VBALL - Pitt in Montana Invitational Tournament this weekend

[HOF Coach]

PITTSBURGH – The No. 5 Pitt volleyball team is set to face No.17 BYU, Montana and UTRGV for the season opener in Missoula Mont. on Aug. 25, 26 and 27, respectively. The no. 5 ranking marks the fourth straight year the Panthers have started their season in the AVCA top 10. The matches will be streamed on ESPN+.

 

[Austin26]

Excited for the season to start. BYU will be a good test. UTRGV = University of Texas Rio Grand Valley for those who didn’t’ know (like I didn’t.)
H2P VB

 

[Black Panther]

4pm start ESPN+

 

[Black Panther]

Pitt 22-21 first set.

 

[Black Panther]

Pitt wins first set 25-23.

 

[ThePanthers]

Lost the next 2. Down 2-1

 

[Black Panther]

We’ve lost all the momentum from the first set.Its do or die now.

 

[Black Panther]

Is Jepsen injured?

 

[whirlybird optio]

Fairbanks can only do so much. The transfers look pretty meh, freshmen don’t seem to be quite ready. Just getting killed on the outside. BYU in Montana a very tricky opener though.

 

[ThePanthers]

Yeah. Not looking great after that first set. Like you said though, tough opponent and it’s early. Plenty of time to work out the kinks

 

[ThePanthers]

Lost the 4th 25-16.

 

[whirlybird optio]

Lost the 4th 25-16.

Last 3 sets really weren’t close. Fisher is really, really good, but he will earn his money this year. Last two years you could rely on Buzzerio, or Member Meneh from the outside. This year, who knows. Such a huge drop off from Fairbanks to everyone else on this team.

I’m most concerned about the transfers. None of them look particularly good.

 

[Black Panther]

Dalton is clearly not 100% either.We need sombody to kill on the outside.

 

[whirlybird optio]

Dalton is clearly not 100% either.We need sombody to kill on the outside.

Is Nwokolo hurt too? The Michigan St transfer, I hate to be mean, but she can’t be getting minutes for us.

 

[Black Panther]

Is Nwokolo hurt too? The Michigan St transfer, I hate to be mean, but she can’t be getting minutes for us.

It’s possible.This whole game was painful to watch.Our eyes may be injured.

 

[vantheman1976]

It’s possible.This whole game was painful to watch.Our eyes may be injured.

I set a personal record today for blurting out multiple variations of the F-bomb during the whole match. Even my dog became tired of my outbursts and left the room! Some brief thoughts....

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VVG came in at about 1.5 points/set....barely 50% of her normal output...​

​

Buzzerio and Gray together accounted for 40% of the team's scoring output last year. They were 1st team All Americans and 5th year players. It's not realistic to expect freshman and a couple of transfers to match that scoring punch and especially in the 1st game of the season against a tough opponent​

​

Dalton is not 100% recovered from her injury....I admire her tenacity to even be playing again this soon​

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BYU is a damn good team....they'll be a tough out for anyone​

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Let the F-bombs continue.....hopefully at a slower rate than today!​

​

​

​

 

[HOF Coach]

I set a personal record today for blurting out multiple variations of the F-bomb during the whole match. Even my dog became tired of my outbursts and left the room! Some brief thoughts....

​

VVG came in at about 1.5 points/set....barely 50% of her normal output...​

​

Buzzerio and Gray together accounted for 40% of the team's scoring output last year. They were 1st team All Americans and 5th year players. It's not realistic to expect freshman and a couple of transfers to match that scoring punch and especially in the 1st game of the season against a tough opponent​

​

Dalton is not 100% recovered from her injury....I admire her tenacity to even be playing again this soon​

​

BYU is a damn good team....they'll be a tough out for anyone​

​

Let the F-bombs continue.....hopefully at a slower rate than today!​

​

​

​

We lost to San Diego in the first weekend of last season.

By the way, ranked teams Texas, Kentucky and Penn State lost today also.

 

[HOF Coach]

I set a personal record today for blurting out multiple variations of the F-bomb during the whole match. Even my dog became tired of my outbursts and left the room! Some brief thoughts....

​

VVG came in at about 1.5 points/set....barely 50% of her normal output...​

​

Buzzerio and Gray together accounted for 40% of the team's scoring output last year. They were 1st team All Americans and 5th year players. It's not realistic to expect freshman and a couple of transfers to match that scoring punch and especially in the 1st game of the season against a tough opponent​

​

Dalton is not 100% recovered from her injury....I admire her tenacity to even be playing again this soon​

​

BYU is a damn good team....they'll be a tough out for anyone​

​

Let the F-bombs continue.....hopefully at a slower rate than today!​

​

​

​

Another ranked team loses...

