Volleyball: Panthers take down rival West Virginia

Senior Meagan Dooley led the women’s volleyball team to victory in the volleyball version of… Senior Meagan Dooley led the women’s volleyball team to victory in the volleyball version of the Backyard Brawl with 11 kills and five blocks in the match against West Virginia University.

Junior Amy Town also contributed with 10 kills from the outside hitter position.

The Panthers, now 15-8 overall and 7-2 in the Big East, earned a victory over WVU (13-11, 3-6) for their ninth shutout of the season.

While earning the conference victory, Pitt raised more than $400 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation in its first Blocking Out Breast Cancer match.

In the spirit of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, collegiate women’s volleyball organizations have joined the foundation in fighting the disease.

Before the match, foundation representative Linda DeVos said she was excited for the event and the attention that it would bring to breast cancer.

“I purposely brought information and resources that would especially benefit would especially benefit young women,” DeVos said. “In educating the young people, we hope to accelerate the discovery of a cure for the disease.”

Pitt responded to the crowd of more than 300 people, dressed in pink for the occasion as it defeated its Big East rival.

Head coach Toby Rens said he was pleased with the overall balance of play and the contributions of certain role players.

“We had Melanie Feldman step up with her passing in the back row, and Rachel Kalberer was a factor at the net with four kills in the final set,” he said.

The rotation adjustments made by Rens are dictated by the previous week’s practices and 13 different players saw court time against WVU.

“We use practice as an evaluation time, and rewards are given out in the form of playing time on game day,” Rens said.

In the second set, the Panthers found themselves in a 20-20 tie after giving up seven consecutive points to the Mountaineers.

But three timely kills by Melissa Stadelman, Imani Harper and Kalberer secured the Panther victory.

Rens said he believes the poise shown in this set comes from a young team gaining experience.

“We have four new starters out there this year,” he said. “Our difficult schedule this year has allowed us to develop our consistency so that we can bounce back after adverse situations.”

Pitt heads to St. John’s (8-16, 1-7) in a Big East match Friday.