Thursday, December 9
Pittsburgh, Pa.
1 PM ET
Pitt
vs
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Kansas
No. 3 Seed Pitt Readies for NCAA Regional Semifinals Thursday
12/8/2021 11:39:00 AM | Volleyball
Panthers Playing in Round of 16 for Second Consecutive Season
PITTSBURGH – For the second consecutive year, the No. 3 seed University of Pittsburgh volleyball team (28-3, 15-3 ACC) will compete in the Regional Semifinal of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. The Panthers will face Kansas (18-11, 8-8 Big 12) Thursday at 1 p.m. ET at Fitzgerald Field House.
No. 6 seed Purdue (25-6, 15-5 Big Ten) and No. 11 seed BYU (30-1, 18-0 WCC) will face off in a Regional Semifinal Thursday at 11 a.m. ET. The winners of Thursday's matches will meet in the Regional Final Saturday, Dec. 11, at 4 p.m. ET at Fitzgerald Field House.
WEEKLY SCHEDULE
LONGEST NCAA STREAK IN PROGRAM HISTORY
HOW THEY GOT HERE
ALL-REGION PANTHERS
PROGRAM RECORD FOR LUND
LAST TIME OUT
SCOUTING KANSAS
2021 NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
UP NEXT
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
No. 6 seed Purdue (25-6, 15-5 Big Ten) and No. 11 seed BYU (30-1, 18-0 WCC) will face off in a Regional Semifinal Thursday at 11 a.m. ET. The winners of Thursday's matches will meet in the Regional Final Saturday, Dec. 11, at 4 p.m. ET at Fitzgerald Field House.
WEEKLY SCHEDULE
- NCAA Regional Semifinal, Match 1 – (11) BYU vs. (6) Purdue (Thursday, 11 a.m. ET): Live Stats | Watch
- NCAA Regional Semifinal, Match 2 – Kansas vs. No. 3 Pitt (Thursday, 1 p.m. ET): Live Stats | Watch
- NCAA Regional Final – Winner, Match 1 vs. Winner, Match 2 (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET)
- Fans can follow @Pitt_VB on Twitter and Instagram for live updates during all Pitt matches.
A WIN FOR PITT WOULD…?????????? ?? ??????????????????????
— Pitt Volleyball ???????????? (@Pitt_VB) December 6, 2021
Calling ALL students: bring a valid student ID and get into our @NCAAVolleyball matches FOR FREE!
?? Kansas
? Thursday, 1PM
?? Fitzgerald Field House
Advancing teams will play in the Regional Final Saturday at 4PM at the Field House!#H2P pic.twitter.com/Yo7wHr34qI
- Mark second consecutive year (and second year overall) that the Panthers advance to the NCAA Regional Final. Pitt holds a 12-16 all-time record when playing in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
LONGEST NCAA STREAK IN PROGRAM HISTORY
- The 2021 season marks the sixth consecutive year that the Panthers have qualified for the NCAA Tournament, which is the longest streak of reaching the tournament in program history.
- Pitt has advanced to at least the NCAA Second Round in each of the last six seasons.
- The Panthers have competed in the NCAA Tournament 17 times: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2004, 2003, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1987, 1986, 1984, 1982
HOW THEY GOT HERE
- Pitt and Kansas were named two of 64 teams that will compete in the 2020 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. Thirty-two conferences were awarded an automatic qualification, while the remaining 32 positions were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket.
- The Panthers qualified for their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance following an at-large bid as the No. 3 national seed, announced during the 2021 Selection Show Sunday, Nov. 28. Pitt was the only team in the Top 4 to receive an at-large bid instead of an automatic qualification. No. 1 Louisville earned the AQ from the ACC while No. 2 Texas qualified from the Big 12 and No. 4 Wisconsin qualified from the Big Ten. Pitt defeated UMBC (3-0, Dec. 3) and Penn State (3-1, Dec. 4) at Petersen Events Center to advance to the Regional Semifinal.
- Kansas earned an at-large bid as one of seven Big 12 teams to advance to the NCAA Tournament, including Texas, Baylor, West Virginia, Iowa State, Texas Tech and Kansas State. The Jayhawks reached the tournament for the first time since the 2017 season, which concluded a six-year run of tournament appearances. During that run, the Jayhawks had their longest postseason run, a Final Four appearance in 2015. Kanas defeated Oregon (3-0, Dec. 2) and No. 14 seed Creighton (3-1, Dec. 3) to advance to the Regional Semifinal.
ALL-REGION PANTHERS
- Four Panthers were named to the 2021 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) East Coast All-Region Team, as announced Tuesday.
- Middle blocker Serena Gray, outside hitter Kayla Lund, outside hitter Leketor Member-Meneh and right side Chinaza Ndee each earned the recognition.
- Lund, a two-time East Coast All-Region Player of the Year (2019, 2020) and Freshman of the Year (2017) earned her fourth consecutive East Coast All-Region honor (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021). The honors are the third for Ndee and Gray, with Ndee all in the East Coast (2019, 2020, 2021) and Gray in the Northeast while at Penn State (2018, 2019). Member-Meneh is an All-Region honoree for the first time in her career.
