Saturday, December 10
Madison, WI
8 PM
Pitt
at
Wisconsin
Photo by: Pitt Athletics
No. 2 Pitt to Take on No. 1 Wisconsin in Elite 8
12/9/2022 3:54:00 PM | Volleyball
The Panthers battle defending National Champions on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET
MADISON, Wisc. – No. 2 seeded Pitt (30-3, 17-1 ACC) will make a third consecutive NCAA Regional Finals appearance on Saturday, Dec. 10, when the Panthers take on defending National Champions, No. 1 seeded Wisconsin (28-3, 19-1 Big 10) inside UW Field House.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
This is Pitt's 18th NCAA Tournament Appearance. Pitt is 17-17 all-time in NCAA Tournament Matches with a 14-6 record under Dan Fisher. This is the Panthers third straight appearance in a NCAA Tournament Regional Final. Pitt is 10-2 in the NCAA Tournament over the last three years, tied with Texas for the second most wins in Division I, behind Wisconsin (12-1).
QUICK HITS
Pitt is the only Division I team with at least 30 wins in each of the last 4 seasons (excluding 2020 season).
The Panthers are one of three teams (Texas and Wisconsin) to have been to three straight Elite 8s.
The Panthers have committed the fewest service errors of any Elite 8 team (168). Only one other team in the field is below 200, Texas (194).
Buzzerio has the third most kills in the tournament (51) and is 26 shy of Pitt's all-time NCAA Tournament record, set last year by Leketor Member-Meneh. Nobody in Division I has a higher hitting percentage (.335) with more attacks (938) than Buzzerio. The last time a Power 5 pin hitter has hit over .330 with at least 900 attempts in a season was Ebony Nwanebu (Texas - 2016) .379 on 939 swings.
RECORD SETTING OPENING WEEKEND
Pitt set a multitude of records this past weekend in the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. A total of 5,481 fans were in attendance throughout the weekend, marking the highest attended NCAA Tournament weekend in program history. The 2,814 in the crowd for the win over BYU was the highest attended Volleyball NCAA Tournament match in venue history at the Petersen Events Center.
Pitt delivered its most efficient offensive display in Tournament history against Colgate, delivering 48 kills on .381 hitting. Against BYU, Fairbanks' triple-double was the first in an NCAA Tournament match in Pitt history and the only three-set triple double in the NCAA Tournament in the modern scoring era. Buzzerio's 23 kills on .475 hitting set a Pitt record for the most kills in a Tournament match and the highest hit % with 20+ kills.
That high-powered Panther offense led to 17.33 kills/set through the first two matches of the tournament – the highest of any team thus far.
AVCA AWARDS PITT WITH ALL-REGION HONORS
For the first time in program history, the University of Pittsburgh Volleyball program has been awarded both the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Regional Coach of the Year and Player of the Year awards as Dan Fisher and Courtney Buzzerio have been recognized as the best in the East Coast Region for the 2022 season.
In total, five Panthers were named AVCA All-East Coast Region: Courtney Buzzerio, Rachel Fairbanks, Serena Gray, Chiamaka Nwokolo and Valeria Vazquez Gomez. Buzzerio was named AVCA East Coast Region Player of the Year and Coach Fisher was named AVCA East Coast Region Coach of the Year. It is tied with the 2019 season for the most All-Region award winners in program history.
Buzzerio becomes just the second Panther to ever earn the award, joining Kayla Lund, AVCA East Coast Region Player of the Year in 2019 and 2020. Pitt has now won Regional Player of the Year in three of the last four seasons.
Coach Fisher has earned his third career AVCA Regional Coach of the Year honor after also doing so in 2017 and 2018.
Pitt has had at least three representatives on the AVCA All-Region list for each of the last seven seasons (since 2016).
SCOUTING WISCONSIN
The Badgers enter the match with a 21-match winning streak after claiming their fifth Big 10 championship in the Kelly Sheffield era this season. Wisconsin has not lost in the Field House this year, going 16-0, with the lone home loss coming in their basketball arena, the Kohl Center, against Florida, whom Pitt ousted from the tournament yesterday. Wisconsin defeated Penn State in five sets on Thursday to reach the Regional Final. Their defense has been their greatest strength as they lead the tournament in blocks/set (4.00) and opponent hitting percentage (.005).
