No. 6 Panthers Head West for Pepperdine ASICS Classic

PITTSBURGH – Fresh off a top 10 victory over No. 10 Oregon, the No. 6 Pitt volleyball team (7-0) will depart the city of Pittsburgh for the first time this regular season, visiting Malibu, Calif., for the Pepperdine ASICS Classic Friday and Saturday.

Pitt will face Cal Poly (3-3) at 1 p.m. ET Friday before taking on No. 16 Utah (7-0) and the host Waves (3-3) Saturday at 1 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET, respectively, at Firestone Fieldhouse.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Pitt's matches can be streamed live via the following links:
Live stats for each match will be available via PepperdineWaves.com.
Fans can follow along during all matches with live updates on Twitter @Pitt_VB.

LAST TIME OUT

Pitt defended its home court with a 3-1 win (26-24, 23-25, 25-20, 25-22) over No. 10 Oregon (2-1) Wednesday night at Fitzgerald Field House.
The matchup marked the first meeting between two top 10 volleyball teams at Fitzgerald Field House in the Panthers' history.
Senior right side Nika Markovic and junior outside Kayla Lund combined for 28 kills for Pitt, with Markovic needing only 34 swings to get her 14 kills.
Going into the match, Pitt and Oregon were two of only three remaining teams to not lose a set (Penn State is the other). While Oregon had swept its way to six set wins, the Panthers ran off 18 in a row in starting 6-0. On Wednesday, Pitt took the first set to end the Ducks' run. Oregon then halted Pitt's 19-0 set stretch with a win in set No. 2.
There wasn't much separation between the two all match in any set — there were 18 ties in the opening set alone. But the Panthers were at their most efficient in hitting in the fourth set to secure the win. That helped offset Ronika Stone's 13 kills as Pitt picked up its highest-ranked win since upsetting No. 8 North Carolina on Oct. 30, 2016.

RANKING THE PANTHERS

Pitt moved up four spots in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Poll for Week 2, securing No. 6, as announced Monday afternoon.
The ranking marks the 13th week in program history that Pitt has landed among the top 10 programs in the NCAA.
Pitt was ranked in the top 10 for 11 consecutive weeks in 2018, from Sept. 10-Nov. 19.
The Panthers are 24-1 all-time when ranked inside the top 10, and 6-0 when ranked No. 6.

LUND REPEATS AS ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK

For the second consecutive week, junior outside hitter Kayla Lund has earned ACC weekly honors, as announced by the conference Monday afternoon.
Lund was named the league's Co-Player of the Week after posting career numbers at the ChampYinz Invitational in Pittsburgh Sept. 6-7. The honors are the fifth of her career, making her the most decorated ACC weekly award winner in program history. Lund shared the honors with Duke's Ade Owokoniran.
Lund was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament, marking her second consecutive MVP honors. The Pasadena, Calif., paced the Panthers with 3.22 kills and 0.44 service aces per set over three matches. She hit a team-high .451 over nine sets played, including a career-high outing against Green Bay where she recorded a blistering .818 (9k-0e-11a).

SCOUTING CAL POLY

The Mustangs (3-3) will put a 3-0 win streak on the line when they face the Panthers Friday afternoon. Most recently, Cal Poly won its own ShareSLO Mustang Challenge tournament with sweeps of North Texas and San Jose State in addition to a five-set victory over Wichita State.
The Mustangs were led in all three matches by junior outside hitter Maia Dvoracek. She finished the tournament with double-digit kill numbers in each match and totaled 18 aces. In the win over the Shockers, she finished with eight aces, which tied a program record for most aces in a match. She is currently the national leader in service aces with 26.
The series is tied 1-1 between Pitt and Cal Poly, with the Panthers claiming the most recent meeting, 3-1, at Fitzgerald Field House last season (Aug. 24, 2018).

SCOUTING NO. 16 UTAH

No. 16 Utah (7-0) will be Pitt's second AVCA top 25 opponent of the season, after defeating No. 10 Oregon Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.
The Utes are off to their best start to a season since 2014, having already achieved some quality wins early in their non-conference schedule with victories over then-No. 7 Kentucky (3-0, Aug. 30) and then-No. 23 Cal Poly (3-2, Aug. 31). The two dropped sets against the Mustangs are the Utes' only missteps of the season thus far, boasting six sweeps.
Most recently, junior outside hitter Dani Drews was named MVP of the Wolverine Classic at Utah Valley. She capped the tournament by having 21 kills in a three-set match hitting .405 against UVU. Drews hit .311 and had 43 kills for the weekend. Kenzie Koerber stayed hot as she had 42 kills hitting .500 in the three matches. She only had six errors on 72 swings. On the season, she is second on the team with 86 kills and is hitting .363.
Saturday will mark the second meeting ever between Pitt and Utah, with the Panthers having claimed the lone contest played Sept. 6, 1996 (3-1).

SCOUTING PEPPERDINE

The Waves (3-3) will begin their second consecutive home tournament when the ASICS Classic kicks off Friday. Last time, after picking up wins against California Baptist (3-0) and Fairfield (3-1), Pepperdine dropped a 3-1 decision to Texas A&M (Sept. 7).
The Waves will face No. 16 Utah Friday before taking on Cal Poly and No. 6 Pitt Saturday.
Rachel Ahrens, Shannon Scully and Kayleigh Hames lead the Waves with 3.50, 3.08 and 3.04 kills/set respectively. Ahrens has put up a .287 hitting percentage and leads the team with 0.50 aces/set as well after having put down 12 aces this season. She is tied for second on the team with 0.88 blocks/set after denying opponents on 21 occasions, including three times solo.
Pepperdine owns a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series against Pitt, but the Panthers won the most recent meeting between the programs (3-0), last season (Aug. 25, 2018). Pitt is 1-0 all-time when playing in Malibu, claiming a 3-2 victory on Aug. 28, 1981.

UP NEXT

No. 6 Pitt will kick off a home-and-home weekend with rival No. 4 Penn State Sept. 20 and 22. The Panthers will travel to University Park, Pa., Friday, Sept. 20, for an 8 p.m. meeting with the Nittany Lions before returning to Pittsburgh Sunday, Sept. 22, for a 1 p.m. Blueout at Petersen Events Center.

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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