Volleyball: Panthers fall to Big East’s top teams

Going into perhaps its toughest weekend of the season, the Pitt volleyball team was confident… Going into perhaps its toughest weekend of the season, the Pitt volleyball team was confident that it could match its competition.

As they welcomed Louisville and Cincinnati — the premier Big East teams — to the Fitzgerald Field House, the Panthers, according to senior middle hitter Imani Harper, were prepared for a win.

“We have had such a tough season that I am not sure that Louisville and Cincinnati know what’s coming for them,” Harper said before the matches. “We are hungry for a big win.”

That hunger, however, did not result in victories for the Panthers, as they fell in four sets to the Cardinals and in three sets to the Bearcats.

Louisville 3, Pitt 1

Despite stretches of high-level play, the Panthers were unable to defeat Louisville, the second place team in the Big East, on Saturday

The Panthers fell to their conference opponent with scores of 25-18, 25-21 and 25-19 in the first, second and fourth sets, respectively. Pitt won the third set 25-18.

“In the third set, we were playing good volleyball, winning key rallies,” head coach Toby Rens said. “We played well throughout the match, but in the sets we lost, we kind of let Louisville off the hook.”

An example of the Panthers’ strong play was seen in the blocking totals, as Pitt recorded nine blocks to Louisville’s eight.

“Louisville is actually the best blocking team in the Big East,” Rens said. “I was pleased with our efforts at the net but unfortunately it did not lead to a win.”

Part of the blocking success was because of lineup changes, which gave sophomore outside hitter Alexa Campbell her first start.

Campbell earned 10 kills in the match and finished with a .269 hitting clip, a figure that Rens correlates with an impressive match.

“Alexa’s performance was great for us, especially as a sophomore,” he said. “Her hitting percentage on the day was well above .200 which is difficult to do against a strong blocking team like Louisville.”

The sophomore class was also well-represented on defense by Margy Acton, who led the Panthers with 14 digs.

But, the Cardinals, led by outside hitter Lola Arslanbekova’s 20 kills, managed to secure the victory and improve their Big East record to 10-1 as Pitt fell to 5-6 in the conference.

Cincinnati 3, Pitt 0

Going into the match against the No. 21 Bearcats, Rens was aware of the level of competition that the Panthers would face.

“Cincinnati has one of the best outside hitters in [senior] Stephanie Niemer,” he said. “On top of that, they also have an excellent middle hitting attack as well.”

Those aspects of Cincinnati’s game proved to be the difference in the match as Niemer finished the match with 13 kills and sophomore middle hitter Becca Refenes contributed 10 kills and three blocks to the offensive effort as the Bearcats beat the Panthers yesterday by set scores of 25-14, 25-16 and 25-20.

Harper led the Panthers with 12 kills and senior outside hitter Amy Town collected 10 kills.

Rens had hoped that the Panthers’ defense would lead to a victory, as the defense has been a constant strength for the Pitt team.

“Defensively, I feel that we are able to compete with any team.” he said. “When both our defense and offense work together, that’s when we are at our best.”

Acton led the Panthers with 10 digs, and the Panthers collected 36 digs as a team.

Still, the Bearcats managed to surpass the Panthers in kills, digs and ultimately the match as Cincinnati fortified its position at the top of the Big East Conference.

The Panthers were not able to capitalize on their home-court advantage over the weekend, which disappointed both Harper and Rens.

“We had a nice crowd this weekend,” Rens said. “It was frustrating that we could not pull out a win for the fans.”

Harper echoed those sentiments, but remained hopeful that Pitt’s final two matches against Connecticut and St. John’s will be more successful.

“Having these last matches at home will be huge for us,” Harper said. “We are more comfortable at home and we know the court well. It is a serious matter of pride.”