No. 7 seed BYU faces No. 2 Pittsburgh in Second Round

No. 7 seed BYU faces No. 2 Pittsburgh in Second RoundNo. 7 seed BYU faces No. 2 Pittsburgh in Second Round

PITTSBURGH — Advancing to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament with a win over James Madison on Friday night, No. 7 seed BYU women’s volleyball will face host No. 2 seed Pittsburgh at the Petersen Events Center on Saturday night.

The Cougars (22-6, 15-3 WCC) have now won a game or more in each of the last 11 NCAA Tournaments. Also with the win, BYU head coach Heather Olmstead improved to 8-0 in tournament-opening games. 

BYU has faced a seeded opponent in eight of the last 10 Tournaments, playing at least one team ranked in the AVCA Top 25 in all 10 of those tournaments. The Cougars’ NCAA Tournament opponents have been ranked or seed roughly 46-percent of the time, with an 18-23 (.439) record in those games.  

Backed by 38 total kills from outside hitter Erin Livingston and middle blockers Heather Gneiting and Kate Prior, BYU swept James Madison (25-20, 25-10, 25-15) on Friday night. The trio combined to average a .520 hitting clip for the match.

As a team, the Cougars hit .373, holding JMU to a .112 clip and also recording nine total blocks, receiving six each from Prior and fellow middle blocker Whitney Llarenas. With a game-high 14 digs against the Dukes, libero Kelsey Knudsen has recorded 1,000 career digs. 

No. 7 seed BYU @ No. 2 seed Pittsburgh

Familiar with the Panthers and the University of Pittsburgh, BYU has faced Pitt during the regular season in each of the last two seasons, also playing No. 6 Purdue in the Sweet 16 last year at the Panthers regular season volleyball venue, Fitzgerald Fieldhouse. 

No. 2 seed Pittsburgh (28-3, 17-1 ACC)

  • The ACC champion Panthers went on an 18-match win streak this season, suffering just one loss in conference play at then-No. 4 Louisville
  • Pitt had five players earn All-ACC Team honors: Courtney Buzzerio, Serena Gray and Valeria Vazquez Gomez to the First Team and Rachel Fairbanks and Chiamaka Nwokolo earning Second Team honors.
  • Including an ACC sweep of Georgia Tech and another win over Ohio State, both common opponents between the two teams, the Panthers have five wins over ranked teams
  • Buzzerio (388) and Vazquez Gomez (322) lead the team in kills, with Fairbanks dishing out a team-high 748 assists. Fairbanks and Buzzerio also pace Pitt in service aces, with 35 and 31, respectively.
  • Ashley Browske (299), Fairbanks (245) and Vazquez Gomes (236) are team-leaders in digs, while Gray (116) and Chiamaka Nwokolo (108) highlight the Panthers’ blocking attack at the net
  • Dan Fisher is 255-61 (.807) in 10 seasons as Pitt head coach
  • The Panthers lead the all-time series between the two teams, 2-1, with the Cougars’ win coming on a 1988 sweep in Provo

The winner of the match will advance to the Sweet 16 to face the winner of the No. 3 seed Florida-No. 6 seed Iowa State match, also scheduled for Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST. Regional semifinal information, including game times, site location and broadcast plans will be announced at a later date.