Hokies end Panthers’ winning streak at 12

“We played terrible and we played fantastic.”

Head coach Chris Beerman’s words sum up… “We played terrible and we played fantastic.”

Head coach Chris Beerman’s words sum up perfectly how the Pitt volleyball team fared this weekend.

The Panthers split their away matches this weekend, losing for the first time in six weeks on Friday against Virginia Tech and bouncing back to win Sunday’s match in Miami. The Panthers’ loss snapped a 12-match winning streak and gave Pitt its first conference defeat of the season.

Virginia Tech 3, Pitt 0

The Panthers (19-4, 8-1) lost the match 3-0 to Virginia Tech. Pitt kept it close in the first game, losing 30-27, but the Hokies (12-12, 6-3) dominated the second game 30-17 and completed the sweep with a 30-26 victory.

Virginia Tech dominated the Panthers statistically, holding Pitt to its lowest hitting percentage of the season, .062, including a negative .128 percentage in the second game.

“It’s just one of those stars-aligning things,” Beerman said about the loss. “Nothing against Virginia Tech, but it was a self-inflicted wound. We just weren’t ready to play.”

Middle hitter Megan Miller and outside hitter Sarah Rollman each had 10 kills to lead the Panther attack.

Setter Lindsey Macke turned in the only double-double for the Panthers, with 10 digs and a team-high 32 assists.

Middle hitter April Puzauskas added five kills and a career-best five block assists.

Also contributing were libero Megan McGrane with a team-high 13 digs and outside hitter Wendy Hatlestad with nine kills.

The Hokies were led by Annie Spicer with 10 kills and a match-high 15 digs.

Pitt 3, Miami 1

Sunday’s match against Miami (19-7, 7-2) began in similar fashion to the previous one, with Pitt losing game one 30-22. But this time, the Panthers responded with three straight victories with scores of 30-24, 30-26, and 30-23, to win the match 3-1.

The Hurricane’s loss was their first-ever home defeat against a Big East conference opponent.

Hatlestad led Pitt’s attack with season-highs of 27 kills and three service aces.

Rollman and Miller each had double-doubles for the Panthers, with 15 kills and 15 digs, and 14 kills and 10 digs, respectively. Miller also tied for the team-high with six total blocks.

Freshman setter Azadeh Boroumand, who saw her first significant action of the season, contributed a match-high 54 assists.

“We needed a spark – we were kind of lifeless in the first game – and [Boroumand] provided it,” Beerman said. “It’s a pretty big thing for a freshman to go into there and step it up like that, and it just uplifted the whole team. It was a really fun thing to watch.”

Outside hitter Kim Norris chipped in with eight digs and a career-best six block assists, while McGrane added a team-high 17 digs.

Also contributing were Puzauskas with nine kills and five digs and Macke with nine assists.

Karla Johnson and Ley Santaella Sante led the Hurricanes’ with 17 and 15 kills, respectively.

The Panthers return home this Friday at 7 pm to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers.