The volleyball team’s early season tournament schedule looked like an NCAA Tournament bracket, allowing the Panthers to pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses… The volleyball team’s early season tournament schedule looked like an NCAA Tournament bracket, allowing the Panthers to pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses.

Pitt fell to Dayton, Western Michigan and Ohio State, losing every set this weekend.

In the Dayton Flyer Classic, the Panthers fell to the Flyers, the No. 21 team in the nation, in three sets with scores of 25-15, 25-13 and 25-10.

Last year, the Flyers advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament, and Pitt head coach Toby Rens expects no less this year.

“Dayton returned five [of six] starters this year,” Rens said. “It was a good opportunity to assess our team by playing such an established team as Dayton.”

The Panthers do not have the luxury of such experience, because three key players graduated last year.

“We lost two four-year starters in Meagan Dooley and Michelle Rossi,” Rens said. “Early in the year, we are working to find the right court combinations of players to fill their roles.”

The departure of Melissa Stadelman also left a hole.

After the Dayton tournament, the Panthers traveled to Ohio State University to participate in the Sports Imports Classic where the level of competition did not subside.

In their first match against Western Michigan, the Panthers once again found themselves on the losing end of a 3-0 score with set scores of 25-19, 25-16 and 25-21. A bright spot in the loss, however, was the play of junior Lauren Hartman, who recorded 11 kills in her 19 attempts.

Seniors Imani Harper and Amy Town joined Hartman in her hitting efforts —  each ended the match with nine kills.

“Harper has shown great stability in her play, and that in itself will allow her to emerge as a team leader,” Rens said. “I have been impressed with her performance and look for it to continue at a high level.”

Town, who earned All-Tournament Honors in the Classic, also had 11 digs against Western Michigan and recorded 10 digs and eight kills against Ohio State in another 3-0 loss (25-20, 25-18 and 25-19).

“Town has really stepped up for the team this year, and I saw that starting in the spring,” Rens said. “As the captain, she has been and will be our go-to player.”

In the loss to Ohio State, Rens noticed the excellent defensive play of his Panthers, who recorded 38 digs to the Buckeyes’ 30.

“Ohio State will be a ranked team this season, as they were last year, but I believe we out-played them defensively,” Rens said. “We just were not able to capitalize offensively off of our defensive efforts.”

Two young members of the Pitt team attempted to make their offensive presence known in that match, as freshman Brittany Lhota and sophomore Michelle Walker saw playing time at the middle and outside hitter positions.

Lhota finished the match with seven kills while Walker, in her first start, earned four kills in the final set of the match.

“We look forward to the progression of our younger players,” Rens said. “This early exposure to tough competition will help the entire team as we begin our season.”

The Panthers will face Kent State, another NCAA Tournament contender, before returning to the Fitzgerald Field House for the Pitt Invitational Tournament where they will meet Purdue in the first home match Friday.

“Purdue will be another great challenge for us,” Rens said. “As members of the Big Ten Conference, they face teams like Penn State on a regular basis and compete on that level consistently.”

Despite an early 0-3 record, the Panthers remain confident that they have benefitted from their early losses.

“While we have not come away with wins, I feel that we have come away with experiences that will enable our team to grow,” Rens said. “As we continue to work hard and come together as a team, I believe that there will be some exciting volleyball here at Pitt this fall.”