No. 19 Pitt Volleyball to Face LIU in NCAA First Round

Wednesday, April 14

Omaha, Neb.

10:30 PM ET

Pitt

LIU

No. 19 Pitt Volleyball to Face LIU in NCAA First Round

4/13/2021 9:00:00 AM | Volleyball

Match Notes Watch Live Stats

Panthers to Open NCAA Tournament versus Sharks

PITTSBURGH – The No. 19 Pitt volleyball team (16-4, 14-4 ACC) will face LIU (9-5, 9-4 NEC) in the first round of the 2020 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. ET at CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center and Arena in Omaha, Neb.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Pitt's first round match will be streamed on ESPN3 at 10:30 p.m. ET Wednesday.
Live stats will be available at Stabroadcast.com.
Fans can follow @Pitt_VB on Twitter and Instagram for live updates during both matches.

WHAT'S ON THE LINE

The winner of Wednesday's match will advance to the second round to face 14-seed Utah Thursday, April 15, at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN3 at CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center and Arena in Omaha, Neb.

A WIN WOULD…

Mark the fifth consecutive time (eighth time overall) in program history that the Panthers advance to the NCAA Second Round. Pitt holds a 7-15 all-time record when playing in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.

HOW THEY GOT HERE

Pitt and LIU were named two of 48 teams that will compete in the 2020 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. Thirty conferences were awarded an automatic qualification, while the remaining 18 positions were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket.
The Panthers qualified for their fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance following an at-large bid as announced during the 2020 Selection Show Sunday, April 4.
LIU was awarded the Northeast Conference's automatic qualification following the conclusion of the 2020-21 NEC Tournament (April 3).

LAST TIME OUT

Pitt cleaned up regular season competition with a sweep against Virginia Tech to complete a perfect spring season at 12-0 at Jervey Gym in Clemson, S.C. (April 2).
It was Pitt's second consecutive sweep after topping Clemson, with the Panthers defeating the Hokies by scores of 25-11, 25-18, 25-21.
Senior co-captain Chinaza Ndee led the Panthers with 14 kills on .435 hitting on the right side against Virginia Tech. Her co-captain, outside hitter Kayla Lund, had a near double-double with nine kills and a match-high 12 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Chiamaka Nwokolo contributed nine kills on .500 hitting and added three blocks.

LUND NAMED ACC'S FIRST TWO-TIME VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Senior outside hitter Kayla Lund became the Atlantic Coast Conference's first two-time Volleyball Player of the Year after earning her second consecutive title, as announced by the leauge April 5.
After becoming Pitt volleyball's first ACC Player of the Year in 2019, Lund repeated her performance by earning the honors for the 2020-21 season.
The Pasadena, Calif., native leads Pitt in points per set (4.49), kills per set (3.82), digs per set (3.01) and service aces per set (0.39). She has notched a team-best seven double-doubles and three matches with 20 or more kills this season. Lund ranks in the ACC Top 10 for points (fifth), service aces (sixth) and kills (seventh).

ALL-ACC PANTHERS

Three Panthers received All-ACC honors for the 2020-21 season, as announced by the conference April 5.
Senior co-captains Kayla Lund and Chinaza Ndee each earned a nod to the All-ACC First Team, while junior middle blocker Sabrina Starks was named to the Second Team.
It was Lund's third consecutive First Team selection and Ndee's second. Starks' honor was the first of her career.

MILESTONE WATCH

Two Panthers are nearing career milestone marks for certain statistics, counting matches played through April 2.
Outside hitter Kayla Lund has 993 digs for her career. With her 1,000th dig she is set to become the seventh player in program history to record more than 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
Right side hitter Chinaza Ndee is nearing her 1,000th kill, with 951 so far for her career. She would become Pitt's 18th member of the 1,000 Kill Club. She would be the second active Panther in the club, alongside Lund.

PITT IN THE POLL

The Panthers dropped one spot to No. 19 in the most recent national poll by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
The Panthers have been ranked in 53 consecutive AVCA polls, dating back to the 2018 Preseason Poll.

RANKING THE PANTHERS

Through matches played on April 4, Pitt leads the ACC in kills per set (14.08) and assists per set (12.96). The Panthers are second in the league in opponent hitting percentage (.146) and total blocks (182.5).
Junior middle blocker Sabrina Starks leads the ACC with 92 total blocks in 2020-21 and is ranked fourth with 1.28 blocks per set.
Senior outside hitter Kayla Lund is third in the league total kills (275) and total points (323.0).

SCOUTING LIU

The 2020-21 Northeast Conference (NEC) Women's Volleyball Championship match between LIU and Sacred Heart, set for Saturday, April 3, was cancelled due to a positive COVID-19 result among Sacred Heart's Tier 1 personnel. Due to contact tracing, Sacred Heart could not meet the NEC's minimum roster requirements to compete in the Championship match against LIU. As a result, LIU advanced to the NCAA Tournament as the NEC's automatic qualifier.
LIU's automatic qualification marks its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017. The Sharks have qualified for the NCAA Tournament 12 times, and they are the only NEC team to ever have won a tournament match, having beaten Cornell in the first round in 2005.
LIU went 9-5 overall, 9-4 in the NEC during the regular season. The Sharks led the NEC in assists per set (12.28), total assists (700), total digs (1,043), total kills (744) and total service aces (80).
Four Sharks earned All-NEC honors, led by junior libero Anastasia Scott, who was named the NEC's Defensive Player of the Year. Scott was also a first team All-NEC honoree. She was joined on the first team by Karolina Nova and Jovana Stekovic, while Miranda Strongman earned second team All-NEC.
Scott led the NEC in digs per set (5.70) and total digs (319). Nova was the league leader in kills per set (3.91), points per set (4.50), total points (256.95) and total kills (233).

2020 NCAA TOURNAMENT

The 48 teams participating in the championship will travel to Omaha, Neb., where all rounds of the tournament will be played April 14-24 at the CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center and Arena, hosted by the University of Nebraska and MECA.
The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and received a first-round bye for this year's 48-team bracket. Teams from the same conference were not paired during first- and second-round competition.
First- and second-round matches will be played April 14 and 15, and regional semifinals will be played April 18, at the convention center. Regional finals will take place on April 19 at the arena.
The regional winners will advance to the national semifinals and championship final hosted on April 22 and 24 at the CHI Health Center Omaha arena. The national semifinal matches and championship match will broadcast on ESPN2. All matches will be streamed on various ESPN networks.
Pitt is 3-0 all-time when facing LIU, with the teams last meeting on Oct. 27, 2006. The teams have never met in the NCAA Tournament.

UP NEXT

The winner of Wednesday's match will advance to the second round to face 14-seed Utah Thursday, April 15, at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN3 at CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center and Arena in Omaha, Neb.

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