No. 4 Pitt Ready for Road Tests at Notre Dame, No. 2 Louisville

PITTSBURGH – A hotly anticipated weekend is up for No. 4 Pitt volleyball (17-1, 7-1 ACC) as it travels to Notre Dame (8-10, 5-3 ACC) and No. 2 Louisville (18-0, 8-0 ACC) Friday and Sunday, respectively.

The Panthers will face the Fighting Irish Friday at 7 p.m. ET at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center in Notre Dame, Ind., before heading to Louisville, Ky., to take on the Cardinals at noon ET Sunday at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. Friday's match will be streamed on ACC Network Extra, and Sunday's contest will be broadcast on ACC Network.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Match 19 – No. 4 Pitt at Notre Dame (Friday, 7 p.m. ET): Live Stats | Watch (ACCNX)
Match 20 – No. 4 Pitt at No. 2 Louisville (Sunday, Noon ET): Live Stats | ACC Network
Fans can follow @Pitt_VB on Twitter and Instagram for live updates during all matches.

PANTHERS BACK ATOP NCAA VOLLEYBALL RATING PERCENTAGE INDEX (RPI)

Following two key road wins, the Panthers moved back up one spot to No. 1 in the latest NCAA Volleyball rating percentage index (RPI), as announced Monday.
The rating percentage index, commonly known as the RPI, is a quantity used to rank sports teams based upon a team's wins and losses and its strength of schedule.

ANOTHER TOP-FIVE RANKING FOR PITT

Pitt remained at No. 4 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Poll, announced Monday. This week marks Pitt's 18th appearance (seventh consecutive) all-time in the Top 5 in program history. The Panthers have appeared in 63 consecutive AVCA Top 25 polls, dating back to the 2018 Preseason Poll.

HOME (RECORD) WRECKERS

The Panthers have proven their toughness on the road this season, at 11-0 when playing away from Pittsburgh and 7-0 in true road matches.
Last weekend, Pitt handed both Miami and Florida State their first home losses of the season, respectively. The Panthers snapped a six-match home win streak for the Hurricanes in addition to a 17-match home win streak for the Seminoles.

TOP FIVE SHOWDOWN

Sunday's match will be the first between two Top 5 teams in Pitt volleyball program history.
The meeting between the No. 4 Panthers and the No. 2 Cardinals may be the first between two Top 5 teams in ACC volleyball history. There have been no instances of two Top 5 ACC teams meeting over the past 15 years.
A victory for Pitt at Louisville would mark the Panthers' highest-ranked win in program history. Pitt defeated third-ranked Minnesota in the Sweet 16 of the 2020 NCAA Tournament to advance to the Elite Eight in April. The Panthers' highest ranked regular season win came at No. 4 Penn State on Sept. 20, 2019.

PITT VS. THE AVCA TOP 25

The Panthers are 4-1 against Top 25 opponents so far this season, defeating No. 23 Rice, No. 18 Washington State, No. 9 Baylor and No. 12 BYU, with their first loss of the season coming at the hands of No. 18 Georgia Tech (Oct. 10).
Pitt holds an 8-4 (.667) record in its last 12 meetings against AVCA Top 25 opponents.
When both teams are ranked in the Top 25, the Panthers are 18-13 (.581) all-time in those meetings.
Pitt is 4-21 (.160) all-time when facing the Top 5, but the Panthers are 3-2 (.600) in their last five meetings against the Top 5.
The Panthers are 23-21 (.523) against American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 opponents under ninth-year head coach Dan Fisher (2013-present).

LAST TIME OUT

Pitt went 2-0 in the Sunshine State over the weekend, defeating both Miami (Oct. 15) and Florida State (Oct. 17) on the road by scores of 3-1.
First, Pitt returned to the win column with a road victory at Miami Friday night at the Knight Sports Complex. The Panthers handed the Hurricanes their first home loss of the season, as they were previously 5-0. Miami was riding a five-match win streak into Friday's contest. After dropping the first set (25-21), Pitt won the next three by scores of 25-22, 25-16, 25-18. Right side hitter Chinaza Ndee led Pitt with a season-best 17 kills on .375 hitting and added three blocks.
Next, the Panthers ended Florida State's 17-match home win streak at Tully Gymnasium Sunday afternoon. Pitt earned the Sunday win by scores of 25-20, 23-25, 25-13, 25-14. The Panthers had the advantage over the Seminoles in kills (59-46), assists (51-43), digs (69-62), blocks (13.0-7.0) and hitting percentage (.295-.126). Each team had four service aces. Three Panthers recorded double-doubles: outside hitter Kayla Lund with match highs of 17 kills and 15 digs, fellow outside Leketor Member-Meneh with 13 kills and 15 digs and setter Kylee Levers with 19 assists and 13 digs.

