Friday, December 2
Pittsburgh, Pa.
7 PM
Pitt
28-3,17-1ACC
3
vs
0
Colgate
24-6,14-2Patriot
1
2
3
F
Colgate
16
14
14
0
Pittsburgh
25
25
25
3
No. 2 Pitt Sweeps Colgate in Round 1 of NCAA Tournament
12/2/2022 10:31:00 PM | Volleyball
PITTSBURGH – No. 2 seeded Pitt (27-3, 16-1 ACC) started their NCAA Tournament run with a comfortable sweep over Colgate (24-6, 14-2 Patriot League) in the Petersen Events Center. The Panthers took down Colgate 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-14) in front of 2,667 fans to advance into the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the seventh match in a row.
The Panthers have advanced and will play No. 7 seed BYU (22-6, 14-3 WCC) in the second round, tomorrow at 7 p.m. inside the Petersen Events Center. Tickets for that match are available at pittsburghpanthers.com
"I want to start by congratulating Colgate on a wonderful year," Head Coach Dan Fisher said. "I have a lot of respect for their coaching staff and their program. They played us tough at the start of each set but our defensive pressure mounted over time. I also thought that we had a pretty good night offensively so we're feeling confident heading into tomorrow."
QUICK HITS
SET 1: PITT 25 – COLGATE 16
Both teams traded points in the early going, resulting in a 9-9 start to the match. The Panthers found their groove from that point on, going on an 8-1 run (18-10) thanks to some great defense from Klika and strong serving from Buzzerio and Cam Ennis. Colgate managed to cut the lead to five (19-14) but Pitt's athleticism proved to be too much to overcome and Pitt went on to win the set by nine. Vazquez Gomez set the tone from the start, making seven kills on 12 swings (.500 hitting). Rachel Fairbanks and Lexis Akeo did a wonderful job of distributing the ball as six Panthers contributed multiple kills as Pitt out-killed the Raiders, 18-11. Klika led the way with six digs followed by three apiece from Vazquez Gomez and Ennis.
SET 2: PITT 25 – COLGATE 14
Once again, Colgate battled tough early on, keeping Pitt close at 14-10. But the Panthers went off, making a 6-0 run thanks to a balanced attack from Vazquez Gomez, Buzzerio and Gray while Fairbanks was putting Colgate out of system from the service line. Nwokolo put away the final kill of the set as Pitt ended things on a 11-4 run. Vazquez Gomez and Buzzerio each posted five kills alongside a perfect four kills on 1.000 hitting from Nwokolo. Pitt got its block going, posting four in the set led by two from Gray. The offense was clicking on all cylinders, hitting .520 as a team in the set.
SET 3: PITT 25 – COLGATE 14
With the second round just one set away, the Panthers quickly jumped in front with a 7-0 run off the serving of Vazquez Gomez, getting ahead, 12-5. The Raiders couldn't close the gap to less than five for the remainder of play. Gray made three consecutive aces to put Pitt in front, 21-10, before Ennis salted away the win with a kill, securing Pitt's seventh straight 1st round win. Seven Panthers contributed to the 14 total kills in the set, led by Buzzerio and Fairbanks with three apiece. Klika and Vazquez Gomez made four digs each as Fairbanks and Nwokolo teamed up for a pair of blocks.
UP NEXT
The Panthers will play for a Sweet 16 berth against No. 7 Seed BYU, tomorrow at 7 p.m. inside the Petersen Events Center. It would be Pitt's third straight Sweet 16. Tickets for that match are available at pittsburghpanthers.com
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
The Panthers have advanced and will play No. 7 seed BYU (22-6, 14-3 WCC) in the second round, tomorrow at 7 p.m. inside the Petersen Events Center. Tickets for that match are available at pittsburghpanthers.com
"I want to start by congratulating Colgate on a wonderful year," Head Coach Dan Fisher said. "I have a lot of respect for their coaching staff and their program. They played us tough at the start of each set but our defensive pressure mounted over time. I also thought that we had a pretty good night offensively so we're feeling confident heading into tomorrow."
QUICK HITS
- Pitt set a program record for the highest team hitting percentage in an NCAA Tournament match (in the modern scoring era), hitting .381 tonight.
- The Panthers are 7-0 in NCAA Tournament first round matches under Coach Fisher.
