PITTSBURGH – The No. 3 University of Pittsburgh volleyball team (3-0, 0-0 ACC) dominated in its home opener against Buffalo (3-1, 0-0 MAC) on Tuesday night at the Fitzgerald Field House. Pitt hit a team .516 hitting percentage as nine Panthers recorded at least one kill.
The Panthers and Bulls opened up the set trading points back and forth until Pitt went on a 13-6 run behind a strong Cat Flood service run and an offensive showcase from Torrey Stafford. After a Panther 15-8 lead at the media timeout, Buffalo called a timeout of their own, down 19-9. Flood once again delivered from the service line, causing Buffalo to be out of system and call its final timeout. Momentum stayed on Pitt’s side, and redshirt junior middle blocker Bre Kelley secured the 25-13 first set win with a kill.
Rachel Fairbanks helped Pitt get off to an impressive start in set two, delivering an ace, and setting Valeria Vazquez Gomez to a kill. Despite Buffalo earning a pair of points, Cat Flood, Babcock and Dillyn Griffin continued to put on the service pressure, going into the media timeout up 15-5. A pair of Vazquez Gomez kills and Buffalo errors later, the Bulls were forced to take their final timeout at 20-10. Senior setter Nisa Buzlutepe delivered five straight points from the line, and a kill from freshman middle blocker Bianca Garibaldi notched a 25-10 second set victory.
Buffalo competed well to begin the third set as the Panthers held a narrow 7-5 lead. That was until Flood recorded two more aces to force a Bulls timeout. An…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Pitt Panthers #H2P…