Pitt
Robert Morris
Women's Volleyball Falls To Robert Morris, 3-0
10/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 12, 2011
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa.—Despite three Panthers with at least 10 digs in the contest, the University of Pittsburgh women’s volleyball team dropped a straight-set match to Robert Morris (25-22, 25-16 and 25-20) Wednesday evening at the Sewall Center.
Junior Margy Acton led Pitt (13-8) with 12 digs, while junior Alexa Campbell and freshman Delaney Clesen chipped in 10 each.
Junior Jasmine Dittrich put down eight kills and senior Kiesha Leggs tallied seven. Freshman Lindsey Zitzke collected 26 assists on Pitt’s 33 kills.
The Panthers limited the Colonials (9-12) to .192 hitting, but were plagued with their own hitting errors and finished the night with a .044 attack percentage.
The match began with both teams tied after the first 14 serves. Pitt pushed the next two points and led with an ace from Clesen. That was the first of six aces in the contest for the Panthers.
Later, Zitzke and Leggs combined on a block to give Pitt its 11th point of the game. The Panthers began to pull away with a short run that included an ace from Leggs to force a Colonial timeout at 15-9.
RMU gained momentum as a result of that huddle, knotting the score at 17-17. On the next serve, sophomore Brenea White put down a kill to give Pitt a sideout. The Panthers went ahead by two with a block from Dittrich on the ensuing play.
The Colonials responded with a 5-1 rally to take the lead and force a Pitt timeout at 22-20. After the break, Campbell tallied a kill for the sideout. However, RMU took three points in the final five serves of the stanza to win the opener. Zitzke collected 10 assists in the frame.
In the second set, the Panthers trailed 12-7 when head coach Toby Rens called a timeout. After the break, RMU jumped up 17-9 with another rally that forced Pitt to regroup, again.
Trailing 19-10, the Panthers mounted a comeback when Campbell recorded a kill. Next, Leggs and Zitzke combined on one of Pitt seven blocks on the following possession to pull within seven.
The Colonials answered with four straight points. Later, the Panthers held RMU on set point for two serves until RMU ended the game with its 12th kill of the frame. Acton tied a set-high with six digs.
In the third set, RMU held an11-9 advantage after freshman Mechael Guess tallied a kill The Colonials extended their lead to four, 18-14, with a kill of their own.
As play continued, Pitt won its 17th point of the frame with a strong block from Leggs and White on the right side. The Panthers held serve when RMU attacked the ball long on the next volley. The Colonials, as a result, took a timeout with the score at 21-18.
After the break, RMU won three consecutive points before Leggs tallied a kill with a tip that fell just behind the attack line. RMU committed another attack error to give Pitt its 20th point of the set. On the next serve, however, the Colonials secured a match victory with a kill from the right side. Both Guess and Dittrich put down four kills in that game.
The Panthers made seven blocks in the match.
Pitt travels to ‘Backyard Brawl’ rival West Virginia on Saturday, Oct. 15, for a 7 p.m. contest.
