Panthers drop a pair, fall to sixth in Big East

Unable to feed off the momentum from last weekend’s upset over No. 5 Notre Dame, the Pitt… Unable to feed off the momentum from last weekend’s upset over No. 5 Notre Dame, the Pitt volleyball team dropped two consecutive matches over the weekend. Despite the ugly losses, two Panthers reached career milestones.

Senior Gini Ullery became the fourth player in Pitt history to record 1,000 digs with 17 over the weekend. Ullery has now recorded 1,002 for her career.

Another Panther senior also reached a new personal height. Libero Megan McGrane posted 48 digs over the weekend to reach 2,359 for her career, fourth most in NCAA history.

“These are both nice accomplishments,” head coach Chris Beerman said of his senior’s achievements from the weekend. “They are great in the context of winning, but unfortunately we have to put those things on the back burner right now.”

With losses to both Connecticut and St. John’s, the Panthers (16-11 overall, 9-5 Big East) now fall to the No. 6 seed heading into the Big East Championship Tournament this weekend.

Connecticut 3, Pitt 1

McGrane tallied a team-best 23 digs, enough to move into fourth place for most digs in NCAA history. Freshman middle hitter Ashley Creighton earned seven blocks for the third consecutive game. Sophomore outside hitter Diana Andreyko racked up 15 kills and 10 digs for a double-double. Outside hitter Ullery added 12 kills and nine digs.

Even with these strong numbers, Pitt was unable to hold off the Huskies (14-13, 7-6) and fell in four games. Winning the first set 30-25, it was the Panthers who had the momentum heading in to the second game. UConn stole that momentum and drove to a hard-fought victory, winning the next three sets by close scores of 30-25, 30-27 and 30-28.

“We just didn’t show up prepared to play,” Beerman said about the loss. “We really showed a lack of focus after last week’s win. I don’t think [the team] realized they needed to keep winning.”

The Huskies had three players finish with double-digit figures in kills. Sarah Singer led the way with 18 kills and four blocks. Heather Ashley compiled 12 kills and Megan Crawley earned a double-double with 16 kills and 15 digs. Kaity Craig added nine kills and 10 blocks of her own.

St. John’s 3, Pitt 0

The Panthers held the lead only once in a three-game match loss to the Red Storm on Saturday as Pitt fell to another Big East opponent.

In the shadows of the loss, Ullery earned eight digs to go over 1,000 for her career. However, it was at the net that the Panthers had the most trouble. Pitt finished the match with a mere .050 hitting percentage, with 27 errors in 139 attempts and only 35 team kills. St. John’s hit a .168 on the match, dominating up front.

Andreyko finished the match with 11 kills, but also tallied 11 attack errors and Ullery added nine kills of her own. McGrane averaged more than eight digs per game, finishing with 25, reaching 2,359 for her career.

The Red Storm won by scores of 30-18, 30-27 and 30-21, taking control at the net early on. With this loss, Pitt fell behind the Red Storm in the standings as St. John’s now moves up to the fifth seed.

St. John’s had three players in double figures in kills, including 14 by Shameka Mitchell, 12 by freshman Hui Ping Huang to go along with 20 digs and 11 by Patti Hardiman, who also had 18 digs for a double-double.

Pitt will take on Syracuse because the Orange fell to Louisville Sunday afternoon, making them the No. 3 seed in the tournament. The match is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. on Friday at the Kentucky International Convention Center and is a rematch of a 3-0 Pitt sweep earlier this season.

During practices this week, Beerman is determined to find the right mix of players to start on the court Friday.

“I’ve got to find who’s eager to keep playing. I want to find the most confident people and put them on the court so that we’re ready.”