NCAA First Round
Score: Pitt 3, VCU 1 (25-14, 25-20, 18-25, 25-15)
Location: Rec Hall (University Park, Pa.)
Records: VCU 30-3, Pitt 26-6

The short story: In its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2005, VCU women's volleyball fell to Pitt 3-1 in a First Round match up at Penn State's Rec Hall. 

OPENING VOLLEY

• With an 11-block performance, tied for a season high, sophomore middle blocker Jasmin Sneed broke the program record for blocks in a season with 180. Junior Tori Baldwin added three blocks of her own to finish fourth on that list with 171 blocks on the year.
• 30 wins in a season is the most since 1985 when VCU went 43-3 on the way to a Sun Belt conference championship. The 2017 Rams won their first ever Atlantic 10 Championship, and their fourth conference championship in program history.
• The loss snapped the nation's longest win streak at 27 matches. VCU's most recent loss was three months ago to Notre Dame on Sept. 1
• Senior Rebekah Strange, the A-10 Libero of the Year, tallied a match-high 19 digs.
• Sophomore Vicky Giommarini led the Rams with 11 kills, while also adding five digs and four blocks.
• In addition to her three blocks, Baldwin hit .364 for the match with five kills.
• Sophomores Tyler Sroufe and Dejah Ard split the setting duties, logging 15 and 13 assists, respectively.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Although VCU logged the first point of the match after a Pitt attack error, the Panthers opened the set with an 11-4 run to take control. Pitt held the Rams to a .029 hitting percentage and just six kills in the frame.
• The second set was a tight affair, with VCU using kills by junior Julia Adler to take a 7-6 lead, and to later tie the set 9-9. The Panthers then used a 4-0 run to take a 13-9 lead, and closed the frame on a 3-0 run to win 25-20.
• The script was flipped in the third set, with VCU taking a commanding 11-4 lead behind strong kills from Giommarini. After the Panthers battled back to cut the lead to 19-18, the Rams closed on a 6-0 run highlighted by back-to-back Adler kills and an Alica Kandler block.
• Pitt held the Rams to a -.032 hitting percentage on the way to a dominating 25-13 win in the fourth set.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Although the Rams lead the Panthers 15-7 in blocks, Pitt hit .321 for the match while holding VCU to a .121 mark.
• Pitt placed four players in double-figure kills, led by Nika Markovic who had 17 kills and 13 digs.
• The Panthers dug 63 balls, compared to the Rams' 47.