Ullery, Andreyko’s seasons propel volleyball to NCAA tournament

The Pitt women’s volleyball team finished the season ranked second in the Big East conference… The Pitt women’s volleyball team finished the season ranked second in the Big East conference and received an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers lost in the first round of the tournament to a powerful Ohio team, to end their season with a 21-11 overall record.

Junior outside hitter Gini Ullery was selected by The Pitt News as Female Athlete of the Fall and freshman hitter Diana Andreyko was selected as Freshman Athlete of the Fall. Both Panthers finished the season with impressive stats.

Ullery finished the season with 549 kills, just six shy of tying Wendy Hatlestad’s single-season record of 555. Ullery now has 1,000 kills for her career and still has one year of eligibility remaining. Ullery was among the leaders in kills per game, averaging 4.9, and 5.28 points per game. She also earned All-Big East honors, and for the first time, Ullery received All-Northeast Region honors.

Despite Ullery’s personal success, she gives a lot of credit to her teammates and coaches for what she’s accomplished.

“This is a team sport,” Ullery said, “and it’s the team that helps you receive your personal honors.”

She also said that her proudest moment of the season was not a personal achievement, but the moment when Pitt was selected for an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

“That was a very proud moment for me and our team. It let us know we were respected by others [around the league],” Ullery said.

Andreyko, who was selected as Northeast Region Freshman of the Year and was also the recent receiver of Big East Rookie of the Year honors, became the first Panther to receive American Volleyball Coaches Association Region Freshman of the Year honors. She is also the first Panther to receive an honorable mention All-Region as a freshman in fourteen years.

Andreyko finished the season with 413 kills, the second highest total for the Panther team. She also had 238 digs, 39 blocks and 23 sets for the season. Andreyko came out as a strong freshman starter for the Panthers this year.

She is a graduate of Baldwin High School, located in the Pittsburgh area, where she earned all-section, all-state and all-Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League honors her junior and senior years. Andreyko also helped lead her 17-and-younger club team to an 18th-place finish at the 2002 AAU Nationals in Atlanta.

Both Ullery and Andreyko will be back next season for the Panthers, hungry and eager to make new strides for the women’s volleyball team at Pitt.

Two other Panthers — senior middle hitter Megan Miller and junior libero Megan McGrane — recently received All-Northeast Region honors. Along with Ullery, both players are not eligible to receive All-American honors.