Pitt volleyball smashes way to tourney

The Pitt volleyball team is starting to show clear signs of life. Pitt dominated last weekend’s… The Pitt volleyball team is starting to show clear signs of life. Pitt dominated last weekend’s 22nd annual, two-day Pitt Invitational at the Fitzgerald Field House, taking home the championship by knocking off Gonzaga (3-2), Eastern Michigan (3-2) and VCU (3-1). The Panthers (7-7) now ride a four-game winning streak into their Big East schedule. ‘We set a goal going into this past week of finishing .500 before Big East play,’ said Pitt coach Toby Rens. ‘Considering how difficult our preseason schedule was, along with the coaching change and everything, I feel we’re starting to play our best right now.’ The three wins extended Pitt’s winning streak to four games after a 3-0 win against Robert Morris last Tuesday. Just last week, the Panthers were in the midst of a five-game losing streak in which the Panthers won only two sets in five matches. Rens said the pressure of playing tougher competition during the Loyola Marymount game in the Los Angeles tournament last weekend, coupled with the last four wins, helped him gauge where the Panthers were as far as adjusting to his new, faster system. ‘Being in those pressure situations really helped us learn a lot about our team,’ said Rens. ‘All along the emphasis has been to put the roadmap out there in terms of our system while trying to understand it, learn it and then apply it. When we finally clicked, we definitely came away from the weekend feeling like we turned the corner.’ Pitt opens its conference slate with matches at Villanova (Sept. 27) and Seton Hall (Sept. 28) next weekend. Pacing the Panthers in their Pitt Invitational sweep was invitational MVP Kelly Campbell, who posted a season-high 20 kills in the championship match and notched 56 kills, 35 digs and five aces throughout the tournament. Joining Campbell on the all-invitational team were senior Jessica Moses and junior Michelle Rossi. Moses recorded nine kills and five blocks in the championship match, while Rossi added 12 digs. Campbell paced the Panthers in their first match of the invitational ‘- a comeback win against Gonzaga last Friday. She notched her third double-double of the season with 19 kills and 11 digs. Senior Nicole Taurence added 47 assists, and freshman Hannah Swysgood, in her newly anointed starting role, had a career-high six blocks. Down two games to one, the Panthers sprinted out to a 9-5 lead in the fourth set thanks to a block from Taurence and Moses to force a Gonzaga timeout. Senior Stephanie Ross notched two aces to extend the Panthers’ lead out of the timeout. Eventually, a block from Taurence and Swysgood gave the Panthers set point at 24-17. After Gonzaga held a pair of balls, sophomore Amy Town sealed the set with a kill from the outside. In the deciding set, the Panthers stormed to an early 6-2 lead riding two Campbell kills. Later, a Town kill set up match point at 14-7. Taurence set Campbell on the outside for the match-winning kill. ‘We showed a lot of good poise against Gonzaga. We never felt a sense of panic,’ said Rens. ‘The two games we dropped, we weren’t passing very well. Really, the fourth and fifth game we really improved a lot to the point where we had three or four options.’ In its second game, Pitt faced an Eastern Michigan squad that Rens described as ‘probably the best defensive team we have played.’ Campbell and junior Meagan Dooley each recorded double-doubles, while Taurence added 46 assists and 15 digs. The match came down to the wire as both teams played to the fifth set. In the fifth set, the Panthers held an 8-5 advantage thanks to one of the 17 kills Campbell recorded in the match. A few plays later, Town stuffed an EMU attack to give Pitt a 12-7 lead and force an EMU timeout. Dooley then spiked the Panthers into the championship match with a kill on a set from Taurence. The third game brought a talented VCU squad, which Rens thought was the tournament favorite heading into last weekend. ‘They just have so many athletes that can jump up and get the ball,’ said Rens. But the Panthers were feeling it against VCU and pounded them with a convincing 3-1 victory. Campbell led the way with 20 kills, while Town tallied 11 kills. ‘We strategically went after a couple of their players who struggled at times to pass the ball,’ said Rens. ‘That helped put us in a better position defensively. On our side we passed really well and we had very few reception errors.’ Rens said the Panthers needed something positive to take with them into Big East play. ‘It’s excellent because now we have the feeling of success after several weeks of working on what we wanted,’ said Rens. ‘It was good to see some smiles on the faces of the players.’