Wednesday, September 28
Charlottesville, VA
8 PM
Pitt
at
Virginia
No. 10 Pitt Embarks on Three-Match Road Trip
9/27/2022 11:29:00 AM | Volleyball
PITTSBURGH – No. 10 Pitt (11-2, 2-0 ACC) hits the road for three matches in five days. The Panthers will take on Virginia (8-5, 0-2 ACC), Duke (9-4, 0-2 ACC) and High Point (9-6 (2-0 Big South) this week after finishing their seven-match home stretch with six victories.
LAST TIME OUT
The Panthers collected a pair of four-set victories to begin ACC play, defeating North Carolina and NC State last weekend inside Fitzgerald Field House. Pitt found plenty of offense down the middle as Serena Gray and Chiamaka Nwokolo combined for 47 kills on .563 hitting, including a career-high 14 kills from Nwokolo against NC State.
While the middles were bolstering the offense, it was the outside hitters pulling their weight on defense. Valeria Vazquez Gomez and Julianna Dalton each set career-highs in digs over the weekend, with Vazquez Gomez making 24 against NC State and Dalton tallying 11 against UNC. The 24 digs from Vazquez Gomez stands as the most by a Pitt non-defensive specialist since 2017 (Nika Markovic – 27 vs. St, Mary's).
Serena Gray earned ACC Player of the Week honors for her efforts over the weekend, making 24 kills on .600 hitting. She set a season high with 14 kills against NC State after posting 10 kills on .750 hitting against UNC. Her .750 hitting performance was the highest hitting percentage by a Panther with 10+ kills since 2020 and the second highest such percentage in Gray's career. She is now hitting .412 this season and is on track to become just the second Panther in program history to record consecutive .400+ hitting seasons.
The Panthers have started ACC play 2-0 for the seventh time in the last eight years and the eighth time in 10 seasons under head coach Dan Fisher.
PERFECTLY BALANCED AS ALL THINGS SHOULD BE
Pitt owns one of the most balanced offensive attacks in the nation with Vazquez Gomez, Dalton, Buzzerio and Gray each averaging over 2.0 kills/set. Those four hitters account for 75.2 percent of Pitt's terminations with Buzzerio currently leading the way at 152. Buzzerio's kills make up just 23.3% of Pitt's overall output.
29.9% of Pitt's offense comes from the middle with Serena Gray (90), Chiamaka Nwokolo (60), Sabrina Starks (32) and Rachel Jepsen (7) contributing to that total. The middles have made those 195 combined kills on .364 hitting.
That balance has led to a .270 team hitting percentage, good enough for 28th in the nation. Only six teams in the nation have more kills and a higher hitting percentage than the Panthers: Towson, Western Ky., Jacksonville St., Texas St., Northwestern and Boston College.
CHASING MILESTONES
Courtney Buzzerio became the 19th Panther to record 1,000 kills when she mashed 12 against American (Sept. 9). Her career total now stands at 1,078.
Sabrina Starks became the seventh Panther to reach 400 total blocks when she scored a solo block against NC State last match. She made another block later in the match to bring her career total to 401, 41 shy of sixth all-time.
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 2,391 career assists and is 725 away from 7th place.
Serena Gray is now 26 kills away from her 1,000th career kill. She has made 363 kills in her time at Pitt after making 611 in her three years at Penn State.
SCOUTING VIRGINIA
The Cavaliers (8-5, 0-2) enter the match on a three-match losing streak. UVA opened ACC play with a pair of five-set losses to North Carolina and NC State after ending the non-conference schedule with a 3-0 loss to Maryland. UVA is 0-4 against Power 5 teams this year, also suffering a 3-0 sweep at Florida earlier in the year. They are led by graduate senior Grace Turner who delivered 23 kills, six aces and three block assists for a career-best 30.5 points in her last outing against North Carolina. She is 47th in the nation with 224.5 points this year and 29th in the nation with 25 aces. Pitt leads the all-time series against UVA, 16-3, and have won nine straight dating back to 2015.
SCOUTING DUKE
Duke (9-4, 0-2) is off to a slow start in ACC play, dropping a four-set match at Syracuse and a five-setter at Boston College last weekend. The losses snapped a nine-match winning streak for the Blue Devils that included wins over Michigan (RV) and Michigan State. Duke leads the ACC in aces/set this year with 2.15, the fifth highest mark in the country. They also boast a strong defense, holding opponents to just .161 hitting this season, the 25th lowest mark in the nation. Pitt leads the all-time series, 13-8, and have won the last five matches dating back to 2018.
SCOUTING HIGH POINT
The Panthers (9-6, 2-0 Big South) will be playing just their fourth home match of the season on Sunday when they take on Pitt, following a very competitive non-conference schedule. High Point took on No. 6 Wisconsin (L, 0-3), No. 24 Marquette (L, 1-3) and No. 1 Texas (L, 0-3) already, going 9-3 in matches against non-Top 25 opponents. Pitt will be the third match in as many days for HPU as they host Winthrop and Charleston Southern on Friday and Saturday. The Panthers took down Presbyterian and USC Upstate in their first weekend of Big South competition. This will be the third all-time meeting between Pitt and HPU, with Pitt taking the first two meetings in 2018 and 2021.