300 WINS FOR COACH FISHER?????????? ??????-??????????????
— Pitt Volleyball ???????????? (@Pitt_VB) December 7, 2021
MORE AWARDS FOR THE FAB FOUR!@kaylund9@LeketorMeneh@Serrena7Gray@NdeeChinaza
?? https://t.co/3BUZGTynDN#H2P | @AVCAVolleyball pic.twitter.com/rRUNGpRU8m
- With the Panthers' 3-1 victory over Penn State (Dec. 4), head coach Dan Fisher reached the 300-win mark of his career. He is 300-59 (.836) in his 11th season of coaching.
PROGRAM RECORD FOR LUND
- With 21 kills against Penn State (Dec. 4) outside hitter Kayla Lund not only tied her 2021 season-best mark but bettered her own program record for kills in a single NCAA Tournament match during the 25-point rally scoring era (2008-present).
- The program's previous best performance was Lund's 20 kills against Cincinnati in the Second Round on Dec. 7, 2019.
LAST TIME OUT
- The Panthers earned wins in the First and Second Rounds against UMBC (Dec. 3) and Penn State (Dec. 4), respectively, to reach the Regional Semifinal.
- First, The Panthers earned a sweep over the Retrievers by scores of 25-23, 25-13, 25-18. Pitt had advantages in kills (55-32), assists (49-28), service aces (2-1), digs (43-38) blocks (10.0-6.0) and hitting percentage (.345-.141). Outside hitter Leketor Member-Meneh had a match-high 13 kills on .367 hitting. She added four blocks and seven digs. Right side Chinaza Ndee had 11 kills on .222 hitting with two blocks. Serena Gray hit .545 from the middle with seven kills and six blocks.
- Next, Pitt earned a dramatic win over in-state rival Penn State, 3-1, at Petersen Events Center Saturday night. The Panthers earned the victory by scores of 25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23. The Panthers had advantages in kills (62-44), assists (62-40), service aces (9-6), digs (59-45), blocks (12.0-10.0) and hitting percentage (.253-.195). Outside hitter Kayla Lund tied season highs of 21 kills and four blocks while hitting .421. She earned her seventh double-double of the season by adding 10 digs for the Panthers. Member-Meneh produced 19 kills on .239 hitting while competing her ninth double-double, adding a team-best 14 digs. Facing her former team, Gray posted a match-best six blocks and three service aces while adding five kills. Ndee contributed nine kills and three blocks.
RECORD WATCH"There's a new powerhouse on the volleyball scene in Pennsylvania...and they hail from Pittsburgh." - @JasonEarle23
— Pitt Volleyball ???????????? (@Pitt_VB) December 8, 2021
*chills on chills on chills*
Sweet 1??6?? tomorrow ??
??? https://t.co/jZHjrZ4m9Y#H2P | #NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/vOTANRH4Mr
- A quartet of Panthers are rising in the Pitt volleyball career record rankings, following Pitt's most recent match against Penn State (Dec. 4).
- Two-time ACC Volleyball Player of the Year Kayla Lund has settled into the program's Top 5 for career kills (1,656, fourth), attacks (3,950, fifth) and service aces (151, fourth). Lund also ranks in the program's Top 10 for digs (ninth, 1,263).
- All-American right side Chinaza Ndee ranks second in program history with 462 block assists. She needs 48 more to take sole possession of first place in the record book. Ndee ranks third all-time with 484 total blocks for her career. She is eighth in the record book for career kills with 1,365.
- Senior middle blocker Sabrina Starks is seventh all-time for Pitt in career block assists (342) and total blocks (383).
- Junior setter Lexis Akeo has broken into the program's all-time with 2,261 career assists, ranking ninth. She notched the 2,000th assist of her career during the Panther's win at Florida State (Oct. 17).
SCOUTING KANSAS
- The Jayhawks have taken down two AVCA-ranked opponents to begin NCAA Tournament play, knocking off No. 19 Oregon and No. 20 (NCAA 14 seed) Creighton in the First and Second Rounds, respectively.
- Three Jayhawks earned a spot on the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Midwest All-Region team, announced Tuesday. Caroline Bien was named the Regional Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Region Team along with Caroline Crawford, while Jenny Mosser received All-Region Honorable Mention.
- The Panthers are 2-1 all-time against Kansas, and Thursday will be the teams' first postseason meeting. Pitt has won the last two contests in the series. The teams last met on Sept. 9, 1995, which resulted in a sweep for Pitt at home.
2021 NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
- The 2021 Division I Women's Volleyball championship provides for a field of 64 teams to compete in a single elimination tournament. Of the 64 teams, 32 teams will receive automatic qualification while the remaining 32 teams are selected on an at-large basis by the Division I Women's Volleyball Committee.
- First and Second round competition will be held at 16 non-predetermined campus sites. At each campus site, four teams will compete in single-elimination first round competition. The two advancing teams then compete against each other in single-elimination second round competition at the same campus site. The winning team from each of the 16 second rounds advances to the regional round.
- Regionals for the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will be held at four non-predetermined campus sites. At each site, four teams compete in single-elimination regional semifinal competition. The two advancing teams then compete against each other in single-elimination regional final. The winning team from each of the four regions will advance to the DI Women's Volleyball Championship final site in Columbus, Ohio.
- The 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will be held at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The National Semifinals will be held Thursday, December 16, at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. The National Championship will take place Saturday, December 18, at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
UP NEXT
- The winners of the two Regional Semifinal matches will meet in the Regional Final Saturday at 4 p.m. at Fitzgerald Field House. The match will be broadcast on ESPNU and tickets are available at PittsburghPanthers.com or by calling 800-643-7488.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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