Pitt
Notre Dame
Women's Volleyball Downs Big East Rival Notre Dame
9/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 22, 2007
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PITTSBURGH--In their first Big East matchup of the season, the University of Pittsburgh women's volleyball team earned a 3-1 victory of rival Notre Dame, in a match where they came from behind in every game at Fitzgerald Field House. Senior Diana Andreyko led the team with a double-double, as the Panthers won with scores of 33-31, 32-30, 23-30 and 42-40. Pitt improved to 7-7 on the season and 1-0 in the conference, while the Fighting Irish fell to 4-7 on the year and 0-1 in the Big East.
Andreyko (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) recorded a double-double in the match, boasting 21 kills and 19 digs. Coming off the bench, junior Nicole Taurence (Trenton, Mich./Trenton) just missed a double-double with 47 assists and nine digs.
Junior Kelly Campbell (Mansfield, Ohio/Mansfield/Pacific) recorded a career-high 30 kills in the match. She topped her previous best of 21 kills from earlier this season. Campbell also added seven digs in the contest.
Up two games to one over the conference preseason favorite, Pitt held match point several times and lost it to side outs in game four. Once, Taurance gave Pitt a match point opportunity with a monster block on the outside. However, after the game tied several times more, the Panthers earned the final lead with a match point opportunity due to a Notre Dame net error on a Taurance set. Match point was then tallied on a Fighting Irish attack error.
Earlier in game four, junior Stephanie Ross (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) gave the Panthers a 12-10 lead with a kill from the right side. Later her third ace of the match put Pitt up 15-13.
Campbell gave Pitt a 21-17 lead with a kill from the outside. However the Panthers took a 25-23 deficit after they gave the Fighting Irish two points off long attacks. Taurance then rejected a Notre Dame attack to close the gap, 29-27. Her dump then cut the lead to 29-28 forcing a Fighting Irish timeout and a back and forth battle for the win.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the match, after they came from behind to record a 33-31 victory in game one. In the beginning the Panthers trailed by as many as six, 10-4.
Then down 16-9, Taurance entered the game and set sophomore Meagan Dooley (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) up for back-to-back kills in the middle. Ross then served her sixth ace of the season to cut into the 16-11 Fighting Irish lead. Later, Dooley's block in the middle pulled the Panthers within three, 16-13, forcing a Notre Dame timeout.
With Ross still serving a Fighting Irish attack error gave the Panthers their first lead of game one. Ross then served another ace on the next ball.
Pitt trailed 23-20 when it took a timeout. Following the timeout, Taurence dumped a shot between two Notre Dame defenders, as Pitt made its comeback once again. Finally, after having game point and losing it twice, the Panthers earned the win at 33-31.
Game two opened with a back and fourth dual through each team's first 10 points. Notre Dame then took the lead and extended it to 17-14. Pitt kept chipping away at the score and finally tied the game at 25-25 with a block from Ross and Andreyko. On the very next play, Ross recorded a solo block to give Pitt a lead.
Pitt held game point at 29-27 but gave up three points, falling to a 30-29 deficit. The Panthers called a timeout to regroup and rallied the next three points for the win, as Dooley attacked a long pass from the Fighting Irish for the final point at 33-31.
Down 18-10 in game three, Andreyko then recorded the next kill for Pitt after the Panthers called a timeout.
Later, Dooley attacked a long pass for a point, then blocked an attack to chip away at Notre Dame's lead. However, game three would go to the Fighting Irish, 30-23.
After three games, Andreyko already held a double-double with 16 kills and 14 digs.
This game can be seen on Monday, Sept. 24, at 8 p.m. on CSTV. The Panthers host DePaul on Sunday at 2 p.m.
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