Markovic Leads Pitt to Sweep of Virginia Tech

Friday, November 24

Blacksburg, Va.

4:00 PM EST

Pitt

24-6 (17-2ACC)

Virginia Tech

10-21 (4-16ACC)

Pitt

Virginia Tech

Markovic Leads Pitt to Sweep of Virginia Tech

11/24/2017 8:01:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Season Stats

Panthers Remain Atop of the ACC Standings Heading into Final Regular Season Match

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Behind a 20-kill performance from sophomore right side hitter Nika Markovic, the University of Pittsburgh volleyball team swept Virginia Tech, Friday, Nov. 24 at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.

With the victory, the Panthers move to 24-6 on the year and 17-2 in ACC play, and remain atop of the ACC standings with just one match left in the regular season. Pitt and UVA will battle it out in the conferences' final match of the season, Saturday, Nov. 25 at 4 p.m. The Panthers will aim to take a share of the ACC title, as Louisville has already clinched a part of it with two wins this week.

Pitt battled with Virginia Tech (10-21, 4-16 ACC), despite winning in straight sets, 25-22, 26-24 and 27-25.

"I want to congratulate Virginia tech on a very well-played match," said head coach Dan Fisher. "They were really strong in serve receive and we had trouble getting them off the net. It was hard to run away with any of the sets, so we just had to hang around and be good when it mattered."

Markovic was the Panthers' key on offense, tallying her 23^rd match with double-digit kills. The sophomore also posted the team's highest hitting percentage at .419 and tallied six digs. Redshirt Freshman Stephanie Williams added 10 kills to Pitt's 50 total.

"On our side, Nika [Markovic] had a strong offensive night which carried us," said Fisher. "Our defense was also solid all night. Virginia Tech wasn't getting a lot of free points from our back row and despite not blocking well, we came up with a few clutch ones when we needed to in the final set."

The Panthers' freshmen duo led the squad defensively, as Kayla Lund tallied a team-leading 12 digs, while Chinaza Ndee finished the match with four blocks. Redshirt junior Angela Seman also posted double-digit digs with 11.

Set One: Pitt 25, Virginia Tech 22

In the opening set, Pitt defeated Virginia Tech 25-22, behind a seven-kill performance from Markovic. The Panthers hit .273, with Markovic hitting at a .500 clip.

Pitt got out in front early in the frame with an 8-5 advantage over the Hokies following a two-handed dump by the Panthers' setter Kamalani Akeo. Virginia Tech remained within striking distance pulling back to tie the score.

After a back-and-forth affair, Pitt went into the media timeout with a 15-11 lead and remained ahead by three, 21-18, as the Hokies called their first timeout.

Out of the break, the Panthers went on to earn set point, 24-21, bringing on another Hokies timeout. A kill by Lund, following a Virginia Tech point, would seal the set for Pitt.

Set Two: Pitt 26, Virginia Tech 24

The Panthers would battle for a win in the second set, earning a 26-24 victory. Pitt hit .308 in the frame with 17 kills. Markovic recorded another seven kills, putting her at 14 through two sets.

Despite trailing early on in the stanza, the Panthers battled with Virginia Tech through the whole frame. The two teams remained either tied or within a point of each other until Pitt found an 18-16 lead late in the set, forcing a Hokies timeout.

Out of the break, Virginia Tech outscored Pitt 6-3 to earn a 22-21 advantage. The Panthers called a timeout to regroup and did just that as they tied up the score and posted back-to-back points giving them set point, 24-23.

The Hokies didn't go down without a fight as they retied the score at 24 all, but were unable to hold off Pitt in the end as an error by Virginia Tech and a final Markovic kill closed out the frame.

Set Three: Pitt 27, Virginia Tech 25

The Panthers secured the sweep of the Hokies with a hard fought, 27-25 victory in the final set of the match.

Pitt struggled once again in the opening points of the set, allowing three straight points by Virginia Tech to put the home team out in front 12-10. This forced the Panthers to call its first of two quick timeouts, with the second coming just three points later as the Hokies extended their lead to 14-11.

Virginia Tech led by as many as five points, but the Panthers didn't give up and battled back to tie the set at 22 after three consecutive points, including a solo block by sophomore Layne Van Buskirk and a kill by Markovic.

Pitt extended that run to five straight points with another block by Van Buskirk and an ace by Seman to earn match point 24-22.

The two teams battled through two more tie scores before the panthers were able to find the two-point advantage with a final kill by senior Mariah Bell and block assist by Van Buskirk and Lund.

Up Next

Pitt will close out the regular season at Virginia with a 4 p.m. matchup set for Saturday, Nov. 25 at Memorial Gymnasium in Charlottesville, Va. The Panthers will aim to take a share of the ACC title, as Louisville has already clinched a part of it with two wins this week.

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