Friday, September 23
Pittsburgh, PA
7 PM
Pitt
vs
North Carolina
No. 10 Pitt Opens ACC Play Against North Carolina and NC State
9/22/2022 9:24:00 AM | Volleyball
PITTSBURGH – No. 10 Pitt (9-2, 0-0 ACC) begins its 10th season of ACC play this weekend with a pair of matches against North Carolina (Friday) and NC State (Sunday) inside Fitzgerald Field House. Conference champions in three of the last five seasons, the Panthers begin their march towards a potential fourth title after a nine-win non-conference schedule.
LAST TIME OUT
The Panthers delivered a pair of impressive sweeps in the final weekend of non-conference play, defeating Tennessee and No. 5 Ohio State. The win over Ohio State. The win over OSU marked the 2nd time in program history that Pitt has swept a Top 5 opponent and the first time doing so at home (at No. 4 Penn State - 9/20/19).
Courtney Buzzerio finished the weekend with 29 kills (4.83 kills/set) on .391 hitting, earning herself ACC Player of the Week honors. She is the first Panther this season to earn a conference weekly award and currently leads the nation in hitting percentage by a pin hitter with over 250 attacks (.364).
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
One of Coach Fisher's proudest achievements this season has been on defense. Pitt has out-dug its opponents in 10 of its 11 matches, with the only exception coming in Pitt's 3-0 sweep of Tennessee.
Ashley Browske has been the defensive catalyst this year. She delivered 48 digs (4.36/set) at the Texas A&M Invitational, her highest average over a three-match span in her career.
Browske is averaging a career-best 3.16 digs/set this season, after setting her previous high point last year with 3.03.
She is saving her best for the top-ranked opponents, averaging 4.08 digs/set against Top 25 ranked teams and a stellar 4.43 digs/set in Pitt's two victories over Top-10 teams (at No. 7 BYU and vs. No. 5 Ohio State).
CHASING MILESTONES
Courtney Buzzerio became the 19th Panther to record 1,000 kills when she mashed 12 against American last Friday. Her career total now stands at 1,020. Sabrina Starks owns with 357 block assists and 399 total blocks, both seventh in Pitt history. She is 1 block away from becoming the seventh Panther in program history to achieve 400 blocks in a career.
Lexis Akeo entered her senior season ninth on the all-time assist leader board with 2,341. She is now 8th on the list with 2,369 career assists and is 747 away from 7th place. Serena Gray is now 50 kills away from her 1,000th. She has made 339 kills in her time at Pitt after making 611 in her three years at Penn State.
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina (8-3) started the season receiving 66 votes in the preseason AVCA Coaches poll. Since then, the Tar Heels have fallen out of the rankings since then after suffering losses to Colorado State, Northern Colorado and Michigan. UNC is coming off a nearly perfect final weekend of non-conference in which they swept VCU and UMBC and defeated Old Dominion, 3-1. Pitt leads the all-time series, 14-6, winning the last six meetings dating back to 2015.
SCOUTING NC STATE
NC State (6-5) enters the weekend looking to bounce back after a pair of losses last week in the ACC-SEC Challenge. The Wolfpack suffered losses to Georgia and No. 24 Arkansas one week after sweeping both Indiana and TCU at home. NC State has proven itself to be very strong defensively, ranking second in the ACC in both blocks/set (2.49) and digs/set (15.66) throughout non-conference play. That defense has been needed as the Wolfpack are the only team in the conference to hit below .200 as a team heading into the weekend (.186). Pitt leads the all-time series, 13-2, and has won the last five matches dating back to 2017.
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WEEKEND SCHEDULE
| No. 10 Pitt vs North Carolina | Friday, Sept. 23 | 7 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch | Tickets |
| No. 10 Pitt vs. NC State | Sunday, Sept. 25 | 1 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch | Tickets |
The Panthers delivered a pair of impressive sweeps in the final weekend of non-conference play, defeating Tennessee and No. 5 Ohio State. The win over Ohio State. The win over OSU marked the 2nd time in program history that Pitt has swept a Top 5 opponent and the first time doing so at home (at No. 4 Penn State - 9/20/19).
Courtney Buzzerio finished the weekend with 29 kills (4.83 kills/set) on .391 hitting, earning herself ACC Player of the Week honors. She is the first Panther this season to earn a conference weekly award and currently leads the nation in hitting percentage by a pin hitter with over 250 attacks (.364).
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
One of Coach Fisher's proudest achievements this season has been on defense. Pitt has out-dug its opponents in 10 of its 11 matches, with the only exception coming in Pitt's 3-0 sweep of Tennessee.
Ashley Browske has been the defensive catalyst this year. She delivered 48 digs (4.36/set) at the Texas A&M Invitational, her highest average over a three-match span in her career.
Browske is averaging a career-best 3.16 digs/set this season, after setting her previous high point last year with 3.03.
She is saving her best for the top-ranked opponents, averaging 4.08 digs/set against Top 25 ranked teams and a stellar 4.43 digs/set in Pitt's two victories over Top-10 teams (at No. 7 BYU and vs. No. 5 Ohio State).
CHASING MILESTONES
Courtney Buzzerio became the 19th Panther to record 1,000 kills when she mashed 12 against American last Friday. Her career total now stands at 1,020. Sabrina Starks owns with 357 block assists and 399 total blocks, both seventh in Pitt history. She is 1 block away from becoming the seventh Panther in program history to achieve 400 blocks in a career.
Lexis Akeo entered her senior season ninth on the all-time assist leader board with 2,341. She is now 8th on the list with 2,369 career assists and is 747 away from 7th place. Serena Gray is now 50 kills away from her 1,000th. She has made 339 kills in her time at Pitt after making 611 in her three years at Penn State.
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina (8-3) started the season receiving 66 votes in the preseason AVCA Coaches poll. Since then, the Tar Heels have fallen out of the rankings since then after suffering losses to Colorado State, Northern Colorado and Michigan. UNC is coming off a nearly perfect final weekend of non-conference in which they swept VCU and UMBC and defeated Old Dominion, 3-1. Pitt leads the all-time series, 14-6, winning the last six meetings dating back to 2015.
SCOUTING NC STATE
NC State (6-5) enters the weekend looking to bounce back after a pair of losses last week in the ACC-SEC Challenge. The Wolfpack suffered losses to Georgia and No. 24 Arkansas one week after sweeping both Indiana and TCU at home. NC State has proven itself to be very strong defensively, ranking second in the ACC in both blocks/set (2.49) and digs/set (15.66) throughout non-conference play. That defense has been needed as the Wolfpack are the only team in the conference to hit below .200 as a team heading into the weekend (.186). Pitt leads the all-time series, 13-2, and has won the last five matches dating back to 2017.
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Players Mentioned
S
/ Volleyball
L/DS
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RS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
MB/RS
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