Vazquez Gomez Named ACC Player of the Week

PITTSBURGH – Redshirt Junior Valeria Vazquez Gomez has earned her first-career ACC Player of the Week honor after a pair of all-around performances this week. The Puerto Rico native was influential in all aspects of play as the Panthers extended their win streak to nine matches with wins at Clemson and No. 10 Georgia Tech.
 
Vazquez Gomez made her presence felt all over the court, putting up 3.14 kills/set on a remarkable .462 hitting throughout the week while also making 3.29 digs/set and 0.43 blocks/set as a 6-rotation asset.
 
She delivered seven kills on .500 hitting in Pitt’s sweep over Clemson on Friday, but her talents were most needed on defense, where she dug 13 balls and made two blocks to help the Panthers to a dominant performance.
 
Against No. 10 Georgia Tech, Vazquez Gomez showed her true mettle, securing her second double-double of the season with 15 kills and 10 digs while hitting at a .444 clip and successfully passing all 22 serves sent her way. She didn’t hit an ace in the match but her serving led directly to the victory as she put Georgia Tech out of system multiple times in Pitt’s 10-0 scoring run at the beginning of the fourth set, a run that put the Panthers up, 10-1, leading to a dominant 25-16 win. She made the final three kills of the match, putting an exclamation point on a thoroughly impressive week.
 
Vazquez Gomez’ performance helped Pitt achieve its third Top 10 victory of the season, marking the first time in program history the Panthers have won three straight wins over Top 10 opponents – at No. 7 BYU, vs. No. 5 Ohio State and at No. 10 Georgia Tech.
 
Vazquez Gomez becomes the third Panther in the last four weeks to be named ACC Player of the Week, joining Serena Gray and Courtney Buzzerio. Pitt is the only program in the ACC to have earned the award three times this year.
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers return home for a four-match ACC homestand over the next two weekends. Pitt will host Miami (Oct. 14) and Florida State (Oct. 16) next weekend inside Fitzgerald Field House. Tickets are available at pittsburghpanthers.com and both matches will be streamed on ACCN Extra.
 
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