Volleyball Dominates Coastal Carolina Tournament With Three Straight Wins
9/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Volleyball Dominates Coastal Carolina Tournament With Three Straight Wins
9/17/2002
CONWAY, S.C. ? With three consecutive 3-0 victories, the Pittsburgh volleyball team won the Coastal Carolina Tournament this past weekend to, giving the Panthers a four-game winning streak and an overall record of 6-4.
The Panthers topped Savannah State, 30-4, 30-3, 30-4, in the opening game of the tournament on Friday evening. In the match, Pittsburgh broke two team records and one individual record. Junior outside hitter Wendy Hatlestad (Roseville, Minn./Roseville Area) had a school-record eight aces in the three-game sweep. The Panthers had a total of 20 aces, also a new school record.
In handling the Tigers, Pittsburgh had just five errors in 55 attempts with 43 kills for a team hitting percentage of .691, by far the best output in school history. The previous record was .564 against LaSalle on Sept. 8, 1990. Junior April Puzauskas (Palos Hills, Ill./Amos Alonzo Stagg) had the second-best individual performance by a Panther attacker with 11 kills in 13 errorless attempts for an .846 clip.
Pittsburgh won its second game of the tournament over Western Carolina on Saturday morning, 30-26, 30-21, 30-20, to move over the .500 mark for the first time since a 2-1 start in 2001. Hatlestad and sophomore Gini Ullery (Tracy, Calif./Tracy) led the Panthers with a combined 23 kills and 25 digs. Ullery had 12 kills and 12 digs for her first double-double of the season, while Hatlestad added 11 kills and 13 digs for her first of the year as well. Senior Carrie Norris (Fostoria, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon) also recorded a double-double with 30 assists and 12 digs.
In the final game of the tournament, Pittsburgh topped host Coastal Carolina, 30-25, 30-22, 30-26, to complete the sweep. Hatlestad helped out with 17 kills and a .371 hitting percentage, hwile Ullery had 14 kills and seven digs, while hitting .310. Freshman Madelyn Egan (Sandy, Utah/Brighton) started the first three matches of her career in the tournament and ended with a stellar six-block effort.
Hatlestad and Ullery were named to the all-tournament team for their efforts. In the three matches, Hatlestad had 33 kills and just 10 errors in 81 attempts, while Ullery had 31 kills with 11 errors in 62 attempts. Egan had a total of 14 blocks (three solo) over the weekend.
Pittsburgh will host crosstown rival Duquesne on Tuesday night at Fitzgerald Field House. Game time is 7 p.m.