Pitt volleyball sweeps North Carolina State, 2014 ACC champs North Carolina over weekend

Last week, I wrote about the Pitt volleyball team's excellent 10-2 start to the season. The Panthers continued to win over the weekend, knocking off both North Carolina State and North Carolina at home.

Pitt defeated North Carolina State three sets to one (25-12, 24-26, 25-21, 25-19 in their ACC opener. Next up were the Tar Heels on Sunday, and while the sets were close, the Panthers won three straight (25-23, 25-18, 25-23). In all, Pitt dropped only a single set by two points and that one went beyond regulation.

Neither team was ranked, but both expect to be good wins for the team's resume. First, while neither win was easy, the box score will show relatively strong wins as they lost only the one set against the Wolfpack. More importantly, they came against solid teams.

North Carolina State was a nearly-perfect 11-1 heading into the match and North Carolina, while only 3-6, was still receiving votes with several losses to ranked teams. The Tar Heels, last year's ACC champs and this year's preseason pick to win it again, also previously dealt a ranked Michigan program (now currently 22nd) its only loss on the year. Pitt has now won five matches in a row since its setback a while back against those same Wolverines.

On the season, the team is a perfect 7-0 at home. The Panthers' next contest will be on Wednesday on the road against Virginia Tech and that match will be on ESPN3.

With all of that in mind, it's very possible to see the team start getting some votes. The Panthers haven't yet beaten a ranked team this year, but just defeated two solid programs on their way to a 2-0 start.

The new AVCA polls are released on Monday.

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