Player of the Year award among many for Hatlestad

In volleyball, an attack that slams immediately into the other team’s floor or off of an… In volleyball, an attack that slams immediately into the other team’s floor or off of an opponent and out of bounds is called a kill. Pitt senior Wendy Hatlestad recorded a team-high 503 of them this season for the Pitt women’s volleyball team (25-5) and was selected by the Sports staff as The Pitt News Female Athlete of the Fall.

“The hardest thing was staying consistent the whole year,” Hatlestad said, via a telephone onboard a bus on route to State College, Pa., where the Panthers will play in the first round of the NCAA Championships on Friday.

Consistency, however, didn’t seem to be a problem this year. Hatlestad finished second among the Panthers in kills per game, with 4.88, raising her average by more than a kill per game from last season.

From the position of outside hitter, she also amassed 21 assists, 14 service aces, 68 blocks and 268 digs.

Her efforts did not go unnoticed. Hatlestad was named the Big East Volleyball co-Player of the Week twice this year and was also named the conference’s Player of the Year.

Hatlestad led the Panther attack as Pitt sped away with its 11th Big East title.

“We tried to go into every game with respect for the other team,” she said. “[We started to realize] we can hang with anyone.”

Hatlestad put together 210 kills against Big East competitors, with only a slight drop in kills per game from that of her total record.

Highlights of Hatlestad’s season included a season-high 30 kills in a Panther loss to Oregon State and an emotional high in her dominant performance against Miami.

“It was one of those things where I almost had the mindset of, ‘I dare you to stop me,'” Hatlestad said. “That was a big game.”

She finished with 27 kills and three service aces against the Hurricanes.

The Panthers eventually won the conference by defeating Notre Dame, the defending champions, on the road.

In the championship match, Hatlestad racked up 14 kills and five digs while Pitt won in three straight games.

In the regular season, the Panthers established a series of streaks, at one point winning 18 of 19 matches, broken up only by a loss to Virginia Tech.

Hatlestad, however, asserted that her goal for the year was steadiness, to back up excellence. “It was a pretty solid year,” she said. “We kept saying, ‘What are we? We’re good.'”