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Pitt is mowing over Montana after two sets, 12 and 11.

Stafford and Kelly are a combined 14 kills in 18 swings with 0 errors so far. Jepsen is a perfect 4 for 4. Babcock is 5 for 6 with one error. So those four combined have 23 kills in 28 chances with a total of 1 error.

That's pretty good!

 

[gary2]

Pitt is mowing over Montana after two sets, 12 and 11.

Stafford and Kelly are a combined 14 kills in 18 swings with 0 errors so far. Jepsen is a perfect 4 for 4. Babcock is 5 for 6 with one error. So those four combined have 23 kills in 28 chances with a total of 1 error.

That's pretty good!

Maybe BYU is just really good.

Also: A couple of big omissions from the Pitt starting lineup today.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Also: A couple of big omissions from the Pitt starting lineup today.

16 in the 3rd for the sweep.

Vazquez Gomez and Monks didn't play in the first two sets, and then were a combined 7 kills on 10 swings with 0 errors in the 3rd. Stafford had 7 kills in 10 with 0 errors and Kelley had 7 kills in 8 with 0 errors in the first two sets, and then neither of them played in the 3rd.

Jepsen ends up a perfect 7 kills in 7 swings.

Pitt hits .750 in the first, .478 in the second and .517 in the 3rd for a match total of .559.

 

[Black Panther]

That’s more like it.Great Job!

 

[vantheman1976]

That’s more like it.Great Job!

The game on Sunday against UTRGV will be a good test for Pitt. UTRGV gave BYU a good game today....although losing 3 sets to 1 just like Pitt did.....they looked very competitive. They won the WAC regular season title last year and are picked to finish 3rd this year.

 

[HOF Coach]

The game on Sunday against UTRGV will be a good test for Pitt. UTRGV gave BYU a good game today....although losing 3 sets to 1 just like Pitt did.....they looked very competitive. They won the WAC regular season title last year and are picked to finish 3rd this year.

That match on Sunday starts at Noon on ESPN+

 

[Black Panther]

The game on Sunday against UTRGV will be a good test for Pitt. UTRGV gave BYU a good game today....although losing 3 sets to 1 just like Pitt did.....they looked very competitive. They won the WAC regular season title last year and are picked to finish 3rd this year.

I agree,I have a feeling they better not sleep on them.This team looks hungry and scrappy.Not to be taken lightly like some other smaller schools.

 

[ThePanthers]

Pitt with the sweep again today!

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Pitt sweeps RGV, 19-18-16.

 

[PittMBA]

I agree,I have a feeling they better not sleep on them.This team looks hungry and scrappy.Not to be taken lightly like some other smaller schools.

Thought they looked much better today.

Babcock, Stafford , and Bayless are different level player than we’ve seen; but they are obviously young and inexperienced.

Also like what Jespen is doing and Haiti Tautua’a is playing well.

Hopefully this team - like last season - keeps getting better and better.

 

[phijo]

Yeah, nice match to watch. Jepsen and Kelley looked really good. Babcock has a great serve.....when she can control it. Too many serving errors overall for my taste. I think some incremental improvement. To me, Babcock looks raw, but in 2-3 years, she will be a player you build a team around.

 

[pittdan77]

Seems like a lot of the big programs sputtered a little this weekend. My biggest criticism of Pitt is that the defense looked out of position at times. Too many dinks and blocks weren't picked up. Couple of times I thought the Libero should have been picking up some shorter balls. Correctable but frustrating. The hitting will come. The freshmen looked hesitant at times. I'm certain that is expected. See how Kentucky games go this week.

Side note: I watched a little bit of Louisville/Washington State on Sunday morning before the Pitt game and they looked decent but nowhere near what you would typically expect. Anna DeBeer almost looked like a liability when she rotated through the back row. Several poor passes. Very strong hitting. Middles looked strong to me.

 

[Black Panther]

Yeah, nice match to watch. Jepsen and Kelley looked really good. Babcock has a great serve.....when she can control it. Too many serving errors overall for my taste. I think some incremental improvement. To me, Babcock looks raw, but in 2-3 years, she will be a player you build a team around.

They did.Jepsen is starting to remind me of one of my all time favorites, Stephanie Williams.

 

[HOF Coach]