Pitt volleyball drops two Big East games on road

The Pitt volleyball team ended its three-match win streak by falling to both Georgetown and… The Pitt volleyball team ended its three-match win streak by falling to both Georgetown and USF on the road this weekend.

The Panthers lost their early lead and a close match Friday at Georgetown 3-2. The team traveled to Tampa Sunday to face USF, but fell again, this time losing 3-1.

“I was very disappointed,” head coach Chris Beerman said. “We had some very unexpected results this weekend.”

Pitt is now 11-10 on the season, 5-3 in the Big East.

“These were definitely two winnable matches that we just let slip,” Beerman said. “We really could’ve separated ourselves in the Big East with these wins, but now we’re back in the pack.”

Beerman said the team’s two captains, Jessica Moses and Diana Andreyko, played well in both matches.

Andreyko, a senior, earned herself a solo spot in second place on Pitt’s all-time kills list. She now has 1,693 career kills, recording 15 on Sunday’s game and a season-high 23 Friday at Georgetown.

She needs 122 more kills to tie the all-time record.

Moses, a junior, posted 11 kills and four digs during the game against Georgetown and later contributed with six kills at USF.

“They played hard and did well,” Beerman said. “We just didn’t compete as hard as we can. The rest of the season we need to play hard against everybody.”

The Panthers won’t have much time to catch their breath, however. They face Robert Morris (11-8) at home tonight at 7. On Friday they’ll move back into Big East action when they play at West Virginia.

Georgetown 3, Pitt 2

The Panthers took an early lead Friday against the Hoyas (5-17, 1-6), winning the first two games by scores of 30-16 and 30-22.

Georgetown came back, however, barely claiming the next three games with scores of 30-25, 30-27 and 15-13 for the win.

In game one Pitt had a .480 hitting percentage. Sophomore Meagan Dooley recorded a perfect game with four kills on four attacks. She ended up with 13 kills in the whole match.

The Panthers took an early lead in game two, and even though Georgetown kept it close by tying the game six times, Pitt came back and won.

The Panthers didn’t have the chance to sweep the match, however, after Georgetown took an early lead in the third game.

Pitt led 14-13 after a kill from junior Stephanie Ross, who recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. But eventually, the Hoyas came out on top.

In game four, Pitt recorded a team-high 20 kills. But it also committed eight errors, leading to the eventual 3-point loss.

Freshman Rachel Kalberer got in for the first time this season and scored the first point of game five with a kill.

USF 3, Pitt 1

Despite Andreyko achieving her milestone, earning the second spot on the all-time kills list, the Panthers couldn’t find much else to be happy about, losing their second game on the road 3-1 to USF (12-5, 4-3).

Andreyko also recorded eight digs, while sophomore Michelle Rossi had 16, leading the team.

Junior Kelly Campbell was close behind with 12 digs, and sophomore Meagan Dooley followed with 10 kills.

The Panthers fought through two close matches in games one and two. Pitt lost both games by just two points, each by a score of 30-28. At one point in game two, Pitt had a 5-point lead after a great performance from junior Nicole Taurence, who recorded a .857 hitting percentage and was 6 for 7 in attacks.

Game three was the lone win for Pitt. There were six ties in the game, one of which was overcome by a timely kill by Melissa Stadelman, giving Pitt a 9-8 lead. Pitt eventually won 30-26. The match only lasted one more game, though, and the Bulls came out victorious, 30-24.

“We need to get back in the gym and figure out why that happened and move on from there,” Beerman said. “Hopefully we can get over that quick.”

He mentioned that while the team has not won at home, it needs to focus more when it comes to playing on the road.

“We just have to move on and do the best we can with the six remaining matches.”