Virginia was never really a concern for Pitt volleyball. Pitt severely outmatched the bottom of the ACC team, and it was just a formality that it would sweep Virginia in three quick sets. And that is exactly what happened, as Pitt defeated Virginia in a sweep (25-15, 25-19, 25-12).
Pitt’s win didn’t come without concern, but Tautua’a stepped up
On the very first point of the match, redshirt senior setter Brooke Mosher went down with an apparent lower-body injury and had redshirt sophomore setter Haiti Tautua’a sub her out of the game. Mosher would not return for the rest of the match, but she was seen standing on the sidelines after her injury and warming up with teammates between sets.
Tautua’a’s unexpected jump into the match, however, didn’t slow down the powerful Panthers’ offense, as she led the team to a .333 hitting percentage for the rest of the match. Tautua’a then nabbed a career-high in both assists and blocks with 31 and four, respectively.
“We didn’t skip a beat with Haiti out there,” head coach Dan Fisher said.
“It’s one thing to be playing well in practice, but there’s a different energy in a game,” Fisher said. “The more players that we can get in to feel like they are game confident is important.”
Great call, coach
There are no stat sheets available for how successful a coach is when challenging in NCAA women’s volleyball, but if there were, head coach Dan Fisher would probably sit atop the list. He went three-for-three on challenges, continuing to buy the Panthers back points.
Whatever Fisher’s strategy in that category is, he’s got to simply stick with it.
Virginia head coach Shannon Wells was on the exact opposite side of the spectrum against the Panthers, going zero-for-two on challenges.
Libero competition
Pitt has still not settled its starting libero for this season. Today, the libero for the first set was redshirt senior Emery Dupes. For the second and third sets, sophomore Mallorie Meyer served as the libero for Pitt.
On Friday, in the sweep against Virginia Tech, first-year Izzy Masten was the libero in the first and second sets, then Dupes stepped in at libero in the third set. It’s a three-player race and is something for Pitt fans to monitor for the rest of the season.
“We have three really strong liberos and our coaching staff just decided, let’s give them all two sets this weekend,” Fisher said.
No libero had a standout performance against the Cavaliers, so the competition will more than likely continue for at least another week.
Block party
The defense in the front row against Virginia was possibly the best it has been all season long. The Panthers had the most blocks it has had in a three-set match this season with 15.
The Panthers’ defense was so strong that it held the Cavaliers to a .000 hitting percentage.
What’s next for the Panthers?
Pitt volleyball travels out west to Palo Alto, California, to face Stanford at 10 p.m., and the game will air on ACCNX.
