Marshall University Athletics
Herd Volleyball Comes Up Short at Pitt
9/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 14, 2005
Marshall at Pitt Boxscore
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PITTSBURGH - The Thundering Herd didn't have enough for the Pittsburgh Panthers Wednesday night in volleyball action at the Fitzgerald Field House where Pitt took home the 3-0 (27-30, 26-30, 26-30) victory over the Herd.
Pitt jumped out and grabbed the early lead in a closely contested game one which was back and forth most of the way. Pitt's blocking was the difference with a 7-1 advantage over Marshall in the first game and any opportunity the Herd had, it couldn't capitalize on it.
In game two, Marshall jumped out to an early lead thanks to strong service by Stephanie Cahill that featured a pair of aces. The Herd held the advantage up until the Panthers tied it 10-10. Pitt would then jump out with a rally of its own and pull out to a 23-16 lead. Marshall would put together a late comeback attempt, but fell short again in the second frame, dropping it 30-26.
Marshall would fall behind early in game one, but rally back to take a lead at 10-9. Back and forth the game went and was all tied up at 25-25 until Pitt ran off three-straight points behind two kills from Diana Andreyko and a service ace by Megan McGrane. Stephanie Cahill would put down a kill for Marshall to bring it to 28-26, but it would be enough as Pitt went on to seal the match.
"All I can say is we're playing very poor at the most important time of the games," Marshall head coach Mitch Jacobs said.
With the loss, Marshall drops to 5-3 on the season. Pittsburgh improves to 7-4. The loss also snaps Marshall's five-match winning streak. For the match, Pitt outblocked the Herd 14-4, and outhit MU .240 to .233.
Pitt's Andreyko led all players with 18 kills and a .341 hitting percentage. Marshall's Kelly-Anne Billingy had 14 kills and Cahill had 11 kills to lead the Herd. Amber Sims had nine kills with a .353 hitting percentage with 2 blocks. Also for the Herd, Cahill finished with a double-double with 13 digs and her 11 kills as did Katie Stein with 40 assists and 10 digs. Maggie Arias had 14 digs for the Herd.
The Herd will have a day off to regroup before hitting the courts again in the state of Pennsylvania when it participates in a tournament at Penn State. Marshall will play Penn at 5 p.m. on Friday. The Herd will then face Seton Hall and No. 4 ranked Penn State on Saturday.
