Hoping the struggles are over, Pitt looks to tourney

The Pitt women’s volleyball team earned the seventh seed in this weekend’s Big East tournament… The Pitt women’s volleyball team earned the seventh seed in this weekend’s Big East tournament after splitting its two games last weekend. The Panthers avoided stumbling into the tournament by snapping a three-game losing streak, securing a match at 6 p.m. Friday against Cincinnati at the Fitzgerald Field House. And according to junior Meagan Dooley, this could be a game in which Pitt looks for payback. Dooley said that when looking back, she and Pitt are very disappointed in their performance against Cincinnati on Nov. 9 ‘mdash; a game in which Pitt lost 3-0. It was the Panthers’ last regular season home match. ‘That was one of those games you wish you could take back because of the errors we made,’ said Dooley. ‘It’s a game we really want back.’ Friday night will bring that chance to get one back. But Pitt entered the weekend still riding a losing streak, and that continued during its first match. The Panthers suffered their first in-conference road loss in a close match against Syracuse. Still, Pitt managed to bounce back on Sunday against Marquette, snapping its three-game losing streak and earning the tournament spot. Prior to the Marquette game, the Panthers struggled badly. The Panthers won just one set throughout the time of the losing streak ‘mdash; a 25-18 win in the first set against Syracuse. The Panthers closed out their regular-season schedule with a 16-13 record overall, an 8-6 record in the Big East and a sixth-place finish in the conference. ‘It was a big improvement from last year,’ said Pitt coach Toby Rens, who is in his first year coaching at Pitt. ‘We didn’t qualify last year, but now we’re the seventh seed. We’re happy with that and happy with the fact that we’re hosting it because there’s a comfort level there,’ said Dooley. ‘It’s going to be awesome having the home-court advantage,’ said Dooley, ‘Sleeping in your own bed helps a lot.’ The No. 2-seeded Bearcats pose a formidable threat to ending the Panthers’ season and enter the tournament on a 15-game winning streak. Rens said that Pitt can’t expect anything else and has to be willing to step up. ‘If you’re going to win it, you have to beat some great teams,’ said Rens. And Pitt does have some good news. The Panthers hope to welcome back libero Michelle Rossi, who missed the last two games with an injury to her knee. ‘That was a really big adjustment, she’s our libero,’ said Rens of Rossi. ‘[Freshman] Tara Rohall played in that position. She played really good in the first two games against [Syracuse], but they really went after her as the match went on. It kind of proved to be the difference in the match.’ Rens said his earlier prediction of a close-fought match came true against Syracuse, a team that plays a similar system to the Panthers’ up-tempo style. Senior-captain Kelly Campbell paced the Panthers against the Orange, notching a double-double with a match-high 16 kills and 12 digs, while Dooley added 10 kills and six blocks. Earlier last week, Campbell and Dooley were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District second team. The award was Dooley’s second honor and Campbell’s first. ‘I think it speaks volumes for what Pitt has done for me as an athlete and as a person,’ said Campbell. ‘To be recognized for that is a huge honor.’ Against Syracuse, senior Nicole Taurence tallied 47 assists and sophomore Amy Town recorded 10 kills. Town continued to rack up the kills against Marquette. She tallied 11 kills with eight digs, while Campbell added nine kills and six digs. Dooley recorded seven kills along with seven blocks. ‘She’s made some really good improvements,’ said Rens of Town. ‘She led us in kills today and hit over .500 and that’s just exceptional for an outside-hitter to do that.’ Campbell led the Panthers in the first set against the Orange with six kills, and Taurence added 11 assists. The Panthers played the Orange to a tie at 15 points apiece, but went on a 10-3 run to earn a 25-18 victory for the Panthers. The Panthers held a late 19-17 lead in the second set after a kill from Taurence. But the Orange rallied to tie the score at 20 and never rescinded the lead on their way to winning the game. The Panthers dropped the third set, but bounced back in the fourth to grab an early lead. But the Orange once again stormed back to force a 7-7 tie and then grabbed the lead for good. And after watching the loss at Syracuse, Rens said he enjoyed watching his team gel against Marquette on Sunday. ‘I feel like it was one of the matches where we all clicked at the same time,’ said Rens. ‘We hit over .500 as a team and that’s just unheard of. We were very well prepared for them, we did a much better job today of executing our game plan. We’re back on track now.’ Pitt’s captain echoed the confidence from her coach. ‘[The win] was huge for us and got us some momentum going into the Big East tournament,’ said Campbell. ‘It was one of those times that everyone contributed and played their position to the best of their abilities.’