Panthers Slated to Open ACC Play at Home

PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh volleyball team (7-4) will begin ACC play this weekend at home as it hosts Syracuse (9-5, 1-0 ACC) and Boston College (3-8, 0-1 ACC) at the Fitzgerald Field House.

THE SCHEDULE

Pitt will face off against Syracuse first Friday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m.
The Panthers will close out the weekend with a matchup against Boston College Sunday, Sept. 24 at 1 p.m.

THE SERIES

Pitt and Syracuse square off for the 48^th time in program history, with the Panthers leading the series 36-11. In last year's meeting up north, Pitt came away with a win, 3-1.
The Panthers have faced the Eagles 29 times over the years and have dominated the all-time series 28-1. Pitt's last meeting against Boston College ended in a shutout win for the Panthers.

SCOUTING SYRACUSE

Syracuse finished the 2016 season 7-23 overall and 6-14 in the ACC.
The Orange have already surpassed their win total from last year, as they are 9-5 on the season and 1-0 in conference play. Syracuse opened ACC play Wednesday night against Boston College, sweeping the Eagles for the win.
The Orange will look to junior middle blocker Santita Ebangwese for continued success as she contributed 13 kills and 10 blocks for Syracuse in its loss to Bryant last weekend, and had an impressive sophomore campaign as well. Ebangwese leads Syracuse with 130 kills and a .421 clip.

SCOUTING BOSTON COLLEGE

Boston College finished the 2016 season with an 8-22 overall record and a 3-17 mark in the ACC.
The Eagles come to the Fitzgerald Fieldhouse after having lost their last three matches, including their ACC opener to the Orange. They are 3-8 on the season.
Boston College will continue to look to its primary setter Camille Oemcke, who started in 24 of the team's 29 matches last season. She leads the squad with 125 assists.
Offensively, Cat Balido leads the Eagles with 156 kills and 3.39 kills per set.

HITTING 100

Head coach Dan Fisher looks to earn his 100^th win at Pitt this weekend, as he is just a victory away.
Fisher is in his fifth season with the Panthers and owns a 99-42 (.702) record with the University, while he boasts 176 career wins as a head coach.

LUND NAMED ACC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

Freshman Kayla Lund was named ACC Freshman of the Week for her efforts during last weekend's Panther Challenge.
The Pasadena, Calif., native tallied 26 kills on the weekend, while hitting at a .340 clip. She posted 3.25 kills per set and 2.62 digs per set. Lund also led the team with five aces and was third on the team with 21 digs.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Panthers remain at home through next weekend as they are set to take on Virginia on Friday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. and Virginia Tech on Sunday, Oct. 1 at 1 p.m.

MILESTONE/RECORD BOOK WATCH

Junior setter Kamalani Akeo currently sits eighth in career assists with 2,299. She is now 68 away from moving into seventh (2,367).
Senior Mariah Bell will look to break into the top 10 in career kills and aces in 2017. Bell is 237 kills away from moving into the top 10 in the category and just 166 away from hitting 1,000 mark. She also needs just 10 aces to enter the record book.
With her 33 digs at the Dayton Invitational, Angela Seman broke into the career digs category of the record book. The redshirt junior now boasts 1,157 digs, good for eighth best in program history. She is now just 109 away from moving into seventh (1,266).

PICKING UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF

In 2016 as a freshman, Layne Van Buskirk was one of the most efficient attackers for Pitt and the now-sophomore is picking up right where she left off.
The Windsor, Ontario native is hitting a team-best .343 for the Panthers, while ranking sixth in the ACC.
Last season as a newcomer, she tallied a .345 hitting percentage, which ranked second on the Pitt squad. As the lone freshman in the top 10 of the category, Van Buskirk's clip ranked sixth in the ACC.

MAKING HER MARK

One of three international products on the roster, sophomore Nika Markovic has had a major impact on the Panthers' success since her arrival in 2016.
So far this season, the right side hitter has dominated both sides of the ball for Pitt. She has tallied 112 kills, 3.61 per set, to lead the team and rank eighth in the ACC. Markovic also boasts 74 digs.
Last season, the Braslovce, Slovenia native was sidelined in early October due to foot surgery for three games. She was also limited in three more contests before being given the full go on Oct. 28 against NC State.
The team fell into a lull in her absence, producing a 2-4 record. After her return, Pitt picked up its play, rattling off four straight wins, including an upset at home against No. 8 North Carolina.
In the upset over the Tar Heels, Markovic had a career-high 19 kills, which led the Panthers. She also produced 10 kills in the win over NC State that same weekend, and tallied 19 digs over the two games. She was honored as the ACC Freshman of the Week for her efforts.
Markovic ended her freshman campaign with 233 kills and a .266 hitting percentage. She also racked up 39 aces, second best on the team.

