Pitt
Virginia Commonwealth
Women's Volleyball Falls in Four to VCU
11/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 27, 2009
RICHMOND, Va.—Playing in the VCU Thanksgiving Invitational held at the Siegel Center, the University of Pittsburgh women’s volleyball team fell in four sets to CAA opponent VCU this afternoon. The Panthers dropped the match with scores of 22-25, 19-25, 25-11 and 23-25.
Senior Meagan Dooley recorded 11 kills, six blocks and five digs, while junior Imani Harper also chipped in 11 kills and added seven blocks.
On the defensive end, senior Michelle Rossi collected a match-high 27 digs in the contest. Additionally, sophomore Rachel Kalberer posted a career-high 12 digs and recorded eight kills and four blocks.
In the match, freshman Michelle Walker earned the start in the third game and gave Pitt (20-10) a 3-0 lead with her first career ace.
Two plays later, Harper and senior Melissa Stadelman combined on a block to push the Panthers a head 5-0. Later, Stadelman recorded her 13th ace of the year and lifted Pitt to a 9-3 lead.
Next, a kill from Dooley painted the back corner, while Harper recorded a solo block for the Panthers to hold a 19-5 lead in the set.
Later, Walker and Harper combined on a block to go ahead 22-6. However, a 4-1 surge from the Rams (26-9) forced a Pitt timeout at 23-10. The Panthers would take the set three points later off a block from Dooley and Kalberer.
Pitt looked as if it was going to take the fourth set, when it came back to tie the game at 10 with another block from Walker and Harper. During that game, Pitt and VCU knotted the score 12 times and totaled 21 ties in the match as a whole.
A kill from Kalberer lifted the Panthers to an 18-17 advantage, in that fourth set. With the score locked at 20-20, Harper recorded her 10th kill in the match and gave Pitt a one-point lead. However, the Rams would end the match on a 5-3 run and earn the victory in four sets.
The Panthers recorded three blocks in the fourth set and out-blocked VCU 15-10 in the match.
Earlier in the contest, Kalberer gave Pitt its first lead of the opening set with a kill, and tallied a block for a 10-8 Panthers advantage. Later, Pitt led 15-10, but VCU rallied a 5-2 run and forced a Pitt timeout. Dooley would split two defenders on the next serve to put the Panthers a head 18-15. She also recorded an ace a few plays later, but the Rams would knot the game at 21 and cause Pitt to huddle once again.
Unfortunately, the Panthers would only score once on the next five serves and fall 25-22 in the game. Dooley led Pitt with four kills in the set.
In the following game, Dooley served the first five points for Pitt, as the Panthers jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second set. Next, freshman Jenn Katona, who recorded a start in the match, tallied back-to-back points for Pitt with an assisted block and a kill to give the squad a 12-11 advantage in the game. Pitt would later trail 19-16 and take a timeout to regroup. However, VCU would take the set on a 6-3 run and lead 2-0 in the match.
Earning the start in this afternoon’s match was sophomore Alyssa King, who finished with 16 assists. Sophomore Allyson Hodnik started the third and fourth sets and collected 19 assists on 44 Panther kills.
Pitt faces Delaware at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The Blue Hens won their match against Liberty, 3-0, earlier this afternoon.
