Pitt Looking to Make History in NCAA Volleyball Second Round

PITTSBURGH – In the hunt for its first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in program history, the sixth-seeded Pitt volleyball team (30-1, 18-0 ACC) will host Cincinnati (26-6, 15-1 AAC) in Second Round action Saturday at 7 p.m. ET at Petersen Events Center.

HOW TO FOLLOW

The match will be streamed 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…

Advance Pitt to its first NCAA Sweet 16 in program history. The Panthers are 0-7 all-time in Second Round action.
Mark the program's most wins in a season (31) since the going 32-6 (7-0) in 1990, winning both the Big East Regular Season and Big East Tournament Championships.
Mark the Panthers' most wins (31) in a season under seventh-year head coach Dan Fisher.
Improve Pitt's record to 8-14 all-time when playing in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
Improve the Panthers' 2019 home record to 17-1, and 4-1 at Petersen Events Center.
Even the all-time series with Cincinnati at 9-9. Pitt is 3-5 all-time when hosting the Bearcats.
Extend Pitt's winning streak against the Bearcats to two matches. The Panthers claimed the last meeting, 3-0, earlier this season at the Panther Challenge (Aug. 30) at Fitzgerald Field House. Pitt's last loss to Cincinnati came Sept. 28, 2012, in Pittsburgh (3-0).
Improve the Panthers' record to 48-2 when ranked inside the AVCA top 10 and 21-1 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.

LAST TIME OUT

Sixth-seeded Pitt advanced to the NCAA Tournament Second Round for the fourth consecutive season with a sweep of Howard 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).

LAST TIME AGAINST THE BEARCATS (AUG. 30, 2019)

Pitt hosted Cincinnati in its second match of the regular season at the Panther Challenge, where it swept the Bearcats by scores of 25-18, 25-13, 25-16, at Fitzgerald Field House.
Pitt's outside hitters recorded double-figures in the scoring column as junior Kayla Lund and redshirt senior Stephanie Williams posted 10 kills apiece. Senior middle blocker Layne Van Buskirk was close behind with nine kills, hitting at a .615 clip. Classmate Nika Markovic tallied a near double-double with eight kills on the right side and 11 digs.
Freshman setter Lexis Akeo posted 32 assists and went 3-of-3 in the attack column.
Pitt limited U.S. Women's National Team member Jordan Thompson to just nine kills on .250 hitting, after she posted 20 against South Carolina earlier in the day.
As a team, the Panthers hit .419 on the day while holding Cincinnati to .179. Pitt had the advantage across the board, including kills (44-26), assists (40-23), service aces (8-3), digs (37-24) and blocks (3.0-2.0).

STAYING HOME

As announced during the NCAA Selection Show Sunday night, the Panthers were selected as the No. 6 seed for the NCAA Tournament – marking their highest seeding in program history.
For the second consecutive season (and for the second time in program history), Pitt was selected to host the first two rounds of the tournament at Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh.

ALL-TIME HIGH

For the sixth 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 25th week in program history that Pitt has landed among the top 10 programs in the NCAA, and the 12th week ever in the top five.
The Panthers are 47-2 all-time when ranked inside the top 10, and 20-1 when ranked in the top five.
Pitt moved up one spot to No. 4 in the latest NCAA Volleyball RPI.

SCOUTING CINCINNATI

The Bearcats (26-6, 15-1 AAC) advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in program history and for the second consecutive season after a 3-1 win over VCU Friday night (20-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-23).
Head Coach Molly Alvey earned her 200th career win as a head coach with the victory.
Three-time AAC Player of the Year Jordan Thompson led Cincinnati with 27 kills and added ten digs. Thompson leads the nation in total kills, kills per set, total points, and points per set.
Armania Heckenmueller finished with 49 assists against VCU and led the team with 15 digs. Damjana Cabarkapa had a team-high five blocks.
UC is making its 12th NCAA appearance all-time and its third in the past four years. The Bearcats were also an at-large selection in 2016 and 2018.

UP NEXT

A win would advance the Panthers to their first NCAA Sweet 16 in program history, facing the winner of 11th-seeded Penn State and Towson Friday, Dec. 13.

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Pitt Looking to Make History in NCAA Volleyball Second Round

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Lexis Akeo

Hali Hillegas

Kayla Lund

Nika Markovic

Sabrina Starks

Layne Van Buskirk

Stephanie Williams

Pitt Looking to Make History in NCAA Volleyball Second Round

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Lexis Akeo

Hali Hillegas

Kayla Lund

Nika Markovic

Sabrina Starks

Layne Van Buskirk

Stephanie Williams

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