MILWAUKEE, WI –The No. 9 University of Pittsburgh volleyball team (5-1, 0-0 ACC) blanked No. 24 Marquette (2-4, 0-0 Big East) Friday night in Milwaukee, 3-0 behind a phenomenal performance from freshman Torrey Stafford who ended the night with 17 kills, 10 digs, three blocks, all while hitting .438.
The Golden Eagles played it tight at the beginning of the first set as they pushed the score to 7-8. The Panthers would pick up a few points to extend the lead to 13-10. Shortly after, the team went on a 12-5 run to finish the second set. A three- and four-point service run from Valeria Vazquez Gomez and Rachel Fairbanks put pressure on Marquette, forcing them out of system. Torrey Stafford, graduate middle blocker Emma Monks and freshman Olivia Babcock combined for 12 of Pitt’s 13 kills in the set to secure a comfortable set one win, 25-15.
Pitt continued its dominant play in set two as Babcock continued to impress behind the service line and helped the Panthers to an early 10-4 lead. Fairbanks pushed Pitt’s lead to 18-9 with a five-point service run of her own. Two aces from Vazquez Gomez and three kills from Stafford was enough to take the second set, 25-13.
The Panthers kept the momentum going, reaching a 9-3 lead before the Golden Eagles fired back, going on a run of their own to diminish the Panther lead to one point at 12-11. Another ace and a pair of Marquette errors grew the margin to 16-11. A kill from five different Panthers and a service ace from sophomore Dillyn Griffin secured the 25-20 third set win and match, 3-0.
UP NEXT
The No. 9 Panthers wrap up their away stretch on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT as they take on Loyola Chicago. Streaming is available on ESPN+.
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