Bradford, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford volleyball team lost its season-opening matchup with Buffalo State 3-0 on Tuesday evening.

The Panthers forced two of the match's sets over the required 25 points, but could not come through to win a set. They lost the opening set 26-24, the second 25-22, and erased a 10-3 deficit to tie up the third at 21 before falling 26-24 one final time.

Pitt-Bradford fell behind early in set one, as after a 5-5 start the Bengals slowly built a 15-9 lead. After a timeout, the Panthers slowly chipped away at the deficit. Trailing 24-21 they used a Buffalo State service error, an ace from Summer Anderson, and a kill from Morgan Frishkorn to tie the set at 24. They forced a Bengal timeout, which was followed by two straight points from the visitors, bringing the set to a close.

Following another tight start to set two, the Panthers were able to take advantage of 5 Bengal hitting errors, a kill by Emma King, and a Chloe Bellis ace to take a 13-8 lead. The guests quickly responded, scoring 11 of the next 15 points to turn the 5-point Panther lead into a 19-17 deficit. The Bengals pushed their lead to 4 before a King kill and a Jenna Louser solo block brought Pitt-Bradford to within two, but it was as close as the set would be, as Buffalo State won two of three points to take a 2-0 set lead.

The Panthers continued to struggle as the game moved to the third set. The Bengals quickly jumped out to a 7-1 lead and even pushed their advantage to double figures at 13-3. The Panthers staged their comeback trailing 14-5 as a Chloe Bellis kill started a run that saw Pitt-Bradford score 8 straight to cut the lead down to just 1. Emma King added two more kills in the run, while Kayla Maslowski tallied three service aces. The Panthers continued battling after their rally was ended, eventually taking a 22-21 lead after two more King kills and a bad set. The lead did not last long as the Bengals quickly scored three in a row to put the game at match point. Two Buffalo State errors kept the Panthers alive, but once they were able to tie the score at 24, the guests scored two in a row to end the match.

Emma King led the Panthers with 10 kills on the night. Summer Anderson added 4 more and was Pitt-Bradford's most efficient attacker, posting a hitting percentage of .429. Chloe Bellis tallied 13 assists in the match, while also adding 11 digs, 3 kills, and an ace. Kayla Maslowski led the defensive effort with 14 digs. She also had 3 aces and 3 assists. Dylan Amic was the third Panther to reach double-digit digs, finishing with 12. 

The Panthers fall to 0-5 on the season. They will look to break into the win column on Saturday, as they host Penn State-Beaver at 1:00 p.m.