Duke Drops Contest to No. 2 Pitt

Friday, November 6

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7 p.m.

Duke University

16-7,8-5ACC

Pitt

22-1,12-1ACC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Duke	18	12	20	0
Pittsburgh	25	25	25	3

11/6/2026 8:47:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Duke volleyball fell to No. 2 Pitt, 3-0 (25-18, 25-12, 25,20) Friday night inside Victory Heights Arena.

Duke (16-7, 8-5 ACC) couldn't slow down the efficient Pitt (22-1, 12-1 ACC) offense, which finished the night hitting .369. Ashby Zubchevich led Duke with 11 kills on .200 hitting, while Pitt's Olivia Babcock led all players with 14 kills on a .324 clip.

In addition to her kills, Zubchevich led Duke with three aces. Natlay Moravec finished with seven kills, snapping her 19-match streak with 10-plus kills. Taylor Williams hit .417, finishing with five kills and no errors.

On defense, Mailinh Godschall led the Blue Devils with nine digs.

How it Happened
Set 1 – Pitt 25, Duke 18

Pitt got off to a strong start by winning eight of the first 12 points, forcing Duke to use its first timeout of the match. The Panthers continued to hold the Blue Devils in check and led 15-9 at the media timeout.
Duke came out of the break on a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to three, but Pitt responded by pushing its lead to 20-13. Duke was able to shrink the Pitt advantage to 21-17 before the Panthers closed out the frame winning four of the next five points.
Moravec and Zubchevich had four kills each to lead the Blue Devils. On the other side of the court, Pitt hit .400 to take the 1-0 lead in the match.

Set 2 – Pitt 25, Duke 12

The Panthers jumped out to an 11-3 lead, forcing Duke to burn both of its timeouts. Pitt extended its lead to 10 going into the media break and it did not fall below nine the rest of the way.
Pitt hit .367 while holding Duke to .097. Babcock led all players with five kills in the frame.

Set 3 – Pitt 25, Duke 20

It was the best start to a set for Duke, as the two teams split the opening 20 points. The Panthers won nine of the next 10 points to take a 19-11 lead.
The Blue Devils went on a 6-2 run to cut the deficit to four (21-17). They continued to play clean volleyball and, after an ace by Moravec, cut the Pitt lead to three. However, the Panthers closed out the match on an ace before Duke could cut the deficit any further.
The final set was Duke's best offensive showing of the match, recording 12 kills on a .333 hitting percentage. Zubchevich led the Blue Devils with five kills in the frame. The defense still struggled to limit the Pitt attack, as the Panthers hit .342.

Up Next
Duke is back in action on Sunday in Dallas to face off against No. 5 SMU at 1 p.m. The match will stream on ACC Network Extra with live stats on GoDuke.com.

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