Pitt All-Americans Kayla Lund, Chinaza Ndee returning for 2021 volleyball season

The Pitt women’s volleyball team received big news Friday as senior All-Americans Kayla Lund and Chinaza Ndee announced they were electing to return for the 2021-22 season.

Lund and Chinaza will use their extra season of eligibility that was granted by the NCAA after the coronavirus pandemic impacted this past season. Both seniors made a major impact as the Panthers made their deepest NCAA Tournament run in program history.

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A message from @NdeeChinaza and @kaylund9.#H2P pic.twitter.com/DDWYsL6eDC

— Pitt Volleyball (@Pitt_VB) April 23, 2021

The Panthers fell to No. 6 Washington, 3-2, in the NCAA Regional Final on Monday after making their first appearance in the Round of Eight.

After earning her second consecutive All-America second-team selection, Lund said it was an easy decision to come back to Pitt for another year.

“It was almost more like, ‘Why wouldn’t I want to stay?’” Lund said. “Pittsburgh has become my second home. The people I have met here mean so much to me. My teammates, coaches and everyone who is a part of the Pitt volleyball program are such special people in my life that I couldn’t walk away from.”

This past season, Lund recorded team-highs with 329 kills, 389 points and also averaged 3.74 kills per set. She tallied 13 kills in Pitt’s loss to Washington and also recorded a career-best 25 kills against Boston College on Oct. 9.

Lund is also the first player in program history to earn two selections to an All-America team and also is a three-time member of the All-ACC first team. This past season she also became the seventh player in Pitt history to record more than 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.

After coming up short of a Final Four appearance this season, Ndee is also excited to see what the Panthers can do next season with the new class of talent they have coming in.

“I am so excited and grateful to be able to see what new heights we can reach next season,” Ndee said. “We have a lot of talented players coming in next season as well, so I’m looking forward to playing with them and seeing how they contribute to our program. This team has meant so much to me over the past four years so any chance to make even more memories is a blessing.”

Ndee ranked second behind Lund in points (347.5), points per set (3.95), kills (297), kills per set (3.38), and total attacks (682). This past season was Ndee’s first All-American selection, and she’s just the third Panther in program history to receive the honor. She also led the Panthers in kills during their Regional Final matchup with Washington.