Weekend Sports Recap | Cross country, volleyball and women’s soccer continue early season success, men’s soccer lags behind with loss to Georgetown

As the first week of classes ended, students were rewarded with plenty of action from their Panthers heading into Labor Day weekend. Many Panthers fans were tuned in for Saturday’s football game, but there was more winning going on elsewhere for the Panthers Athletics.

Here’s a recap of how Pitt’s other programs fared over the weekend. 

Cross Country

To start the weekend off on Friday, the Panthers cross country teams made their debut at the Panther Invitational hosted at Schenley Park. The Panthers saw strong performances across the board, as both men’s and women’s teams came out victorious. 

Seniors Jack Miller and Luke Henseler led the pack with nearly identical times of 14:20:00 and 14:20:02, respectively. The Panthers also had four other runners placed in the top ten during the men’s event. 

The women’s team also had a comfortable victory, scoring a total of 20 team points. The women’s team was led by senior Emily Brown, who finished first with a time of 17:20:05. Junior Winnie Incorvaia followed up in second with a time of 17:23:02. 

The cross country teams will head to State College on Sept. 8 to compete in the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational hosted by Penn State.

Volleyball

Later on Friday, No. 10 Pitt volleyball took on No. 15 Kentucky in Lexington for day one of the 84 Lumber Classic. The Panthers ended up bouncing back from their loss against BYU by sweeping the Wildcats 3-0. 

The Panthers showed just enough to control the match and were able to limit their mistakes, finishing with a .248% hitting percentage compared to the Wildcat’s poor .084%. Leading the way for the Panthers were redshirt senior Valeria Vazquez Gomez and first-year Olivia Babcock, who both totaled 11 kills. Junior Emmy Klika also notched a career-high with 18 digs. 

But this wasn’t the last time Pitt volleyball faced off against Kentucky this weekend.

On Sunday, the No. 10 Panthers faced off against the No. 15 Wildcats, this time at the Petersen Events Center. The Panthers again defeated the Wildcats 3-1, claiming the series victory in the 84 Lumber Classic. 

The Panthers saw another great game out of Babcock, who finished with 13 kills and seven blocks. Tied at the top of the leaderboard for blocks with Babcock was fellow first-year Torrey Stafford. Meanwhile, graduate student Emma Monks almost secured a double-double, finishing with eight kills and eight blocks. 

The Panthers will face another test in No. 19 Marquette on Sept. 8. 

Women’s Soccer

Also in action on Sunday, was the No. 21 Panthers who handled the Bowling Green Falcons in a 5-1 victory. 

The night started off with an honor to the only senior on the roster, midfielder Chloe Minas, for senior night. 

The Panther’s offense came to score, outshooting the Falcons 29-6. Junior forward Sarah Schupansky was able to knock in two goals, bringing her season total up to six goals in six games. 

Fifth-year defender Ashton Gordon, fifth-year forward Amanda West and junior midfielder Keera Melenhorst found the back of the net for the Panther’s other three goals. 

The women’s soccer team is starting out hot as they now improve to a 6-0 record. The Panthers will face quality competition in No. 25 Xavier on Sept. 7. 

Men’s Soccer

But not all Panther teams were able to find victories this weekend. On Friday, the Panthers men’s soccer team stumbled upon their first loss of the season, as Pitt fell 4-1 against Georgetown. 

The Hoyas got on the board early with a goal from senior Kyle Linhares in the sixth minute and another by senior Kenny Nielsen in the 20th minute. The Hoyas went into the half with a two-goal lead and were never in fear of losing it. The Hoyas opened up the scoring in the second half with two more goals to extend their lead to 4-0.

Pitt finally scored their only goal in the 79th minute, as junior Luka Kozomara scored his second of the season. 

With this loss, the Panthers moved to 1-1-1 — a shaky start for the recently dominant team. The Panthers will look to rebound with a huge matchup against No. 5 Marshall on Sept. 5th.