STEUBENVILLE, Ohio -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's volleyball team battled to five sets at Franciscan but ultimately fell, 3-2, Saturday afternoon in an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference match.

"This was a tough loss. We let it slip away, up two sets to one," Head Coach Tom Roof said. "We need to put matches away when we have teams down. We played really hard, but we have to cut down on simple mistakes."

The two teams battled for a tight matchup in set one.

Franciscan took an early 8-4 lead but the Panthers went on a rally as the Barons struggled with Laura Hildebrand serving and eventually tied it, 10-10.

Neither team would lead by more than two points the rest of the way, as the two teams needed to go past the 25 regulated points to decide the set.

A kill from Riley Anderson gave the Panthers a 27-25 win in the first set.

Set two began similarly as the two teams were evenly matched in the early part.

Franciscan eventually pulled away and scored five-straight points to go up 15-10, and later gained a commanding 22-14 advantage.

But the Panthers wouldn't go quietly, as once again Pitt-Bradford rallied with Hildebrand serving, scoring six-straight points to cut the deficit to two, 22-20. 

A Franciscan kill followed by a Barons' attack error brought the score to 23-21, but two straight points from Franciscan secured its set-two win.

Pitt-Bradford scored four-straight points to start the third set and later went up, 6-1.

But Franciscan went on a 10-3 run and took an 11-9 lead. 

The lead later changed hands several more times until Pitt-Bradford pulled away late with help from back-to-back kills from Katie Sedon while forcing Baron errors.

Two straight Franciscan points brought the score to 24-23 in favor of UPB, but a Baron attack error gave the Panthers the win in the pivotal third set.

Franciscan gained the momentum in the fourth set and took an early 14-5 lead.

But the Panthers refused to go away and worked their way back into it. 

With Franciscan ahead, 21-16, Ally Easton earned a kill for Pitt-Bradford, Payton Orzech grabbed a service ace, Sedon had a kill and Hildebrand worked a service ace to put Pitt-Bradford right back into it, 22-20. 

But three-straight Franciscan points gave them the 25-20 set-four win to force the deciding fifth set. 

The Barons' momentum carried over into the fifth set as they jumped out to a three-point lead.

But, aided by three kills from Emily Cleveland, the Panthers eventually tied it, 4-4. 

Franciscan then scored six of the next seven points and secured a 10-5 lead,

Pitt-Bradford got back into it with three straight points with two kills from Riley Anderson and Easton to bring the score to 12-9, but three-straight points for Franciscan then gave the Barons the win in the deciding set. 

Cleveland led the Panthers with 14 kills while Orzech assisted 37.

Throughout the match, Hildebrand made several acrobatic defensive plays to keep the ball alive for the Panthers, many leading to Pitt-Bradford points. She had 20 total digs.

Fagan assisted five blocks.

Pitt-Bradford's next competition will be its first at the KOA Arena since Sept. 6 as the Panthers welcome D'Youville Tuesday for a 7 p.m. start.