Pitt
DePaul
Women's Volleyball Opens Big East Play With a Win
9/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 25, 2010
CHICAGO, Ill.—Senior Imani Harper recorded a career high in kills, as the University of Pittsburgh women’s volleyball team came back to earn a 3-1 victory over DePaul, this afternoon at McGrath Arena. The Panthers won with scores of 19-25, 25-15, 25-22 and 25-22.
Harper swung for a career-high 21 kills in the victory. She held a .594 hitting percentage to outdo her 19 kills against George Washington earlier this week. Today’s match marked the sixth time this year Harper has recorded double-digit kills.
Senior Amy Town added 17 kills, two blocks and two aces in the match. On the year she has 10 aces to date and 48 in her career.
Junior middle Kiesha Leggs chipped in 12 kills and six blocks, while senior setter Alyssa King collected a match-high 49 assists.
In a dramatic fourth set, the Panthers (6-10) trailed 20-18 due to a Blue Demon (1-13, 0-1 Big East) ace. Head coach Toby Rens called a timeout to discuss things, which led to back-to-back kills from Town and Harper. The Panthers would then take a 21-20 lead when Town and Harper combined on a block. Pitt would win four of the next six serves to secure the match win.
Earlier in that final game, Pitt held a 10-6 lead, when DePaul called a timeout. The Blue Demons pushed to tie the game at 12 and hung around until taking the above mentioned lead.
In the second set of the contest, Pitt out-hit the Blue Demons in the second game, 15-11. Town led all with six kills, while Harper tallied five kills and an ace. As a team, Pitt boasted a match-high .412 hitting clip.
Next, Pitt and DePaul battled through seven ties and two lead changes in a close third set. Harper recorded a set-high five kills for the Panthers.
Pitt’s first two points of the first set were a result of King setting Leggs. The Panthers would soon trail 5-3 with a Blue Demon block. DePaul then tallied a 5-2 run to hold a 10-5 advantage in the contest. Pitt recorded a run of its own to tie the set at 13, a piece with a kill from Harper.
Pitt would lead 15-13 thanks to a Blue Demon error a few plays later, however DePaul strung together a 10-2 run to take the eventual lead in the set. King recorded an assist on all 14 of the Panthers kills.
The Panthers face Notre Dame on Sunday at 2 p.m.
