Nov. 6, 2005

Box Score

PITTSBURGH - In their final appearance at Fitzgerald Field House, the Pitt volleyball seniors guided the team to its biggest upset victory in school history, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat fifth-ranked Notre Dame in five sets on Sunday afternoon.

The win also clinched a berth for the Panthers in the eight-team Big East Championships, to be held in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 18-20. The No. 5 Irish (22-2, 11-1 Big East) lost for the first time since Sept. 16, a 3-2 defeat at the hands of LSU. It was Notre Dame's first conference regular-season loss in almost a year, a 3-0 loss to Boston College on Nov. 7, 2004. Pitt (16-9, 9-3 Big East) won its seventh straight match at home and finished the year with an 8-3 mark at the Fitzgerald Field House.

The first set started out very even with the teams trading points and the lead until the Panthers got back-to-back kills from Diana Andreyko (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) and Allie Cherven (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell Central) for a 10-8 lead. The Panthers held the lead for only a short while and after a few more tie scores, Notre Dame took a 16-15 advantage on an Andreyko error. After the Panther sophomore tied the game again on a kill, Notre Dame scored the next four points, forcing Pitt head coach Chris Beerman to call a time out. The Panthers scored four of the next five points to close the gap to one, but another 4-0 Irish run forced another Pitt timeout and the Irish held on for a 30-23 victory.

Notre Dame used that momentum from game one to cruise easily in game two, defeating the Panthers 30-15 to go up 2-0 in the match. After the break, Pitt came out strong, scoring the first four points of the third set. Notre Dame fought back with a 5-1 run to tie it up at 5-5 but the Panthers went on a 10-5 run of their own , getting three blocks to help build the advantage. Notre Dame chipped away at the lead, getting it down to one point at 27-26 and 28-27 but a Notre Dame service error and a ball handling violation allowed the Panthers to force a fourth set.

After the Irish scored the opening point, Pitt regained the lead and held it throughout much of the set. With the Panthers leading 24-20, Notre Dame scored six of the next seven points to take a 26-25 lead. After another service error by the Irish tied it up again, Lauren Brewster put away two of the next three points for a 28-27 Notre Dame lead. Andreyko took over with two kills and a solo block to force a fifth and deciding set.

The Irish again scored the first point but the Panthers regained the lead and built a 7-3 lead. A 7-1 Notre Dame run put the Irish up by two at 10-8 forcing the Panthers to take a time out. Pitt was able to tie the set at 10 with a kill by Stephanie Ross (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) and another by Andreyko. After Carolyn Cooper and Adrianna Stasiuk combined on a block for an 11-10 Irish lead, Pitt senior Gini Ullery (Tracy, Calif./Tracy) put away a cross-court shot and combined on a block of her own with Cherven to put the Panthers ahead 12-11. Cherven, a freshman, was set up beautifully for a kill of her own and then stuffed Cooper for a 14-11 lead and a match point. Notre Dame fought off two of those match points but a block by the Panthers finished the Irish off.

Andreyko led all players with 23 kills and added 11 digs for a double-double and three blocks. Ullery added 15 kills and 13 digs for a double-double of her own and was strong at the net with a season-high five blocks. Cherven hit .300 with eight kills and six blocks, while sophomore Ashley Creighton (Brandon, Manitoba/Crocus Plains) had a match-high seven blocks (three solo) to go along with five kills. In her final home apperance, senior libero Megan McGrane (Muncie, Ind./Delta) had a match-high 32 digs and added four assists. In all, the Panthers had 16 blocks to the Irish's 14, something Beerman said had to be done.

"I told the team we had to outblock Notre Dame to beat them, and we did that," Beerman said. "I'm so proud of this team for coming back like we did and I'm happy for our seniors. They wanted it more."

Brewster hit .364 for the Irish, with 20 kills and six blocks, while Lauren Kelbley added 16 kills. Cooper finished the match with nine kills, seven blocks, four assists and four digs.

The Panthers will finish the season away from Fitzgerald Field House, starting with the final two Big East regular-season matches at Connecticut and St. John's next weekend.