No. 10 Pitt Fights Past NC State

Sunday, September 25

Pittsburgh, PA

1 PM

Pitt

11-2,2-0ACC

NC State

7-6,1-1ACC

NC State

Pittsburgh

No. 10 Pitt Fights Past NC State

9/25/2022 5:31:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

PITTSBURGH – No. 10 Pitt (11-2, 2-0 ACC) had to dig deep to take down NC State on Sunday afternoon inside Fitzgerald Field House. The Panthers won the match in four sets (31-28, 25-13, 22-25, 25-23) after another dominant day offensively for the middle blockers. Chiamaka Nwokolo and Serena Gray combined for 28 kills on .522 hitting, bringing their total together for the weekend to an incredible 47 kills on .563 hitting.

"My biggest takeaway is that our league is really good," Head Coach Dan Fisher said. "NC State was really bringing it defensively and going for every ball. Fortunately, we had the stamina to ride it out. Big performances from our middles, our right sides were really good as well. I thought our left sides weren't as good as we would have liked offensively but they found other ways to contribute, Valeria making 24 digs is a great example of that. Not our best game but we found a way to win and we're always pleased to do that."

QUICK HITS

Chiamaka Nwokolo delivered a career-best 14 kills on .522 hitting today.
It was her third-career double-digit kill performance and her second straight .500+ hitting performance.
She finishes the weekend with 23 kills on .528 hitting, marking the first time in her illustrious career to have hit over .500 in consecutive matches while also making 10+ attacks in each match.
Serena Gray also delivered 14 kills on .522 hitting, bringing her total for the weekend to 24 kills on .600 hitting.
She is now hitting .412 for the season, the second-best mark in the ACC.
This is her fourth time hitting .500 or better in consecutive matches with at least 10 attempts in her two years at Pitt with her most recent such stretch coming during last year's NCAA Tournament (vs. Kansas and Purdue).
The Pitt middle blockers (Nwokolo and Gray) combined for 28 of Pitt's 64 kills today on .522 hitting.
They delivered a combined 47 kills over the weekend on .563 hitting.
Courtney Buzzerio led the team in kills for the sixth time this season and fifth straight match.
She finished with 15, tying her season best set previously at BYU.
Rachel Fairbanks set a career high with 43 assists today. She also added an ace, giving her aces in three consecutive matches.
Sabrina Starks delivered her 400^th career block today. She becomes the seventh Panther in program history to achieve 400 career total blocks.
Valeria Vazquez Gomez recorded a career-high 24 digs today the most by a Panther since 2019 (Hali Hillegas – 26 vs. Louisville) and the second most by an ACC outside hitter this season.
Her 24 digs is the most by a Pitt non-defensive specialist since 2017 (Nika Markovic – 27 vs. St, Mary's).
The Panthers made 8-0 scoring runs in all three sets that they won today, doing so off the serve of Valeria Vazquez Gomez twice and the third time from Courtney Buzzerio.
The Panthers made a season-high 15 blocks today, the most since October 18, 2020 (19 at Notre Dame).
Pitt has now won six consecutive matches against NC State, dating back to 2017.
Pitt has started ACC play 2-0 for the seventh time in the last eight years and the eighth time in 10 seasons under Dan Fisher

SET 1: PITT 31 – NCSU 29
The match began with an incredible run of serve from Vazquez Gomez. The redshirt junior made two aces and put the Wolfpack out of system several times for an 8-0 Pitt run right off the jump. Pitt grew the lead to 14-4, holding NC State to just one kill in the early stages. However, the Panthers took their foot off the gas, and slowly but surely, NC State had fought its way back into the match, 21-20. It was the Wolfpack who earned the first set point of the match, up 24-23, only for Buzzerio and Vazquez Gomez to come up with a block in crunch time. Serena Gray made her second kill of the set to defend the next Wolfpack set point, tying the score again, 26-26. An NC State error spoiled their third set point opportunity and tied the score at 28-28. With the score tied, 29-29, Nwokolo came up with back-to-back kills to put an end to the set. The Panthers escaped with the set after defending three match points. Nwokolo led the team with five kills on six swings throughout the set. Vazquez Gomez made six digs along with her two aces from the early set run.

SET 2: PITT 25 – NCSU 13
The Panthers bounced back in a major way, going on yet another 8-0 run from the serve of Vazquez Gomez to break the set open, 19-7. Cat Flood entered the match toward the end and delivered a pair of kills to close out the set as Pitt comfortably took the second. Serena Gray had her hands all over this set, finishing with six kills on six swings alongside six more kills from Buzzerio. Ashley Browske led the back row with five digs as Starks recorded her 400^th career block with a solo block.

SET 3: PITT 22 – NCSU 25
The Panthers led for a majority of the set, leading by as much as 18-15, late. But NC State went on a 4-0 run to end play and would steal the third set by three points. The Panthers struggled passing this set, ending it with a match-low 43% sideout rate and NC State won its first set off of Pitt since 2018.

SET 4: PITT 25 – NCSU 23
After a defensive performance to forget in the third, Pitt bounced back with a tremendous defensive effort in the fourth as seven Panthers played a part in six total blocks and Vazquez Gomez rose to the challenge with eight digs. Pitt, once again, made a 8-0 scoring run, this time off the serve of Buzzerio. That run featured three-straight Panther blocks, one solo from Fairbanks and two others from Nwokolo/Dalton and Nwokolo/Fairbanks. The run put the Panthers up 10-4, a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of play. NC State made it interesting, defending two match points to make the score, 24-23, but the 14^th kill of the day from Gray ended things, giving Pitt it's second win of ACC play.

UP NEXT
The Panthers hit the road for a five-match road trip. Pitt will play three road matches next week, starting with a Wednesday night tilt against Virginia (8-5, 0-2) at 8 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on the ACC Network.

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