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SCHEDULE
| No. 10 Pitt at Virginia | Wednesday, Sept. 28 | 8 p.m. | Live Stats | ACCN |
| No. 10 Pitt vs. Duke | Friday, Sept. 30 | 6:30 p.m. | Live Stats | ACCNX |
| No. 10 Pitt at High Point | Sunday, Oct. 2 | 1 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+ |
LAST TIME OUT
The Panthers collected a pair of four-set victories to begin ACC play, defeating North Carolina and NC State last weekend inside Fitzgerald Field House. Pitt found plenty of offense down the middle as Serena Gray and Chiamaka Nwokolo combined for 47 kills on .563 hitting, including a career-high 14 kills from Nwokolo against NC State.
While the middles were bolstering the offense, it was the outside hitters pulling their weight on defense. Valeria Vazquez Gomez and Julianna Dalton each set career-highs in digs over the weekend, with Vazquez Gomez making 24 against NC State and Dalton tallying 11 against UNC. The 24 digs from Vazquez Gomez stands as the most by a Pitt non-defensive specialist since 2017 (Nika Markovic – 27 vs. St, Mary's).
Serena Gray earned ACC Player of the Week honors for her efforts over the weekend, making 24 kills on .600 hitting. She set a season high with 14 kills against NC State after posting 10 kills on .750 hitting against UNC. Her .750 hitting performance was the highest hitting percentage by a Panther with 10+ kills since 2020 and the second highest such percentage in Gray's career. She is now hitting .412 this season and is on track to become just the second Panther in program history to record consecutive .400+ hitting seasons.
The Panthers have started ACC play 2-0 for the seventh time in the last eight years and the eighth time in 10 seasons under head coach Dan Fisher.
PERFECTLY BALANCED AS ALL THINGS SHOULD BE
Pitt owns one of the most balanced offensive attacks in the nation with Vazquez Gomez, Dalton, Buzzerio and Gray each averaging over 2.0 kills/set. Those four hitters account for 75.2 percent of Pitt's terminations with Buzzerio currently leading the way at 152. Buzzerio's kills make up just 23.3% of Pitt's overall output.
29.9% of Pitt's offense comes from the middle with Serena Gray (90), Chiamaka Nwokolo (60), Sabrina Starks (32) and Rachel Jepsen (7) contributing to that total. The middles have made those 195 combined kills on .364 hitting.
That balance has led to a .270 team hitting percentage, good enough for 28th in the nation. Only six teams in the nation have more kills and a higher hitting percentage than the Panthers: Towson, Western Ky., Jacksonville St., Texas St., Northwestern and Boston College.
CHASING MILESTONES
Courtney Buzzerio became the 19th Panther to record 1,000 kills when she mashed 12 against American (Sept. 9). Her career total now stands at 1,078.
Sabrina Starks became the seventh Panther to reach 400 total blocks when she scored a solo block against NC State last match. She made another block later in the match to bring her career total to 401, 41 shy of sixth all-time.
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 2,391 career assists and is 725 away from 7th place.
Serena Gray is now 26 kills away from her 1,000th career kill. She has made 363 kills in her time at Pitt after making 611 in her three years at Penn State.
SCOUTING VIRGINIA
The Cavaliers (8-5, 0-2) enter the match on a three-match losing streak. UVA opened ACC play with a pair of five-set losses to North Carolina and NC State after ending the non-conference schedule with a 3-0 loss to Maryland. UVA is 0-4 against Power 5 teams this year, also suffering a 3-0 sweep at Florida earlier in the year. They are led by graduate senior Grace Turner who delivered 23 kills, six aces and three block assists for a career-best 30.5 points in her last outing against North Carolina. She is 47th in the nation with 224.5 points this year and 29th in the nation with 25 aces. Pitt leads the all-time series against UVA, 16-3, and have won nine straight dating back to 2015.
SCOUTING DUKE
Duke (9-4, 0-2) is off to a slow start in ACC play, dropping a four-set match at Syracuse and a five-setter at Boston College last weekend. The losses snapped a nine-match winning streak for the Blue Devils that included wins over Michigan (RV) and Michigan State. Duke leads the ACC in aces/set this year with 2.15, the fifth highest mark in the country. They also boast a strong defense, holding opponents to just .161 hitting this season, the 25th lowest mark in the nation. Pitt leads the all-time series, 13-8, and have won the last five matches dating back to 2018.
SCOUTING HIGH POINT
The Panthers (9-6, 2-0 Big South) will be playing just their fourth home match of the season on Sunday when they take on Pitt, following a very competitive non-conference schedule. High Point took on No. 6 Wisconsin (L, 0-3), No. 24 Marquette (L, 1-3) and No. 1 Texas (L, 0-3) already, going 9-3 in matches against non-Top 25 opponents. Pitt will be the third match in as many days for HPU as they host Winthrop and Charleston Southern on Friday and Saturday. The Panthers took down Presbyterian and USC Upstate in their first weekend of Big South competition. This will be the third all-time meeting between Pitt and HPU, with Pitt taking the first two meetings in 2018 and 2021.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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