No. 10 Pitt put on a dominant performance against Duke on the road Friday night, earning their first ACC sweep of the season.
The Panthers’ (13-2 overall, 4-0 ACC) win is the sixth in a row over the Blue Devils, (9-5 overall, 0-3 ACC) dating back to 2018 and the seventh in a row overall. This is the sixth time in the last seven years that the Panthers won their first four ACC games.
Pitt started the first set off incredibly and led 15-3, then 22-6 then finishing off Duke 25-10, their second largest set win this season.
The Panthers continued to take control in the second set, leading 10-5 early on and 16-11 midway. The Blue Devils responded with a 10-3 scoring run, taking advantage of some attack errors from the Panthers to take a 21-19 lead.
Not wanting to lose another opportunity for a sweep, Pitt scored four of the next six points to tie the game at 23 points a piece. Â A kill from graduate middle blocker Serena Gray and a block assist from graduate right setter Courtney Buzzerio and senior middle blocker Chiamka Nwokolo won Pitt the set, 25-23.
Unlike the drama contained in the third set, the Panthers again had no trouble winning the third set. They began on a 10-3 run, expanded the lead to 16-5 and won the set 25-11 to get the sweep.
Buzzerio starred for the Pitt once again. She made 10 kills to led her team for the seventh straight game in that category and her 11th game with double-digit kills this year. She also achieved this with a .562 hitting percentage and a .625 kill percentage, both second best for Pitt against Duke.
Buzzerio spread her game around outside of kills, creating five assists, making two aces and two blocks in the victory.
Senior librero/defesnive specialist Ashley Browske finished first with 11 digs for Pitt, her eighth game with 10 or more this season. She is currently at 157 digs in 2022, leading the next Panther by more than 30.
Sophomore setter Rachel Fairbanks led the team with 15 assists with graduate outside hitter Cam Ennis following with 12 assists of her own.
Pitt stays in North Carolina to finish their non-conference schedule against High Point on Sunday at 1 p.m.
