Pitt Volleyball Earns Three All-ACC Selections
12/3/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
PITTSBURGH – Following one of the best seasons in recent Pitt volleyball history, the University of Pittsburgh volleyball team earned its first All-ACC selections since entering the conference last season, as announced by the conference Wednesday afternoon. Junior Amanda Orchard received First-Team honors while seniors Delaney Clesen and Kate Yeazel both earned second-team honors.
“This is a great honor for Delaney, Kate, and Amanda, and for the University of Pittsburgh,” said head coach Dan Fisher. “These young ladies took the offseason very seriously and improved tremendously. These awards are well deserved.”
Orchard was named to the All-ACC First-Team after a stellar junior campaign where she tallied 226 kills on 436 attempts to post an impressive .431 hitting percentage. Her hitting percentage ranked first in the ACC, while landing sixth-best nationally.
The middle hitter earned her first ACC Player of the Week award for her performance against NC State and Virginia, when she notched 15 kills on 27 attempts with no hitting errors to combine for a .556 hitting average. Additionally, the Lake Zurich, Ill., native registered 91 blocks, 71 digs and 21 service aces while competing in 107 sets for the Panthers. Orchard ended the season posting 21 matches of hitting .400 or better and 14 matches of hitting .500 or above.
Senior Delaney Clesen led Pitt’s defensive charge this season, tallying a team-leading 480 digs while contributing 117 assists and 36 service aces. She played in all 110 sets for the Panthers and finished second in the ACC in digs per set (4.36) and third in service aces per set (0.33).
The libero from Evanston, Illinois will finish her career ranking in the top 10 in two different categories at Pitt. She currently sits in the No. 2 spot on the Panthers’ all-time career digs list, putting up 1609 digs in her four years at the University while rounding out the top-10 in all-time service aces with 111.
Another All-ACC Second Team selection, senior Yeazel had her best season as a Panther after finishing second on the team with 266 kills while posting a .243 hitting percentage and ranking third in blocks per set (.70). The right-side hitter tallied 13 games of hitting double-digit kills, including a 15 kill match against then ranked No. 4 Florida State.
Yeazel also added 70 blocks (including 64 block assists) and 56 digs while playing in 100 sets on the season. Hailing from Eaton, Ohio, Yeazel will finish her career ninth all-time on Pitt’s career block assists list with 234.
Pitt wrapped up the 2014 season with a 25-6 overall record and a 13-5 mark in ACC play.
A complete list of ACC honorees can be found here.
Keep up with everything Pitt volleyball related by visiting Pittsburghpanthers.com or by following the team on Twitter at @PittVolleyball.