Remaining schools file new lawsuit

The Big East and Pitt are headed to court, again.

This time, they are taking on Boston… The Big East and Pitt are headed to court, again.

This time, they are taking on Boston College, as well as people at the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Pitt is one of four schools – the others being Rutgers, Connecticut and West Virginia – to file the lawsuit, which names as defendants Boston College Athletics Director Gene DeFilippo, ACC Commissioner John Swofford, ACC President Carolyn Callahan, ACC Vice President Donn Ward and ACC Treasurer Cecil Huey.

Boston College is the third school to leave the Big East for the ACC, following Miami and Virginia Tech. The lawsuit alleges that the ACC and Boston College conspired to weaken the Big East.

Part of the 82-page lawsuit states that the Big East spent millions of dollars to upgrade the conference following promises that the Hurricanes and the Eagles would be “longtime” members.

“We are disappointed with the ACC’s continued attack on the Big East conference and in Boston College’s decision to turn its back on its fellow members of the Big East,” Pitt Athletics Director Jeff Long said Sunday in a statement. “This is especially disappointing given the fact that Boston College had re-pledged its loyalty to the conference just a short time ago. Given this pledge and the very public and very embarrassing rejection they received earlier from the ACC, it is somewhat surprising they have decided to depart.”

Although the loss of the three teams to the ACC badly hurts the Big East, Long says Pitt is devoted to the Big East and has no plans to bolt to another conference, such as the Big Ten.

“It’s not fair for me to comment on the Big Ten, but they’ve been very open and very staunch in their claims that they’re not interested in expansion and they’re very happy at 11 [teams],” Long said. “We’re on the verge of adding at least two football schools and two more basketball schools in the very near future.”

No court date was immediately set for a hearing on the new complaint.

Young’s three goals earn Big East honor

For the third time in his career, Pitt sophomore forward Keeyan Young has earned weekly conference honors, having been named Big East co-Offensive Player of the Week. Young scored three goals in two games – both Panther victories – against Bucknell and Georgetown.

Young’s career-high two goals accounted for all the Panther offense in a 2-1 double overtime win over Georgetown. Young leads the Panthers in scoring with six goals and he also has one assist.

His 13 points match last year’s scoring output. Three of Young’s six goals have been game winners and two of the three game-winning goals were the difference in both of Pitt’s Big East Conference victories.

Young received conference honors twice last season when he was named Big East Rookie of the Week on both Sept. 9 and Oct. 7.

Miller named Big East Co-Player of the Week for the third time in career

For the second straight week, a Pitt volleyball player was named Big East co-Player of the week. Last week it was Wendy Hatlestad, this time it’s junior middle hitter Megan Miller.

Miller helped the Panthers to two victories this past weekend against Connecticut and St. Johns. Against UConn, Miller finished with 27 kills, just one shy of her career best.

On the season, Miller is one of the top hitters in Division I at .408 with a total of 234 kills and just 38 errors in 480 attempts. She also leads the team in solo blocks with 16 in 2003, giving her 44 for her career, the 10th most in Panthers history.

The Panthers are unbeaten in Big East play at 5-0 and have won eight straight conference matches dating back to last year. They have also won their last nine matches and 13 of 14 since a 2-2 start to the season.