PITTSBURGH — Pitt volleyball has continued their great start to the ACC with another sweep, this time against Syracuse at Fitzgerald Field House Sunday afternoon.
The Panthers (13-2 overall, 4-0 ACC) stay undefeated with the sweep of the Orange (2-12 overall, 0-4 ACC). This is their seventh straight win, all of which have been sweeps, dating back to Sept. 16. It is also the fifth consecutive win for the Panthers against the rival Orange and improves their record in the all-time series to 45-13.
Panthers head coach Dan Fisher is happy with where his team is after their first weekend at home in ACC play and that his team is meeting their standards that he has set for them this season, resulting in the great play recently.
“I’m glad we’re off to a good start,” Fisher said. “We set some goals of what we wanted to do offensively and defensively, we hit those. I thought the only big room for upgrade today was maybe our serve-receive. Syracuse came out serving very tough and we weren’t quite ready for it. But on the whole, pleased.”
Pitt started out the first set with a 7-3 lead, but Syracuse would cut it to 8-7. Pitt managed to deal with Syracuse the rest of the set, improving from a 14-11 lead to score eight straight points to make it 22-11 and eventually winning 25-15.
Both teams battled back-and-forth to begin the second set, with the Panthers holding a slight 13-11 lead. The Panthers used a 6-2 run to earn a 19-13 advantage and held off the Orange to come out victorious, 25-18.
Pitt had one of their most dominant sets ever with a 25-6 win in the third set to finish off the sweep. They hit .577 and held Syracuse to a -0.167 hitting percentage in that set.
First-year outside hitter Torrey Stafford had led Pitt with nine kills and tied her season-high for digs with 10 in the win. Fellow first-year in right-side hitter Olivia Babcock finished second with six kills and third with five total blocks.
First-year outside hitter Blaire Bayless had a season-high eight kills and a .667 hitting percentage along with two blocks off the bench against the Orange. Taking advantage of some rotations that allowed her more time off the bench, Bayless was glad to put on a great performance and get the win.
“It was fun to come out and compete today,” Bayless said. “Home games and being in the Fitzgerald Field House, the energy is always great with the fans and it was just a good day. Good win for us, good sweep, especially going into ACC play, every little win matters.”
Fisher has had Bayless come off the bench and having her compete with junior outside hitter Julianna Dalton as the No. 2 right-side hitter behind Babcock. She is ready to take any position needed to help Pitt volleyball win and Fisher is glad to see her improving as much as she has in 2023.
“It’s cliché, but I just liked her confidence,” Fisher said on Bayless’ performance against Syracuse. “She just look liked she wanted the ball and she wasn’t hesitating and she was making aggressive moves with her blocking so it seemed like she really wanted to be on the court.”
Graduate setter Lexis Akeo started her first match of the season and led the Panthers with 15 assists and had a season-high with nine digs. Fellow setter in first-year Haiti Tautua’a had 10 assists tied her season-high with eight digs against the Orange.
Graduate middle blockers in Emma Monks and Chiamaka Nwokolo finished first and second in total blocks, with seven and six, respectively.
Pitt volleyball hosts rival and No. 11 Georgia Tech at home on Friday at 7:00 p.m., which is one of the most important matches of the season and will play a large role in determining who wins the ACC.
