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Former Comet, Cyclone Hali Hillegas leads Pitt VB team to banner season

Press Staff Report
The University of Pittsburgh volleyball team has come off one of the best seasons in program history.

And former Charles City all-stater Hali Hillegas helped make that happen.

A redshirt senior who transferred to Pitt from Iowa State shortly after the 2018 season, Hillegas proved to be a welcome addition to the Panthers.

Among the team leaders in matches and sets played, the libero led Pitt with 473 digs this season and was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference Volleyball second team.

The All-ACC nod gave Hillegas the rare distinction of being named all-conference in one sport in two major NCAA Division 1 leagues during her college career.

As a redshirt sophomore in 2017, Hillegas was named to the All-Big 12 Volleyball first team after an outstanding season with the Cyclones. Hillegas was also named Honorable Mention All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association her sophomore season.

This season, Pitt went 30-2 and won the ACC title with a perfect 18-0 conference record.

The Panthers’ season came to an end this past weekend in the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.

After sweeping Howard in the first round on Friday, the Panthers were eliminated in the second round with a 3-2 loss to Cincinnati.

Favored Pitt, which hosted the first- and second-round matches, had swept the Bearcats early in the regular season.

During the loss, Hillegas had a match-leading 18 digs to go with four assists.

Having once been honored as the University of Pittsburgh Athlete of the Week, Hillegas had also garnered plenty of accolades at Iowa State where she was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week seven times as a Cyclone.

Hillegas was a three-time all-state volleyball player for Charles City, and helped the Comets win a state title in 2012 as a sophomore.

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