PANTHER CHALLENGE RECAP

Pitt finished with a perfect 3-0 record in its opening weekend at home, sweeping UC Santa Barbara, Eastern Kentucky, and Cleveland State in the Panther Challenge.
In its opening match Pitt dominated, putting up more kills, blocks, assists and digs than UCSB, while posting nine aces to UC Santa Barbara's zero. Layne Van Buskirk put up a near perfect ten kills on 11 attempts. Stephanie Williams also finished with 10 kills on 19 attempts for a hitting percentage of .474.
The Panthers continued to pick up steam as they faced Eastern Kentucky. Kayla Lund tallied nine kills and 13 digs to help Pitt to its second sweep of the weekend. Van Buskirk and Williams continued to contribute with 11 kills on 16 attempts for a percentage of .625 and 13 kills on 19 attempts for a percentage of .684, respectively.
In their final match of the weekend, the Panthers completed the clean sweep by defeating Cleveland State, again with help from Lund who provided 12 kills on 22 attempts (.409). She also added eight digs and two block assists.

WKU INVITATIONAL RECAP

The Panthers finished 2-1 on the weekend at the WKU Holiday Inn – University Plaza Invitational, defeating Saint Louis and East Tennessee State, while falling to the host WKU.
Pitt completed a sweep of the Saint Louis Billikens in its first match. Sophomore Nika Markovic led the offense with eight kills, while freshman Kamalani Akeo added 16 assists.
In the Panthers only loss of the tournament, Pitt fell to WKU in five sets. Markovic once again led the Panthers' offense compiling 26 kills accompanied by Akeo's 46 assists. Defensively, redshirt junior Angela Seman tallied a team-leading 14 digs, while sophomore Layne Van Buskirk tacked on nine blocks.
Pitt finished the weekend with a win over East Tennessee State, 3-1. Redshirt sophomore Stephanie Williams recorded 21 kills and five blocks. Akeo added 44 assists on the day, while Seman accounted for 17 digs in the contest.

DAYTON INVITATIONAL RECAP

The Panthers went 1-1 at the Dayton Invitational, falling to No. 25 Iowa State in its opening match before defeating Dayton.
Against the nationally ranked Cyclones, Pitt battled back after falling behind 2-0, dominating the third set 25-16 and the fourth set 25-19. In a thrilling final set that went to extra points, the Panthers had multiple chances to earn the win but Iowa State came out on top 21-19. Pitt's offense posted 55 kills, led by Nika Markovic who had 16. The sophomore hit .344, with five digs, four blocks and three aces.
In a rematch of the Panthers' 2016 NCAA Tournament Opening Round Match, Pitt earned its first sweep of the season, defeating the Flyers 25-21, 25-19 and 25-19. The Panthers saw impressive offensive performances from redshirt sophomore Stephanie Williams, senior Mariah Bell and sophomore Nika Markovic. Williams led Pitt with 13 kills on 26 attempts, committing just one error. She hit .462 on the match. Bell added 10 kills to the Panthers 41 and only committed three errors. Markovic walked away with the highest hitting percentage, racking up a .571 clip after going 8-for-14 with not a single error. She also earned Pitt's two aces on the day and had three blocks.

HUSKY INVITATIONAL RECAP

The Panthers concluded the Husky Invitational in Seattle, 2-1, having dropped two matches to top-10 teams in No. 3 Washington and No. 9 Creighton, before bringing home a win against Saint Mary's.
In the squad's season-opener, Pitt was bested by the Huskies in three sets, despite recording more kills and digs. Redshirt sophomore Stephanie Williams and sophomore Nika Markovic stood out for the Panthers, recording double-doubles in their opening match of the season. Williams led the squad with 13 kills and hit .290, while tallying 10 digs and three consecutive aces in the second set. Markovic also had 10 digs, and recorded double-digit kills with 12.
The Bluejays also swept Pitt in its second match. Freshman Kayla Lund recorded 13 kills on 26 attempts to hit .308. The newcomer also posted nine digs, a block and the Panthers' lone service ace.
Pitt won their first five-set match of the season, taking down the Gaels in thrilling fashion. Sophomore Nika Markovic was phenomenal for the Panthers, earning her second double-double of the season with career-highs in kills and digs. The Slovenia native tallied 23 of Pitt's 77 kills and 27 digs, in addition to four blocks. She finished the match with a .263 hitting percentage and was named to the Husky Invitational All-Tournament Team.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES

Pitt landed two student-athletes on the 2017 ACC Volleyball Preseason All-ACC Team in returning ACC Setter of the Year Kamalani Akeo and AVCA Honorable Mention All-America honoree Stephanie Williams.
A redshirt sophomore from Eastlake, Ohio, Williams was a 2016 AVCA honorable mention All-America selection, in addition to an AVCA All-East Coast Region first team and All-ACC first team honoree. She finished the 2016 season with a team-leading 467 kills, ninth most in Pitt history, 308 digs and a team-high 16 double-doubles.
Akeo, who is the reigning ACC Setter of the Year, led the conference in 2016 with 11.71 assists/set in ACC play. The Kapolei, Hawaii, native was also recognized as an AVCA All-East Coast Region First team selection after aiding Pitt in the postseason.

ACC PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH

The Panthers earned their highest projection in program history in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll, as they were selected to finish third in 2017.
Reigning ACC Champion North Carolina led the way as the Tar Heels garnered all 14 first-place votes. One point separated Pitt from Florida State for second and third place, while Notre Dame and NC State rounded out the top five, respectively.
The Panthers have continually improved their mark in the preseason poll after being predicted to finish ninth in 2014, seventh in 2015 and sixth in 2016.

2016: A SEASON TO REMEMBER

The 2016 season marked the start of a new era for the rising program, as Pitt reached the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament for the first time since 2004.
Not only did the Panthers earn a bid to postseason play, but they also went a step further by defeating No. 24 Dayton, 3-1, in the opening match to advance to the second round, a feat the program hasn't accomplished since 2003.
Pitt concluded the season 25-9 overall and 15-5 in ACC play, landing the Panthers tied for third overall in the conference.
Pitt recorded its third straight season with 20-plus wins (25). The Panthers have only hit that mark one other time since 2003.
Redshirt senior Jenna Potts and redshirt freshman Stephanie Williams earned AVCA Division I Honorable Mention All-America honors for their performances during the 2016 season.
Potts and Williams were also named to the AVCA All-East Coast Region First Team, along with sophomore setter Kamalani Akeo.
Six Pitt players earned All-Conference honors, including Akeo who was named ACC Setter of the Year.
Joining Akeo are Potts and Williams who were named as first team All-ACC honorees, while Akeo and Mariah Bell were tabbed second team All-ACC. Freshmen Nika Markovic and Layne Van Buskirk were the Panthers final awardees, earning ACC All-Freshman honors. The Panthers' six All-ACC honorees are second most among ACC programs, trailing only North Carolina.

ROSTER REVIEW

The Panthers return six starters from last year's squad, including AVCA Honorable Mention All-America selection Stephanie Williams and ACC Setter of the Year Kamalani Akeo. The duo, in addition to senior Mariah Bell, redshirt junior Angela Seman and sophomores Nika Markovic and Layne Van Buskirk, will look to lead the team back to the postseason in 2017.
Pitt lost players from the 2016 roster, but most notably redshirt senior Jenna Potts. The Panthers will look to find a way to replace the middle blocker who was an AVCA Honorable Mention All-America honoree, and was one of the squad's top blockers. Potts became Pitt's all-time leader in career total blocks (573) and block assists (509).
The 2017 freshman class features two incoming players in Chinaza Ndee and Kayla Lund. Lund was an AVCA Under Armour Girls High School All-America Third Team selection as a senior and a three-time MaxPreps Underclass All-American. Ndee was also an Under Armour Girl's High School All-America selection earning honorable mention.
Senior transfer Alex Rosignol (Southern Illinois) will round out the Panthers' newcomers. Rosignol ranked 26th in the nation with a .376 hitting percentage, which was also third in the MVC.

PLAYING THE RPI GAME

The Panthers are set to play four opponents that are ranked in the AVCA Preseason Poll in Washington (3), Creighton (9), North Carolina (11) and Florida State (15), in addition to Western Kentucky, Iowa State and Dayton who are receiving votes.
Pitt has a tough slate ahead of them, with matches versus eight teams that appeared in last year's NCAA Tournament, including Washington and Creighton, who bowed out in the Elite Eight.

#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Panthers Slated to Open ACC Play at Home

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kamalani Akeo

Mariah Bell

Kayla Lund

Nika Markovic

Chinaza Ndee

Jenna Potts

Alex Rosignol

Angela Seman

Layne Van Buskirk

Stephanie Williams

Panthers Slated to Open ACC Play at Home

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kamalani Akeo

Mariah Bell

Kayla Lund

Nika Markovic

Chinaza Ndee

Jenna Potts

Alex Rosignol

Angela Seman

Layne Van Buskirk

Stephanie Williams

Related Videos