- Valeria Vazquez Gomez recorded career highs for kills and hitting percentage in an NCAA Tournament match, posting a team-high 13 on .458 hitting.
- She has delivered 46 kills on .396 hitting in her last three matches, posting 10+ kills in three consecutive appearances for the first time in her career.
- Vazquez Gomez tied Layne Van Buskirk for the fifth-highest hitting percentage in an NCAA Tournament Match with at least 12 kills (in the modern scoring era).
- She was one of four Panthers to hit over .400, joined by Chiamaka Nwokolo (7 kills, .700 hitting), Serena Gray (6 kills, .455 hitting) and Courtney Buzzerio (9 kills, .438 hitting).
- Emmy Klika led the back row with 12 digs. She has posted three-straight matches with 10 or more digs for the first time her career, averaging 3.54 digs/set over those matches and 3.7 digs/set since taking over the libero jersey after the opening set vs. Georgia Tech.
- Gray led the team with three aces, all of which came in a row during a scoring run in the third set.
- Pitt improves to 9-3 inside the Petersen Events Center and 5-2 when playing NCAA Tournament matches in the venue.
- The 2,667 fans in attendance today is the eighth highest attendance in program history and the third highest for an NCAA Tournament match.
SET 1: PITT 25 – COLGATE 16
Both teams traded points in the early going, resulting in a 9-9 start to the match. The Panthers found their groove from that point on, going on an 8-1 run (18-10) thanks to some great defense from Klika and strong serving from Buzzerio and Cam Ennis. Colgate managed to cut the lead to five (19-14) but Pitt's athleticism proved to be too much to overcome and Pitt went on to win the set by nine. Vazquez Gomez set the tone from the start, making seven kills on 12 swings (.500 hitting). Rachel Fairbanks and Lexis Akeo did a wonderful job of distributing the ball as six Panthers contributed multiple kills as Pitt out-killed the Raiders, 18-11. Klika led the way with six digs followed by three apiece from Vazquez Gomez and Ennis.
SET 2: PITT 25 – COLGATE 14
Once again, Colgate battled tough early on, keeping Pitt close at 14-10. But the Panthers went off, making a 6-0 run thanks to a balanced attack from Vazquez Gomez, Buzzerio and Gray while Fairbanks was putting Colgate out of system from the service line. Nwokolo put away the final kill of the set as Pitt ended things on a 11-4 run. Vazquez Gomez and Buzzerio each posted five kills alongside a perfect four kills on 1.000 hitting from Nwokolo. Pitt got its block going, posting four in the set led by two from Gray. The offense was clicking on all cylinders, hitting .520 as a team in the set.
SET 3: PITT 25 – COLGATE 14
With the second round just one set away, the Panthers quickly jumped in front with a 7-0 run off the serving of Vazquez Gomez, getting ahead, 12-5. The Raiders couldn't close the gap to less than five for the remainder of play. Gray made three consecutive aces to put Pitt in front, 21-10, before Ennis salted away the win with a kill, securing Pitt's seventh straight 1st round win. Seven Panthers contributed to the 14 total kills in the set, led by Buzzerio and Fairbanks with three apiece. Klika and Vazquez Gomez made four digs each as Fairbanks and Nwokolo teamed up for a pair of blocks.
UP NEXT
The Panthers will play for a Sweet 16 berth against No. 7 Seed BYU, tomorrow at 7 p.m. inside the Petersen Events Center. It would be Pitt's third straight Sweet 16. Tickets for that match are available at pittsburghpanthers.com
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Colg
UP
Kills
28
48
Errors
16
11
Attempts
93
97
Hitting %
.129
.381
Points
37
59
Assists
27
44
Aces
2
6
Blocks
7
5
Game Leaders
Kills
13
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
3
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
S
/ VolleyballRS
/ Volleyball
S/RS
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballPitt Volleyball | Pitt 3, Clemson 0 | Highlights
Monday, October 06
Pitt Volleyball | Pitt 3, Georgia Tech 1 | Highlights
Monday, October 06
Olivia Babcock Mic'd Up | Pitt LiveWire presented by UPMC
Monday, October 06
Pitt Volleyball | Postgame vs Georgia Tech | Dan Fisher, Olivia Babcock and Blaire Bayless
Sunday, October 05