Nov. 8, 2009
Box Score
PITTSBURGH—Pitt’s women’s volleyball team won its 10th conference match of the season, earning a 3-0 victory over Villanova, this afternoon, at Fitzgerald Field House. The Panthers won with scores of 25-21, 25-20 and 25-20 to improve to 18-8 overall and 10-2 in the Big East, while the Wildcats slipped to 16-11 on the year and 5-7 in league play.
Today’s match marked the 12th three-set victory of the season for Pitt. It was also the fifth consecutive shutout and eighth in Big East action. Those eight shutouts sets a record, as Pitt recorded seven during its 2003 Big East Championship season.
The Panthers were led by senior Meagan Dooley with 13 kills, while junior Amy Town chipped in 12 and senior Melissa Stadelman added nine.
On the block, junior Imani Harper recorded a match-high six stops. Dooley stuffed five on the day, while Town recorded four.
In the match, Pitt trailed by four at one point in the first set, before a block assist from Dooley and sophomore Allyson Hodnik gave the Panthers a 15-14.
Hodnik, then, recorded her 1,000th assist of the season when she set Town for a kill and an 18-16 Pitt lead. She would finish with a match-high 33 assists on the day and 1,026 on the year, to-date.
Later in the set, Town and Harper combined on a block that gave the Panthers a 20-17 advantage. Pitt would win the set following a long rally on their second set point, which ended with a kill from Dooley.
Hodnik recorded an assist on all 10 of Pitt’s kills in the set, while Town collected four of those kills.
In the second set, the Panthers and Wildcats were all tied at 15, but a rally would push Villanova on top, 19-16. However, kills from Stadelman and Town, followed by two Wildcat hitting errors lifted Pitt to 20-19 and forced a timeout.
Coming out of the huddle, Dooley recorded two kills and gave Pitt a three-point lead. The Panthers would lead 2-0 in sets at intermission after they won three of the last four serves in game two.
Town recorded five kills in the second set, while Dooley had four and Stadelman added three. Senior Michelle Rossi collected a set-high seven digs in that game.
In game three, junior Melanie Feldman recorded an ace, and Dooley found a Hodnik set for a kill that gave Pitt a 5-1 lead and forced a Villanova timeout. The Panthers and Wildcats would volley between points on the next few plays, but Pitt jumped out to a 14-7 lead off two aces from Town.
Back-to-back blocks from Town and Dooley lifted the Panthers to a five-point lead, 20-15. However, the Wildcats pulled within one, 21-20, following a five-one run that included two Pitt errors. Without calling a timeout the Panthers would pull away for the eventual win with two kills and two blocks on the final four possessions.
Pitt out-blocked Villanova 11-5 in the match and held the Wildcats to a .062 hitting clip in the third set.
The Panthers will host Seton Hall on Friday, Nov. 13, at 5 p.m.
