No. 4 Pitt Volleyball to Begin ACC Play at Virginia

PITTSBURGH – The No. 4 Pitt volleyball team (11-1, 0-0 ACC) will begin its campaign to defend back-to-back ACC Championships when it travels to Charlottesville, Va., to open conference play at Virginia (8-5, 0-0 ACC) Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. ET at Memorial Gym.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Pitt's match will be televised on ACC Network and streamed on WatchESPN.
Live stats will be available at VirginiaSports.com.
Fans can follow along during both matches with live updates on Twitter @Pitt_VB.

A WIN WOULD…

Give the Panthers a 1-0 record in ACC play for the seventh consecutive season.
Improve Pitt's record to 14-3 all-time against Virginia and 6-1 when playing in Charlottesville.
Extend the Panthers' winning streak against the Cavaliers to seven matches. Pitt's last loss against UVA came Oct. 2, 2015 (3-1) on the road. The Panthers have won the last two meetings in Charlottesville, in 2016 and 2017.
Improve the Panthers' record to 29-2 when ranked inside the AVCA top 10 and 2-1 when ranked inside the top five.

LAST TIME OUT

Pitt played in front of program-record 5,195 fans at Petersen Events Center Sunday afternoon, falling just short to then-ranked No. 4 Penn State (7-2) in five sets (26-28, 25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 14-16).
The Panthers split the home-and-home weekend series with the Nittany Lions, after sweeping PSU Friday night at Rec Hall. Over the two matches, Pitt won more sets (5-3). Two of the eight sets went to extra points.
Junior outside hitter Kayla Lund posted a career-high and match-high 23 kills for a double-double with 17 digs. Classmate Chinaza Ndee had a double-double with 16 kills and a career-high 10 blocks, while hitting .294 for the match. Senior middle blocker Layne Van Buskirk rounded out Pitt's trio of Panthers in double-figure kills with 13.
Redshirt senior libero Hali Hillegas had a match-high 24 digs as the Panthers out-dug Penn State (73-62). Freshman setter Lexis Akeo posted a match-high 47 assists.
Pitt was held to a season-low hitting percentage of .153, but out-hit Penn State (.112).

NEW HEIGHTS

Pitt earned its highest ranking in program history when it secured the No. 4 spot for Week 4 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Poll, as announced Monday afternoon.
The Panthers rose two spots, up from No. 6, after splitting a home-and-home series with then-ranked No. 4 Penn State over the weekend.
The ranking marks the 15th week in program history that Pitt has landed among the top 10 programs in the NCAA, and the second week ever in the top five.
Pitt was ranked in the top 10 for 11 consecutive weeks in 2018, from Sept. 10-Nov. 19.
The Panthers are 28-2 all-time when ranked inside the top 10, and 1-1 when ranked in the top five. Pitt earned a No. 5 ranking for the Week of Oct. 22, 2018, prior to its 23-match win streak ending at the hands of Duke, 3-1 (Oct. 28).

MORE ACC WEEKLY HONORS FOR PANTHERS

Junior Chinaza Ndee and freshman Lexis Akeo earned ACC weekly awards for the No. 4 Pitt volleyball team (11-1), as announced by the conference Monday afternoon.
Ndee is the third Panther to be named ACC Player of the Week in 2019, after Kayla Lund (Sept. 3, Sept. 9) and Layne Van Buskirk (Sept. 16). The honor is the first of Ndee's career. Akeo picked up her second consecutive ACC Freshman of the Week award, and her third of the season (Sept. 3, Sept. 16).
Ndee hit .611 with 12 kills in the Panthers' sweep of Penn State on Friday. The Houston native followed up that performance by posting the first double-double of her career with 16 kills and a career-high 10 blocks against the Nittany Lions on Sunday. In total on the weekend, Ndee hit a team-best .404 and averaged a team-high 1.62 blocks per frame. She added 3.50 kills per set.
Akeo led the Panthers with 33 assists in Friday's sweep. On Sunday, she blocked a career-high three balls in the five set battle against the Nittany Lions. Totaling the weekend, she averaged 10.00 assists and 1.75 digs per set against Penn State.

SCOUTING VIRGINIA

The Cavaliers (8-5, 0-0 ACC) will put a three-match win streak on the line when they host No. 4 Pitt Wednesday night. Last time out, UVA defeated Lehigh (3-0), Elon (3-2) and UNC Greensboro (3-0) to win the Jefferson Cup in Charlottesville.
Virginia is 5-2 at home this season, dropping matches to Coastal Carolina (3-0, Aug. 31) and Liberty (3-0, Sept. 10).
The Cavaliers lead the ACC with 110 total team blocks this season.
Senior right side Jelena Novakovic leads the ACC with 24 service aces so far this year, and is second in the league in aces per set (0.62) and points per set (4.51).

UP NEXT

The Panthers will host Virginia Tech (7-6, 0-0 ACC) for their ACC home opener Sunday at 4 p.m. ET at Fitzgerald Field House. The match will be televised by ACC Network.

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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