RECORD WATCH

A quartet of Panthers are rising in the Pitt volleyball career record rankings, following Pitt's most recent match against Florida State (Oct. 17)
Two-time ACC Volleyball Player of the Year Kayla Lund has moved into the program's Top 5 for career kills. She currently has 1,555 and ranks fourth all-time. Lund also ranks in the program's Top 10 for service aces (fifth, 144), attacks (seventh, 3,710) and digs (ninth, 1,184).
All-American right side Chinaza Ndee ranks second in program history with 422 block assists. She needs 88 more to take sole possession of first place in the record book. Ndee ranks sixth all-time with 440 total blocks for her career.
Senior middle blocker Sabrina Starks is seventh all-time for Pitt with 309 career block assists and 10th all-time with 347 total blocks.
Junior setter Lexis Akeo has broken into the program's all-time top 10 with 2,012 career assists. She notched the 2,000th assist of her career during the Panther's win at Florida State (Oct. 17).

A LOOK AROUND THE ACC

The ACC has three teams in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll, including No. 2 Louisville, No. 4 Pitt and No. 13 Georgia Tech.
Miami and Florida State are just outside the Top 25, both receiving votes in the poll.
Pitt holds a 224-92 (.709) record against the current ACC membership.

SCOUTING NOTRE DAME

Following a challenging start to the 2021 campaign, Notre Dame (8-10, 5-3 ACC) has won four of its last five ACC contests. Most recently, the Fighting Irish swept Virginia Tech on the road (Oct. 17).
Notre Dame is 1-4 when facing Top 25 opponents this season, with its lone win coming against No. 18 Georgia Tech on the road (Oct. 1). Besides the Yellow Jackets, the Irish have faced No. 1 Texas (Sept. 12) and No. 3 Ohio State twice (Sept. 17, 19).
The Fighting Irish lead the ACC with 36.38 team attacks per set. Sophomore outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton ranks fourth in the league with 9.83 swings per set.
Friday's meeting will be the 42nd all-time between the Panthers and Fighting Irish. Notre Dame holds a 25-16 advantage in the series and an 11-8 lead when playing in South Bend. The Panthers won the last meeting between the teams, 3-1, on Oct. 18, 2020, at Purcell Pavilion. Pitt has won five of the last six meetings against the Irish when playing on the road.

SCOUTING NO. 2 LOUISVILLE

The unbeaten Cardinals (18-0, 8-0 ACC) remain at their highest ranking in program history for the second consecutive week, coming in at No. 2 in the latest AVCA Poll. They are one of two remaining unbeaten teams, along with No. 1 Texas (15-0, 6-0 Big 12). Louisville is third in the latest RPI rankings, behind the Panthers at No. 1.
Louisville has earned key Top 10 wins against then-ranked No. 6 Purdue (Sept. 10), No. 8 Kentucky (Sept. 15) and No. 6 Nebraska (Sept. 10). The Cardinals have not faced a ranked opponent since taking on the Huskers in early September.
Last time out, Louisville defeated Virginia Tech (3-0) and Wake Forest (3-1) on the road, Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Louisville leads the ACC in service aces per set (1.69), blocks per set (2.97), hitting percentage (.310) and opponent hitting percentage (.125).
Opposite Aiko Jones is the league leader in service aces per set (0.47), and middle blocker Anna Stevenson paces the ACC with a hitting percentage of .464.
The Cards hold a 15-13 edge in the all-time series with Pitt, in addition to a 6-4 advantage when playing in Louisville. Louisville won the last meeting between the teams: earning a 3-1 win in Pittsburgh on Oct. 25, 2020. The Panthers got the victory the last time the teams played in Louisville: a sweep on Oct. 27, 2019.

UP NEXT

The Panthers will return home to close out the month of October, hosting Wake Forest Friday, Oct. 29, and Virginia Tech Sunday, Oct. 31, at Fitzgerald Field House. Tickets for both matches are available at PittsburghPanthers.com.

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No. 4 Pitt Ready for Road Tests at Notre Dame, No. 2 Louisville

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Lexis Akeo

Kylee Levers

Kayla Lund

Leketor Member-Meneh

Chinaza Ndee

Sabrina Starks

No. 4 Pitt Ready for Road Tests at Notre Dame, No. 2 Louisville

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Lexis Akeo

Kylee Levers

Kayla Lund

Leketor Member-Meneh

Chinaza Ndee

Sabrina Starks

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