Pitt Ends Successful Season with Loss to No. 1 Penn State

Saturday, December 2

University Park, Pa.

7:00 PM EST

Pitt

26-7

Penn State

31-1

Pitt

Penn State

Photo by: Alex Mowrey/Pitt Athletics

Pitt Ends Successful Season with Loss to No. 1 Penn State

12/2/2017 11:12:00 PM | Volleyball

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Panthers Fall to the Nittany Lions in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – For the second consecutive year, the University of Pittsburgh volleyball had its season come to a close in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the hands of Penn State. The No. 1 team in the country defeated the Panthers in four sets Saturday evening at Rec Hall in State College.

Déjà vu occurred for Pitt, who finishes the 2017 season 26-7, as the Panthers were able to take a set from the Nittany Lions (31-1) just as they did in 2016 but were still unable to top them. Penn State took the opening set of the match 25-20, but Pitt knotted the overall score after winning set two, 25-23. The final two sets went to the top-ranked team in the country 25-22 and 25-19. The Nittany Lions will move on to the Sweet 16.

Against a hard-hitting Penn State offense, the Panthers won the dig battle 61-55, but were unable to post a strong enough attack despite four players tallying double-digit kills and four earning double-doubles.

For the second-straight match sophomore Nika Markovic, freshman Kayla Lund, redshirt sophomore Stephanie Williams and sophomore Layne Van Buskirk all posted 10-plus kills, while all but Van Buskirk tallied double-doubles. Markovic led the pack with 16 kills and 12 digs, while Lund followed with 13 kills and 11 digs.

Williams put up 12 kills and earned 10 digs, while Van Buskirk rounded out the double-digit attackers with 11.

Junior setter Kamalani Akeo was strong once again tonight, posting 46 assists, while digging up 11 balls to round out the list of players with double-doubles.

Defensively, redshirt junior Angela Seman led the both squads with 16 digs, while Van Buskirk and senior Alex Rosignol each finished with two blocks.

Set One: Penn State 25, Pitt 20

Pitt fell in the opening set to Penn State, 25-20. The Panthers hit.324 in the set with 14 kills, but the Nittany Lions finished with 21 kills and hit at a .415 clip.

The two teams battled from the start of the opening set. Pitt led out of the gate but Penn State battled back to find a 15-13 lead at the media timeout.

The Panthers regained the lead thanks to Lund, who blocked PSU's Abby Detering on the right side, giving Pitt an 18-17 lead late in the set. Despite coming back, Penn State pushed back out in front with back-to-back points to pull ahead 21-19 and force a Panthers timeout.

Just a point later as the Nittany Lions scored one out of the break, Pitt called its second timeout as they trailed by three. Penn State held on for the win as they outscored the Panthers 4-1 in the final points.

Set Two: Pitt 25, Penn State 23

Pitt knotted the match at one set apiece after bouncing back to take the second set 25-23. The Panthers posted 16 kills in the set and hit .306 led by Williams with six.

The two teams opened in a close race, but it was Pitt who found a two-point lead at the media timeout. Penn State battled back to tie the set at 16 all, however, back-to-back errors by the Nittany Lions forced the home team to call their first timeout.

Out of the break, errors continued to plague Penn State as three of the Panthers' four-straight points were thanks to the Nittany Lions. Pitt led by four, 20-16, but took a cautionary timeout just points later as PSU pulled within two, 22-20.

The Nittany Lions closed the gap even more out of the break, scoring their third-straight point to pull within one, but a service error brought along their second timeout.

Penn State was unable to make the comeback as a service error and a final kill by Lund gave the Panthers the set.

Set Three: Penn State 25, Pitt 22

Despite a late comeback effort that saw Pitt fight off three set points, the Panthers fell 25-22 in the third set and fell behind in the match 2-1.

Penn State had all the momentum at the start of the set, as the home team forced Pitt to call two early timeouts after the number one team pulled ahead by five, 13-8.

The Nittany Lions held that lead late into the set but the Panthers didn't go down without a fight. With Penn State having set point, Pitt forced the Nittany Lions to have to call a late timeout as a kill by Lund and an attack error shortened Penn State's lead to three, 24-21.

The Panthers were unable to complete the comeback despite fighting off its third set point after the timeout.

Set Four: Penn State 25, Pitt 19

The Nittany Lions secured their trip to the Sweet 16 with a 25-19 victory in the final set.

Pitt fell behind from the get go in the fourth set, and was forced to use its first timeout when it was down four, 11-7. The Panthers were able to keep it close for a while but a three-point run by the Nittany Lions extended their lead to six, 18-12. Pitt called its final timeout of the match at this point.

Out of the break, the Panthers never quit battling, even after Penn State earned match point 24-17. Pitt forced a late timeout call from the Nittany Lions after fighting off two winning points, but Penn State returned from the break to close out the match with a final block.

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