Give Kayla Lund credit.

She revels in the Pitt women’s volleyball team’s many victories, but she also doesn’t run from one unfortunate truth: The second round of the NCAA Tournament has been a problem for Pitt.

The Panthers reached the second round for the fifth consecutive season with a 3-0 victory Wednesday night against Long Island in Omaha, Neb. But the Panthers lost in that round in four previous tries from 2016-19 — even in seasons when Pitt won 30 games and the ACC championship.

No problem. Lund now uses those defeats as motivation.

Do those defeats weigh on the minds of Lund and her teammates?

“Unfortunately, yes, and fortunately,” said Lund, the ACC’s first two-time player of the year. “I mean, it’s a bummer, but it’s kind of become a thing for us. But at the same time, this is what we’ve been thinking about, how we’re going to squash that, how this is the year it’s going to be the end of that second-round conversation. That’s been our goal. We know it’s attainable.”

Pitt (17-4 and ranked 19th in the nation) will meet No. 10 Utah (13-4) on Thursday night in the second round for a chance to go to the Sweet 16.

The key for Pitt will be trying to limit Utah’s Dani Drews, the Pac-12 player of the year. This is the second consecutive tournament Pitt faced the nation’s leader in kills — Drews has 324 — in the second round. Pitt lost to Jordan Thompson and Cincinnati in the second round in 2019.

“Everyone has trouble stopping Jordan Thompson. Everyone has trouble stopping Dani Drews,” Pitt coach Dan Fisher said. “The key is containing those players and limiting them. They are going to get their kills.”

Added Lund: “At the end of the day, it’s going to come down to our side of the net making sure we’re firing from all different zones.”

Pitt started slowly against Long Island (9-6), narrowly winning the first set, 26-24, before asserting its strength in the next two, 25-11, and 25-10.

“They made us really uncomfortable in a lot of different ways,” Fisher said of Long Island. “We made a few too many hitting errors.

“I liked how we got better as the game went on. We passed the ball pretty well and I thought our attack was balanced.”

Lund, who recorded nine kills, said she had seen enough after the first set.

“We struggled offensively and I kind of (said), ‘I’m over this. Let me take over a little bit, which is something I need to do and love to do and am honored to do on our team.’

“I’m confident with my swing. My setters trust me. Let’s finish this game and get everyone else feeling better about themselves.”

Lund led both teams with nine digs and became the seventh all-time Pitt player with more than 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. Pitt’s Chinaza Ndee collected 11 kills and five blocks. Lexis Akeo and Kylee Levers added 17 assists each.

More than 900 miles from campus, Pitt had a loud group of fans filling its corner of CHI Health Center. Junior Sabrina Starks is from nearby Springfield, Neb.

“She packed the stands,” Lund said. “We have a decent crowd and they’re loud. We have some noise, some energy coming from our side.”

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