Pitt
16-5, 6-3ACC
Duke
9-10, 4-5ACC
Pitt Drops Five-Set Heartbreaker to Duke
10/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Box Score | Season Stats
DURHAM, N.C. – The University of Pittsburgh volleyball team dropped a five-set heartbreaker to Duke, Friday evening at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“I was happy with our toughness,” said head coach Dan Fisher. “Both teams played really hard and there was a lot of good defense. The effort was there but the consistency certainly was not on our end.”
After winning the first two sets 25-22, 25-21, the Panthers [16-5, 6-3 ACC] dropped the final three to the Blue Devils [9-10, 4-5 ACC] by scores of 23-25, 19-25 and 10-15, respectively.
“At times we played some of our best volleyball of the year and then at other times we gave up some really long runs, which aren’t very characteristic of us,” Fisher said. “Defensively we needed to do a better job defending the slide, which was pretty effective for them and we need to do a better job offensively in a couple rotations for us to win tomorrow.”
Three Pitt players tallied double-digit kills, including graduate student Kadi Kullerkann (16), senior Amanda Orchard (15) and sophomore Mariah Bell (10). Orchard’s 15 kills were a career-high, while Kullerkann registered her 11th straight match with double-digit kills and 19th total on the season. Bell and Kullerkann also added double-digit digs on the night to tally double-doubles.
Senior setter Jenna Jacobson put up a career-high 45 assists, while redshirt freshman Angela Seman posted a season-high 33 digs.
Pitt and Duke battled it out in the first set, with the Panthers fighting to come out on top, 25-22. After exchanging back-and-forth points to begin, the Blue Devils pulled ahead, 12-8, to take the first major lead of the set. However, Pitt scored four points to tie the game at 12 which included kills by Kullerkann and Bell. Kullerkann put up seven of her 16 kills in the first set. In a repeat manner, Duke regained a slight lead over the Panthers but Pitt quickly retied the game at 17, forcing a Blue Devils timeout. Pitt earned its first lead of the game at 22-21 thanks to a solo block by redshirt junior Jenna Potts and back-to-back kills by Kullerkann and Bell. The Panthers held its lead through the remainder of the set.
Pitt returned to the court for set two on fire, jumping out to a 10-4 lead. The Blue Devils were forced to use its first timeout to try and stop the Panthers, but Pitt continued to hold onto its lead. Midway through the set Duke was able to pull back within a point of the Panthers but the Blue Devils hurt themselves with back-to-back errors, giving Pitt a 19-16 lead. Duke stuck around in the set, but was unable to stop the Panthers. Pitt picked up a 25-21 victory and gained a 2-0 overall advantage.
The Panthers downfall began in the third set as they fell, 25-23. Pitt struggled at the start of the set, falling behind 11-5. While the Panthers trailed most of the set, Pitt made a comeback and caught the Blue Devils after outscoring them, 5-2, in the late points of the set to become tied at 21. Unfortunately, the Panthers were unable to earn a lead as Duke held on to win.
The Blue Devils tied the match, 2-2, after winning the fourth set, 25-19. Duke outscored Pitt 8-2 to begin the fourth set, but the Blue Devils’ lead didn’t last long as five straight points by the Panthers brought them back within a point. Pitt tied Duke, 16-16, but the Blue Devils rallied for six straight points to pick up a 22-16 advantage. The Panthers were unable to make a comeback, forcing a fifth and final set.
Pitt came out swinging in the fifth, outscoring the Duke 5-1. However, the Blue Devils turned its play around quickly, racking up 11 of the next 13 points in the set. Duke led 12-7 following the run and gave up just three more points before picking up the final set, 15-10.
Up Next
Pitt will travel the short distance from Durham, N.C., to Winston-Salem, N.C., to take on Wake Forest on Saturday, Oct. 24. Match time is slated for 6:30 p.m.
#H2P
For all things Pitt volleyball, follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
