Alliance, Oh. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's volleyball team wrapped up their trip to Ohio on Saturday, losing both of their games. The Panthers lost a tough matchup against Baldwin Wallace and then a hard-fought battle versus Grove City, with both games finishing 3-0.
Match 1: Pitt-Bradford 0 - Baldwin Wallace 3
The Panthers started the day with a difficult matchup against Baldwin Wallace. The Panthers struggled out of the gate and lost 25-6, 25-15 and 25-13.
Baldwin Wallace came out of the gates firing, as they scored the first 10 points of the game. Hannah Hirata broke the streak and then the Panthers added two more with a Jenna Louser kill and an ace by Mia Gonzales. Louser added one more kill in the set, but the Yellow Jackets continued to rally and easily took the opening set.
Pitt-Bradford got on the board much earlier in the second set, but could not keep Baldwin Wallace from scoring, falling behind 2-7. They chipped away at the lead with a Ruby Smith solo block, a kill for Alexah Martinez, and a Kayla Maslowski ace, but then lost their momentum, dropping 7 straight points to see the margin grow to double figures. Alycia Wilson put down a pair to join the scoresheet and Brooklyn Bellavia added another, helping the Panthers chip away at the lead late. Pitt-Bradford rallied late once more, using an error, a Wilson kill and another Smith blow, but the deficit was too great, falling a point later on a Baldwin Wallace kill.
Needing a win in the third to postpone the result further, the Panthers quickly scored a pair on a Marissa Bowman and Louser block and a Lousre kill. The Yellowjackets responded with four in a row, however, Pitt-Bradford had an answer, posting three of their own to tie the set at 5-5. The teams exchanged side-outs before the Yellow Jackets seized momentum with a 4-point rally. The Panthers stayed within one until Baldwin Wallace broke open the set with 4 straight, which was quickly followed by 5 in a row. The Panthers stayed alive through a few service errors but ultimately lost the set 25-13 to end the match.
Pitt-Bradford only mustered 12 kills in the short match and was led by Jenna Louser, who had 5 of them. Alycia Wilson added three, while Alexah Martinez scored twice and assisted 6 times. Kayla Maslowski led the defense with 13 digs.
Match 2: Pitt-Bradford 0 - Grove City 3
In their final match of the trip, the Panthers were still unable to emerge from a set with a point, but had a much closer match than their opener, dropping the sets 27-25, 25-20, and 27-25.
The match opened with a quick exchange of side-outs before the Wolverines went ahead by three. Pitt-Bradford responded to the early deficit, going on a 9-2 run to jump into the lead. Ruby Smith and Jenna Louser each had kills in the run, while The Panther also tallied three service aces. They could not keep the momentum on their side, however, as they got stuck in a tough rotation, allowing Grove City to score five in a row, before eventually tying the set at 17. A Marissa Bowman kill gave Pitt-Bradford a 21-19 edge, but three straight allowed the Wolverines to take the driver's seat. They exchanged side-outs until the score was even at 25- when back-to-back Panther hitting errors gave the Wolverines the set 27-25.
Pitt-Bradford struggled early in the second set, dropping four of the opening five points. They were able to rally, quickly tying the match at 4 before eventually taking a 9-8 lead on a double block by Mia Gonzales and Ryley Pago. They traded two-point rallies before the Wolverines grabbed control of the set with a 6-1 run late. Alycia Wilson and Gonzalez recorded late kills, but the Panthers could not overcome the deficit, dropping the set 25-20.
The Panthers took a 2-0 lead to start the third set with an error and a Smith kill but then struggled to find their form, allowing the Wolverines to score 6 in a row, with 3 hitting errors and a pair of reception errors. Pitt-Bradford played catch-up for the majority of the set before rallying late. Trailing 23-17, Alycia Wilson put down a kill to give the serve to the Panthers. Abby King stepped to the line, and served Pitt-Bradford to 6-straight, putting the Panthers a point away from extending the match. King had 2 aces in the rally, while Pitt-Bradford also tallied two blocks, a solo effort from Wilson and a double block from Martinez and Pago. Unfortunately, they could not finish the set off, and then allowed Grove City to respond with 4 of 5 points, dropping another set 27-25.
Alycia Wilson led the Panthers with 9 kills, while also pacing them defensively with 12 digs and a block. Ruby Smith added 6 kills, while Jenna Louser put down 4. Alexah Martinez finished with 15 assists and fellow setter Abby King had 7 helpers to go along with 3 aces. Kayla Maslowski collected 10 digs and three aces, and Ryley Pago was in on 3 blocks.
The Panthers fall to 1-7 with the losses. They will look to right the ship with a rematch against Fredonia at home on Tuesday. The match is set to begin at 6:00 p.m. in KOA Arena.
