Erie, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford volleyball team saw its 2021 season come to an end on Saturday as they fell 3-0 to the top seed in the AMCC tournament, Penn State-Behrend.
The Panthers battled in the opening set, eventually falling 27-25, but were unable to stay with the Lions in the second two sets as they lost them 25-17 and 25-12.
- Pitt-Bradford got off to a good start in the opening set, as they built an early 3-point lead and were able to maintain that lead for the majority of play. Emily Cleveland had 6 early kills in the first half of the set help push the Panthers to the 15-12 lead.
- Chloe Bellis recorded a service ace to go up 15-12, but the hosts were able to respond, scoring 5 straight and 8 of ten to build a three-point lead of their own at 20-17.
- The Panthers battled back twice in the late portion of the set, eventually tying the score at 23 each. An Emma King kill put the Panthers up 25-24, but the Lions scored 3 straight to win the set and take a 1-0 lead.
- Set two saw the Lions jump out to an early lead and force a Pitt-Bradford timeout at 3-8. The Panthers battled back to get the lead to 3 using three kills from Olivia Reese. The Panthers remained down three at 16-13 when the Lions closed strong, scoring 9 of the final 13 points to take a commanding 2-0 set lead.
- After keeping the first two sets competitive, the Panthers were unable to stay with Penn State-Behrend in the final set. The hosts quickly jumped ahead and put the game out of reach with a 9-2 run to get the set score to 22-9. Emily Cleveland got a final kill to end the rally, but it was too late as the Lions closed the match with a 25-12 victory.
Emily Cleveland finished the match with a team-high 10 kills. She also had three total blocks in her final collegiate match. Cleveland finishes her highly decorated career in the top 5 in program history in kills with 1,328 kills, a .247 career hitting percentage.
Oliva Reese added 7 kills in the match and Emma King had 4. Tabitha Walker finished the season with a double-double, leading the Panthers with 13 assists and 15 digs. Kayla Maslowski also collected double-digit digs, finishing with 12. She also had 2 service aces.
Pitt-Bradford finishes their season with an 18-8 record, and their 6th straight trip to the AMCC semifinals. Their season included a 13 match win streak, as well as senior Emily Cleveland becoming the 6th player to reach the 1000 kill milestone.