Volleyball sweeps Big East weekend

After a poor ending to last week by way of a 3-2 loss to Villanova, the Pitt Panthers… After a poor ending to last week by way of a 3-2 loss to Villanova, the Pitt Panthers received some positive news early this week and kept the momentum going.

On Monday, middle hitter Kim Kern was named Big East Rookie of the Week for the week of Oct. 2 after breaking the school record for most block assists in a five-game match with 11.

Her accomplishment came seven days after teammate Megan Dooley earned the same award for the week of Sept. 25.

With the individual awards behind them, the Panthers welcomed Georgetown and South Florida to the Fitzgerald Field House for a weekend of Big East matches. Pitt (15-6, 4-2 Big East) didn’t allow either team to win a game, sweeping six straight matches.

The Panthers are on the road next Friday night to take on Big East foe West Virginia (2-19, 1-5).

Pitt 3, Georgetown 0

The first game in Saturday’s match didn’t follow the Panthers’ current theme of starting strong as the Hoyas (5-12, 0-5) took an early advantage.

Pitt Head Coach Chris Beerman said, “The last three matches we started off well, but today we just came out flat.”

Georgetown took a 22-16 lead. Pitt would go on to win three of the next four points before sophomore outside hitter Stephanie Ross notched consecutive kills and blocked the proceeding shot to bring the Panthers within one at 23-22.

With a loss looming in game one, the Panthers rattled off four straight points, the game-tying point an ace from Dooley. The Panthers took the lead on the next point on a kill from Ross that brought many of the Panther fans in attendance to their feet.

For their fifth consecutive, and game-winning, point, the Panthers demonstrated great effort all over the court. Just as it appeared that the Hoyas would tie the game, Dooley kept the ball in play with a great diving dig which led to another Ross kill. Pitt took game one by a score of 31-29.

With game two tied at 16, junior outside hitter Diana Andreyko gave Pitt a lead with one of her four kills. A few plays later Andreyko then gave the Panthers a 23-18 lead, with a kill rocketed with such velocity that it sent an opposing player to the ground when she tried to defend the shot.

The Panthers would win seven of the next nine points, with a kill by Ross, capping off the game two victory by a score of 30-22. Pitt won game three, 30-23, with the winning point coming off a Kern kill.

Sophomore Nicole Taurence came off the bench halfway through game one, which Coach Beerman cited as a reason for the Panthers turnaround.

“Luckily we had some people come off the bench, which has been the case all year,” he said. “They came in and did a nice job, especially Nicole Taurence, who really hasn’t played much. I thought she came in and really set a nice match, and gave us a lift of energy.”

Taurence finished with 34 assists, and career highs with four block assists and four total blocks. Stephanie Ross led the way with 13 kills and eight block assists. Freshman Michelle Rossi recorded 19 digs, also helping Pitt escape its early troubles.

“It wasn’t smooth. It was kind of ugly volleyball,” Beerman said. “We didn’t start well, but we finished well.”

Pitt 3, USF 0

On Sunday, the Panthers came out much stronger against the Bulls (7-10, 2-3). Pitt took an early 17-12 lead after senior Azadeh Boroumand blocked a kill attempt, and then yelled words of encouragement to her teammates.

“We played with a lot more energy,” Beerman said. “I thought we came out and really attacked South Florida with out blocking and our digging, and really set the tone for the entire match.”

The Panthers would cruise to 30-19 victory in game one.

Game two saw the Panthers and Bulls play closely contested volleyball. The Panthers went up by a score of 16-12, but three straight points for the Bulls put them right back in the game. Pitt buckled down and brought game two close to an end by taking a 25-17 lead. USF rallied to make the score 28-26.

During the next play, Diana Andreyko tried to flag down the ref so she could dry a wet spot on the floor with his towel, but the ref didn’t see. At the same time the Bulls aced their serve to bring them within one point. Beerman came off the bench to argue, but the point was upheld.

Pitt took the next two points winning game two, and taking a 2-0 lead in the match. Game three, however, saw the Panthers fall behind early.

“We were kind of laying back and waiting for them to make mistakes,” Beerman said. “We were going to have to go out and create points again, and that’s the way we were scoring, with our blocking and digging.”

The match ended similarly to the way Pitt started its run. Boroumand recorded another of her five blocks allowing the Panthers to win 30-20, and once again sweep another match against a Big East team.