No. 10 Pitt took on High Point Sunday in their final non-conference match of the season and came away with a win in four sets.
Pitt (14-2) defeats High Point (11-7) for the third time since 2018 when the teams first played each other. The victory gives Pitt a final 8-2 record in non-conference matches in 2022.
Both teams battled it out in the first set, with Pitt holding a slight 17-16 lead. Then Pitt scored six unanswered points, getting four points from four different players and the other two points from attack errors. Pitt then took the first set, 25-18.
Pitt and High Point continued to play it close in the second set, with Pitt holding a slight advantage at 15-12. High Point then scored six of the next eight points and took an 18-17 lead.
Pitt managed to fight back and tied the game at 22. High Point sophomore outside hitter Sydney Palazzolo then made two straight kills to take a two point lead and then they won the set on a Pitt service error.
Once again, Pitt led 15-12 over High Point, this time in the third set. Unlike the previous set, Pitt dominated the latter half, scoring 10 points to High Point’s two to claim the set, 25-14.
The fourth set saw both teams hold leads over the other throughout. Pitt led 15-12 and then High Point took an 18-16 lead.
With High Point up 20-18, Pitt went on a 6-1 scoring run to take a 24-21 lead and then won the set, 25-22, and the match also.
Redshirt junior outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez and graduate right setter Courtney Buzzerio led Pitt to the victory, as they both made 20 kills each. That total is a career high for Vazquez Gomez and a season high for Buzzerio. It is also the first time that two players made 20 or more kills in Pitt head coach Dan Fisher’s tenure since 2013.
Buzzerio makes it her eighth straight game leading Pitt in the kills category and also her 12th double digit kill game this season.
Sophomore setter Rachel Fairbanks led with 23 assists, while graduate outside hitter Cam Ennis provided 19 assists of her own. Fairbanks also finished in first for Pitt with 13 digs against High Point, making it her seventh double-double of the season.
Pitt returns back to ACC play next weekend as they travel to South Carolina to take on Clemson on Friday, Oct. 7.
