No. 8 Pitt Prepares for Notre Dame and No. 2 Louisville

PITTSBURGH – No. 8 Pitt (18-2, 8-0 ACC) hosts a pair of ACC opponents this weekend at Fitzgerald Field House. The Panthers will play Notre Dame (9-9, 4-4) on Friday at 7 p.m. before taking on No. 2 Louisville (17-1, 8-0) in a Top 10 battle on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Panthers bring a 39-match home winning streak against unranked ACC opponents into the weekend along with a 3-0 record against Top 10 opponents this season. The Panthers are looking to become just the second team in the history of Pitt Athletics to defeat four Top 10 opponents in the same season (1989 Men's Basketball).

WEEK 9 SCHEDULE

No. 8 Pitt vs. Notre Dame	Friday, Oct. 21	7 p.m.	Live Stats	Watch
No. 8 Pitt vs No. 2 Louisville	Sunday, Oct. 23	1 p.m.	Live Stats	Watch

Fans can follow @Pitt_VB on Twitter and Instagram for live updates during all matches.

LAST TIME OUT
The Panthers delivered their first double-sweep weekend of ACC play this past week, taking down Miami and Florida State in straight sets inside Fitzgerald Field House. Courtney Buzzerio earned ACC Player of the Week, making 4.67 kills/set on .407 hitting, 1.33 blocks/set and five aces in the two victories.

Her 16 kills (5.33 kills/set) against Florida State was the most kills/set in a single match by any Panther since Kayla Lund in the 2020 fall season. She did so on .444 hitting, joining Lund (2020-21), Stephanie Williams (2017/16), Nika Markovic (2017), Kadi Kullerkann (2015) and Jessica Wynn (2013) as the only Panthers in the Dan Fisher era to collect multiple matches of 5+ kills/set and .400+ hitting in the same season.

SO GOOD IT'S BIZARRE-IO
Graduate transfer Courtney Buzzerio is on an All-American pace in her lone year at Pitt. She leads the team with 255 kills this season, doing so on .348 hitting. No other player in Division I has a higher hitting percentage than her with as many or more attempts (543). She owns the highest hitting percentage in the nation by a pin hitter with 500 or more attacks.

Buzzerio leads all ACC pin hitters in hitting percentage and is ninth overall. She has 215 more attempts than the next closest player in the ACC hitting % Top 10. She joined Georgia Tech's Julia Bergmann as the only player to be named ACC Player of the Week twice this season.

She has now made at least 3.25 kills/set in 12 straight matches - tied for the longest streak of her career (12 in a row at Iowa to begin the 2021 season). Buzzerio has also made 10+ kills while hitting at least .300 in each of her last seven matches - the longest such streak of her career.

TOPPLING THE TOP 10
Pitt is 3-0 against Top 10 opponents this season, taking wins at No. 7 BYU, vs. No. 5 Ohio State and at No. 10 Georgia Tech. The Panthers' three-match winning streak over Top 10 opponents is the longest in program history.
With the next Top 10 win, Pitt VB will become just the second program in the history of Pitt Athletics to record four Top 10 victories in the same season (1989 Men's Basketball).

Pitt is averaging a full 2 kills/set above its opponents in Top 10 matches (15.18 / 13.18). Ashley Browske has been dominant in all three Top 10 matches, posting 4.45 digs/set, an increase of nearly two full digs compared to her other matches. Her 4.45 digs/set against Top 10 would be the fourth highest average in the Power 5.

SCOUTING NOTRE DAME
The Fighting Irish enter the weekend on a four-match winning streak, earning wins over Syracuse, Boston College, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech over the last two weekends. The Irish are back to .500 thanks to the emergence of sophomore outside hitter Paris Thompson. Thompson has made 57 kills (3.56 kills/set) over the last four matches, after earning a spot in the starting lineup to start the second week of ACC play. This will be the 43^rd match between Pitt and Notre Dame, the fifth longest series in program history. The Irish lead the series, 25-17, despite Pitt holding an 8-3 advantage throughout the Dan Fisher era.

SCOUTING LOUISVILLE
The Cardinals enter the weekend with a 37-match ACC winning streak. The other ACC representative in the 2021 NCAA Final Four, Louisville has been holding steady at No. 2 in the AVCA Coaches' Poll for five straight weeks. With No. 1 Texas falling in five sets at Iowa State this week, Louisville will be playing for a shot at the No. 1 ranking. UL boasts one of the best offenses in the nation, boasting the second highest team-hitting percentage in Division I - .319. Louisville leads the all-time series, 17-13, and have won the last three meetings. Pitt is 9-7 at home against the Cardinals. This will be the fifth straight meeting in which both teams are ranked in the Top 10.

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