WVU Mountaineer Sports: Basketball | Football | News |Volleyball: Mountaineers Take Down Pitt

Tied 12-12 in the fifth set, the West Virginia University volleyball team used kills from senior outside hitter Michelle Kopecky and senior middle blocker Abby Monson to seal the win as the Mountaineers defeated Pitt 3-2 (19-25, 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 15-12) for the second year in a row.

            The Mountaineers (5-13, 3-4) defeated the Panthers (13-9, 3-4) after recording a season-high 100 digs.

            "This is definitely the best team volleyball we have played all season," coach Jill Kramer says. "Something that we talked about at the beginning of the match was that the best team was going to win. When you watch warm-ups, Pitt was much more physical than us. They have some great athletes on the team, but we really played great team ball tonight. In a rivalry match like this one, it is a high stress environment and sometimes you make some errors you wouldn't normally make and I think both teams did that. We fought through together, we trusted each other, we believed in one another and that's how we got the win."

            After losing the first set, the Mountaineers started set two with a 3-1 lead. Pitt used two service aces in a row to pull the match even as both teams battled back and forth until 20-20 when the Panthers pulled ahead to 22-20 after a WVU error and a kill from Jasmine Dittrich. The Mountaineers used a kill from Kopecky and a service ace from freshman middle blocker Evyn McCoy to pull the match even as WVU went on a 5-1 run to take the second set 25-23.

            With the match even at 1-1, the teams traded points back and forth in the third set with the score tied 13 times. Tied 18-18, the Mountaineers capitalized on Pitt errors to take a 21-18 advantage. The Panthers would tie the score one more time at 21-21, but the Mountaineers used a kill from junior outside hitter Anke de Jong to take a 4-0 run and the third set 25-21.

The Panthers would not let the match slip away as they took a commanding 8-1 lead to begin the fourth set. Down 24-17, the Mountaineers used Pitt errors and kills from McCoy and Monson to pull within three, but ultimately lost the set 25-21.

            Coming off a 4-1 run in the fourth set, the Mountaineers used the momentum to take a 5-2 lead in the fifth set. Pitt pulled the match even at 10-10 with an attack error by the Mountaineers before a 5-2 run by WVU ended the set and the match.

            Kopecky led the Mountaineers with 15 kills while Monson, de Jong, Post and senior outside hitter Kylie Armbruster each chipped in eight kills. Post also recorded a double-double with 39 assists and 10 digs. Senior libero Serinna Russo let the Mountaineers defensively with a season-high 33 digs.  

            WVU will continue BIG EAST play next weekend as it travels to Louisville and Cincinnati. The Mountaineers take on the Cardinals Oct. 22 at 2 p.m., before traveling to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats Oct. 23 at 2 p.m.