Panthers remain perfect in Big East

The Pitt volleyball team swept both of its matches this weekend, remaining undefeated in Big… The Pitt volleyball team swept both of its matches this weekend, remaining undefeated in Big East conference play and extending its winning streak to 12 matches. The Panthers (18-3, 7-0) have won 10 consecutive Big East matches dating back to last season and have swept their opponents in four straight matches.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ On Friday night, the Panthers defeated the Seton Hall Pirates (16-10, 0-7) three games to none, and continued their winning ways on Sunday afternoon with a straight-game victory over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (9-14, 3-4) for their 16th victory in 17 matches.

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Pitt 3 Seton Hall 0

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt began their match against Seton Hall with a 30-23 victory. Tied at 18 partway through the game, the Panthers seemed to take over at the end, scoring six straight and 12 of the last 17 points.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The second game proved to be much more of a test. The Panthers jumped out to an early 6-2 lead, but the Pirates fought back to knot the game at 10. The rest of the game was back and forth, with the two teams tying each other 15 more times before the Panthers were able to score three straight points to win 30-27.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt was in control of the third game for most of the way, gaining as much as a nine point advantage, but had to withstand a late charge by Seton Hall before it could win the game 30-26.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We were pretty rusty against Seton Hall,’ said coach Chris Beerman. ‘We had a 10-day layoff from playing. I think we just had a few more hitting errors than we usually do [and our] timing was a little bit off. [It was a] pretty good win — I wasn’t too disappointed. I just thought the rustiness showed up.’

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Outside hitter Wendy Hatlestad led the Panthers’ attack with a match-high 14 kills and 10 digs. Middle hitter Megan Miller added 12 kills and a match-high five blocks.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Middle hitter April Puzauskas chipped in with nine kills, three blocks and a match-high .533 hitting percentage. Outside hitter Sarah Rollman posted nine kills, 11 digs and three blocks.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Setter Lindsey Macke, who was named Big East co-Player of the Week, had 41 assists, eight digs and a career-best three blocks for the Panthers. She currently leads the Big East in assists per game, with 13.72, and ranks in the top ten in the nation.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘She was probably rusty in the Seton Hall match, but she still put up really good numbers. But against Rutgers, she played phenomenal,’ said Beerman. ‘And she’s been great all year, and I’m really happy that she finally got rewarded with some recognition, because she’s really been steady all year and really been a big reason why we’re doing well.’

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Also contributing for the Panthers were libero Megan McGrane, with a team-high 12 digs, and outside hitter Abby Fechhelm, with eight digs, three kills and three blocks.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Katherine Whitney and Jenna Meyers led the Pirates with 14 and 12 kills, respectively.

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Pitt 3 Rutgers 0

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The Panthers opened their match against Rutgers with a 30-19 victory, but struggled in the final two games.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The second game featured runs by both teams, with Rutgers coming back late in the game to tie it at 26. But the Panthers prevailed on some key rallies and came up with the 30-28 victory. Game three was almost identical, with Rutgers rallying late to tie it at 26. Pitt finally put away the Scarlet Knights on a kill by Rollman to give it a 30-28 victory.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Rollman posted the only double-double in the match, with 14 kills and a match-high 16 digs. She was also one of four Pitt players to hit .300 or better for the match.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Hatlestad led all players with 19 kills to go with her six digs and five blocks, four of which were solo. Miller added 13 kills while hitting .391 for the Panthers.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Puzauskas had five kills and three blocks, while McGrane and Fechhelm added 15 and seven digs, respectively.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Macke had five digs to go with her 47 assists. Her 88 assists for the week give her 1,165 for her career, moving her into sixth place in the Panthers’ record books.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Shayla Bush had team-highs of 16 kills and nine digs to lead the Scarlet Knights.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The first-place Panthers try to remain unbeaten in the Big East with matches Friday at Virginia Tech and Sunday at third-place Miami.