Hokies fall on the road to Pitt

Panthers defeat Tech, 3-0, stay perfect in ACC play

October 1, 2017

	1	2	3	F
Virginia Tech (7-8)	13	22	17	0
Pitt (11-4)	25	25	25	3
FItzgerald FH - 519 Box Score

Box Score (PDF)

PITTSBURGH – Virginia Tech’s volleyball team could not stop Pitt from winning its eighth match in a row Sunday afternoon, as the Hokies fell, 3-0, inside Fitzgerald Field House.

Tech (7-8, 1-3 ACC) showed flashes of life against the Panthers (11-4, 4-0 ACC), making runs to cut into deficits, but Pitt stayed hot in front of its home crowd of 519 to stay perfect in ACC play.

Starting set one in a hole out of the gate, Tech called a timeout after falling 7-2. Out of the break, the Panthers kept their momentum going with scoring 11 of the next 14 points to lead 18-5, forcing another Hokie timeout. Head coach Jill Wilson’s squad would regroup by rattling off eight points, but could not overcome the deficit as Pitt won 25-13.

The middle frame consisted of a back and forth affair as there were eight ties, the most of any set. Trailing 7-3, the Hokies came back and tied it 9-all. From there, no team would gain a greater advantage than three points. After a service error by a Panther to cut the deficit to one, 23-22, Pitt scored the next two points to squeak out a 25-22 victory.

Leading 6-5 after a kill by outside hitter Ester Talamazzi, Pitt would come back, though, to make it Tech’s only lead of the set. The Panthers extended their lead, causing a Tech timeout at 19-10. Tech would get on a roll behind a kill from three Hokies and two aces from Talamazzi to score seven points, but it would not be enough as Pitt closed the frame winning 25-17.

NOTES

- Redshirt senior Stacey Christy put together her best defensive performance since opening weekend as the the Maryland native stopped five attacks. The five blocks were the most since Aug. 26 against Milwaukee (6) when she made the Pepsi Panther Invitational All-Tournament Team.

- Setter Rhegan Mitchell played solid on defense as well, with tallying three blocks on the day. It marks the second-straight match the redshirt junior posted three blocks, tying a season high. Mitchell racked up 22 assists, three digs and a kill as well.

- Talamazzi, for the eighth time this year, led the team in kills by recording 14. The Italy native has had 10-plus kills in five consecutive matches. She also chipped in four digs, two aces and a block and assist.

- Middle blocker Cara Cunningham dished out a career-high three assists, topping her previous high set on Oct. 7, 2016, in Tech’s clash with Wake Forest. The senior also registered four kills and two blocks.

STAT OF THE MATCH

- The Hokies had seven blocks as a team against the Panthers, tying the second-most of the season. The high for Tech is 11, which has happened twice – Milwaukee and Ole Miss. Tech has racked up 14 stuffs at the net in back-to-back matches as it also had exactly seven blocks against Virginia this past Wednesday in its first ACC win of 2017.

TWEET OF THE DAY

Set 2 | It's been a tight one! 🙈

There has been seven ties in the stanza

Pitt leads 19-17, TO Tech

— VT Volleyball (@VT_VBall) October 1, 2017

WHAT IS NEXT

The Hokies will play their third and fourth home matches of the season on Friday against Louisville at 6:30 p.m. ET and Sunday versus Notre Dame at noon. Tech played 13 of its first 15 first matches this year on the road.

For updates on Virginia Tech volleyball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_VBall and on Instagram @vthokievolleyball