No. 10 Pitt Sweeps Dukes, Wins ChampYinz Invitational

Saturday, September 7

Pittsburgh, Pa.

8 PM ET

Pitt

6-0

Duquesne

2-4

Duquesne

Pitt

No. 10 Pitt Sweeps Dukes, Wins ChampYinz Invitational

9/7/2019 11:27:00 PM | Volleyball

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Panthers Record Most Sweeps to Open a Season Since 1978

PITTSBURGH – The No. 10 Pitt volleyball team (6-0) continued its dominant streak with a sweep of crosstown rival Duquesne (2-4) to win the inaugural ChampYinz Invitational Saturday night at Fitzgerald Field House.

Senior middle blocker Layne Van Buskirk led Pitt with eight kills on .583 attacking to go along with five blocks. Junior middle Chinaza Ndee hit a blistering .700 with seven kills on 10 attempts and zero errors. Junior outsides Kayla Lund and Zoi Faki each put forth seven kills, as well.

Redshirt senior libero Hali Hillegas paced the defense with 13 digs on the night, and freshman Lexis Akeo had a match-high 26 assists.

SWEEP CITY

The win marked Pitt's sixth consecutive sweep to open the season, the longest such streak since earning eight to open the 1978 campaign.
Pitt's six sweeps in a row are the most for the program in any fashion since earning eight consecutive in 1991.

THE CITY MATCH

Pitt and Duquesne met for the 48th time in the programs' history, and for the first time since Sept. 5, 2015.
The Panthers have defeated the Dukes in their last three meetings and lead the all-time series, 43-5. Pitt's last loss to Duquesne came Sept. 18, 2012 (3-0).

PANTHERS ON THE ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Set One: No. 10 Pitt 25, Duquesne 12

Pitt didn't take long to earn a double-figure margin, reaching a 17-7 lead after Lund capped a 3-0 run with a kill. Van Buskirk had a team-high five kills in the frame, hitting .714.

Set Two: No. 10 Pitt 25, Duquesne 15

After surrendering the first point to the Dukes, Pitt took off on a 6-0 run. A 5-1 run pushed the Panthers' lead to 14-6. Pitt earned a double-figure lead after a consecutive kill and block by Lund, 23-12. For the second consecutive frame, the Panthers won by double figures.

Set Three: No. 10 Pitt 25, Duquesne 15

The Dukes jumped out to a 3-0 run, but were quickly silenced by a 6-0 Panthers scoring streak. Pitt limited Duquesne to just .061 attacking success in the frame, winning by another double-figure margin.

UP NEXT
Fitzgerald Field House will host a Top-10 matchup as No. 10 Pitt welcomes No. 9 Oregon Wednesday, Sept. 11, at 8 p.m. ET. The match will be televised on ESPNU.

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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