No. 3 Pitt volleyball team posts four straight sweeps

The No. 3 Pitt volleyball team posted its fourth straight sweep on Sunday with a 3-0 win over Boston College. The Panthers preceded that decisive victory with another 3-0 sweep of Syracuse on Friday and sweeps of Virginia Tech and Wake Forest on Halloween weekend.

All four of the sweeps have taken place at the Fitzgerald Field House, where the Panthers are now 10-1. The sweep streak has also kept Pitt near the top of the national rankings after a 3-2 loss to No. 2 Louisville on Oct. 24.

The first sweep in the series came against Wake Forest on Oct. 29, and it was the most competitive of the four. The Panthers beat the Demon Deacons 25-20, 25-22 and 25-17, and they were led by Kayla Lund, who had 11 kills, as well as Lexis Akeo and Kylee Levers, who combined for 26 assists. Those names would become fixtures on the stat leaderboards in the streak, as would Chinaza Ndee’s.

Against Virginia Tech on Halloween, Ndee and Lund led Pitt to decisive 25-15, 25-19 and 25-17 set wins, with 11 kills and 10 kills, respectively. Meanwhile, Akeo and Levers both chipped in 14 assists apiece. Pitt has won its last eight matchups with Virginia Tech, and all but one has gone down as a sweep. The Panthers’ last loss to the Hokies came on Nov. 25, 2015.

After Halloween weekend, Pitt faced Syracuse and was met with a front-loaded effort, and as a result, the team logged 25-23, 25-15 and 25-13 set wins. Once again it was Lund and Ndee who led the Panthers to victory, and this time Lund had a team-high 11 kills and Ndee followed with 10. And in support of their efforts, Akeo led the team in assists, with 22, while Levers came up with 19.

On Sunday, Ndee and Levers emerged as the stars of the game when Boston College came to Pitt, and they led the Panthers to 25-15, 25-19 and 25-23 set wins over the Eagles. Ndee posted a team-high 13 kills, while Levers came up with 24 assists. But even amid Levers' big day, Akeo was still able to chip in 13 assists.

With the four wins, Pitt now sits at 22-2 on the season. However, the team now faces a tricky stretch, as it has road matchups with American, Syracuse, Georgia Tech and Clemson and will cap off the regular season with a rematch with Louisville.