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Elite 8 Schedule
| No. 2 Pitt vs. No. 1 Wisconsin | Saturday, Dec. 10 | 8 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Live Stream |
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
This is Pitt's 18th NCAA Tournament Appearance. Pitt is 17-17 all-time in NCAA Tournament Matches with a 14-6 record under Dan Fisher. This is the Panthers third straight appearance in a NCAA Tournament Regional Final. Pitt is 10-2 in the NCAA Tournament over the last three years, tied with Texas for the second most wins in Division I, behind Wisconsin (12-1).
QUICK HITS
Pitt is the only Division I team with at least 30 wins in each of the last 4 seasons (excluding 2020 season).
The Panthers are one of three teams (Texas and Wisconsin) to have been to three straight Elite 8s.
The Panthers have committed the fewest service errors of any Elite 8 team (168). Only one other team in the field is below 200, Texas (194).
Buzzerio has the third most kills in the tournament (51) and is 26 shy of Pitt's all-time NCAA Tournament record, set last year by Leketor Member-Meneh. Nobody in Division I has a higher hitting percentage (.335) with more attacks (938) than Buzzerio. The last time a Power 5 pin hitter has hit over .330 with at least 900 attempts in a season was Ebony Nwanebu (Texas - 2016) .379 on 939 swings.
RECORD SETTING OPENING WEEKEND
Pitt set a multitude of records this past weekend in the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. A total of 5,481 fans were in attendance throughout the weekend, marking the highest attended NCAA Tournament weekend in program history. The 2,814 in the crowd for the win over BYU was the highest attended Volleyball NCAA Tournament match in venue history at the Petersen Events Center.
Pitt delivered its most efficient offensive display in Tournament history against Colgate, delivering 48 kills on .381 hitting. Against BYU, Fairbanks' triple-double was the first in an NCAA Tournament match in Pitt history and the only three-set triple double in the NCAA Tournament in the modern scoring era. Buzzerio's 23 kills on .475 hitting set a Pitt record for the most kills in a Tournament match and the highest hit % with 20+ kills.
That high-powered Panther offense led to 17.33 kills/set through the first two matches of the tournament – the highest of any team thus far.
AVCA AWARDS PITT WITH ALL-REGION HONORS
For the first time in program history, the University of Pittsburgh Volleyball program has been awarded both the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Regional Coach of the Year and Player of the Year awards as Dan Fisher and Courtney Buzzerio have been recognized as the best in the East Coast Region for the 2022 season.
In total, five Panthers were named AVCA All-East Coast Region: Courtney Buzzerio, Rachel Fairbanks, Serena Gray, Chiamaka Nwokolo and Valeria Vazquez Gomez. Buzzerio was named AVCA East Coast Region Player of the Year and Coach Fisher was named AVCA East Coast Region Coach of the Year. It is tied with the 2019 season for the most All-Region award winners in program history.
Buzzerio becomes just the second Panther to ever earn the award, joining Kayla Lund, AVCA East Coast Region Player of the Year in 2019 and 2020. Pitt has now won Regional Player of the Year in three of the last four seasons.
Coach Fisher has earned his third career AVCA Regional Coach of the Year honor after also doing so in 2017 and 2018.
Pitt has had at least three representatives on the AVCA All-Region list for each of the last seven seasons (since 2016).
SCOUTING WISCONSIN
The Badgers enter the match with a 21-match winning streak after claiming their fifth Big 10 championship in the Kelly Sheffield era this season. Wisconsin has not lost in the Field House this year, going 16-0, with the lone home loss coming in their basketball arena, the Kohl Center, against Florida, whom Pitt ousted from the tournament yesterday. Wisconsin defeated Penn State in five sets on Thursday to reach the Regional Final. Their defense has been their greatest strength as they lead the tournament in blocks/set (4.00) and opponent hitting percentage (.005).
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Players Mentioned
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