Volleyball: Pitt loses final ACC match in four sets at Maryland

The Pitt women’s volleyball team’s losing streak continued after falling to Maryland Wednesday evening. The Panthers have failed to win a match against ACC opponents in their last four games, concluding with a 3-1 loss to the Terps.

The Panthers (12-12, 4-7 ACC) had high hopes for their first season as members in the ACC, but after losing seven of eight games, they find themselves with a .500 record. 

In the first set, it appeared as if the Panthers were going to be able to snap their losing streak. After back-and-forth play between the teams, the Panthers went on to score four of five points to give themselves a 15-12 lead capped off by a kill from junior setter Kate Yeazel. 

This small lead would eventually disappear when the Terps fought back and regained the lead at 22-21. Pitt clawed its way back before sealing a 25-23 set win, thanks to a Maryland serving error.

The back-and-forth play continued into the second set until Maryland went on a 5-2 run for its biggest lead of the set with the score at 17-12. Pitt once again fought its way back. 

While Maryland was searching for the set point, Pitt scored five straight points on kills and a service ace by junior libero Delaney Clesen to tie set two at 24. 

The Panthers yielded the next two points and lost the second set 26-24.

The Panthers lost any momentum they had in the third set. Maryland scored six of the set’s first seven points and seemed to dominate the Panthers on the court. The Panthers offense began to pick up steam as the set progressed, with kills by Yeazel and redshirt freshman middle blocker Jenna Potts. 

With the score at 18-14, Maryland called a time out and came back to the court with a similar style of play to the beginning of the match. The Terps scored seven of eight points and won set three with a commanding 25-15 score.

Set four started off similar to set three, with the Terps taking a large lead and the Panthers fighting back. Pitt eventually tied Maryland and back-and-forth play started again with the Panthers taking control. Pitt was up 20-16 — the team’s biggest lead — before the lead began to slip away, as Maryland came back and stole the set and match with a 26-24 lead. 

As a team, Pitt hit .184, with senior outside hitter Monica Wignot leading the team at 12 kills. Yeazel tallied 11 kills of her own while Clesen recorded a team-best 12 digs.