Cresson, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford traveled to Cresson, Pa. on Saturday, as they resumed their AMCC schedule. The Panthers took on Mount Aloysius and fell to the Mounties 3-0.
Extended scoring rallies allowed the hosts to take the first two games 25-15 and 25-13 before they were able to close out the match with a 25-21 win in the third.
After dropping the first two points of the match, the Panthers rallied to jump ahead with four straight. They earned the side out with a block from Summer Anderson and Alyssa Radtke, and then added three more points on a Marissa Bowman kill, an ace from Radtke, and a Mountie hitting error. The hosts struck back with three of their own, but the teams went on to battle back and forth for the next 18 points, with the Panthers trailing 15-16 after the exchanges. Jenna Louser's kill put the Panthers down 1, but they were unable to break the subsequent serve, as the Mounties rolled off 9 straight points to win the set.
Pitt-Bradford took an early lead in the second set, as after losing the first two points again, they scored 5 straight to jump ahead. The Panthers were unable to keep up the momentum, however, as the Mounties took 19 of the next 23 points to go ahead in dominant fashion. Following an Emma King kill, the Panthers scored 4 in a row with Bailee Fitzsimmons at the service line, but the Panthers once again could not build momentum, as the Mounties answered with four of their own to go ahead 2-0.
The final set saw the Panthers take another early lead, but could not hold onto it, as the Mounties quickly tied the set. The hosts took the lead after 3 straight points and never relinquished it. The Panthers were able to battle back multiple times in the final set, answering 3 or 4-point scoring rallies from Mount Aloysius with runs of their own, but ultimately could not catch them. With Pitt-Bradford down 21-22, the Mounties put down three straight kills to end the match.
The Panthers finished the match with 21 kills, as Summer Anderson, Ruby Smith and Marissa Bowman each had 4 in the match. Alyssa Radtke passed out 18 assists in the match while adding 3 kills on 7 attempts, 3 service aces, 9 digs, and a half block. Kayla Maslowski led the defensive line with 15 digs.
Pitt-Bradford drops to 3-16 on the season, with a 0-3 record in AMCC play. They will be back on the road for their next matchup, as they head to Buffalo on Tuesday night to take on Hilbert. The match is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start.
