program's most wins in a season since the going 32-6 (7-0) in 1990, winning both the Big East Regular Season and Big East Tournament Championships.
Pitt recorded the second consecutive season with Panthers' most wins (30) under seventh-year head coach Dan Fisher.
The Panthers achieved an NCAA Tournament First Round victory for the fourth consecutive season.
Pitt advanced to the Second Round for the seventh time in program history that the Panthers. Pitt holds a 7-14 all-time record when playing in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
The Panthers' 2019 home record improved to 16-1, and 3-1 at Petersen Events Center.
Pitt earned a 6-0 advantage in the all-time series against Howard.
The Panthers' record improved to 47-2 when ranked inside the AVCA top 10 and 20-1 when ranked inside the top five.

KAYLA LUND NEARS 1K

ACC Player of the Year Kayla Lund is 10 kills away from reaching 1,000 for her career, with 990.
She is set to become the fourth active Panther with 1,000 or more kills for her career, joining redshirt senior outside hitter Stephanie Williams, senior right side Nika Markovic and senior middle blocker Layne Van Buskirk.

Set One: No. 6 Pitt 25, Howard 9

Pitt took an early 4-0 start and never looked back. The Panthers secured total momentum of the set with a 9-1 run that put them ahead, 18-6. Pitt closed the door on the stanza by outscoring the Bison 7-3. Van Buskirk and Williams contributed three kills apiece to pace the Panthers as the squad out-hit Howard, .421 to -.192.

Set Two: No. 6 Pitt 25, Howard 21

The second set was closer, with Howard taking a 10-6 lead after a slow start by Pitt. The Panthers awoke with a 9-3 run to re-gain a 15-13 lead, and kept the advantage for the remainder of the frame, winning 25-21. Pitt had a slight advantage in kills, 15-14.

Set Three: No. 6 Pitt 25, Howard 14

Following a 2-0 deficit to start the set, Pitt used a 5-0 run to move in front. Howard tied it up at 7, following a 4-0 run, but ran out of gas late in the frame as Pitt used a 12-2 run to make it 23-12. The Panthers sealed the deal with a sweep to move on to the NCAA Second Round for the fourth consecutive season.

UP NEXT
The Panthers will face Cincinnati in the NCAA Tournament Second Round Saturday at 7 p.m. at Petersen Events Center. The winner will advance to the Sweet Sixteen, traveling to the Regional Rounds in Stanford, Calif., Dec. 13-14.

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