Bradford, PA -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's volleyball team hosted La Roche on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Redhawks 3-1.

The Panthers struggled to get started, as they quickly fell behind the Redhawks after losing set one 25-8 and set two 25-15. They showed some fight in set three, erasing a 12-point deficit to extend the match with a 25-27 set win. Unfortunately, they were unable to maintain the momentum, falling in set four 25-16 to end the match. 

Set one saw LaRoche jump out to a quick 6-1 lead, and then never look back. The Panthers ended the rally with two straight points on a pair of Redhawk errors but then allowed the visitors to score 14 of the next 16 points. The Panthers were only able to put down one kill in the set, a Marissa Bowman spike at 20-6.

Pitt-Bradford had a much better start to the second set, as they were able to take their first lead of the match after a Dylan Amic service ace at 7-8. They went on to split the first 20 points of the set evenly but then lost their composure, as the visitors closed the set on a 15-5 run.

After a Ruby Smith kill put the Panthers down one at 5-4 in the 4th, LaRoche looked like they were putting the game away, as they rolled off 11 straight points to take a commanding 16-4 lead. With their backs against the wall, the Panthers responded, rallying on three straight services to cut the lead down to two points at 19-17. After trading side outs for a few points, Pitt-Bradford surged into the lead, with another four-point scoring run. Ruby Smith had a kill and an ace in the rally, while Ryley Pago added two more kills. The Redhawks pushed back and put the Panthers on match point at 25-24, but after an Emma King kill tied the set, the Panthers used a Redhawk error and a Summer Anderson kill to win the set and extend the match.

In the fourth set, the Panthers kept up with the Redhawks, as they trailed 8-7 after fifteen points. From that point forward, the Panthers could not build a rally, as they were limited to no more than two consecutive points, as LaRoche slowly put the game away, eventually winning the set 25-16.

After the slow start, the Panthers made some lineup changes, for the final two sets, and saw some success from those changes. Ruby Smith played the final two sets and wound up leading the team with 9 kills while committing just 1 error. She hit .400 for the game and added an ace and 5 digs. Ryley Pago also played the last two sets, hitting on the right side, and had 4 crucial kills on 8 swings. Freshman Alyssa Radtke stepped into the setter role for the final two sets and racked up 23 assists. She also had 9 digs and an ace. Kayla Maskowski led the back line, collecting 23 digs, putting her just 7 away from the 1,000 dig milestone. Dylan Amic added 18 digs. Summer Anderson was in on four blocks, while Jenna Louser finished with 3 total. 

The Panthers fall to 3-14 on the season with an 0-2 record in AMCC play. They will wrap up their non-conference schedule in their midweek matchup, as they will host Alfred University on Tuesday, Oct. 10th. The match is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in KOA Arena.