One More Question, One More Answer
Let's settle one more frequently asked question.
It’s the best team in Pittsburgh.
I’ve been saying it since last October about the Pitt Volleyball team, and the Panthers have proven it on the court.
You can throw out a lot of numbers about this team’s success (and I certainly did in Part 1 and Part 2 of questions I get about Pitt Volleyball), but this is the most important set of numbers:
59-3.
That’s the Panthers overall record going back to the start of 2018. Man, that number looks good. Let’s put it on the next line just for fun.
59-3.
And it’s not just the best team in the city, the Pitt Volleyball team has been my favorite one to watch. I had forgotten how much fun high-level volleyball is to follow.
However, there is one question I have heard from some fellow Pittsburghers who have struck up conversation at matches, and I have to say it bugs me more than the others:
“So, who do you know on the team?”
It’s a question that was asked on at least three different occasions. The implication being: well, you’re just here supporting a friend on the team.
And I would tell them - I don’t know anybody. I’m just a fan.
How can you not be a fan?
This is the best Pitt team in any sport since at least the 2008-09 men’s basketball team of DeJuan Blair, Sam Young and LeVance Fields that reached #1 in the country. (That team infamously got Scottie Reynolds’d 10 years ago to keep them out of the Final Four. So the volleyball team has a shot of advancing further than the hoops team).
And this Pitt Volleyball team has become the team I have lived and died with the most since… maybe the 2014 Pirates? I’ve sweated through the Panthers’ five-set matches, whether I was watching the Pepperdine match on my laptop until 1:24 AM or the Georgia Tech match from a front-row seat.
I’m happy to say that I don’t really hear that “so who do you know?” question anymore, not since the home match against Penn State that drew a school-record 5,195 fans.
The whole city has bought in. They’ve convinced the public: this is a team that is worthy of your support.
And there has been honest-to-God media coverage this week. The team got the Bob Pompeani treatment on KDKA News at 6:00 last night. A Post-Gazette union member profiled Kayla Lund’s rise from under-recruited high schooler to ACC Player of the Year. Charles Curti of the Trib covered Chi Ndee’s breakout season and push for a medical degree.
It’s publicity that the team has earned. And as they play on through the NCAA Tournament, there will be more of it to come.
Speaking of…
THE NCAA TOURNAMENT IS HERE!
There were just a few matches last night, but most of them were sweeps. The lone five-setter was not positive for the ACC, as Florida State lost to UCF.
But today is the big day, with 28 matches all over the bracket. We’ll have two at the Petersen Events Center.
4:00 PM - VCU vs. Cincinnati
Cincinnati should be favored to advance in this one. They were on an 11-match winning streak before falling to UCF in their conference tournament.
Jordan Thompson of Cincinnati is worth the price of admission to today’s session at The Pete. She was the best hitter on the USA Volleyball national team this past summer, and put up crazy numbers during the regular season to lead the nation in kills. She got 50 kills in a match, for spike’s sake!
But if Thompson is a force on the attack, VCU is a team equipped to contain her. The Rams were #1 in the nation in blocks during the regular season, led by the nation’s top block Jasmin Sneed and Baylor transfer Jaelyn Jackson.
If you can duck out of work early, this’ll be a treat.
7:00 PM - Pitt vs. Howard
I don’t want to overlook Howard, which will bring a balanced attack and an 8-match winning streak to The Pete.
But let’s be real: Pitt should sweep Howard and get themselves ready to take on (most likely) Jordan Thompson and Cincinnati on Saturday.
One Howard player did earn some national recognition this week, for all the right reasons.
Jurnee Farrell skipped the conference tournament in order to make a life-saving donation of blood stem cells. She will return to the court for Howard tonight, and her actions have certainly earned a standing ovation.
Let the volleyball begin! This is Day 6 of 22 of the newsletter. You can sign up here to get it in your inbox every morning for the next two weeks. Do it. DO IT.
Thanks!