Pitt Volleyball Season Review
12/23/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Final Notes | Final Season Stats
PITTSBURGH- With the conclusion of the 2014 campaign, the University of Pittsburgh volleyball team (25-6, 13-5 ACC) completed its most successful season in 11 years. The Panthers' 25 wins were the most since finishing 26-6 in 2003 and the team saw its first player in Amanda Orchard to earn an All-America honorable mention since 2011.
Season Recap
This year's team was off and running from the very beginning. The Panthers won 14 of their first 15 matches, with their lone loss coming on the road against NCAA-qualifier Colorado. Impressively, 11 of Pitt's first 14 victories came in straight sets. It marked the first time since 1988 that the team had dropped just five sets or fewer through the first 15 games of the season.
After sweeping its first ACC opponent of the season in Boston College, Pitt dropped a hard-fought match to then No. 12 North Carolina. The team responded by winning its next four ACC matches, three of which were on the road, by a combined set total of 12-2. Following a tough, 2-3, loss to another ranked opponent in previously ranked No. 4 Florida State, the Panthers dropped another match to Virginia Tech (3-1) in Blacksburg, Va., before sweeping Syracuse at home.
The season's high point then came when the team defeated No. 25 Duke, 3-2, in the program's first victory over a nationally-ranked foe since 2005. That match, Pitt unloaded 72 kills on 197 attempts against the Blue Devils, had 69 assists, six service aces, 75 digs and 14 blocks. The Panthers had 10 more kills than Duke and almost 30 more attempts.
Following the upset, Pitt dropped two of its next three matches before reeling off four straight victories to close out the regular season.
In response to its already successful regular season and mid-forties rank in the NCAA RPI at the conclusion of the regular season, the Panthers had hoped to receive an at large bid to the 2014 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament but following the selection show, the Panthers season officially came to a close.
Honors and Awards
Following what was one of Pitt's most productive seasons in some time conference, regional and national honors began rolling in for the Panthers.
After a standout junior campaign, Orchard earned an All-America honorable mention, was named to the AVCA All-Region Team, selected to the All-ACC First Team and earned an ECAC Division I All-Star First Team nod. She was also honored as the ACC Player of the Week following her performance of 15 kills on 27 attempts in back-to-back wins over NC State and Virginia.
The middle hitter led the ACC with a .431 hitting percentage, which also landed her sixth in the nation. She finished the season with 226 kills, 91 blocks, 71 digs and 21 service aces after competing in 107 sets for the Panthers. Orchard native posted 21 matches with a hitting percentage of at least .400 and 14 matches of .500 or better.
Senior libero Delaney Clesen and senior Kate Yeazel were both recognized as Second Team All-ACC selections. Clesen put up 480 digs this season to conclude her collegiate career with the second-most digs in program history (1,587). Her 4.49 digs per set average this season was second-most in the conference.
Yeazel recorded 266 kills and 70 blocks in what was her most productive season. The right-side hitter tallied 13 games of hitting double-digit kills, including a 15 kill match against then ranked No. 4 Florida State. The Evanston, Ill., native will also leave her mark in the record books in career aces with 111 to tie for eighth in school history.
Individual Highlights
Senior Jessica Wynn, the team leader entering the 2014 season, was set to pace the Panthers offensively, but missed the team's eight final matches of the season due to an injury. Even with her multiple game absences, Wynn finished third on the team in kills with 255 and will leave Pitt ranked in the top-10 all-time in career kills (1,082) and attempts (2,974).
Stepping up to the plate to help support the loss of Wynn was sophomore Maria Genitsaridi who led the team with 283 kills and recorded four double-doubles on the year.
Senior Mechael Guess, junior Casey Durham and freshman Mariah Bell also aided in Pitt's attack at the net this season.
Senior Lindsey Zitzke posted the top mark in assists (714) and aces (43) which led the senior to become Pitt's all-time service ace leader with 179. She and junior Jenna Jacobson combined for 1,212 assists this season - the vast majority of the team's 13.68 assists per set average that ranked first in the ACC and sixth in the nation.
Jenna Potts was the team's top blocker with 122, vaulting her into the top-10 in school history with 274 total blocks. She also sits in the top-10 of the single-season solo blocks category with 20 this season.
Pitt in the Rankings
Throughout the season, the Panthers, both as a team and individually, were ranked in the top-10 of both the NCAA and ACC statistical categories. Pitt as a team finished atop the leaderboard in the ACC in aces (1.74/set) and was the runner-up in opponent hitting percentage (.166), assists (13.61/set) and kills (14.32/set). Nationally the team finished sixth in assists, eighth in aces and ninth in kills.
Middle hitter Amanda Orchard's impressive .431 hitting percentage checked in at sixth in the nation and first in the ACC. Senior Lindsey Zitzke led the way in aces (0.39/set) in the ACC while another senior, Delaney Clesen, landed in the No. 3 spot in the ACC in digs (4.36/set).
Next Year
The team will lose five players -Clesen, Yeazel, Wynn, Zitzke, and Guess - to graduation. Orchard, Genitsaridi, Durham, Jacobson, Potts and Bell will all return in 2015.
Keep up with all things Pitt volleyball by following the team on Twitter at @PittVolleyball.