Sports

Pitt volleyball heading to NCAA tournament with plenty of fan support

It's a winning season to remember for the University of Pittsburgh women's volleyball team.  The team finished the regular season with only one loss, won a second consecutive ACC title, and now is hosting the first round of the NCAA tournament for the first time.

Pitt plays Iona Friday night at 7:30 at the Peterson Events Center.  If the Panthers win, on Saturday night they'll face the winner of the Michigan/Navy match.

Pitt finished the regular season ranked 10th in the country and earned a 12th seed in the tournament.  NCAA Volleyball ranks the top 16 seeds in order.  The remainder of the 48 teams are not seeded.

The Pitt team goes into the tournament with four players named to the All ACC First Team.  They include sophomore Kayla Lund, junior Nika Markovic, junior Layne Van Buskirk and redshirt junior Stephanie Williams.  Head Coach Dan Fisher was named ACC Coach of the Year for the second straight season.

Fisher told Channel 11 one of the most satisfying parts of this season may be the incredible fan support that his team has enjoyed.

"That's been probably, the thing that's been the best and probably the biggest surprise.  It's kind of the final piece to building a program, having a good fanbase that gives you home court advantage.  The last six games we really had that so I'm really pleased and hopefully that continues this weekend."

Pitt was undefeated at home this season. It's just the third time in program history, and the first since 1987.

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