Pender's Brianna Pittman, center, is shown with her parents April and Ben Pittman as her jersey is retired

 

       BURGAW–  Pender High School volleyball star Brianna Pittman had her jersey retired at a special ceremony at the school that had double significance.

       The school retired the jersey on the day she signed to continue her career at the University of Dayton in the Atlantic 10.

       During her four years at Pender, Pittman’s teams enjoyed a 59-3 conference record, including a 14-0 senior campaign.  She led her team to the fourth round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state playoffs this year, recording 55 kills, 38 blocks, 9 aces, and 31 digs in the 4 playoff games. Those totals included 18 kills, 13 blocks and 16 digs in her final game, a loss to eventual NCHSAA state 1-A champion Princeton.

       Bri was named to the Wilmington Star News All-Area First Team in 2013, with the team not yet selected for 2014.  She was named All-Conference in 2012 (Tri-County), 2013 (Four County), and 2014 (Four County) with player of the year voting still pending for this season.  She was named the Pender-Topsail Post Voice's County Player of the Year in both 2013 and 2014 and was selected to their all-county team in 2012, 2013, and 2014.

       During her senior season, Pittman established a new NCHSAA state record with 190 blocks. She also set a school mark with a hitting percentage of 57.60.

       For her career, she wound up with 645 blocks, which is also an NCHSAA mark and would earn a performance listing in the National High School Sports Record book published by the National Federation.

       Our thanks to Pender High School for providing information and a photograph for this story.