ALTOONA, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's volleyball team ended its 2018 regular season on a high note Saturday, rolling to a three-set Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference win at Penn State-Altoona.
With the win, Pitt-Bradford finishes the season 7-2 in AMCC action and 17-12 overall. The Panthers finish in third place in the conference and will enter the AMCC Championship Tournament as the No. 3 seed, hosting No. 6 Medaille Wednesday for the First Round match.
As part of the win, sophomore libero Laura Hildebrand reached the 1,000 career digs milestone. The State College, Pa., native reached the remarkable plateau in 56 total matches in two years as a Panther.
"That was a really big win for us," Head Coach Tom Roof. "It was a playoff atmosphere, on the road, fighting for a home playoff spot, and I thought our girls responded really well to the situation. Our blockers Alexandra Segura and Katie Treat set the tone for us at the net, and Katie had some timely kills for us. It's great securing a home playoff match. We're ready for what's ahead of us. And it's great to see Laura reach her hard-earned milestone."
Altoona gave the Panthers a tough first set.
The Lions held a 20-17 lead late in the set, but a Pitt-Bradford rally highlighted by kills from Katie Treat, Emily Cleveland and Payton Orzech sent the Panthers to a 25-23 win in the opening set.
Pitt-Bradford rolled to a win in the second set, at one point holding a 19-9 advantage.
A short Altoona rally tightened the deficit, but the Panthers eventually completed the 25-18 win in set two.
The Lions held the lead for much of the third set, but like set one, Pitt-Bradford battled back late and pulled off a 25-21 win.
Treat knocked a game-high 11 kills, and Cleveland recorded nine kills.
Orzech assisted 30 of the team's 38 kills.
Riley Anderson led the team with 16 digs and Hildebrand had 13 to reach her career milestone.
At the net, Alexandra Segura assisted four blocks and had a pair of solo blocks.
Wednesday's playoff match against Medaille at the KOA Arena is set for a 7 p.m. start.
