Friday, October 16
Notre Dame, Ind.
7 PM ET
Pitt
2
at
3
Notre Dame
No. 5 Notre Dame Outlasts No. 10 Pitt Volleyball, 3-2
10/16/2020 11:24:00 PM | Volleyball
Panthers Fall in Five Sets in Top 10 Matchup
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Despite gaining a 2-0 advantage on No. 5 Notre Dame (4-0, 4-0 ACC), No. 10 Pitt volleyball (2-3, 2-3 ACC) fell short of an upset in five sets Friday night at Purcell Pavilion.
The Panthers went up 2-0 by scores of 25-22 and 25-17, but dropped the next three, 21-25, 20-25 and 17-15.
Senior captain outside hitter Kayla Lund produced a double-double with a math-high 22 kills and 16 digs. Classmate and co-captain Chinaza Ndee had 15 kills to go along with four blocks.
Sophomore middle blocker Chiamaka Nwokolo contributed a career-high 10 kills on .450 hitting. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez also had a career night with nine kills and 15 digs.
Redshirt senior setter Kylee Levers had career highs of 33 assists and 10 digs in a double-double effort. Sophomore setter Lexis Akeo followed with 26 assists, and senior libero Marija Popovic tied Lund with a team-best 16 digs.
Junior middle blocker Sabrina Starks had a season-high eight blocks for the Panthers.
As a team, Pitt had the slight edge in hitting percentage (.193-.155). The Panthers had more kills (67-56) and assists (66-53), but Notre Dame had the advantage in service aces (6-2), digs (84-83) and blocks (16.0-11.5).
Set One: No. 10 Pitt 25, No. 5 Notre Dame 22
Notre Dame came out of the gate with a strong start, earning a 17-12 advantage. Pitt responded with an 8-2 surge to take a 20-19 lead. The Panthers finished the job with a 3-0 run to end the set on top, 25-22. Lund led the team with five kills as Pitt out-hit the Irish, .250 to .051.
Set Two: No. 10 Pitt 25, No. 5 Notre Dame 17
Pitt earned a fast 8-3 lead and used runs of 6-1 and 4-1 to gain a 20-12 margin. The Fighting Irish did not back away, cutting the lead to 22-17 after a 3-0 run, but the Panthers were able to fend off the attack to win, 25-17, and go up, 2-0, in the match.
Set Three: No. 5 Notre Dame 25, No. 10 Pitt 21
An early 4-0 run put Pitt ahead, 8-5, but the Irish responded with a 9-3 run to go up, 14-11, and did not surrender the lead. A 3-0 run pushed the margin to 19-15, and Notre Dame eventually forced a fourth set with a 25-21 finish.
Set Four: No. 5 Notre Dame 25, No. 10 Pitt 20
Notre Dame kept the momentum in the fourth set, using a 7-1 run to widen the margin to 17-10. Pitt cut the lead to 18-16 after a 6-1 run, but couldn't ultimately overcome the gap and fell, 25-20.
Set Five: No. 5 Notre Dame 17, No. 10 Pitt 15
The fifth set saw 10 ties and five lead changes, with the teams forcing extra points. Notre Dame earned match point twice, and ultimately pulled off the win with a 17-15 victory in the fifth.
UP NEXT
No. 10 Pitt will get another shot at an upset Sunday afternoon with a 3:30 p.m. contest at No. 5 Notre Dame on ACC Network.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
The Panthers went up 2-0 by scores of 25-22 and 25-17, but dropped the next three, 21-25, 20-25 and 17-15.
Senior captain outside hitter Kayla Lund produced a double-double with a math-high 22 kills and 16 digs. Classmate and co-captain Chinaza Ndee had 15 kills to go along with four blocks.
Sophomore middle blocker Chiamaka Nwokolo contributed a career-high 10 kills on .450 hitting. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez also had a career night with nine kills and 15 digs.
Redshirt senior setter Kylee Levers had career highs of 33 assists and 10 digs in a double-double effort. Sophomore setter Lexis Akeo followed with 26 assists, and senior libero Marija Popovic tied Lund with a team-best 16 digs.
Junior middle blocker Sabrina Starks had a season-high eight blocks for the Panthers.
As a team, Pitt had the slight edge in hitting percentage (.193-.155). The Panthers had more kills (67-56) and assists (66-53), but Notre Dame had the advantage in service aces (6-2), digs (84-83) and blocks (16.0-11.5).
Set One: No. 10 Pitt 25, No. 5 Notre Dame 22
Notre Dame came out of the gate with a strong start, earning a 17-12 advantage. Pitt responded with an 8-2 surge to take a 20-19 lead. The Panthers finished the job with a 3-0 run to end the set on top, 25-22. Lund led the team with five kills as Pitt out-hit the Irish, .250 to .051.
Set Two: No. 10 Pitt 25, No. 5 Notre Dame 17
Pitt earned a fast 8-3 lead and used runs of 6-1 and 4-1 to gain a 20-12 margin. The Fighting Irish did not back away, cutting the lead to 22-17 after a 3-0 run, but the Panthers were able to fend off the attack to win, 25-17, and go up, 2-0, in the match.
Set Three: No. 5 Notre Dame 25, No. 10 Pitt 21
An early 4-0 run put Pitt ahead, 8-5, but the Irish responded with a 9-3 run to go up, 14-11, and did not surrender the lead. A 3-0 run pushed the margin to 19-15, and Notre Dame eventually forced a fourth set with a 25-21 finish.
Set Four: No. 5 Notre Dame 25, No. 10 Pitt 20
Notre Dame kept the momentum in the fourth set, using a 7-1 run to widen the margin to 17-10. Pitt cut the lead to 18-16 after a 6-1 run, but couldn't ultimately overcome the gap and fell, 25-20.
Set Five: No. 5 Notre Dame 17, No. 10 Pitt 15
The fifth set saw 10 ties and five lead changes, with the teams forcing extra points. Notre Dame earned match point twice, and ultimately pulled off the win with a 17-15 victory in the fifth.
UP NEXT
No. 10 Pitt will get another shot at an upset Sunday afternoon with a 3:30 p.m. contest at No. 5 Notre Dame on ACC Network.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Players Mentioned
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