Pitt serving its way to Big East lead

The Pitt women’s volleyball team took sole possession of first place in the Big East this… The Pitt women’s volleyball team took sole possession of first place in the Big East this weekend, knocking off conference foes DePaul, 3-2, on Saturday and Notre Dame, 3-1, on Sunday. The Panthers (12-8, 5-1) rode Kelly Campbell’s game-high 16 kills against DePaul and 22 kills against Notre Dame to the victories. ‘We regrouped [after a loss to Georgetown] and found our rhythm against a DePaul team that was playing really well,’ said Pitt coach Toby Rens. ‘We started off playing flat, but then really got it going in games three, four and five.’ The Panthers dropped their first two games to DePaul to fall behind, 0-2, in the match. But seniors Campbell, Jessica Moses and junior Meagan Dooley all posted above a .400 hitting percentage to pace Pitt in the victory. But an even more important game awaited the Panthers in South Bend. ‘It wasn’t like we overlooked DePaul,’ said Rens. ‘But certainly the bigger match was against Notre Dame.’ In a tough, hard-fought match, the Panthers earned the victory in four games. It was the first time in the last five matches the Panthers did not play a fifth game. ‘I think the match was a great measuring stick,’ said Rens. ‘Notre Dame has been the hottest team in the Big East, and they were picked ahead of us in the preseason. Plus, they were a tournament team last year.’ Campbell, Moses and Dooley paced the Panthers against DePaul. Moses added 12 kills, and Dooley added 11 to Campbell’s match-high 16. ‘ ‘ ‘ Freshman Allyson Hodnik earned the start at setter against DePaul and tied Campbell with a match-high 16 kills, a career-high 50 assists and four digs. As a team, the Panthers out-blocked the Blue Demons, 12-3. The Panthers trailed early in the match after they dropped the first two games, 22-25. But after halftime, a close-fought 25-20 victory in game three led to a dominating 25-12 victory in game four and forced a fifth game. The Panthers were on a roll heading into the fifth set and jumped out to an early 8-3 lead to force a DePaul timeout. Pitt continued to steamroll out of the timeout, going on an 8-0 run to secure the victory. The Panthers won a hard-fought match against the Fighting Irish by the scores of 25-22, 20-25, 25-23 and 25-20. ‘This match was a really intense match from start to finish,’ said Rens. ‘Both teams played at a really high level and had to work hard for their points the entire match.’ Dooley recorded 10 kills and six blocks in the contest, while senior Stephanie Ross recorded nine kills and 13 digs. Hodnik added 34 assists in her second-consecutive start, and senior Michelle Rossi notched 20 digs. Pitt overcame four attack errors and two service errors in the first set to take game one, but lost game two. After leading the entire game, the Panthers slipped toward the end of game three, allowing Notre Dame to knot the match at 19 apiece on an 8-2 run. Pitt held on until a kill from Campbell gave the victory to the Panthers. In the fifth and deciding game, the Panthers held the lead throughout and earned the victory on a Fighting Irish attack error. The Panthers now want to avoid a trap game against Youngstown State after two emotional Big East wins. ‘I think the team learned after the Georgetown match to take nothing for granted,’ said Rens. As far as the weekend, Rens was pleased with the effort of his team. ‘We represented Pitt very well. I was very happy with the contributions from every member of the team.’