Volleyball: Panthers set to play in UConn Tournament this weekend

The University of Pittsburgh might have left the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference this summer, but the Panthers women’s volleyball team is headed to familiar territory this Friday when they compete in the UConn Classic in Storrs, Conn.

Pitt (2-2) is slated to play Albany, Northeastern and Connecticut in the tournament. While the Panthers aren’t overlooking their first two opponents, the familiarity between Connecticut and Pittsburgh gives the game some added weight — this will be the 24th matchup between the two teams, with the Panthers holding a 14-9 series lead.

UConn and Pitt last faced each other Oct. 21, 2012, when the Huskies beat the Panthers 3-1. However, the team has other concerns during preparation for the invitational.

“We try to focus on our side more than what the other side is doing,” junior setter Lindsey Zitzke said. “We are going to get done what we have to get done.”

But head coach Dan Fisher thinks Connecticut might not even be the biggest game of the invitational for the Panthers, citing Northeastern as potentially their strongest opponent. Still, Fisher mirrored Zitzke’s comments about the Panthers focusing on themselves.

“We need to be able to be a strong defensive team. We need to make a strong defensive statement,” Fisher said. 

Junior libero Delaney Clesen echoed her coach, saying that lately the focus of practice has revolved around aggression and defensive strategy.

“We’ve been working on improving our defensive system and blocking, as well as being more aggressive,” Clesen said. 

Statistically speaking, it appears the Panthers have lacked the aggression needed to successfully begin matches. In its four matches this season, Pitt has lost the first set in three of them, being outscored by a total of 96 points to 79 in those sets. 

Fisher isn’t overly concerned about those numbers.

“I think it’s too small of a sample size at this point,” Fisher said. “We’ll look at it again after we play a few more matches. We do need to start out strong, though.”

This team is looking to put on a strong showing in this tournament, as its next invitational includes a matchup with a nationally ranked Purdue squad. Clesen believes this weekend is a great opportunity for the Panthers to gain some momentum before heading into the more treacherous portion of their schedule.

“Last weekend, we didn’t do as well as we wanted to,” Clesen said. “With that being said, we definitely want to go 3-0 and win the tournament, so we can be stronger heading into future games and ACC play.”

Despite the somewhat disappointing results so far, there have been many silver linings for the Panthers throughout the first four games of the season. None have been brighter, however, than the emergence of freshman outside hitter Maria Genitsaridi.

Genitsaridi came to Pittsburgh from Greece, where she played on the national volleyball team. Filling in for senior Monica Wignot, who has been battling injuries to start the year, Genitsaridi leads the team in serving. 

Fisher has been much more impressed with her off the court.

“Her transition has been so smooth, coming from another country, learning a new language and a new culture,” Fisher said. “We’re fortunate to have her on our team.”

While Genitsaridi will play an essential role in the upcoming tournament, the centerpiece of this squad is still going to be Zitzke, who has led the team in assists for the past two years. 

Zitzke will likely move up to sixth place for most assists in school history this weekend, as she needs only 14 assists to reach a career total of 2230 and pass Nicole Taurence, who graduated in 2008. But the junior brushed off the significance of her impending milestone.

“[Those assists] are all because of the hitters and the passers,” Zitzke said. “It doesn’t really have a lot do with me.”

Rather, Zitzke is focused on the team’s performance.

“These games are really important,” she said. “It’s a great way to gauge where our team is currently at before we begin ACC play.”