Pitt Battles In Five-Set Loss to WKU

Friday, September 8

Bowling Green, Ky.

8:00 PM EST

Pitt

3-4

WKU

8-2

Pitt

WKU

Pitt Battles In Five-Set Loss to WKU

9/9/2017 12:24:00 AM | Volleyball

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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – In a five-set heartbreaker, the University of Pittsburgh volleyball team fell to WKU Friday evening in its second match of the WKU Holiday Inn – University Plaza Invitational in Bowling Green, Ky.

For the second straight year, the Panthers (3-4) went the distance against the Hilltoppers (7-2).

"Every game has a different story and tonight's was that it was a tough environment to play in," said head coach Dan Fisher. "WKU is a tough team and there's a reason why they are in the tournament every year."

Pitt won the opening set 25-23, but dropped the second set 25-14. WKU took a 2-1 lead in the match after defeating the Panthers 25-22 in the third set, but Pitt tied the match with a 26-24 fourth-set win. In the fifth set, the Hilltoppers came out ahead 15-10.

"Forcing a fifth set was big for us but we weren't quite good enough defensively in the final set to win it," said Fisher. "Offensively, Nika [Markovic] continues to carry us by a large margin, but we need to find her some help. The positives from the night are that we played really hard and hung together. We were able to force it to a fifth set where anything can happen. We executed parts of our game plan really well and were definitely prepared for them."

Nika Markovic was Pitt's standout on offense, tallying a career-high 26 kills, while hitting .388. The sophomore also tallied five digs and four blocks.

Defensively, the Panthers matched a season-high 12 team blocks. Sophomore Layne Van Buskirk had a career-high night at the net, earning a team-leading 9 block assists.

Set One: Pitt 25, WKU 23

Pitt opened the first set on fire, taking an 11-4 lead, thanks to solid defense at the net. The Panthers produced four blocks during that span, limiting WKU to just two kills.

The visiting Pitt squad called a timeout midway through the set as the Hilltoppers gained momentum, but the Panthers remained out in front 20-14.

Over the next 10 points, WKU outscored Pitt 7-3 to pull back within striking distance, 23-21. The Hilltoppers forced the Panthers to call their second timeout.

Out of the break, Pitt earned set point, 24-21, but the WKU posted back-to-back points. Leading by one, 24-23, Markovic clinched the first set for the Panthers with a final kill, giving her six in the set.

Set Two: WKU 25, Pitt 14

Opposite of the first set, Pitt struggled in the second, falling behind early, putting itself in the position of playing catch-up.

The Panthers were unable to find momentum on offense, recording just nine kills as WKU posted seven blocks in the set.

The Hilltoppers remained out in front with a solid lead throughout the frame as they went on to win 25-14.

Set Three: WKU 25, Pitt 22

After coming out slow in the third set, Pitt was forced to take an early timeout as WKU pushed ahead 13-8.

Out of the break, the Panthers found a spark scoring four straight to make it, 13-12. Two Hilltopper errors, a kill by Van Buskirk and a block assist from Markovic and Van Buskirk led Pitt back within one.

The Panthers continued that momentum and in return forced the Hilltoppers to take a break of their own as they remained within one, 18-17.

WKU separated itself at the end, finding a 23-20 lead, but Pitt battled to bring it back within a point after taking a timeout. However, the Panthers were unable to stop the Hilltoppers as they finished off the set, 25-22.

Set Four: Pitt 26, WKU 24

In a back-and-forth affair, Pitt and WKU battled at the start of the fourth set.

Neither team was able to solidify a true lead until the Panthers found themselves out in front 16-13, thanks to three straight points which saw two kills from Markovic and one from redshirt sophomore Stephanie Williams.

Pitt held a slight lead as the teams continued through the set, but called a timeout as the Hilltoppers battled to within two, 21-19.

Out of the break, the Panthers put up their 11^th block of the match before finding set point 24-22.

WKU didn't go down without a fight as they fought off two winning points to tie the score 24-24, but a Pitt kill from freshman Kayla Lund and a block by junior Kamalani Akeo and Van Buskirk would give the Panthers a 26-24 win and force a fifth set.

Set Five: WKU 15, Pitt 10

The Hilltoppers controlled the momentum of the final set, getting out to an early 7-4 lead. Pitt called the first of two timeouts, with the second one coming just points later as WKU extended its lead to 9-5.

The Panthers fought back within striking distance, 10-8, but were unable to catch the Hilltoppers who went on to win 15-10.

Up Next
Pitt closes out the WKU Holiday Inn – University Plaza Invitational Saturday, Sept. 9 versus East Tennessee State. First serve is slated for 4 p.m. EST.

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