Pitt Concludes Regular Season with Virginia Tech, Virginia

Nov. 22, 2016

Game Notes | Season Stats

Pitt vs. Virginia Tech: | ACC Network Extra

Pitt at Virginia: | ACC Network Extra

PITTSBURGH - The University of Pittsburgh volleyball team will close out its regular season slate with matches against Virginia Tech at home, and Virginia on the road this week. The Panthers' match against the Hokies will serve as senior night for the home team.

Pitt [22-8, 13-5 ACC] will face Virginia Tech [12-17, 7-11 ACC] Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. in the Fitzgerald Field House. The Panthers' senior night presentation will take pace prior to the match and will honor Pitt's two seniors in Maria Genitsaridi and Jenna Potts.

The Panthers will conclude the 2016 regular season in Charlottesville, Va., taking on the Cavaliers [7-23, 4-14 ACC] Saturday, Nov. 26 at 5 p.m. in Memorial Gymnasium.

STATISTICS/BROADCAST INFORMATION

- Both matches will be broadcasted live on ACC Network Extra. Fans can also follow along with both matches through live stats which can be found at the top of the page.

THE SERIES

- The Panthers will take on the Hokies for the 13^th time in program history, with the all-time series sitting even at six wins a piece. The matchup marks the second meeting between the two teams this season, as Pitt took down Virginia Tech on the road 3-1 Sept. 28.

- The Panthers and Cavaliers will also meet for the 13^th time in program history Saturday. Pitt holds a 9-3 series lead over Virginia following the Panthers' win at the Fitzgerald Field House on Oct. 2 earlier this season.

LAST TIME OUT

- The Panthers captured two road victories this past weekend over Syracuse and Boston College.

- During Friday's match against the Orange, sophomore Kamalani Akeo tallied 51 assists, while junior Mariah Bell, redshirt freshman Stephanie Williams and freshman Nika Markovic all recorded double-doubles.

- On Sunday against the Eagles, Markovic had 15 kills and hit. 250, in addition to tallying with 17 digs and three blocks. The Panthers notched a hitting percentage of .412 which marks Pitt's second highest in an ACC match this year.

PANTHERS SWEEP ACC WEEKLY AWARDS

-Akeo andMarkovic swept this week's ACC volleyball honors after leading the Panthers to a pair of road victories over Syracuse and Boston College. Akeo, the Panthers setter, was named ACC Player of the week, while Markovic earned ACC Freshman of the Week for the second time this season.

PITT IN THE RPI

- Pitt remained inside official NCAA RPI top 40 this weekend, clocking in at No. 37 this week.

POSTSEASON HOPES

- After narrowly missing the post season the past two years, Pitt will look to earn one of the 32 at-large bids to the 2016 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament on Selection Sunday. The championship bracket will be announced Sunday, Nov. 27, at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.

SCOUTING VIRGINIA TECH

- The Hokies enter the weekend 12-17 overall and 7-11 in conference play.

- Virginia Tech's last four opponents were the same as Pitt's but the Hokies fell to Duke while beating Wake Forest, Boston College and Syracuse.

- Senior outside hitter Lindsey Owens leads the offense for the Hokies. Her 3.47 kills per set is eighth in the ACC. Junior setter Mandy Powers ranks tenth in the conference in assists per set (8.14).

SCOUTING VIRGINIA

- Virginia welcomes Pitt with a 7-23 overall mark and a 4-14 record in ACC play.

- The Cavaliers dropped both contests this past weekend, falling to ranked North Carolina in three sets and NC State in five. They will face Virginia Tech on Friday, Nov. 25, prior to facing the Panthers Saturday.

- Senior outside hitter Haley Kole is ninth in the ACC with a 3.70 kills per set average. Virginia also has a pair of freshman in the ACC charts, with setter Jennifer Wineholt seventh with 9.30 assists per set and freshman Chino Anukwuem eighth with 1.09 blocks per set.

MAKING HER MARK

- One of four international products on the roster, Markovic has had a major impact in the Panthers' success since her return from injury.

- The Braslovce, Slovenia, native was sidelined in early October due to foot surgery for three games. She was also limited in three more contests before being given the full go on Oct. 28 against NC State.

- The team fell into a lull in her absence, producing a 2-4 record. After her return, Pitt picked up its play, rattling off four straight wins, including an upset at home against No. 8 North Carolina.

- In the upset over the Tar Heels, Markovic had a career-high 19 kills, which led the Panthers. She also produced 10 kills in the win over NC State that same weekend, and tallied a total of 19 digs over the two games. She was honored as the ACC Freshman of the Week for her efforts.

THE FRESHMAN ATTACKER

- Freshman Layne Van Buskirk, one of the Panthers' two middles, has been the most efficient attacker all season for Pitt. The freshman standout has tallied a .358 hitting percentage which ranks second in the ACC.

PITT'S LEADING LADY

- After returning from two foot injuries - one from early in the 2015 season and another in the offseason earlier this year, Williams has dominated in her redshirt season.

- Williams has posted 22 matches in which she has tallied double digit kills, including five contests where she put away 20 or more. Her highest total of the season came against American, Saturday, Sept. 10, when she racked up a career-high 25 kills.

- Williams ranks fourth in the ACC in kills per set (3.74), fifth in total kills (408), fourth in points per set (4.21) and sixth in overall points (459).

POTTS WITH THE BLOCK

- Potts proved to be the Panthers' best blocker last year and has remained in that position this year as she leads the team with 142 total blocks. Her total block count currently ranks second in the ACC and her 1.34 blocks per set are good for fourth in the conference.

- Potts became the Panthers' new all-time leader in career total blocks after the Bernville, Pa., native earned a team-leading five blocks against Georgia Tech on Nov. 6 to push her past Jennie Driscoll (539) who held the record since 1996. With 555 career total blocks, Potts currently ranks sixth in the nation among all active players.

- With Potts' eight block assists against No. 22 Michigan she became the new program leader and now boasts 494 in her career. The redshirt senior surpassed Jessica Moses who held the record since 2008 with 412.

SERVING IT UP

- Bell is currently third in the ACC in total service aces with 39 and third in aces per set with 0.36.

ASSISTING THE TEAM

- Akeo currently ranks first in the conference in total assists with 1,216.

BACK ROW DEFENSE

- Redshirt sophomore Angela Seman leads the Panthers' back row defense with 4.09 digs per set, which ranks eighth in the ACC.

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