Pitt volleyball wins Sweet 16 matchup vs. Kansas

Over the years, Pitt has a losing record in the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament, but lately, the Panthers have been winning there at a monumental clip.

So much so they’re one step from reaching a Final Four in the sport for the first time in the school’s history after brushing aside Kansas in the East Region semifinals Thursday at Fitzgerald Fieldhouse.

“We just feel really grateful to be here, and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got,” Pitt coach Dan Fisher said.

Chinaza Ndee and Leketor Member-Meneh combined for 25 kills — with Ndee getting 14 — Rachel Fairbanks logged 19 assists and eight digs and Lexis Akeo added 18 assists to lead Pitt to a 3-0 victory over Kansas, sending the Panthers to the regional final for the second consecutive season.

Pitt (29-3) won in dominating fashion on scores of 25-19, 25-21 and 25-18 to improve its all-time record in the NCAA Tournament to 13-16.

The third-seeded Panthers, who are playing in their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament, advance to play No. 6 Purdue (26-6) in the regional final at 4 p.m. Saturday at Fitzgerald Fieldhouse.

The Boilermakers survived Thursday with a 3-2 victory over No. 11 BYU in the other semifinal, rallying from a one-set deficit to claim a spot in the regional final and hand the Cougars (30-2) their second loss of the season.

The other came during the regular season against Pitt, 3-1, on Sept. 10 at Fitzgerald Field.

“We’ve said it from the start of the year, we knew going in that we weren’t the favorite to win the (national) championship, but we thought we could do it,” Fisher said. “We believe in ourselves. We don’t know if we will advance, but we know we can.”

Pitt has competed in the NCAA Tournament 17 times, but six have come during a current streak that began in 2016 and has seen the Panthers advance each time to at least the second round.

Pitt lost to Washington in the regional semifinals last season, denying it a spot in the Final Four.

“We try to play with an underdog mentality and kind of play with a chip on our shoulder,” Ndee said. “I think that helps us a little bit more than just being overconfident.”

Pitt’s only losses this year are against ACC opponents, once to Georgia Tech and twice to top-ranked Louisville, including a 3-1 setback in the ACC Tournament championship match. Despite falling short of a conference championship, the Panthers were a shoo-in to make the NCAA Tournament field with an at-large bid.

“There’s a lot that goes into getting back into the same situation as last year, a lot of hard work,” Fisher said.

Unseeded Kansas (18-12), one of two unranked teams to reach the Sweet 16, was led by Caroline Crawford’s eight kills. Jenny Mosser chipped in seven for the Jayhawks, who upset a pair of ranked teams in No. 19 Oregon and No. 20 Creighton to secure a spot in the regional field.

“We’d like to congratulate Pittsburgh on a great match and the season they’ve had so far. They’re certainly very deserving of hosting, and they showed that today,” Kansas coach Ray Bechard said. “We jumped on them pretty good in the first set, but you didn’t see a lot of panic or anxiety on their side. They played steady, served extremely well. They’re probably one of the better serving teams we’ve seen this year, and though we attacked well, we just couldn’t slow them down enough.”

Kansas put Pitt on its heels early, jumping to an 8-3 lead before the Panthers regrouped. Pitt trailed 11-7 before going on a 10-0 run to take a 17-11 lead and never were behind again in posting the 25-19 victory.

The Jayhawks led Pitt, 8-7, in the second set, but the Panthers pulled back in front and led by as many as six points before holding off Kansas down the stretch for the 25-21 victory.

The third set saw Pitt take a 5-2 lead and never trail en route to the 25-18 victory.

The final point that sealed the outcome came on Valeria Vazquez Gomez’s peculiar service ace for Pitt that grazed the top of the net and slowly dropped into play, sending the Panthers into a victory huddle before an adoring crowd of 1,644.

“I think it’s always good to be playing at home,” Pitt senior outside hitter Member-Meneh said. “I hope we have a big crowd Saturday and one that will feed us some energy.”