Volleyball: Pitt loses three more to top tier opponents

The Pitt women’s volleyball team is no stranger to high levels of competition, especially in… The Pitt women’s volleyball team is no stranger to high levels of competition, especially in its early-season tournament schedule.

But the Panthers still haven’t found a way to beat that tough competition.

Having already faced Dayton, a nationally ranked team, and multiple teams accustomed to appearing in the NCAA Tournament, Pitt traveled to play in the Ohio University Invitational where they would meet more volleyball powerhouses.

Despite Pitt’s exposure to talented teams in the past, it couldn’t find its second win. The Panthers fell to 1-9 on the year.

The invitational welcomed Northwestern and Tennessee, in addition to Pitt and the host school, Ohio University.

According to head coach Toby Rens, each of Pitt’s three opponents has a postseason schedule in its future.

“Coming into the weekend, we knew the competition would be a challenge,” Rens said. “Tennessee is No. 14 in the nation, and Ohio and Northwestern have been receiving votes in the national polls as well.”

For Rens, the main goal for Pitt in the tournament was to “gain experience and win a few matches,” and although the latter did not occur, Rens remains confident that with each match, the young Pitt team is “putting it all together.”

Ohio 3, Pitt 0

In the first match of the tournament, the Panthers lost to the Bobcats by scores of 25-12, 25-21 and 25-17.

Against Ohio, Rens continued to manipulate his lineup in search of a combination that would yield success on the court. These groups of players included seniors and freshmen alike.

Freshman libero Margy Acton saw playing time in two of the three sets and recorded six digs in those appearances while senior Amy Town contributed five, in addition to her 10 kills as an outside hitter.

“Without a lot of experienced starters on the team, the burden of leadership can be great on players like Town,” Rens said. “However, she has been working hard to sustain the leadership she shows in practice to her play in the matches.”

Another goal of the Pitt team in the tournament was to discover weaknesses that could be addressed during practice before the start of the Big East Conference season.

The loss to Ohio revealed that blocking, especially for points, might be a missing link in the Panthers’ search for success.

While the Bobcats collected 12 blocks over the three sets, the Panthers came away with just one.

“Our blocking will definitely be a focal point this week,” Rens said. “That aspect of our game will help our defense at the net, while allowing us to score a few points in the process.”

Northwestern 3, Pitt 0

Just about three hours after the match against Ohio, Pitt was shut out again by Northwestern in set scores of 25-17, 25-21 and 25-22.

Town’s performance continued from the Ohio match as she totaled 14 kills and seven digs, while some young Panthers came into the match to gain experience.

Sophomore Alexa Campbell recently excelled in Pitt’s last tournament, and she continued her level of success against Northwestern..

With 12 kills and 10 digs, Campbell earned her first double-double. Another sophomore, Michelle Walker, posted nine kills in the match.

“Campbell and Walker have been progressing well this season, especially given their limited amount of experience,” Rens said. “It is one thing for them to perform well in practice, but it is much different to see that carry over to matches against good teams.”

Rens is particularly excited about the future of Walker, an outside hitter who missed much of the spring season while recovering from foot surgery.

“Walker is not at 100 percent yet, but she had a good match and that is definitely promising for the remainder of the season.”

Tennessee 3, Pitt 1

The Panthers ended their play in the tournament with their best match, as they took a set from No. 14 Tennessee.

After a first-set 25-19 loss, the Panthers came back to take the second set 25-21.

The third set went to 26-24, but in favor of the Volunteers, who won the fourth set 25-17 to win the match.

In the loss, Rens found out a lot about his team.

“We have the ability to compete with these teams that are ranked,” Rens said. “Although our goal is to win matches, these kind of challenges give us an opportunity to mature and measure up to the best teams in the country.”

Defensively, the Panthers beat the Volunteers in terms of digs, thanks to the 28 recorded by Acton.

“Acton had an outstanding match,” Rens said. “We will continue to work on defense, but this match was a good indicator of how far we have come.”

Town had a productive match as well: she finished with a game-leading 21 kills.

This also set a career mark for Town.Still, the weaknesses of the Panthers were apparent as they once again lost the blocking contest and committed 10 service errors.

“Our serving game is another thing that will be addressed,” Rens said. “Working on serving, blocking, and our transition game will help us as we continue to move forward.”

The Panthers will return to match play when they host No. 9 Washington on Thursday as part of Pitt’s Blue and Gold Tournament that will run until Saturday.