No. 12 Pitt Volleyball Set for Annual Blue-Gold Scrimmage

No. 12 Pitt Volleyball Set for Annual Blue-Gold Scrimmage

8/16/2019 2:56:00 PM | Volleyball

2019 Schedule Buy Tickets

Panthers to Host Intrasquad Scrimmage Saturday

PITTSBURGH – Fans will get their first chance to watch the No. 12 Pitt volleyball team in action at Fitzgerald Field House at the annual Blue-Gold scrimmage, set for 1 p.m. Saturday. The match is open to the public with free admission.

The back-to-back ACC Champions will split into two teams, coached by assistants Lindsey Behonick and Kellen Petrone. Head coach Dan Fisher will oversee both squads.

TEAM BLUE

Coach: Lindsey Behonick
Freshman Lexis Akeo
Freshman Ashley Browske
Junior Chinaza Ndee
R-Junior Kylee Levers
Senior Layne Van Buskirk
R-Junior Avery Perosa
R-Senior Stephanie Williams
R-Freshman Natalie Steibel
Freshman Chiamaka Nwokolo

TEAM GOLD

Coach: Kellen Petrone
Freshman Valeria Vazquez
R-Freshman Maddie Soboleski
Freshman Anastasia Russ
Senior Alix Dreier
R-Junior Zoi Faki
Sophomore Sabrina Starks
R-Senior Hali Hillegas
Senior Nika Markovic
Junior Kayla Lund

RANKING THE PANTHERS

The Panthers will enter the 2019 season having earned their highest preseason ranking in program history, coming in at No. 12 in the initial American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, released Tuesday afternoon.
The poll marks the third time that Pitt has earned an AVCA preseason ranking, in addition to 2018 (No. 20) and 1992 (No. 25).
The Panthers ranked 14th in the final 2018 AVCA Coaches Poll.
Four of Pitt's 2019 opponents were ranked in the poll: including No. 8 Penn State (Sept. 20 & 22), No. 11 Oregon (Sept. 11), No. 23 Cal Poly (Sept. 13) and No. 25 Louisville (Oct. 27, Nov. 27).
Five of the Panthers' upcoming opponents received votes in the poll, including Cincinnati (Aug. 30), South Carolina (Aug. 31), Utah (Sept. 14), Pepperdine (Sept. 14) and Florida State (Oct. 6, Nov. 24).

PITT NAMED ACC PRESEASON FAVORITE

For the second consecutive year, the Panthers topped the ACC Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll, as announced by the conference Aug. 9.
Pitt was named the preseason favorite with 195 points and 13 first-place votes. Florida State was picked second with 174 points and the remaining first-place vote. Head coaches may not vote for their own teams in the poll.

FOUR PANTHERS EARN PRSEASON ALL-ACC HONORS

The Panthers led all teams with four student-athletes named to the 18-member 2019 Preseason All-ACC Volleyball Team.
Pitt's 2018 AVCA All-Americans, including Nika Markovic (third team), Kayla Lund (honorable mention), Layne Van Buskirk (honorable mention) and Stephanie Williams (honorable mention), earned the accolades.
Williams made her team-high third consecutive appearance on the team (2017, 2018), followed by Markovic with her second consecutive appearance (2018). The honors are the first for Lund and Van Buskirk.

SEVEN NEW FACES

The Panthers welcome seven newcomers to their 2019 roster, including six true freshmen and one redshirt senior transfer.
Pitt's 2019 recruiting class earned a No. 19 ranking by PrepVolleyball, marking the program's highest selection ever. A panel of college coaches from across the country, representing all three NCAA divisions, determines the list of top classes.
All-American defensive specialist/libero Hali Hillegas joined the Panthers in January after transferring from Iowa State. After redshirting her freshman year at ISU in 2015, the 5-foot-6 back row player competed in every match for the Cyclones over the next three seasons. Hillegas earned 2017 AVCA All-America Honorable Mention honors, as well as All-Big 12 First Team honors, for her sophomore campaign while ranking 15th in the nation with 5.60 digs per set.
The freshmen, including setter Lexis Akeo, libero Ashley Browske, outside/right side Sadie Dick, transfer libero Hali Hillegas, middle/right side Chiamaka Nwokolo, middle hitter Anastasia Russ, and outside hitter Valeria Vazquez will look to help Pitt defend its conference titles.

PANTHERS ON TV

Ten of the Panthers' 2019 contests will appear on linear broadcast networks, with a league-high six to be televised on the new ACC Network, set to launch Aug. 22.
ESPNU picked up two home contests: a match against 2018 Elite Eight contestant Oregon (Sept. 11, 8 p.m. ET) and ACC foe NC State (Oct. 20, 1 p.m. ET). The Ducks were ranked No. 11 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason Poll, announced Tuesday.
RSN will air two Pitt volleyball matches, including the Panthers' visit to Boston College (Oct. 13, 2:30 p.m. ET) and a home contest against Duke (Nov. 3, noon ET).
The remainder of Pitt's home matches not broadcast on linear networks will be available to stream live on ACC Network Extra, available on the WatchESPN app (all times Eastern).

UP NEXT

No. 12 Pitt will travel to Dayton, Ohio, for an exhibition match against the University of Dayton Saturday, Aug. 24, at 1 p.m. at Frericks Center.

PITT VOLLEYBALL TICKETS

Flex season ticket packages as well as single-match and group tickets for the 2018 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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