VILLANOVA, PA. – The Villanova University women's volleyball team opened-up the home portion of its schedule on Sunday afternoon with a 3-0 loss to the No. 19 Pittsburgh Panthers. With the setback, the Wildcats fall to 1-1 on the season, while Pitt improves to 5-4.
Pitt was dominant in set one as the Panthers cruised to the 25-6 win. The Panthers tallied 15 kills in 24 attempts in the opening set for a sizzling .583 hitting percentage. Sophomore Chiamaka Nwokolo led way for Pitt with seven kills and three block assists, while freshman Anastasia Russ added four block assists. Villanova's
Kathleen Johnson had two kills in the first set and
Clare Delaplane chipped in with three digs.
The Panthers led 6-4 in set two when Pitt ran off five straight points to open-up an 11-4 advantage. Trailing 15-7, the Wildcats scored three straight points to make it a 15-10 margin. The three Villanova points included two kills by
Kiera Booth and a service ace by
Maddie Schieder. Following a kill by Panther outside hitter Kayla Lund that made it 16-10, the Wildcats got a kill from
Mallory Potts, an ace by
Belle Morgan and an attack error by Pitt to slice the Panther lead to 16-13. With momentum on the Wildcats side, the Panthers responded by scoring nine of the last 11 points to take set two by a score of 25-15.
Villanova took control of set three in the early going and raced to a 6-3 lead. Two kills by Booth highlighted the early Wildcat surge. Following a Pitt attack error that gave Villanova a 10-8 advantage, the Panthers scored five consecutive points to take a 13-10 lead. A kill by Villanova junior middle hitter
Sophia Howling made it 18-16, before Pitt got a kill by Lund to go back up three. Potts then answered for Villanova with a kill of her own to make it a 19-17 game. With the Wildcats looking to force a fourth set, Pitt would seal the win by tallying six of the next eight points to earn the 25-19 win.
In the loss, Booth led the Wildcats attack with six kills, while Potts added five. Freshman
Andrea Campos led Villanova with 11 assists and Delaplane finished with a team-best five digs.
Villanova is scheduled to return to action next weekend with back-to-back matches at St. John's on Friday, Feb. 19 and Saturday, Feb. 20.
