The Pitt volleyball team began its season with a victory against the host team of the Duke… The Pitt volleyball team began its season with a victory against the host team of the Duke Invitational this past Friday, and finished the tournament in second place. The Panthers split their matches on Saturday, losing to Texas A’M and ending with a sweep of Marquette.

Pitt 3, Duke 1

Pitt (2-1 overall) won its first match, 3-1, against the Duke Blue Devils (0-3). It split the first two games 30-26 and 27-30 before winning the last two by scores of 30-21 and 30-20.

Sophomore libero Megan McGrane set a school record with 36 digs in a four-game match, and junior outside hitter Gini Ullery posted a double-double for the Panthers, with 20 kills and 20 digs.

Senior outside hitters Wendy Hatlestad and Sarah Rollman also had strong performances for the Panthers. Hatlestad added 16 kills and 13 digs, while Rollman just missed a double-double with nine kills and 20 digs.

Junior middle hitter Megan Miller had a team-best .275 hitting percentage, with 14 kills, *MFKW and made just three errors in 40 attempts. Junior setter Lindsey Macke added 18 digs to go along with her match-high 52 assists and three service aces.

Also contributing to the Panthers’ victory was sophomore middle hitter Madelyn Egan, who had a team-high five blocks.

Texas A’M, 3 Pitt 1

The Panthers allowed the Texas A’M Aggies (3-0) to get the best of them in their second match, losing in four sets.

Three players, Ullery, Rollman, and Miller, chipped in with double-digit kills for the Panthers. All three players finished with hitting percentages higher than .300.

With 10 digs and a team-high 17 kills, Ullery was one of two players to have double-doubles for the Panthers.

Miller had 11 kills and one error in 30 attempts and led the team with a .333 hitting percentage. Rollman had 13 kills in only 28 attempts to go along with her seven digs.

Macke was the other player who put up a double-double, leading the team with 43 assists and adding 14 digs. McGrane posted 25 digs to lead all players in the match.

Also contributing for the Panthers were Egan, who had three solo blocks and six blocking assists, and Hatlestad, who had 10 digs and eight kills.

The loss dropped the Panthers to 1-1 in the tournament, while the Aggies went to 2-0, having beaten Marquette the previous day.

Pitt 3, Marquette 0

In their final match of the tournament, Pitt swept the Marquette Golden Eagles (1-2), 3-0, to finish in second place for the tournament. The Golden Eagles failed to keep the momentum they had gained after a five-game victory over Duke earlier in the day. Pitt won the three games by scores of 30-19, 30-23, and 30-24.

Ullery led the way with a match-high 20 kills and a .421 hitting percentage. Hatlestad also posted double-digit kills with 13 to go along with her seven digs.

Once again, Macke led everyone with a match-high 40 assists. She also added 10 digs to become the only Pitt player with double-doubles in all three matches.

McGrane put up 23 digs in the match, giving her 84 total in just 11 games for a 7.64 digs per game average in the tournament. Last year, McGrane averaged 4.68 digs per game, which was good enough to finish 10th in the NCAA.

Egan gave the Panthers five kills in 11 attempts to go along with her three blocks. Also contributing to the victory were Miller, with four kills, and Rollman, with five kills and nine digs.

Ullery, McGrane and Hatlestad were each All-Tournament team selections.

In the final game of the tournament, Texas A’M defeated Duke to give it a tournament best 3-0 mark, while Duke finished in fourth place without a victory.

Pitt travels to Akron, Ohio, next weekend to take part in the Sheraton Zips Invitational against host Akron, American University and nationally-ranked Penn State.