Volleyball: WVU Falls to Pitt
October 17, 2004 04:30 PM | General
October 17, 2004
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| Studnicka |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University volleyball team fell short in its attempt to knock off defending BIG EAST champion Pitt by a score of 3-0 (23-30, 23-30, 25-30) on Sunday, Oct. 17, at the WVU Coliseum.
WVU got off to a sluggish start in game one and never recovered. The Panthers used a number of spurts to build a 10 point lead and take the contest by a score of 30-23.
The Mountaineers stayed neck and neck with Pitt in game two and took a 20-19 lead after a Stephanie Zolna kill batted off a Pitt defender. Unfortunately for West Virginia, the Panthers went on a 6-0 run and scored 11 of the final 14 points to win the contest 30-23 and take a two game advantage.
WVU played its best volleyball in game three and proved it by jumping out to an early 3-0 lead. After Pitt came back to tie the game at five, West Virginia rattled off two straight and took a 7-5 lead when Julie Hockenson emphatically blocked a Pittsburgh kill attempt. The teams traded points until Pitt went on a 10-5 run to change the game from a 20-20 tie to a 30-25 Panther victory.
Zolna led the Mountaineers with 12 kills while Alison Zemanski added 10 and Kelly Mullins had nine.
Brandice Studnicka finished the game with 31 assists which moves her into 3rd place on West Virginia’s all-time assists list. The Clay Center, Neb., native has registered a total 3,130 assists in her career.
Megan Carroll was the WVU leader in digs with 17 while Studnicka recorded 13 and Mullins tallied 11.
Pitt was led offensively by Megan Miller who registered a game-high 21 kills with an attack percentage of .500. Azadeh Boroumand led the Panthers in assists with 49 and Megan McGrane was Pittsburgh’s dig leader with 28.
The loss drops West Virginia’s record to 1-1 in BIG EAST conference play and 14-8 overall. The Panthers improved to 2-0 in the conference and 14-5 overall.
The Mountaineers return to action on Saturday, Oct. 23, when they host Villanova for a 2 p.m. match at the WVU Coliseum.
